Lin An's turn came again soon.
He walked toward the platform, one step at a time.
Seven-colored light flowed around him.
The crowd opposite fell silent for a moment.
Then a girl stepped out.
She was tall and slender, half a head taller than girls her age, with long legs, a slim waist, and her hair tied in a neat high ponytail.
She had an oval face, fair skin, and delicate features.
She stepped onto the platform and looked up at Lin An.
Then her footsteps paused for a moment.
A flicker of admiration crossed her cool eyes.
"Li Chushui, level eleven, Agility Attack System."
Lin An nodded.
Wu Zhangkong's gaze swept between them as he said coldly, "Begin."
The instant his voice fell, Li Chushui vanished.
No, she hadn't vanished.
She was simply too fast.
Her figure left a blur behind as her true self shot toward Lin An's side like an arrow loosed from its string.
The Soul Ring beneath her feet lit up. Her first Soul Skill, Shadow Step, boosted her speed by thirty percent.
A few short cries of surprise rose from below the platform.
So fast.
That strike was enough to tear through the defenses of anyone at the same level.
Then—
Lin An tilted his head slightly to the left.
The movement was light and casual, as if he'd simply felt like stretching his neck at that exact moment.
Li Chushui's fingertips brushed past his ear.
They missed by a hair.
She hit nothing.
Li Chushui's pupils contracted.
She pivoted, her figure once more turning into a blur.
The second strike.
It came slashing down diagonally from the upper right.
Lin An happened to crouch.
He wasn't dodging, and he hadn't anticipated the attack.
At that moment, he'd simply noticed some dust on his shoe and bent down to brush it off.
Li Chushui's attack swept over his head and missed again.
Murmurs gradually rose from below the platform.
Li Chushui clenched her teeth.
She moved faster and faster, her blurred figure carving indistinct trails across the platform.
The students watching below could no longer make out her movements. They could only see a gray blur darting wildly back and forth.
Meanwhile, Lin An stood where he was, moving at an unhurried pace.
Yet every time, he moved just right.
Every strike missed by a hair.
The platform below fell completely silent.
No one spoke anymore.
Li Chushui stopped, her chest heaving and fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She stared at Lin An, just a few steps away.
The boy still stood in place, without even a speck of dust on him.
He even looked a little bewildered.
"You—"
Li Chushui had just begun to speak.
The sky suddenly darkened.
The clouds roiled violently as black masses swept in from the horizon, hanging so low they seemed about to crush the rooftops of the teaching buildings.
Li Chushui's face changed. Instinctively, she tried to retreat.
She had just taken a step—
Boom—
A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky.
Dazzling white light illuminated the entire athletic field.
Everyone's vision turned blindingly white in that instant.
When the light faded, Li Chushui was already lying on the ground.
Her fingers still twitched faintly, but she had completely lost consciousness.
The entire crowd fell deathly silent.
Dozens of pairs of eyes stared wide, mouths agape, yet not a sound came out.
Then everyone's gaze turned as one toward Lin An.
The boy stood on the platform, seven-colored light still flowing quietly around him.
He looked up at the sky, his brow furrowing slightly.
A raindrop fell on his forehead.
"It's going to rain."
His voice was soft, tinged with a trace of helplessness.
At last, the crowd below erupted.
"Holy crap—"
"One time was a coincidence, but twice?"
"Zhou Changxi slipped and knocked himself out, and Li Chushui got struck by lightning? Who the hell would believe that?"
"Could he have Twin Martial Souls? Is his second Martial Soul a Jinx Martial Soul? A Walking Disaster Martial Soul?"
The din of discussion swelled into a buzzing roar.
Disbelief was written across everyone's faces.
If the first time could still be explained by "Zhou Changxi being useless," then what about the second?
Everyone present had seen Li Chushui's speed with their own eyes.
How could an Auxiliary System Soul Master dodge every attack of that caliber so casually?
And then a bolt of lightning had struck her squarely on the head.
Not a hair's breadth off.
The boy on the platform hadn't moved a finger from start to finish.
Wu Zhangkong stood at the edge of the field, his expression grim.
He stared at Lin An, his gaze as sharp as a blade.
It wasn't a Soul Skill.
He'd seen it clearly.
The Soul Power fluctuations around Lin An had remained steady all along, without the slightest abnormality.
Was this pure luck?
Wu Zhangkong's brows knitted into a tight knot.
"Carry her down," he said coldly.
Two students ran onto the platform and clumsily carried Li Chushui onto a stretcher.
The rain began to fall.
Raindrops pattered onto the athletic field, splashing into tiny sprays.
Gu Yue stood among the crowd. She wasn't looking at Li Chushui on the platform, nor at the rain clouds thickening overhead.
Her gaze remained fixed on Lin An.
Complex emotions surged in her purple eyes.
Just then, she'd sensed something keenly.
A change in fortune.
The instant Li Chushui launched her attack.
The fortune above her head had suddenly plunged, as if an invisible hand had dragged it ruthlessly down from a great height into the Abyss.
The elements of heaven and earth began to reject her, and even the flow of her Soul Power grew sluggish and labored.
And Lin An's way of evading the attacks—
It wasn't speed.
It was the favor of fate itself.
Every sidestep, every bend of his waist, every moment he raised a hand was accurate to the smallest fraction.
He wasn't actively dodging. The world was helping him dodge.
Gu Yue's heart sank.
Was this a power of fate like that of the Emperor Auspicious Beast?
A scene suddenly flashed through Gu Yue's mind.
Ten thousand years ago.
The Star Dou Forest.
The Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, had been deceived by Tang San and drawn into a connection of fate with Huo Yuhao.
Tang San had separated a sliver of divine consciousness from his daughter, Tang Wutong, placed it inside the Emperor Auspicious Beast, and bound the fates of all three together.
What had the end result been?
The Emperor Auspicious Beast had fallen in love with Huo Yuhao and sacrificed her life for him.
The fortune of the Soul Beast Clan had been completely seized and turned into a stepping stone for Huo Yuhao to ascend to godhood.
Gu Yue slowly clenched her fingers until her knuckles turned white.
She looked up at Tang Wulin lying on the stretcher.
Tang Wulin.
Tang Wutong.
Those two names were far too similar.
It wasn't a coincidence.
This absolutely wasn't a coincidence.
Tang Wulin had the surname Tang, possessed the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, and had the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
He had happened to appear in Eastsea City, happened to meet Lin An, and happened to win the Dragon Queen's favor.
How much this all resembled what had happened ten thousand years ago.
Gu Yue's breathing suddenly quickened.
She seemed to see that very same ending—
The Dragon Queen deceived, her power of fate stolen, and in the end, she died at Tang Wulin's hands.
Just like the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she would become a stepping stone for someone else's ascension to godhood.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and silver vertical pupils emerged uncontrollably.
Killing intent.
A bone-chilling killing intent welled up from the deepest part of her heart.
It was different from before.
Before, she'd only regarded Tang Wulin as a rival in love, an unpleasant competitor.
But now—
She truly wanted to kill him.
It wasn't an emotional impulse, but a cold, clear decision.
Before you continue