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"What?"

Hearing Dai Huabin's voice, Jiang Yue finally shifted his attention from his book to the roommate before him, who seemed to have been bottling up a great deal of anger. But Jiang Yue could not understand why Dai Huabin thought that way, nor why he looked ready to explode at the slightest provocation. Their only interaction had been during class that afternoon, hadn't it?

He did not seem to be using the Passionate Sword right now, either. The Anger Sword had not even condensed into a physical form, so it should not have affected Dai Huabin's emotions. Could it be that his overall strength had improved again, influencing Dai Huabin without him realizing it?

Surely Dai Huabin could not have made him into an imaginary rival when they had never crossed paths before? That was impossible, right? If that were really the case, then Dai Huabin was a genuine lunatic.

If word got out and Dai Yaoheng learned that his greatest rival for inheriting the White Tiger Duke's title was an idiot, then all his previous worries would have been unnecessary. Other than possessing the Netherworld White Tiger, this guy had no competitive value whatsoever.

Closing his book, Jiang Yue still wore that calm expression, as though he had not taken Dai Huabin's earlier tone or current haughty attitude to heart at all. But only Jiang Yue himself knew what he was truly thinking.

"Everyone thinks differently. I have my own matters to attend to, and I really do not have the time to concern myself with other things."

"The position of class monitor suits you well. With your cultivation, no one in the class would refuse to accept you. This is our first time meeting in the dormitory, so there is no need to be so hostile."

With Jiang Yue and Dai Huabin's cultivation, it would be extremely difficult for them to be eliminated during the freshman assessment. Once they revealed Soul Elder-level cultivation, the Martial Soul Department could not possibly expel them. Barring any surprises, they would naturally be living together in Room 208 for quite some time.

Since they would be seeing each other every day, if their relationship became too strained, the one most likely to be disgusted by it would be Jiang Yue, the normal person, rather than Dai Huabin, whose brain clearly had a screw loose.

To Jiang Yue, the hatred between Huo Yuhao and Dai Huabin had nothing to do with him. In the original story, Dai Huabin had merely been a tool for Huo Yuhao to show off and slap faces in the early stages. He did not want to get involved in the affairs between those two.

Jiang Yue only wanted to quietly do his own thing. He did not want unnecessary complications, much less any deep private friendship with a mere passerby like Dai Huabin.

After all, Dai Huabin had acted far too brainlessly in the original story. If Ma Xiaotao had not possessed such a fiery temper and left no survivors, then even with the White Tiger Duke's Manor behind him, Dai Huabin would have been thoroughly skinned by Shrek Academy's higher-ups.

However, Dai Huabin's thought process was completely different from Jiang Yue's. He was the legitimate second son of the White Tiger Duke's Manor, someone who had always been the center of attention since childhood. At his current age, his temper was especially explosive.

Sure enough, upon hearing Jiang Yue's casual, unconcerned words, Dai Huabin felt that Jiang Yue simply did not take him seriously at all.

Jiang Yue's words overlapped in Dai Huabin's mind with the scene from that afternoon, when Jiang Yue had yielded the class monitor position. Dai Huabin twisted Jiang Yue's meaning into, "You can't beat me, so I can't be bothered competing with you. I'm giving you a way out, so take it," instantly igniting this White Tiger, who already had an explosive temper.

Gathering strength into his palm, Dai Huabin suddenly attacked. He stepped forward like an arrow and struck toward Jiang Yue's chest, leaving Jiang Yue completely baffled. He could not understand what kind of madness had seized Dai Huabin.

Jiang Yue's mental power, far beyond that of his peers, allowed him to notice Dai Huabin's movement the instant he attacked. He easily sidestepped the powerful blow and seized Dai Huabin's wrist at the same time.

Jiang Yue closed the unfinished book in his right hand, then, before Dai Huabin could react, swung it at full force into his face.

Smack!

Dai Huabin had assumed a book could not possibly carry much force. Coupled with the strength gripping his wrist distracting him, the book struck him squarely in the face. A book-sized red mark immediately appeared on his cheek, already slightly swollen, and his body staggered back several steps on its own.

By the time he steadied himself and looked at Jiang Yue, Jiang Yue had already caught the book smoothly from the air and was preparing to reopen it and continue reading.

That action thoroughly enraged Dai Huabin. Jiang Yue actually dared to be so distracted while fighting him?! He simply did not regard him as worth taking seriously! Humiliation—utter humiliation!

At once, the rush of hot blood completely overwhelmed what little sense Dai Huabin possessed. Pale white soul power flared around his body as wave after wave of immense soul power spread outward.

"White Tiger Possession!"

