Academy Tournament, Xiao Wu Shows Her Might

"The roster's up. You and I are both in the first round!"

Xiao Wu pushed the door open, still clutching a copied sheet she had torn off beside the notice board. Her face was full of barely contained excitement.

Tang San had just finished his medicine, one hand still braced against the bedframe. Hearing that, he frowned first. "In my condition, I'm in the first round?"

Xiao Wu slapped the sheet down in front of him. "Stop pretending to be weak. It's written clearly on the roster: Seventh Dormitory's Xiao Wu, Seventh Dormitory's Tang San. Both of us are in."

Wang Sheng poked his head over from the side. "Sister Xiao Wu is in the first match. Boss is in the third."

Tang San looked at the names on the paper, his finger stopping on his own line. "Why did the academy arrange this so urgently?"

Wang Sheng grinned. "The year-end tournament is always like this. You two just happened to catch it."

Xiao Wu snatched the paper back. "Quit overthinking it. Just fight."

Tang San looked up at her. "Who are you facing in the first match?"

Wang Sheng's expression changed. "Zhao Hu, a sixth-year power-type Battle Soul Master. His martial soul is the Ironback Bear. He used to rank among the best in the upper years."

Not only was Xiao Wu unafraid, she straightened her back. "A bear? Good. It'll make a louder sound when it hits the ground."

Tang San reminded her, "Don't get careless."

Xiao Wu snorted. "Worry about yourself first. Someone who coughed up blood last night has no right to lecture me."

Ji Yuan was hidden in the compartment beneath a shoe sole. The spores he had just released were already crawling toward the training grounds along the cracks in the floor.

He didn't care whether Xiao Wu won or lost.

He only cared about the force-generating method of the Soft-Boned Rabbit.

This number two blood pack, Xiao Wu, usually bounced around and seemed to be nothing more than strong and quick. But the close-combat instincts of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast transformed into a human could never be that simple.

Perfect. The tournament ring would force her to reveal what she was made of.

The training grounds were already packed with people.

A teacher stood beside the wooden platform, calling names from the roster. Noble students stood on one side, work-study students on the other, separated by an invisible line.

Xiao Chenyu was there too.

He had changed into clean clothes, and yesterday's embarrassment had been washed from his face. But when he looked toward the Seventh Dormitory, his teeth clenched tightly.

Liu Qiang leaned close beside him and said in a low voice, "Boss Xiao, Tang San still looks pale. Today, should we..."

Xiao Chenyu raised a hand to cut him off. "Don't cause trouble here."

Liu Qiang let out a breath of relief.

But Xiao Chenyu looked toward another upper-year student. "Zhou Ming, you're up for the third match."

The boy was short, with long, slender fingers and a leather pouch hanging from his waist. "I already asked. I'm not Tang San's opponent for that match."

Xiao Chenyu said coldly, "Switch."

Zhou Ming glanced toward the teacher. "The academy roster isn't easy to change."

Xiao Chenyu slipped several silver soul coins from his sleeve. "You just need to get on the platform. I'll handle the rest."

Zhou Ming took the money and said nothing more.

One of Ji Yuan's dust spores landed on Zhou Ming's sleeve. The poison remained dormant, merely recording his scent and soul power.

There was a metallic smell on him, along with a faint medicinal herb scent.

Not something meant for an ordinary spar.

At the other end of the training grounds, the teacher had already called the first match.

"Xiao Wu versus Zhao Hu."

Xiao Wu flicked her scorpion braid behind her. With a tap of her toes, she was already on the platform.

Zhao Hu stood opposite her, more than half a head taller, with broad shoulders and thick arms.

Looking at Xiao Wu, he frowned. "Little girl, I don't want to bully you. Admit defeat yourself."

Xiao Wu lifted her chin. "Try saying that after you hit the ground."

Someone below the platform laughed.

Zhao Hu couldn't keep his face straight. A soul ring lit up beneath his feet. After the Ironback Bear martial soul possessed him, the muscles on his back swelled, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The moment the teacher called the start, Zhao Hu charged forward.

"Don't take him head-on!" Tang San called from below.

Xiao Wu didn't listen at all.

Instead of retreating, she advanced. She slipped along Zhao Hu's fist wind to his side, her scorpion braid whipping over her shoulder. Her toes hooked behind Zhao Hu's knee, and her waist twisted.

Ji Yuan's senses clung to the roots of her hair, breaking down every movement.

Her ankle borrowed force, her waist and abdomen rotated, her spine snapped with elastic power. Her arms didn't pull hard; instead, they followed her opponent's forward momentum and redirected him.

Zhao Hu lost his balance, and Xiao Wu flipped his entire body from the side, smashing him into the edge of the platform.

The first throw.

A chorus of astonished cries rose from below the stage.

Zhao Hu climbed back to his feet, his face already flushed red. "Again!"

Xiao Wu clapped her hands. "You're too slow."

Zhao Hu charged forward with an angry roar. This time, he crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to let Xiao Wu get close.

The excitement in Xiao Wu's eyes deepened. She darted behind him, wrapped her legs around Zhao Hu's neck, then twisted at the waist and flipped his upper body backward.

Second throw.

Third throw.

Zhao Hu's Ironback Bear defense was not weak, but he could not touch Xiao Wu.

