New Mission, Otherworldly Girl, and Limit Douluo

[Key plot character 'Xiao Wu' detected. She is one of the most important companions and greatest opportunities on the growth path of the Son of Luck (pseudo) Tang San.]

[Choice mission triggered:]

[Option 1: Love is a beam of light.]

[Reward: One random Level 99 Limit Douluo summon card (permanent), System Points *50,000.]

[Option 2: When you wake up in the morning, she is the first thing you see.]

[Reward: Legend of Qin world—Yin-Yang School's Yan Fei, Yue Shen, System Points *50,000. Note: Strength will be adapted and converted according to Douluo Continent rules, talent potential retained, initial loyalty locked, requires host to maintain personally.]

Zhao Linchuan's hand inside his sleeve tightened imperceptibly.

These two options... were very interesting.

Option 1, a permanent Limit Douluo summon card, meant he could immediately obtain a top-tier guardian capable of walking sideways across this continent.

His safety coefficient would instantly max out, allowing many plans to be pushed forward more boldly.

Option 2, however, offered two talented young girls from another world. Though young, their talent was peerless, and their growth potential was immense.

They needed time to grow and could not provide top-tier combat protection immediately, but in a place like Nuoding City, they were enough to ensure his safety.

Moreover, from a long-term and certain unspeakable perspective...

Just as his mind raced, weighing the pros and cons, Xiao Wu saw he wasn't answering and assumed he was frightened. She hopped over to him, waved her fair, small hand in front of his eyes, and raised her voice.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, did you hear me..."

Zhao Linchuan suddenly moved.

His left hand shot out, precisely grabbing the wrist of the hand Xiao Wu was waving before his eyes.

The touch was warm, soft, and delicate—the slenderness of a child, yet it contained a supple elasticity that didn't belong to her age.

Xiao Wu clearly hadn't expected him to strike suddenly. She froze for a moment, a flash of astonishment crossing her large eyes, followed immediately by shame and anger as she struggled to pull her wrist free.

Zhao Linchuan did not let go.

He lowered his head slightly, looking at the exquisite, doll-like little face inches from his own, the corners of his mouth slowly curling into an arc that was both playful and certain, quite unlike his age.

In his heart, the decision was made.

'I choose two.'

[Choice confirmed. Mission "When you wake up in the morning, she is the first thing you see" accepted. Reward will be issued automatically upon completion.]

"Hey! Let go!"

With her wrist held, Xiao Wu was both embarrassed and annoyed, struggling with all her might.

Zhao Linchuan released her hand smoothly, a look of confusion on his face as he asked, "Does Dorm Seven have any rules? Let's hear them."

Xiao Wu rubbed her wrist, lifted her chin, and tried her best to put on the air of a "boss," huffing, "The rules of Dorm Seven are simple: whoever has the biggest fist is the boss!"

Zhao Linchuan's gaze swept over Wang Sheng's bruised face and the group of submissive work-study students, finally landing back on Xiao Wu's childish yet deliberately fierce face, his lips curling upward.

"So, you're the boss of this group right now?"

"Just based on you, this..." he paused deliberately, "little yellow-haired girl?"

"Who are you calling a little yellow-haired girl?!" Xiao Wu was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly bristling. Her dark, round eyes widened, and she bared her teeth, glaring at Zhao Linchuan with a fierce, milky-tempered look.

Zhao Linchuan's smile deepened, and he replied in an incredibly provocative, slow-paced tone, "Whoever answers, that's who I'm talking about."

"You—!!!" Xiao Wu was so angry she stomped her feet on the spot, the thin layer of dust on the floor puffing up with each strike. "You're asking for a beating!"

Before the words had even left her lips, her petite figure had already lunged forward, her speed significantly faster than an ordinary child's.

As she neared Zhao Linchuan, she twisted her waist, and her right leg whipped out like a lash, carrying a gust of wind as it swept directly toward his lower body!

Zhao Linchuan's eyes sharpened. He shifted slightly to the side, and the fierce kick grazed his hem.

Just as Xiao Wu's old force was spent and her new force had yet to be generated, before she could retract her right leg, Zhao Linchuan's left hand shot out like an iron pincer, precisely locking onto her slender ankle!

"Yah!" Xiao Wu was startled. She tried to pull her leg back, but felt her ankle firmly locked, unable to budge an inch.

Immediately following, Zhao Linchuan's right hand formed a blade with his fingers, striking like lightning against the pressure point on the side of her right knee!

"Ah—!" A wave of numbness and sharp pain surged through her. Xiao Wu couldn't help but cry out, her body going limp; she only stayed upright because of the leg he was holding and her left leg.

She was anxious and angry. "Let go of me!"

"Alright." Zhao Linchuan complied readily, his left hand suddenly releasing her, even "kindly" giving her a light push forward.

Xiao Wu, who had been struggling backward with all her might, suddenly lost the opposing force and was caught by this push, instantly losing her balance. She stumbled back several steps, "thud, thud, thud."

Her back hit the cold dirt wall with a "bang," shaking dust down from the wall.

Zhao Linchuan brushed the dust off his hands and looked at Xiao Wu, who was grimacing and rubbing her back, with a calm and indifferent expression. "Now, shouldn't the position of boss change hands?"

"Hmph! Want to be the boss? Beat me first!"

Xiao Wu was clearly unconvinced. She rubbed her knee, a flash of cunning in her eyes.

She took a deep breath and pushed off with her feet, charging forward once more. This time she was even faster, yet she showed no obvious signs of an attack.

Zhao Linchuan stood where he was, appearing unable to react in time, making no move to dodge.

Xiao Wu felt a surge of secret delight. Her figure flickered with agility, sliding behind Zhao Linchuan, and her left leg whipped up like a nimble serpent, lightning-fast as it hooked toward his neck!

Once caught in her Soft Technique, no one with equal soul power could ever break free immediately.

However, the very moment her leg was about to settle onto Zhao Linchuan's shoulder—

Instead of struggling forward, Zhao Linchuan leaned into the force of her pull and, without any warning, threw himself violently backward!

His entire weight, combined with the acceleration of the fall, crashed down onto Xiao Wu behind him.

"Bang!"

With a heavy, muffled thud, the two of them tumbled onto the ground in a heap.

At the last second, Zhao Linchuan braced himself slightly with his elbow to cushion most of the impact, but Xiao Wu, who had been pinned underneath him as a human cushion, was not so lucky.

"Ugh... cough, cough..." Xiao Wu felt as if her internal organs had been shifted out of place. Her back and chest ached intensely; that beautiful chokehold had not only failed, but had caused her to suffer a major loss instead.

The sensation of suffocation and the pain sapped her strength instantly. Her leg, which had been hooked around Zhao Linchuan's neck, loosened unconsciously, and a few tears slipped uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.

She coughed weakly, her small hand patting Zhao Linchuan's back intermittently, her voice laced with a sob, "Get... get up... cough, cough... you're crushing me..."

Zhao Linchuan knew when to stop. He pushed off the ground with his palms, stood up nimbly, and casually brushed the dust off his clothes.

He looked down at Xiao Wu, who was curled up on the ground with her little face scrunched in pain and eyes brimming with tears, and asked in a flat tone, "Are you alright?"