Another face surfaced in Gu Yue's mind.
Na'er.
The other half she had split off from herself, innocent and carefree.
The silly girl Tang Wulin had adopted, who refused to merge with her no matter what.
The fool who had made a bet with Tang Wulin and told her to get close to him.
No wonder.
No wonder Na'er had refused to merge.
No wonder Na'er had been so devoted to Tang Wulin.
So it had all been a scheme.
A violent wave of nausea rose in Gu Yue's stomach.
She remembered how she had treated Tang Wulin hot and cold over the past few days.
She remembered every moment she had deliberately gotten close to him and fawned on him for the sake of the bet.
Disgusting.
It was utterly disgusting.
Tang Wulin lay on a stretcher, covered in wounds.
With difficulty, he turned his head and met Gu Yue's gaze.
His whole body stiffened.
What was that look?
Cold and shadowy, with a murderous intent so intense it seemed almost tangible.
She wanted to kill him!
Why? Was it because of Lin An?
Just because he liked Lin An, she wanted to get rid of him?
Gu Yue looked away.
She lowered her lashes, gradually concealing the murderous intent in her eyes.
She couldn't let them catch on.
If this really was a trap laid by Tang San, she absolutely couldn't expose herself before she had the power to control her own fate.
Whatever Tang San's purpose was, however big this scheme might be—
With her here, the Dragon Queen could not be allowed to suffer harm.
Otherwise, this world had no reason to exist.
The rain began to fall.
At first, only a sparse few drops struck the concrete of the sports field, splashing into dark marks.
Then the rain suddenly intensified.
It was as if someone had overturned a giant basin in the sky. Dense streams of rain poured down, stinging slightly as they struck people's faces.
"It's raining!"
"Quick, back to the classroom!"
Several students instinctively ran toward the teaching building.
They had barely taken a step when a freezing pressure slammed down like a mountain.
Wu Zhangkong stood where he was.
Rain soaked his white clothes, clinging to his body and outlining the sharp lines of his shoulders and back.
His expression didn't change at all. His gaze swept across the agitated students like an ice blade slicing across their throats.
"Stop."
The two words weren't loud, yet they nailed everyone in place.
"You can't even endure a little rain? Then what kind of Soul Master are you?"
His voice rang clearly through the curtain of rain, sharp enough to sting the ears.
No one dared move.
The students who had run out lowered their heads and retreated. Water streamed down their hair, and their uniforms clung to them, soaked through. Their lips had gone pale with cold.
Nearly a hundred people stood in the downpour on the sports field, like silent stone statues.
Lin An stood among them.
Seven-colored radiance flowed around him, while the Rainbow Light Shield kept the rain out.
His clothes were dry, his shirt perfectly smooth, and not even his hair was damp.
A few drenched students beside him stole envious glances.
"Continue training." Wu Zhangkong's voice cut through the rain. "Next group."
Lin An fought two more matches after that.
His opponents were two Power Attack System Soul Masters, one at rank eleven and the other at rank twelve.
By the time they stepped onto the platform, their expressions had already fallen.
It wasn't fear.
It was bafflement.
This was too bizarre.
When the first opponent released his Soul Skill, his Soul Power took a strange detour through his meridians, inexplicably going awry and causing the skill to fizzle out.
He flushed red and tried again.
This time, his Soul Skill came out, but his aim was wildly off.
A light blade skimmed past three meters to Lin An's left, nearly hitting the spectators below the platform.
The second opponent was even more straightforward.
He didn't use a Soul Skill at all.
Because he looked up at the sky.
Faint flashes of lightning rolled through the clouds.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered defeating Lin An.
But what would that accomplish? What if he got struck by lightning too?
He'd rather save his own skin.
"I concede," the first student said, raising a hand.
"I concede too," the second immediately followed, speaking twice as fast as usual.
The two leaped off the platform as fast as if they were fleeing for their lives.
Lin An stood on the platform, his fists still clenched, his shield still shining, seven-colored radiance swirling around him—
But his opponents were gone.
His expression shifted from anticipation to confusion, then from confusion to frustration.
Were they throwing the matches?
The thought surfaced in his mind before he could stop it.
In the first match, Zhou Changxi had knocked himself unconscious.
In the second, Li Chushui had been struck by lightning.
In the third and fourth, his opponents had randomly swung at the air a few times and then surrendered without even touching his shield.
Had his dad paid off the academy in advance?
The more Lin An thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Knowing his old man, he was absolutely capable of something like that.
"Can't you show a little backbone?"
"You're letting money corrupt you that easily?"
No one below the platform answered.
The two students he'd called out silently turned their faces away, pretending to admire the scenery.
Then the final match's opponent came out.
Lin An saw the name of his next opponent.
Gu Yue.
His expression stiffened slightly.
Heaven's Favor could affect ordinary students, but it couldn't affect the Co-Lord of Soul Beasts.
She was the Silver Dragon King herself, who had lived for who knew how many tens of thousands of years. Her cultivation was unfathomably deep, and her luck was probably even better than his.
Lin An looked up at the silver-haired girl across from him.
Gu Yue had already stepped onto the platform.
The rain had soaked her from head to toe. Her silvery-white hair clung to her cheeks and shoulders, droplets sliding from its tips.
Her uniform clung to her body, outlining her slender figure.
She didn't even wipe herself dry. She simply stood there, staring at Lin An without moving.
Her gaze made Lin An's skin crawl.
What was that silly dragon planning now?
He quickly ran through his options—
He knew perfectly well that Gu Yue liked him.
But liking him was one thing; once you were on the platform, blades and swords didn't have eyes.
Besides, Gu Yue had just been merciless with Tang Wulin, bombarding him with elements as if they cost nothing and beating him until his skin was split and his flesh torn.
Hopefully, she'd go easy on him because he'd treated her to a meal.
Lin An swallowed and quietly raised his shield's defenses to the maximum.
Everyone below the platform focused on the match.
Gu Yue had already shown off her strength.
Fire, ice spikes, wind blades—she wielded the elements as easily as lifting a finger. She hadn't even used a Soul Ring when she made Xie Xie concede.
Lin An's record, meanwhile, was bizarre, but he hadn't lifted a finger from beginning to end. He'd won entirely through luck.
What would happen when these two faced each other?
Rain pounded the ground, splashing up in a dense spray.
The tension in the air seemed to solidify, pressing down on everyone until they held their breath.
Gu Yue didn't move.
Lin An braced himself for anything.
Ten seconds passed.
Gu Yue still hadn't moved.
She simply stood there. Rain struck her body and was then vaporized by her Soul Power into white mist, which swirled around her.
Lin An's heart climbed higher and higher—
Was she charging up some huge attack?
Could this little body of mine withstand it?
Then Gu Yue spoke.
Her voice cut through the rain and the Rainbow Light Shield, reaching Lin An's ears with perfect clarity.
"I concede."
Three words.
The whole arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted.
"She concedes?!"
"She's conceding? She just beat Tang Wulin half to death, and now she's conceding to Lin An outright?"
"That's such obvious favoritism!"
"Favoritism? That's not favoritism. She's practically surrendering an ocean!"
The crowd buzzed with chatter. Disbelief was written across everyone's faces.
When Gu Yue had fought Tang Wulin, she'd been ruthless and merciless, unleashing a relentless storm of elemental attacks.
Now, facing Lin An, she hadn't even fought—she'd simply conceded?
Wu Zhangkong's brows knitted together at once.
"Gu Yue, give me a reason."
His voice was as cold as ice.
He hated people throwing matches most of all, and he hated dishonesty in his class even more.
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