Every time Xiao Wu closed in, her movements were swift and vicious. Elbows, the backs of knees, shoulders and neck, waist and abdomen—all became points she used to leverage her strength.

Ji Yuan spread fine vines through the soles of his shoes, contracting them in rhythm with each twist of her waist and every lock.

So that was it.

The Softbone Rabbit's strength was not merely flexibility.

Flexibility was only the entry point. What truly made it deadly was continuous control.

First, make the opponent lose their balance. Then use one's own joints to lock down the opponent's points of exertion, before borrowing the force of their struggle to complete the next throw.

This kind of technique was perfectly suited to demon vines.

Vines did not need joints.

Which meant they did not have the limits human joints could bear.

By the time the fourth throw landed, Zhao Hu could barely stand.

For the fifth throw, Xiao Wu grabbed his wrist, spun herself into the air, smashed her heel into his shoulder, and used the momentum to fling him away.

The sixth throw landed with a dull boom from the wooden platform.

By the seventh throw, Zhao Hu's martial soul possession was already beginning to dissipate.

The teacher stepped forward. "Zhao Hu, do you admit defeat?"

Zhao Hu lay sprawled on the ground, still trying to push himself up.

Xiao Wu landed behind him, her voice crisp. "There's still one more."

Tang San's expression changed. "Xiao Wu, that's enough."

Xiao Wu curled her lips, but she ultimately withdrew her strength. With only a flick of her toe, she sent Zhao Hu tumbling off the platform.

Zhao Hu hit the ground and did not get back up for a long while.

The teacher immediately announced, "First match, Xiao Wu wins."

Cheers erupted from the Seventh Dormitory's side.

Wang Sheng shouted until his face turned red. "Sister Xiao Wu is mighty!"

Xiao Wu stood on the stage with her hands on her hips. "Who's next?"

Tang San let out a breath of relief, though there was also surprise in his eyes as he looked at Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu hopped off the stage and walked up to him. "So? What do you think?"

Tang San nodded. "Your close-combat techniques are even stronger than I expected."

Xiao Wu said proudly, "Of course. I'm the boss of the Seventh Dormitory."

Ji Yuan pressed the force trajectories he had just stolen into his true body.

He had already stripped away most of the core of the Eight-Stage Throw.

Tang San was happy for Xiao Wu, Xiao Wu was pleased with herself, and the students below the stage saw only a splendid victory.

No one knew that the Softbone Rabbit's trump card had just been dismantled by the demon vines in the soles of his shoes and turned into nourishment.

Xiao Chenyu stared at Xiao Wu, his expression turning even uglier.

Liu Qiang said softly, "Boss Xiao, this girl isn't easy to deal with either."

Xiao Chenyu did not look at him. He only stared at Tang San. "All the more reason to cripple one of them first."

Zhou Ming had already been switched into the third match.

The teacher in charge of registration had taken the silver soul coins and, considering Xiao Chenyu's status, pretended not to notice the change in the roster.

The second match ended quickly.

For the third match, the teacher called out, "Tang San versus Zhou Ming."

Wang Sheng froze. "That's not right. Wasn't Boss supposed to face Li Cheng?"

Xiao Wu frowned as well. "Why was the opponent changed?"

Tang San rose to his feet. His body was still weak, but his gaze darkened. "Someone tampered with it."

Xiao Wu immediately looked toward Xiao Chenyu.

Xiao Chenyu smiled at her through the crowd, the smile openly provocative.

Xiao Wu lifted her foot, about to head over.

Tang San pressed a hand to her shoulder. "I'll go."

Xiao Wu gritted her teeth. "You're still weak."

Tang San said, "It's only a spar."

Ji Yuan sneered.

A spar?

What Zhou Ming had hidden in his sleeve was no sparring tool.

Tang San stepped onto the arena. Blue Silver Grass emerged from his palm, and a yellow soul ring lit up.

Zhou Ming did not immediately summon his martial soul. He merely kept his right hand lowered inside his sleeve.

The teacher reminded them, "Both sides, prepare."

Zhou Ming suddenly spoke. "Tang San, weren't you quite the fighter yesterday? Your face is so pale today, and you still dare get on the stage?"

Tang San looked at him. "Xiao Chenyu sent you?"

Zhou Ming tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I just wanted to see what an innately full soul power Blue Silver Grass was truly capable of."

Below the stage, Xiao Chenyu called out coldly, "Zhou Ming, don't disgrace the upper grades."

The teacher frowned. "Quiet."

"Begin!"

The moment the words fell, Zhou Ming slid sideways, wind-attribute soul power propelling his body as his wrist flicked out from his sleeve.

Not a fist.

Three slender, chilling arrows.

Their tips glinted dark green as they shot straight for Tang San's exposed ribs.

Tang San's expression changed. Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track immediately unfolded, and he dodged to the side. But Ji Yuan had drained ninety percent of the inner force he had newly cultivated the previous night, leaving him a fraction slower than usual.

The cold arrows slipped through a gap in the Blue Silver Grass vines.

Xiao Wu's face went pale beneath the stage. "Tang San!"

Tang San's right hand had already moved to the mechanism of his sleeve arrow.

Ji Yuan's roots slipped into the gaps between the arena's wooden planks from beneath his shoes, dark-purple barbs spreading underground.

Those three poisoned cold arrows had already closed in on Tang San's waist.