Mu Xi Risks Her Life

"The first battle of the morning: a fight to the death with the blankets!"

Lin Xun lazily opened his eyes, stretched extravagantly, and glanced around. Xie Xie's bed was empty.

Yun Xiao liked sleeping with the blanket over her head, and she was currently curled up beneath it in a tiny bundle. As for Zhou Changxi, his wastebasket was stuffed with tissues of unknown purpose. He was sprawled out asleep, and who knew what he was dreaming about—his grin nearly reached his ears, wearing the textbook expression of a lovestruck fool.

Just then, the dorm door was pushed open, and Xie Xie rushed in with breakfast in hand. He jerked his chin at Lin Xun. "Brother Xun, someone's looking for you downstairs."

Lin Xun froze, then blurted out instinctively, "Ouyang Zixin?"

"No." Xie Xie shook his head, his expression turning somewhat strange as a hint of gossip gleamed in his eyes. "Seems like another upperclassman."

After saying that, he gave Lin Xun a meaningful look, the corner of his lips curling into a teasing smile. Clearly, he thought Lin Xun had stumbled into another romantic entanglement.

Lin Xun felt uncomfortable under that look and grabbed his pillow as if to throw it at him. "Screw you!"

Xie Xie nimbly dodged to the side, but his mouth never stopped. "Hey, I'm serious. The senior's waiting downstairs. Hurry up, Brother Xun—don't keep her waiting too long."

Lin Xun rolled his eyes but decided to go down and take a look anyway. Still, he couldn't understand it. Other than Ouyang Zixin, he hadn't provoked anyone from the upper division.

Downstairs stood a high-ponytailed girl radiating hostility, her golden hair especially eye-catching in the morning sunlight.

The moment Lin Xun stepped out of the dormitory building, the girl strode toward him and grabbed him by the collar with tremendous force.

"You scumbag who toys with people's feelings!" The blonde girl's eyes widened, her voice full of fury. "Do you know Zixin cried all night after she went back yesterday?"

Lin Xun was shaken twice by the collar, but his expression did not change in the slightest. He simply broke free of her grip, frowning slightly. "Senior Mu Xi, we've already broken up. Whether she cries or not has nothing to do with me, does it?"

"You broke up with her as soon as you got together? What do you take her for?" As Ouyang Zixin's best friend, Mu Xi knew quite well about what had happened between her and Lin Xun.

"I couldn't help it either."

Lin Xun sighed softly. "You know Director Long warned me, and I came to my senses. At this age, I should focus on studying and cultivation. I shouldn't be putting all my thoughts into romance."

"Senior Zixin has such great talent as a mecha designer. I was afraid I'd hold her back."

"You..." Mu Xi was so angry she had nowhere to vent it. Yet Lin Xun's words were completely airtight. It sounded as though he had only made the decision out of helpless necessity.

She gritted her teeth and stared at Lin Xun's utterly calm face for quite a while.

"Fine, Lin Xun. You're really something."

Yet she could not find a single point to refute. This guy was like a loach coated in oil—the harder you tried to grab him, the faster he slipped away.

At some point, the dorm window upstairs had quietly opened a crack. Xie Xie and Zhou Changxi, who had apparently woken up at some unknown time, were pressed against the window, their heads stacked one above the other as they watched with great interest. Zhou Changxi was even holding a handful of sunflower seeds.

"Just you wait, Lin Xun." In the end, Mu Xi tossed out a completely harmless threat before turning and striding away.

Lin Xun watched her leave, then reached up to straighten his wrinkled collar. With a soft sigh, he muttered to himself, "I was telling the truth. And I'm really not a scumbag. It's just that I have a teensy little hundred million more ex-girlfriends, that's all."

Mu Xi returned to the dorm and pushed open the door to find Ouyang Zixin lying on her bed, her entire body curled beneath the blanket. Only a pair of slightly red, swollen eyes peeked out. Donghai Academy's usually radiant goddess looked like a flower struck by frost, wilted in a way that made one's heart ache.

"Zixin, he's a complete scumbag! Why do you care so much about him?" Mu Xi plopped down beside the bed and said bitterly, frustrated that she could not knock some sense into her friend.

Ouyang Zixin gently shook her head. Her voice was a little hoarse, yet unusually earnest. "He's not a scumbag. It's my problem. I'm just not good enough."

Mu Xi nearly failed to catch her breath and held her forehead with a long sigh.

Well then. A textbook case of terminal lovesickness—already beyond saving.

She took a deep breath and patiently said, "How are you not good enough? You're the goddess of Donghai Academy's upper division. You're beautiful, you have a good personality, and the people chasing after you could line up from the teaching building all the way to the school gates. What gives Lin Xun the right?"

