Dorm Seven!
Xiao Wu strode into the dormitory with the wind at her heels.
Wang Sheng stared. "Sister Xiao Wu, you're back from leave?"
"But what's all this about?"
Xiao Wu glanced at Wang Sheng, then at the other dormmates looking her way, and raised her chin.
"I've absorbed my First Soul Ring!"
Wang Sheng was startled.
"That fast?"
Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips. "Let me open your eyes!"
As she spoke, a faint red glow lit up around her. Her Martial Soul Possession followed in an instant.
A Yellow Soul Ring suddenly rose beneath her feet!
Her dormmates cried out in surprise.
"It's a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!"
"I never thought Sister Xiao Wu would absorb a Hundred-Year Soul Ring too!"
Surprise flickered across Wang Sheng's face, though he was not too shocked.
After all, his First Soul Ring was also a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
But he knew there were differences between Soul Masters.
He had been no match for Xiao Wu even before she absorbed a Soul Ring.
Now that she had one, he stood even less chance against her.
Surely she wasn't planning to challenge the boss?
Wang Sheng recalled how Xiao Wu had behaved these past few days. It seemed entirely possible.
Sure enough.
Xiao Wu turned to Wang Sheng. "Wang Sheng, I want to challenge your boss. Go ask him if he'll accept!"
Wang Sheng gave her an odd look. "Sister Xiao Wu, are you sure?"
Xiao Wu brimmed with confidence.
"Of course. Do you think Sister Xiao Wu is joking?"
Wang Sheng said meaningfully, "I'll pass on your message, but whether the boss accepts your challenge is another matter."
"And you might want to prepare yourself for defeat."
Xiao Wu giggled and paid his warning no mind.
She had already asked around. Qi Dao was level fifteen or sixteen at most, while she was level twelve. The gap was not that large.
People spoke of his swordsmanship as if it were the work of gods, but she had her grappling techniques.
How many years could he have practiced the sword? There was no way he could match her grappling.
Seeing how confident Xiao Wu was, Wang Sheng went straight to Qi Dao.
"Xiao Wu wants to challenge me?"
"Didn't you tell her how strong I am?"
Qi Dao raised an eyebrow when he heard why Wang Sheng had come.
Wang Sheng scratched his head. "I did, but she didn't seem to believe me."
Qi Dao shook his head.
Xiao Wu was every bit as stubborn as she had been in the original story.
And he could not refuse her, either. Otherwise, she would keep pestering him!
Qi Dao narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Go tell her: this is the one and only time!"
"Got it!" Wang Sheng replied. Xiao Wu's in for a rough time now.
The woods behind the academy!
When word spread that someone had challenged Qi Dao for the first time in years, students from every grade flocked over to watch.
"Well, well. I never thought I'd see someone challenge the boss again before I graduated!"
"Come to think of it, this looks so much like what happened back then."
"Except the last person to challenge the boss was Xiao Haijie, a sixth-year student."
"Now the boss is a sixth-year himself, and a first-year wants to challenge him. A newborn calf really doesn't fear the tiger!"
"That little girl's from Dorm Seven, right?"
"I heard she has Innate Full Soul Power. Even Wang Sheng can't beat her."
"But if she thinks beating Wang Sheng qualifies her to challenge the boss, she's made him out to be far too simple!"
The spectators chattered among themselves.
The sixth-years in particular had seen with their own eyes how the boss, then a level-one Soul Scholar, had instantly defeated the level-thirteen Xiao Haijie.
In a clearing at the center of the crowd, Xiao Wu stood opposite Qi Dao, some seven or eight meters away.
She heard the discussion behind her and thought, So many people are speaking up for him. Looks like this guy really does have something going for him!
But... I won't admit defeat that easily!
A touch of seriousness came over Xiao Wu's young face.
Elsewhere, Tang San had just returned to the academy when he heard that Xiao Wu was challenging Qi Dao on the hill behind it. He frowned.