Two yellow and one purple soul ring appeared. Dai Huabin thrust out his chest and spread his arms wide. Amid crackling sounds from every bone in his body, his muscles swelled dramatically, stretching his academy uniform taut. His golden hair turned black and white, and a faint character for "king" appeared on his forehead.

His tiger paw, equipped with dagger-like claws, was about to strike Jiang Yue when silver light flashed. The clash of metal rang out alongside scattering sparks as a silver longsword firmly blocked Dai Huabin's tiger paw.

"Classmate, this is a dormitory, not a place for fighting. And you were the one who attacked first. I'll warn you one last time: stop now, and everything can still be discussed. Otherwise, I guarantee I'll beat you out of here and make you famous throughout Shrek Academy!"

"Isn't sleeping in a dorm bed good enough? Do you want to sleep out on the streets instead? Or do you have so much money that it is making you uncomfortable, so you want to find a hotel in Shrek City?"

"Cut the crap! Do you think I don't know Shrek Academy's rules? As long as students of the same year don't kill each other, duels are allowed! And we don't even know who will win yet! Today, I'm going to see exactly what you're made of!"

Shrek Academy considered combat one of the best ways to improve one's abilities. Upper-year students were not permitted to provoke lower-year students, but lower-year students could challenge upper-year students on their own initiative. As for students in the same year, it was exactly as Dai Huabin had said.

Seeing that Dai Huabin refused to listen, Jiang Yue no longer intended to hold back. In fact, if Jiang Yue had used the blade of the Passionate Sword to block Dai Huabin's tiger paw earlier, he could guarantee that Dai Huabin would already have become crippled.

The Passionate Sword was still a sword, after all. Its attack power only seemed unimpressive when compared with Martial Souls of the same level, such as the Unfeeling Sword and the Heaven-Shaking Spear. A White Tiger that might not even qualify as a top-tier beast Martial Soul naturally could not withstand the Passionate Sword's edge.

Silver radiance surrounded the Passionate Sword, while one yellow and two purple soul rings floated behind Jiang Yue, completely eclipsing the light of Dai Huabin's three soul rings.

Jiang Yue merely flicked his wrist, and the Passionate Sword released densely packed sword glints throughout the cramped dormitory. They left several wounds of precisely controlled depth across Dai Huabin's body. Upon closer inspection, one would find that the wounds were almost identical in size; at any rate, the naked eye could not discern any difference.

Feeling the stinging pain across his body and the warmth of fresh blood, Dai Huabin's reason was somehow completely swallowed by rage. Ignoring the obvious difference in their strength, one yellow and one purple soul ring among his three rings flashed in succession.

"White Tiger Protective Barrier!"

"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"

Bang—!

With his mind filled by fury, Dai Huabin no longer cared about any consequences. The White Tiger Martial Soul's two major enhancement soul skills activated, and the muscles of his upper body gradually bulged until his academy uniform was nearly bursting apart.

Soul power surged through the cramped dormitory, and spiderweb-like cracks had already formed across the floor beneath Dai Huabin's feet.

"Not bad soul skills, but someone like you doesn't deserve them. How about this? Your soul skills belong to me now. Third Soul Skill, Substitution!"

Raising the Passionate Sword and pointing it at Dai Huabin, Jiang Yue's third purple soul ring flashed twice in succession.

The Passionate Sword's third soul skill, Substitution: increased mental power by 65%; forcibly altered the target of an enemy soul skill, including but not limited to enhancement-type soul skills that only affected their own user.

Dai Huabin crouched on the ground, looking like an actual fierce tiger, but the effects of White Tiger Protective Barrier and White Tiger Vajra Transformation never appeared on him.

As he wondered what was happening, Jiang Yue's aura across from him instead grew noticeably stronger.

What's going on?! Why didn't my soul skills take effect?

Dai Huabin was utterly confused. Why had the effects of his soul skills appeared on his opponent? More importantly, the soul power he had used to activate those skills had indeed left his body, and it was continuously draining away just as it normally would when an enhancement skill was active.

Even if the enhancement effects were not on his own body, the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired. Dai Huabin's eyes turned bloodshot. With a powerful kick, he launched himself into the air and pounced toward Jiang Yue, both tiger paws striking at Jiang Yue's head.

Facing Dai Huabin's killing move, Jiang Yue remained utterly calm. Everything was going according to his expectations—otherwise, how could Dai Huabin have been blinded by rage in such a short time?

From the moment Dai Huabin attacked Jiang Yue, Jiang Yue had already decided to make him suffer a little. He had even kindly warned him, but this guy refused to listen. He could hardly be blamed for what came next.

