Eastsea Academy, on the middle school division's sports field.
The students of Class Five, first year, were doing physical training.
Running itself was nothing to Soul Masters.
But ten laps, at eight hundred meters per lap, added up to eight kilometers.
With their Soul Power sealed, that distance was enough to push most lower-level students to their limits.
After a few laps, plenty of them were already stumbling around.
They braced their hands on their knees, gasping for breath as sweat poured down them.
The sun climbed higher, the heat rising as it baked the red rubber track.
Lin An sat in the shade at the edge of the field.
He held a cup of iced fruit juice, tiny beads of condensation forming on its sides.
As the students of Class Five ran past him, their gazes drifted his way without meaning to.
There was no resentment.
Not a bit.
On the contrary, every student who passed him felt their Soul Power circulate a little faster.
Even their breathing became easier.
That was the effect of the Rainbow Dragon's domain—as long as they were near him, their cultivation speed increased by thirty percent.
And besides, his face was simply too striking in the sunlight.
"Ah! I wish this damn rich guy would stomp all over my face and look down on my dignity without restraint."
Several students deliberately slowed as they ran past Lin An.
They wanted to bask in his domain for a few more seconds and sneak a few extra glances at him.
"Is that what you call wanting to be trampled? I don't even know what to say to you."
His companion sneered, though his own pace had slowed to a ridiculous crawl.
Wu Zhangkong stood in the middle of the field, watching them coldly.
"Anyone who stops to look will run five extra laps."
Everyone immediately turned their eyes away and charged on with their heads down.
"Weren't we told there'd be no special treatment? Why doesn't he have to run? So being rich means you can do whatever you want?"
Zhou Changxi ran along, panting, his face full of resentment.
Not one of the students around him answered.
Instead, as Gu Yue swept past him, she glanced back.
Just once.
The chill in those violet eyes made Zhou Changxi feel as if a Ferocious Beast had locked onto him.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across his back, and he nearly stumbled and fell.
Gu Yue finished her run soon after.
Unlike the others, she didn't collapse onto the ground, gasping for breath.
She walked straight over to Lin An.
Her uniform was soaked through with sweat.
Her silvery-white hair clung damply to her cheeks and neck.
Heat seemed to rise from her entire body.
"Hubby—"
She spread her arms and lunged toward him.
"Stay away from me."
Lin An held out one hand and pressed it against her forehead, his face full of distaste.
"You stink of sweat. You smell awful."
He'd thought that after they'd cleared things up, Gu Yue would rein herself in a little.
But she was still doing whatever she wanted, chasing him around like a Little She-Dragon.
"Do I?"
Gu Yue lowered her head and sniffed her sleeve, then leaned closer to Lin An.
"I smell nice. Come on, hubby, take another sniff."
Lin An pushed her face away, his expression full of resistance.
"I said you stink. Don't rub yourself against me."
Gu Yue pouted, but she did tone it down a little, sitting right next to him.
She secretly glanced at Lin An.
She felt as though the boy had become even more distant after what they'd said last night.
The human heart really was hard to figure out.
Did it really matter who was male or female, who was on top or on the bottom?
Gu Yue muttered to herself.
But she didn't dare say it aloud.
She knew that though Lin An acted disgusted, he didn't truly dislike her.
Otherwise, he wouldn't let her get so close.
But Lin An shifted away without the slightest hesitation, putting distance between them.
She was getting more and more disrespectful toward him.
He really shouldn't have been so nice to her.
As far as he was concerned, Gu Yue's appearance was no guide to what she was like.
She looked like a cold, beautiful girl, but deep down she was a rough-and-tumble guy.
And the way she looked at him was completely shameless—the way someone looked at their prey.
Damn it. I'm a top-notch beauty. Why is the Dragon Queen completely unmoved by me?
And what's with that look, like I'm garbage?
Gu Yue grumbled inwardly, though her face betrayed nothing.
She primly braced a hand on her knee and leaned forward slightly, bringing her head close to Lin An.
Her warm breath, faintly moist, brushed across his face.
Lin An's breath hitched, and he watched her warily.
Just then, Tang Wulin ran over.
He was drenched in sweat, his light-blue uniform clinging tightly to his body.
A small piece of white gauze was stuck across the bridge of his nose, and the cut at the corner of his mouth had scabbed over darkly, its edges slightly swollen. He looked utterly miserable.
"Lin An," he said, scratching his head, his voice full of guilt. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I broke my promise."
As a matter of fact, yesterday, just as he'd reached the entrance to Lin An's dorm, Gu Yue had blocked his way.
Without saying a word, she'd dragged him to the sports field and beaten him soundly under the pretext of a "spar."
Meanwhile, Lin An had been asleep and hadn't woken up once.
Lin An took in his bruised and swollen face and guessed what had happened.
He didn't say anything, just nodded.
His gaze lingered on Tang Wulin for a second longer, though.
How had the original male lead ended up in such a sorry state just because he was here?
And—
He glanced at Tang Wulin, then at Gu Yue, who was practically right beside him.
What was going on with these two leads?
Why were they always crowding around him?
"Loser, what are you doing here?"
Gu Yue's expression turned cold in an instant.
She stood up and forced her way between Lin An and Tang Wulin.
"I said you stink. Stay away from me."
Lin An reached out to push Gu Yue away, but he was too weak to budge her.
"I told you, I smell nice," Gu Yue muttered, her voice tinged with hurt.
She was the Co-Lord of Soul Beasts, the Silver Dragon King. Her body was made of the purest elemental power. How could she produce the foul waste of mortals?
Every drop of her sweat contained rich energy from heaven and earth. It was a spiritual liquid people would fight tooth and nail to get their hands on.
Lin An paused.
He took a careful sniff—and, as it turned out, she was right.
Gu Yue didn't smell bad at all. In fact, she carried a faint floral scent.
As her sweat evaporated, it carried away heat, leaving her skin cool to the touch, with a strange, refreshing feel.
But he still pushed her face away without mercy.
"Don't smear sticky stuff on me."
He wasn't so perverted that he liked the sweat of a little fairy.
"I don't care."
Gu Yue suddenly toppled forward and sprawled across Lin An's lap.
Her arms looped around his neck, and she buried her face in the hollow of it, curled tightly against him like a kitten too tired to move.
"It's all your fault," she mumbled against his neck, her voice thick and nasal.
"You wouldn't let me sleep last night. We kept going until morning. I'm so tired."
When she finished, her breathing gradually evened out, as if she'd truly fallen asleep.
"Huh?"
Tang Wulin froze in place.
His expression shifted from confusion to shock, then from shock to a complicated, indescribable dejection.
"Until morning...?"
His voice was a little hoarse.
"You two... must be really close."
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