"Level 26 against Level 16!"
"This... isn't that a bit..."
"Fight! That brat's way too full of himself. Teach him a good lesson."
"Little brother, if you get hurt, you can come to my place tonight. There's a healing Soul Master at my house!"
"Good grief, how old is he? Are you trying to get electrocuted?"
Onlookers loved a spectacle, and when Yu Tianheng formally challenged Lin Yan, the crowd began chattering among themselves.
Some of the boys egged them on to fight, while some of the girls teased Lin Yan.
The area erupted into chaos. Dugu Yan hurriedly grabbed Lin Yan's arm.
"Why are you doing this?"
Lin Yan:
"No reason. He provoked me first."
"I mean, why fight him? He's already a Soul Grandmaster! You're only Level 16..."
"It doesn't matter."
Lin Yan's tone was full of impatience. He glanced at Yu Tianheng and continued.
"I'll beat him up and teach him a lesson. Otherwise, if he keeps buzzing around me like a fly every day, I'll get annoyed."
"I came here to get stronger and serve His Highness the Crown Prince one day."
"I didn't come here to watch you people pretend to get along while flirting with each other."
Lin Yan's tone was indifferent, nothing like the well-behaved boy who had just been chatting with Dugu Yan.
When he finished, he shook free of the girl's grip and headed for the classroom door.
The six-year-old boy stood less than 1.2 meters tall, yet as he passed through the crowd, he carved a path through a group of young men around 1.8 meters tall!
Everyone watching instinctively stepped back and made way for him.
There was no other reason. The boy's gaze was icy, and his presence was imposing. They didn't want to get caught in the crossfire...
Dugu Yan stared blankly at Lin Yan's retreating figure.
"Pretending to get along while flirting..."
"Pretending to get along..."
She murmured to herself, carefully turning the words over in her mind.
That was right!
Yu Tianheng had pursued her for his family's interests, while Dugu Bo, under pressure from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's status, had told her not to reject him too forcefully.
Wasn't all of this exactly what it meant to pretend to get along?
She was thirteen, in the golden years of a Soul Master's cultivation, yet every day she had to deal with this kind of trouble. Did she really still have any hope for the future?
Dugu Yan seemed to have suddenly seen the light, and sank into thought.
Yu Tianheng was much the same...
The noisy classroom fell quiet for a long while, until Lin Yan reached the door.
"What are you standing there for? Lead the way!"
Yu Tianheng snapped out of it. He looked up and met Lin Yan's indifferent purple eyes, which even held a trace of disdain.
Before long, they arrived at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Soul Fighting Stage.
The academy had built it specifically for Soul Masters to spar, but... it hadn't been used in ages.
Lin Yan stood on the dusty ground, scattered with fallen leaves, and glanced at the empty space nearby.
Then his gaze grew utterly resolute.
It was as if things were supposed to be this way—as if he were making his stance clear.
He had been willing to leave Wen Ruan, with whom he had only just become involved, to seek refuge with Qian Renxue. Wasn't that precisely so he could enjoy the resources, grow quickly, and work hard to become stronger?
Who would put themselves through all that otherwise?
Now Yu Tianheng had become an obstacle on his path to strength, and had provoked him time and again...
As Buddha Ancestor Tang would have put it: "You've already earned yourself a death sentence!"
Lin Yan treated Wen Ruan and Qian Renxue well, but that didn't mean he was kind to everyone.
He had already regarded Yu Tianheng as an enemy.
A breeze swept past, stirring the dead leaves.
Yu Tianheng stood opposite Lin Yan, his tone softening a little.
"Kid, I admit you've got good character. If you're willing to keep your distance from Dugu Yan in the future, I might consider..."
"Lin Yan! Martial Soul: Evil Fire Demon Dragon!"
"Level 16, Power Attack System Soul Master. Please advise."
Lin Yan couldn't be bothered to listen to Yu Tianheng's nonsense!
They were already standing on the Soul Fighting Stage. What was the point of saying all that now?
Whoever got hurt would naturally keep their tail between their legs afterward.
"Fine! Fine!"
"Since you don't know what's good for you, don't blame me for picking on someone younger!"
After hearing Lin Yan's words, Yu Tianheng had felt that he had a point. He had to admit that he agreed with Lin Yan's reasoning.
A Soul Master's life was about striving to grow stronger and surpass oneself.
Not about getting tangled up in schemes too soon and losing sight of what mattered.
So Yu Tianheng had thought he'd show a little goodwill first, making it easier to get along with Lin Yan later, when he had to act in his family's interests.
He hadn't expected the kid to reject his offer outright.
If that was how it was, then they'd settle it with their fists!
"Yu Tianheng! Martial Soul: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!"
"Level 26, Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster. Please advise."
[Martial Soul Possession!]
The two completed their Martial Soul Possession at the same time! One blue figure and one red figure stood facing each other.
However...
"What's going on? Why is the boost to my physical abilities from my Martial Soul dropping so sharply?"
Yu Tianheng felt the change in his body, and his pupils shrank in shock.
But the fight had already begun. Lin Yan wasn't going to hold back just because Yu Tianheng had lost focus.
[First Soul Skill: Fire Demon God Spear!]
The purple Soul Ring at his feet blazed to life. A long spear, silver-white all over with a purple-gold tip, appeared in Lin Yan's hand.
A full hundred-percent boost to his physical attributes surged through him.
The next second...
Bang!
Lin Yan drove off the ground with both feet. A wave of air burst around him, and he shot toward Yu Tianheng.
"Huh? What just shot out of there?"
The audience below hadn't even seen the color of Lin Yan's Soul Ring before the red figure streaked across the stage like a beam of light.
There was no denying it: a hundred-percent boost to attack, speed, and defense was an astonishing advantage even in battles at the Soul Elder level.
Onstage, Yu Tianheng's vision blurred. The spearpoint, wreathed in a cold gleam, was already thrusting toward his face.
In the face of danger, he instinctively tilted his head and dodged the attack, brushing past Lin Yan. But...
Lin Yan lowered the spearpoint and slammed it into the ground.
Gripping the shaft, he used the spear as a pivot and swung around in an instant, turning with the momentum. Then he kicked Yu Tianheng square in the back.
Bang!
The kick combined Lin Yan's own strength with the momentum of his charge, sending Yu Tianheng flying.
The blue figure hit the ground and skidded a long way.
The crowd erupted in shock.
After regaining his footing, Lin Yan frowned slightly. He realized he'd overestimated Yu Tianheng's strength.
Last night, he'd used this move against Qian Renxue, and she had blocked it outright. She had even nearly grabbed his calf and turned the tables on him.
But Yu Tianheng... tsk...
"Give it everything you've got!"
"Otherwise, if you make excuses after you lose, everyone will look down on you."
Lin Yan stood over Yu Tianheng, holding his spear and gazing down at him with cool indifference.
Yu Tianheng looked back from the ground, then quickly got to his feet.
"Damn! How is that kid so fast?"
Faced with Lin Yan looking down on him, he didn't flare up right away. Instead, a trace of wariness entered his eyes.
Honestly, from the day he awakened his Martial Soul until now, this was the first time he'd ever been knocked down in a single strike by someone his own age.
Even against Yu Tianxin, his older brother, who was nearly ten levels stronger than him, he could last several rounds.
But Lin Yan...