"But..." Ouyang Zixin pulled the blanket higher, covering half her face. Her voice came out muffled. "He broke up with me for my own good. Director Long warned him. I know he had no choice..."

Mu Xi felt her blood pressure skyrocketing.

That bastard's scumbag lines actually worked so well. He had Zixin completely wrapped around his finger, to the point that she was even making excuses for him. No, she had to find a way to snap this love-struck fool out of it.

But then came the problem.

How was she supposed to prove Lin Xun was a scumbag?

That guy's words left no gaps. On the surface, every sentence sounded reasonable, and even his breakup had been framed as something righteous and selfless. Without solid evidence, Zixin would never believe her based on words alone.

A troubled Mu Xi wandered aimlessly around the athletic field. She circled the track over and over, but she still could not sort out her thoughts.

How could she prove Lin Xun was a scumbag?

That guy had sweet-talked Zixin so thoroughly that not only did she not hate him, she was constantly blaming herself instead. An opponent on this level could not be beaten with reason alone—she needed hard evidence.

But where was she supposed to find it?

As she worried, an energetic voice came from behind her. "Senior Sister, what are you thinking about? You've walked around the field several times already."

Mu Xi turned around and saw Tang Wulin. The little guy had probably just finished exercising; sweat still hung from his forehead as he looked at her curiously.

"Little Wulin." Mu Xi sighed, then suddenly had an idea. Tang Wulin might be younger, but he was the same age as Lin Xun.

She asked seriously, "Tell me, how do you prove that someone is a scumbag?"

Tang Wulin froze for a moment, tilted his head in thought, then said solemnly, "He'd probably be two-timing someone? Or... liking this one, then going off and getting together with that one?"

As he spoke, he gestured with his hands—his left hand pointed one way, his right hand pointed the other, then he clapped them together to demonstrate getting together.

His words jolted Mu Xi awake.

Mu Xi suddenly straightened up, her eyes shining frighteningly bright.

That's right!

She said Lin Xun was a scumbag, but Zixin did not believe it because Lin Xun had presented himself to Zixin as a deeply devoted yet helpless man.

But what if she personally made a move?

If she took the initiative to approach Lin Xun, and Lin Xun really got involved with her, wouldn't that prove that all his talk about—

"focusing on cultivation" and "not wanting to hold Zixin back"—

was complete bullshit?

With irrefutable proof, no matter how love-struck Zixin was, she couldn't possibly keep speaking up for a man who turned around and hooked up with her best friend, right?

"Little Wulin, you really are a little genius!" Mu Xi vigorously patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder.

Though this would require her to put herself in danger.

But for her best friend's happiness, she would go all out!

Let Detective Mu Xi expose Lin Xun's filthy, hypocritical true face!

"Let me tell you why I said yesterday that everyone in the world named 'Lin Xun' is a master of romance."

Xie Xie grabbed a stool, placed it in the center of the dormitory, and sat down with great swagger, looking every bit like a storyteller.

Beside him, Yun Xiao poked half his head out from under the blanket. His eyes were bleary with sleep, but his ears were perked high. Zhou Changxi had already cracked open a small pile of sunflower seed shells by his feet, sitting cross-legged and listening with great interest.

"According to records passed down through the generations in our Old Xie family," Xie Xie lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "you know about the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters from twenty thousand years ago, right?"

Yun Xiao nodded.

Zhou Changxi cracked open another sunflower seed. "Who doesn't? They're legends among legends."

"Here comes the important part." Xie Xie slapped his thigh, his eyes gleaming. "There was one guy who actually got together with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, the two goddesses among the Seven Monsters!"

"Damn, seriously?" Zhou Changxi set down his sunflower seeds, his face full of astonishment.

Yun Xiao rolled his eyes at him. "Every time people tell you to read more, you act like they're trying to kill you. Isn't this common knowledge? And I remember that person's title was Sea King Douluo."

"But what does that have to do with Brother Xun?"

Xie Xie gave a mysterious smile. "But what you probably don't know is that person's real name was also Lin Xun! And Sea King Douluo was merely a title later generations gave him based on his deeds. It wasn't his actual title."

"And according to unofficial records, that person wasn't only involved with those two. He was also connected to several talented female soul masters of the same era, and even had an extraordinary relationship with the Angel God."

"And ten thousand years ago, there was another soul master named Lin Xun. It was said that the princess of the Star Luo Empire at the time, as well as several members of that generation's Shrek Seven Monsters, were all involved with him too."

"So I'm telling you, anyone named Lin Xun is the Sea King among Sea Kings, the scumbag among scumbags."

"Oh, really?"

A voice came from the doorway. Lin Xun had appeared there at some point, though his face was rather dark at the moment.

Xie Xie was so frightened that he nearly fell off the stool. He hurriedly steadied himself and forced out a dry laugh. "Brother... Brother Xun, when did you get back?"