The facts proved that manipulating the emotions of someone like Dai Huabin—whose cultivation was inferior to his and who was exceptionally hot-tempered—was absurdly easy. Jiang Yue had accomplished it without much effort at all.

Not using the three emotional swords Joy, Anger, and Sorrow did not mean the Passionate Sword lacked the ability to influence an enemy's emotions. Each emotional sword was more like a specialist in a particular emotion, while the Passionate Sword could wield the power of every emotion with greater flexibility.

Only when he used several emotional swords together with the Passionate Sword could Jiang Yue's control over emotions reach its absolute peak.

With an overwhelming gap in spiritual power and martial soul quality, Jiang Yue could easily alter Dai Huabin's emotions, even though Dai Huabin was also a three-ringed Soul Elder.

Dai Huabin, whose reason had been swallowed by rage, attacked far more fiercely than usual. A person's combat strength did increase to a certain extent when enraged, but in exchange, anger also made it easiest to expose one's weaknesses!

The instant the blade of the Passionate Sword came into contact with the soul power around Dai Huabin, that soul power and Dai Huabin's body, strengthened by his martial soul possession, seemed to turn into glass. Those defenses were utterly useless before the Passionate Sword's sharp edge. After breaking through them, the blade slid upward along Dai Huabin's tiger palm.

Light flowed across the silver blade's surface as it continuously released peculiar spiritual fluctuations, subtly influencing Dai Huabin's heart.

The fury filling Dai Huabin's heart abruptly vanished, replaced by an indescribable trace of sorrow. The drastic emotional shift immediately left Dai Huabin dispirited, tight-chested, and short of breath. The speed and pathways of his soul power became incomparably chaotic at that moment. Forget maintaining his two enhancement soul skills—even his martial soul possession nearly failed to hold.

A momentary mistake had sealed Dai Huabin's defeat. By the time he regained his senses and tried to adjust his soul power, it was already too late.

The cold gleam of the blade shone over Dai Huabin's cheek, shearing away a large chunk of his hair. Then the sword light transformed into a pure soul power impact and struck him. The remaining sword energy seeped into his body, throwing his internal soul power into complete disarray. His entire body was covered in wounds, yet his soul power could not circulate on its own, much less heal his injuries.

"Enough. The facts have proven that you can't beat me. I'll leave you some dignity and won't throw you out. You only need to move out of this dormitory."

Jiang Yue put away the Passionate Sword and spoke to Dai Huabin in a casual tone. That victory had been entirely expected as far as Jiang Yue was concerned. If he could not even defeat Dai Huabin, he might as well withdraw from school immediately.

Unlike Jiang Yue, Dai Huabin's eyes were nearly splitting with rage. He could not believe that he had lost, and to someone he had never even heard of. He had never seen such a martial soul before. Losing to such an unknown nobody was something Dai Huabin simply could not accept.

Ignoring the fact that Jiang Yue had already put away his martial soul and that their soul duel was over, Dai Huabin suddenly lunged at Jiang Yue. He swore that he would make Jiang Yue pay.

Noticing Dai Huabin's movement, Jiang Yue felt irritated by his stubborn refusal to learn. Since Dai Huabin had provoked him again and again like this, he must have prepared himself mentally for the consequences.

The instant Dai Huabin rushed in, Jiang Yue sprang into the air. Pivoting at the waist, he twisted his body and lashed out with his leg like a steel whip, smashing it solidly into Dai Huabin's chest and giving him a vicious blow.

Boom!

Dai Huabin was embedded directly into the floor. The floor, already riddled with cracks, was completely ruined now, and the things in the dormitory had also been damaged and scattered in the fight.

Fortunately, Jiang Yue had deliberately avoided his own bed just now, so the bedding had only gotten a little dusty. It would still be usable after washing.

However, just as Jiang Yue was relieved that his bedding was fine and that he could still make do for the night, Dai Huabin's impact finally pushed the already overloaded floor beyond its limits. It gave way completely!

Boom!

As one of the culprits behind the floor's collapse, Jiang Yue had some time to react, especially with the awareness provided by his powerful spiritual power. The occupants of Dormitory 108 downstairs, however, were not so fortunate. If anyone had been there, they might have been buried under the rubble.

At the same time, in Dormitory 108 below, Wang Dong had just returned after fetching water and was happily washing up when waves of soul power and the sounds of fighting came from upstairs one after another, making the soul tool lamp on the ceiling sway.

Though Wang Dong was somewhat displeased by the commotion, she had no intention of going upstairs to confront them. Maybe their roommates were simply having a disagreement. Perhaps someone would even be beaten out of the dormitory like Huo Yuhao had been by her.