Unlike Xiao Wu and her blind confidence, Tang San was more careful in his thinking.
From the way Wang Sheng and the others treated Qi Dao, he had guessed that Qi Dao's strength was anything but ordinary.
At the very least, he had to be far stronger than Wang Sheng.
Tang San therefore did not think Xiao Wu could beat him.
With that thought, Tang San sprinted toward the hill.
He arrived in time. The match had not begun.
At the center of the crowd, Xiao Wu knew nothing of the rules for sparring between Soul Masters. She activated her Martial Soul Possession at once.
A Yellow Soul Ring rose beneath her feet.
A cry of surprise went up from the spectators, apart from those from Dorm Seven.
Surprise appeared on Tang San's face as well.
He had not expected Xiao Wu to have absorbed her First Soul Ring too.
And it was a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!
No wonder she dared challenge Qi Dao.
Even if she lost, she probably would not lose too badly.
Tang San then looked toward Qi Dao.
He had heard that Qi Dao's Martial Soul was the sword at his waist.
Tang San had been astonished when he first heard that.
Once a Martial Soul was released, it consumed Soul Power continuously.
Yet Qi Dao insisted on doing things his own way.
Qi Dao did not draw his sword. Instead, he removed it from his waist, sheath and all.
Tang San instantly saw what Qi Dao intended. He isn't even drawing his sword. Is that confidence or arrogance?
Xiao Wu saw it too. "Why aren't you drawing your sword? Are you looking down on me?"
Qi Dao said calmly, "The sheath is enough!"
"What an arrogant jerk! Watch Sister Xiao Wu knock your teeth across the ground!"
Xiao Wu gave a little huff and pushed off with both feet. Her small figure shot toward Qi Dao like an arrow loosed from the string.
When she was only two or three meters away, she leaped high and chopped downward through the air, her leg whipping toward him.
Qi Dao stood his ground. He merely raised Peerless and easily blocked the kick. Like a boulder rooted in place, he did not budge an inch.
Xiao Wu's expression shifted. She immediately changed tactics, springing back with the force of the block and landing before sweeping a leg at Qi Dao's lower body.
But Qi Dao seemed to have seen it coming. The instant she sprang back, he twirled his sword and flicked the tip of its sheath out with a reverse grip. He intercepted her attack halfway and struck her ankle with the sheath.
"Ah!" Xiao Wu grunted in pain, but she did not retreat. She pulled her leg back, rose, and launched a flurry of punches.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Qi Dao's expression remained as still as an ancient well. Holding the sword in his right hand, he blocked to either side. His feet seemed to have taken root; no matter how Xiao Wu attacked, she could not make him move an inch.
Anyone with eyes could tell Qi Dao was nowhere near using his full strength.
Xiao Chenyu and the others could not help saying, "The boss just keeps getting stronger. He's like an old hand toying with a child!"
No sooner had they spoken than Qi Dao attacked. With a twist of his wrist, he drove a tricky thrust straight into Xiao Wu's chest.
Even though he used the sheath, Xiao Wu felt a piercing pain. The tremendous force sent her stumbling back seven or eight steps, her little face contorted.
"Now do you see the gap between us?"
"Go back and train for a few more years," Qi Dao said calmly.
Xiao Wu shouted.
"Don't look down on me!"
"I haven't gone all out yet!"
With that, her Hundred-Year Soul Ring suddenly lit up.
First Soul Skill: Waist Bow!
Her waist strength increased by one hundred percent, and her flexibility by fifty percent.
Then she lunged at Qi Dao again.
The boost to her waist strength raised her explosive power by an entire level.
Among the crowd, a glint of purple flashed through Tang San's eyes.
Such explosive power. Is this Xiao Wu's First Soul Skill?
Teacher said that after Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters activate Martial Soul Possession, their physiques improve enormously. That's why Tool Martial Soul Soul Masters often can't match them in the early stages.
With Xiao Wu's explosive power now, she might still turn the tables if she finds an opening!
Before you continue