"When you got to the part where 'Sea King Douluo' was called Lin Xun." Lin Xun walked in expressionlessly, casually lifted Xie Xie off the stool, then sat down himself. Crossing one leg over the other, he swept his gaze over his three roommates. "Go on. Why did you stop?"

Zhou Changxi silently hid his sunflower seeds behind his back.

Yun Xiao directly pulled the blanket over his head, leaving only a strand of hair exposed as he pretended he had never woken up.

At a critical moment, he decisively sold out his teammate.

"Brother Xun, listen to my explanation." Xie Xie rubbed his hands together and smiled ingratiatingly. "We were just... discussing history. We didn't mean that you were like that guy."

"Discussing history?" Lin Xun raised an eyebrow. "Discussing a Sea King Douluo from twenty thousand years ago who happened to share my exact name? And who had a thing with the Angel God?"

"Unofficial history! It's all unofficial history!" Xie Xie hurriedly stressed. "You can't take it seriously, you can't take it seriously. And even if it were true, he definitely wouldn't compare to Brother Xun. Brother Xun is such a devoted man—how could Sea King Douluo compare?"

Lin Xun's face darkened even further. Was that supposed to be praise or an insult? After all, the two of them were essentially the same person.

"Enough nonsense. Teacher Wu told us to go for special training."

"Oh, okay."

As though granted a pardon, Xie Xie scrambled out of the room, terrified that Lin Xun would change his mind and settle the score with him.

By the time the two arrived at the training field, Wu Changkong had already been waiting there. Dressed in white, he stood tall and straight as a pine.

Gu Yue and Tang Wulin had also arrived. Gu Yue still stood coolly off to the side, the same expression forever resting on her stunningly beautiful face.

Lin Xun glanced at her from afar and quietly sighed inwardly.

His greatest and most unforgettable ex-girlfriend was top-tier in every regard. Her appearance, talent, and temperament—each was one in ten thousand. Back when she had still been in her complete form, she had been very cautious. Without being put under a love spell, Gu Yue, who was not love-struck, had been very difficult to win over.

Even if he concealed his identity now, changed to another identity, and pursued her all over again, it would still be as difficult as ascending to heaven. This former boyfriend of hers had probably completely ruined her impression of humanity. This Gu Yue likely had nothing in her mind but hatred for humanity and the desire to destroy it.

If not for the special martial soul granted by the system, which allowed their dual cultivation to help heal her injured body, it would probably have been even harder.

Just thinking about those past events made his teeth itch.

Damn Silver Dragon Fish!

But then again, precisely because it had been difficult, winning her over had felt especially satisfying. After all, the feeling of riding a dragon with one's body was truly exhilarating.

It was just a pity...

There was no need to mention what happened afterward.

"Everyone is here." Wu Changkong's voice interrupted Lin Xun's thoughts. His gaze swept over the four of them one by one, cold and detached. "After observing your class's practical combat yesterday, I now have a general understanding of your basic circumstances."

He looked at Gu Yue, his gaze pausing slightly.

"Gu Yue, is your ability specifically elemental control?"

Gu Yue raised her eyes and nodded faintly.

"Control over six elements."

The moment she said that, Xie Xie sucked in a sharp breath.

Control over six elements was not something an ordinary genius could achieve. Even a Soul Master who controlled a single element was already exceptionally gifted. To wield six elements at once was practically monster-level.

No wonder she always kept others at arm's length. A genius of that caliber certainly had the right to be proud.

"Not bad." Wu Changkong rarely offered praise. He then turned to Tang Wulin. "Tang Wulin, although your Blue Silver Grass martial soul is basic, the bloodline power within you is far from ordinary and worth exploring further. Xie Xie, your twin martial souls of the same origin, both speed-type, are your greatest advantage. But your weaknesses are also obvious: insufficient practical combat experience, mental power that is too low, and a tendency to panic when facing powerful enemies."

Having been singled out, Xie Xie scratched his head awkwardly.

"As for Lin Xun..." Wu Changkong's gaze settled on Lin Xun and lingered for a moment. "Your situation is rather special. I'll break it down for you separately later."

Lin Xun smiled slightly without replying.

He knew what Wu Changkong meant. After all, his martial soul really was difficult to classify.

"In short." Wu Changkong withdrew his gaze and stood with his hands behind his back. A rare hint of seriousness appeared on his stern face. "Starting today, I'll conduct specialized training based on each of your traits. Understood?"

"Understood!" Tang Wulin answered loudly, his eyes blazing.

"For the first match, Lin Xun and Gu Yue—you two will fight. Go all out."

What Wu Changkong was most curious about, and most looking forward to, was the two of them. Naturally, he wanted to see the limits of their abilities.

Lin Xun froze slightly.

He was going to fight his ex-girlfriend already?