However, just as she thought there was no need to pay too much attention and that it should be over soon, a series of cracking sounds came from the ceiling. Before she could react, the entire ceiling collapsed!

Broken stones and thick dust filled the entire space. Even though the two dormitories above and below had now been connected, the dust still packed every corner of the area.

Relying on his cultivation, Jiang Yue had grabbed the windowsill of Dormitory 208 in that instant, so he had not fallen along with the floor.

Shoddy construction? This building is far too flimsy. I haven't even gone all out yet. Did the people who built it ever consider that conflicts might break out inside the dormitory building?

Or was too much skimmed off during construction, leaving them no choice but to use inferior materials? Or is it simply too old, with the dormitory building deteriorating badly?

Seeing that the dust below had become so thick that nothing could be seen, Jiang Yue directly opened the window of Dormitory 208 for ventilation. Covering his mouth and nose, he released the windowsill and dropped to the ground. The first thing he saw was Dai Huabin, whose body was twitching continuously as he lay unconscious beneath the rubble, pinned down by stones.

Just as Jiang Yue was about to open the window of Dormitory 108 as well, he noticed a figure in the thick dust.

Though the dust blocked ordinary vision, Jiang Yue could clearly see through it with his spiritual power. The figure was dusty and somewhat bedraggled, with a bewildered expression, clearly unable to understand what had suddenly happened.

It seemed that Wang Dong had been washing herself before the ceiling came down. Because everything had happened so suddenly, her clothes had been buried beneath the ruins. If not for the pair of large blue wings shielding her body, she might have been completely exposed.

"Wh-what... what the hell happened?!"

While Wang Dong was still dazed, a set of clothes flew out of the thick dust toward her. She caught them instinctively, her large eyes filled with confusion.

"Put them on quickly. Someone might come over soon. You don't want anyone else seeing you like this, do you?"

"?!!"

Only after hearing the voice coming from within the dust did Wang Dong realize that there was someone there. Then she noticed her current state and understood that such a huge disturbance would definitely draw a lot of people before long.

At a time like this, she obviously could not care about cleanliness anymore. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, she pulled on the set of clothes in her hands, even though they were stained with a little dust.

Once Jiang Yue saw that Wang Dong had put on the clothes, he was about to open the window of Dormitory 108 when the entire window, along with the surrounding bricks in the wall, fell out of the wall. At that moment, a breeze happened to blow past outside, carrying away much of the dust inside the dormitory.

Only then did the disastrous state of Dormitories 108 and 208 fully come into view. Looking up, they could see the ceiling of Dormitory 208, as well as the swaying soul tool lamp above. The ground was a complete mess—calling it a ruin would not have been an exaggeration.

Dai Huabin lay unconscious in the rubble, with a moderately sized stone pressing down on his chest. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

Now dressed, Wang Dong and Jiang Yue looked at one another. For a moment, neither of them knew what to say. Yet through Wang Dong's dust-covered face, one could still make out a faint flush, making it clear that her emotions were highly agitated.

"Sorry. It seems my roommate and I went a little overboard. My apologies."

"I... You...!"

Wang Dong did not know what was happening either. She only felt the anger in her heart inexplicably diminish by a great deal, and her previously heated mind calmed considerably.

"Calm down, calm down. Getting angry is bad for your liver."

For some reason, looking into Jiang Yue's mismatched eyes made Wang Dong feel as if her anger had been soothed considerably. Coupled with Jiang Yue's sincere attitude, she said nothing more. She merely snorted coldly and turned away, though her gaze still occasionally darted toward Jiang Yue with vicious intensity.

Noticing Wang Dong like this, Jiang Yue silently breathed a sigh of relief.

Naturally, influencing a person's emotions did not only mean making those emotions intensify; reducing their fluctuations was also possible.

Although Wang Dong had a strand of divine consciousness left behind by Sea God Tang San within her sea of consciousness, that divine consciousness acted more like a passive defensive measure most of the time. Anyone who tried to attack Wang Dong with spiritual abilities would meet a miserable end.

But Jiang Yue had not attacked her just now. At most, it counted as a tiny bit of treatment. Yes, that was right—treatment.

The quality of one's emotions was related to one's physical health. He had merely helped Wang Dong regulate her emotions and protect her health. This was a rare form of psychological treatment on Douluo Continent. Yes, exactly. That was how it was.

Look at how remarkable the treatment had been. Wang Dong, who should have been angry, was now so calm. This was all thanks to the psychological treatment. It was absolutely not because Jiang Yue had used the Passionate Sword to put a curse on her.

Absolutely!

From now on, please address Jiang Yue as Divine Physician Jiang.