You... Like Playing, Don't You?

Zhong Shenxiu slowly walked into the dormitory and shut the door behind him.

The click of the lock was soft, yet unnaturally clear in the silent room.

He ignored Lin Xuan and the skinny youth, walking straight to his own bed before looking up at the chubby boy sitting on the upper bunk.

Stared at by Zhong Shenxiu's golden vertical pupils, the chubby boy's heart inexplicably tightened. But recalling the benefits Lin Xuan had promised him, he forced out his chest and put on a fierce expression. "What are you looking at? So what if Lord Fat wants to sit on a poor bastard's bed?"

Zhong Shenxiu ignored his shouting and merely asked calmly, "Did you do this?"

His voice was quiet and gave away no emotion, but for some reason, the temperature in the dormitory seemed to drop several degrees.

The chubby boy swallowed and forced himself to say, "So what if I did? A poor-looking brat like you deserves to live in such a nice dorm? Young Master Lin said the three of us will be calling the shots here from now on. If you know what's good for you, then—"

He did not finish.

Because Zhong Shenxiu moved.

There was no fluctuation of Soul Power, no Martial Soul Possession—just a simple physical movement.

Yet that speed, that explosive force, was nothing like that of a nine-year-old child.

Zhong Shenxiu shot out his right hand, his five fingers hooked like claws, and instantly seized the chubby boy's ankle.

Before the chubby boy could react, he felt an enormous force yank him bodily down from the upper bunk.

Bang!

The chubby boy crashed heavily onto the floor with a muffled groan. He was not light, and the fall left him dazed. Before he could get back up, a foot was already planted on his chest.

Zhong Shenxiu's foot was not heavy, but it pressed precisely against the chubby boy's sternum, making it difficult for him to breathe or move.

"Y-You dare..." The chubby boy was shocked and furious. He tried to struggle, but that foot seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. He could not break free at all.

Zhong Shenxiu looked down at him, his golden vertical pupils utterly emotionless. "Where is my money?"

"W-What money..." The chubby boy's eyes darted about.

Zhong Shenxiu applied a little pressure with his foot.

"Aah!"

The chubby boy screamed, feeling as if his breastbone were about to crack. "It's... it's with Young Master Lin..."

Zhong Shenxiu lifted his foot and turned to look at Lin Xuan.

The entire process had taken less than five seconds, so fast that Lin Xuan and the skinny youth had not even reacted.

By the time they realized what had happened, the chubby boy was already lying on the floor howling.

The skinny youth instinctively took a step back, fear appearing on his face.

Lin Xuan's expression changed as well. He had not expected Zhong Shenxiu to attack so directly, much less possess such strength.

"Give me back my money." Zhong Shenxiu looked at Lin Xuan, his voice still calm.

Lin Xuan took a deep breath and forcibly steadied himself. He was a Level 17 Soul Master, and his Martial Soul was the top-tier control-type Ice Soul Spirit Snake. How could he be afraid of a poor brat at Level 16?

"Zhong Shenxiu, you actually dare attack someone in the dormitory?"

Lin Xuan stood up as Soul Power began circulating through him. An icy blue glow emerged around his body. "You're violating school rules. Believe it or not, I'll tell the teachers and have you expelled immediately?"

Zhong Shenxiu said nothing. He merely watched him quietly.

That gaze made Lin Xuan deeply uncomfortable, as though he were the one being looked down upon. Humiliated into anger, he condensed the phantom image of the Ice Soul Spirit Snake behind him, and the temperature in the dormitory began to fall.

"Young Master Lin, teach him a lesson!" the skinny youth egged on from the side. "Let him know the consequences of offending you!"

A cold glint flashed through Lin Xuan's eyes as his first soul ring lit up. "First Soul Skill, Ice-Sealing Touch!"

Several icy blue streams burst from the Ice Soul Spirit Snake's mouth, shooting toward Zhong Shenxiu like tentacles. This was a control-type soul skill; once struck, the target's body would be frozen and their mobility greatly reduced.

But Zhong Shenxiu did not dodge.

He did not even release his Martial Soul.

Just as the freezing streams were about to touch him, Zhong Shenxiu's body twisted at an uncanny angle. Like a fish swimming through water, he slipped precisely through the gaps between them.

Nine years of dream battles had given him more than combat instincts. They had also given him a combat intuition that was almost precognitive.

Lin Xuan's pupils contracted. He had not expected Zhong Shenxiu to evade his soul skill so easily.

The next moment, Zhong Shenxiu was already in front of him.

There was still no Soul Power fluctuation, still no Martial Soul Possession—only a simple punch.

His fist slammed into Lin Xuan's abdomen.

"Urgh!"

Lin Xuan's eyes bulged as his body folded over like a shrimp. The agony instantly robbed him of any ability to resist. It felt as if his stomach had been struck by an iron hammer, his internal organs churning wildly.

Zhong Shenxiu did not stop. He grabbed Lin Xuan by the hair and viciously smashed his head onto the desk.

Bang!

The desktop shook, and blood instantly appeared on Lin Xuan's forehead. He screamed as his Soul Power scattered and the Ice Soul Spirit Snake phantom vanished.

Seeing this, the skinny youth was scared out of his wits and turned to run.

But Zhong Shenxiu was faster. He kicked the dormitory door, slamming it shut and blocking the way out.

"I... I wasn't involved! Lin Xuan ordered all of it!"

The skinny youth pressed his back against the door, his face deathly pale as he babbled incoherently.

Zhong Shenxiu did not even look at him. Instead, he picked up the empty iron box from Lin Xuan's desk and began searching Lin Xuan.

Before long, he pulled a stack of Federal Coin from Lin Xuan's pocket. It was his ten-thousand-coin stipend.

Besides that, there were several thousand coins of Lin Xuan's own money.

Zhong Shenxiu took back only what belonged to him and threw Lin Xuan's money back onto him. Then he walked over to the chubby boy and crouched down.

The chubby boy trembled all over in terror. "I... I spent all my money on snacks... It's really gone..."

Zhong Shenxiu stared at him for several seconds, then stood and walked to his bed.

He looked at the mess of his bedding, at the quilt and pillow covered in dust, at the snack crumbs scattered all over the mattress.

In his golden vertical pupils, the final glimmer of reason went out.

The violent emotions that had been suppressed for nine years surged through him like a burst dam, breaking free of their restraints and flooding his entire body.

Zhong Shenxiu slowly turned around and looked at the three people in the dormitory.

Lin Xuan clutched his forehead as he struggled to rise, his eyes filled with resentment and fear. The skinny youth huddled by the door, trembling.

The chubby boy lay on the floor, not daring to move.

"You..."

Zhong Shenxiu spoke, his voice hoarse and inhumanly cold. "You like playing very much, don't you?"

He raised his hand as Soul Power began to circulate.

A low dragon roar faintly sounded from within his body.

Dense pale-gold dragon scales surged forth like a tide from his neck and the ends of his limbs, instantly covering his vital areas. Under the light, they gleamed with a hard, metallic chill. His ten fingers lengthened into pale-gold dragon claws as sharp as blades, with a blazing glow curling around their tips.

The contours of his face grew sharper, and two short, hard brilliant gold dragon horns emerged from either side of his forehead. His eyes had completely become molten-gold vertical pupils, as though liquid light truly burned within them. The pressure and savagery of an apex predator were no longer concealed.

The air in the dormitory seemed to freeze solid.

Lin Xuan and the other two stared wide-eyed at the humanoid dragon-like monster before them. Fear gripped their throats like icy hands.

What... kind of Martial Soul was this?