Is That So?

On the Soul Arena, Bei Bei went all out this time. He had no intention of dragging things out with Xu Sanshi and wasting time. From the very start, he pushed himself to his peak state, bolts of lightning wreaking havoc through the air like venomous snakes.

Seeing Bei Bei steadily seize the advantage while Xu Sanshi scrambled to cope, Jiang Yue understood that Huo Yuhao's soul skill was at work.

Mental Attribute martial souls were still quite formidable in this era, when spiritual power was generally lacking. Huo Yuhao's soul skill seemed to enhance observation and perception, and it could even be used on others to improve their senses.

Based on Jiang Yue's observations, that was roughly how Huo Yuhao's soul skill worked. He did not know the exact effects, but it currently looked like a weakened version of Mental Detection Sharing. Getting a soul skill like this from a Hundred-Year Soul Ring was truly incredible luck.

This sort of support-oriented Mental Attribute soul skill was not easy to detect. Unless a powerful person specifically investigated Mental Attributes, it would never be noticed.

Seeing Bei Bei start exerting himself, Jiang Yue finally relaxed. The flow of Soul Power within his body gradually slowed. It seemed he would not need to make a trip to the rooftop after all.

It was also at that moment that an unfamiliar fragrance entered Jiang Yue's nose. Wang Dong had somehow noticed him and sat directly beside him, staring at him without blinking.

The moment Jiang Yue turned and saw Wang Dong, he sprang from his seat and immediately backed away. He looked as though he had encountered a plague god.

What? Why? The Soul Arena was so huge, and there were so many seats. How had Wang Dong found him?

Normally, Jiang Yue could sense the emotions of those around him. Anywhere else, he would have noticed Wang Dong approaching from far away. But this was the Soul Arena. Not only were there many students watching, but all sorts of emotional fluctuations were especially intense.

In such an environment, Jiang Yue's ability to perceive emotions was significantly affected. That was why he had only noticed Wang Dong when she sat beside him.

Jiang Yue was confused. He had not caused any commotion here, and he had only berated Wang Dong yesterday. Logically, she should not have had a good impression of him. Even if she saw him today, should she not have simply avoided him?

What was with sitting directly beside him? Could it be that Wang Dong had some strange fetish and liked being scolded? That seemed unlikely. Jiang Yue believed he had a basic understanding of Wang Dong. Aside from being lazy, she should not have had any other problems.

Seeing Jiang Yue's flustered expression, as if he had seen a ghost, a faint smile unconsciously appeared on Wang Dong's lips. Still, she forced it down and merely crossed her arms, giving Jiang Yue a cold look. However, the faint dark circles beneath her eyes made the expression entirely unthreatening.

Thinking of yesterday's events, Wang Dong wanted nothing more than to chop Jiang Yue alive. Her soft bedding had all been buried beneath broken stones. Coupled with the worries on her mind, she had barely slept at all last night. If Soul Power had not supported her, she might already have collapsed on the street and fallen sound asleep.

While Jiang Yue watched Wang Dong with extreme vigilance, the battle in the Soul Arena had already ended.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi had originally been evenly matched. Yet Bei Bei had gone all out the instant the battle began, completely unlike his usual style, leaving Xu Sanshi unable to adapt for a moment.

Especially with Huo Yuhao's soul skill supporting him, the enormous gap between two people of roughly equal strength was instantly exposed.

With Huo Yuhao's assistance, Bei Bei caught Xu Sanshi's opening in an instant. His dragon claw seized Xu Sanshi's shoulder, and roaring lightning poured into Xu Sanshi's body, making him convulse uncontrollably. In the end, he could only intermittently accuse Bei Bei of cheating to explain why he had performed so strangely today.

But Xu Sanshi had no evidence. Everything was merely speculation based on Bei Bei's unusual behavior. Part of it was to comfort himself, but more than that, it pained him.

Earlier, Bei Bei had already extorted a Mysterious Water Pill from him in exchange for removing the Dragon Beard Needle. Now he had lost the soul battle too, which meant another Mysterious Water Pill.

Xu Sanshi was the son of the Mysterious Underworld Sect Master. Mysterious Water Pills were not particularly precious to him. They were his family's possessions, and he only needed to ask if he wanted one. What truly upset him was the humiliation.

In the spectator stands, Wang Dong watched Bei Bei defeat Xu Sanshi with full force and felt that this trip had not been in vain. She had now seen the level of Shrek Academy Outer Court's two strongest students.

She believed that if she were the same age as Bei Bei and the others, she would not be weaker than them. She might even surpass them.

Of course, Wang Dong had not forgotten the other important matter she needed to handle. But when she turned toward the seat beside her, she discovered that Jiang Yue had vanished at some point.

Wang Dong's eyes widened instantly. She simply could not understand it. Was she some sort of monstrous flood beast in Jiang Yue's eyes? Did he have to run away so quickly?

When she failed to spot Jiang Yue nearby, Wang Dong immediately stood up. She refused to believe Jiang Yue could hide from her forever!

Wang Dong swore that she would figure out whether Jiang Yue knew something. If he truly already knew that she was a girl, she would definitely find a way to make him keep that secret buried in his stomach.

Wang Dong felt extremely stifled as well. If this had not been Shrek Academy, and if Jiang Yue had not apparently been even stronger than her, she might have already resorted to force to threaten him into keeping her secret.

So what if she could not beat him? It was not as though there were no other options. Wang Dong felt that, at worst, when she returned from the Clear Sky Sect during next year's break, she could give Jiang Yue some precious cultivation resources as payment for helping her keep the secret.

Having thought everything through, Wang Dong immediately left the Soul Arena. She planned to see whether she could wait for Jiang Yue at the entrance to the Soul Arena district or outside the dormitory.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yue collected his principal of thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins from the betting counter, along with the several thousand Gold Soul Coins he had won.

"What a pity. My principal wasn't large enough, otherwise I could have earned even more."

Several thousand Gold Soul Coins was already a considerable sum even within Shrek Academy. It was enough to cover an ordinary student's usual expenses for several years.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yue needed money—a great deal of money. At the moment, if he wanted to gather one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins before the break, he could only pin his hopes on the Thousand-Year Soul Bone awarded to the Freshman Assessment champions.

If he still could not gather enough in the end, Jiang Yue felt he could consider selling himself to a force like the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect after the Freshman Assessment.

Ning Tian, the young sect master of this generation's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, possessed talent rarely seen in a century. She also had a guardian with a dragon-type martial soul. With a powerful sword martial soul added to the mix, they could recreate the lineup from that generation ten thousand years ago.

Actually, as long as Jiang Yue revealed his Soul Rings and expressed his desire to join a sect, he could sell himself for a good price that very day.

An eleven-year-old sword martial soul genius who had reached over level thirty as a Soul Elder—was he trying to sell himself? No, he was fighting for better benefits when joining a sect in the future! He wanted to make sure that he could live comfortably after going home with them. The benefits had to be top-notch!

The Outer Court's main purpose was to provide the children of major powers with a place to recruit talented people. If Jiang Yue truly wanted to sell himself, he only needed to display his talent as much as possible and wait for people to come offering their prices.

Jiang Yue pushed the thought of selling himself to the back of his mind. That was a last resort. As long as he had a choice, he would not do it.

"Hey! Come out! You've followed me all this way. What exactly do you want?"

Sensing the tail behind him still following him, Jiang Yue was nearly speechless.

What exactly was this person trying to do? Hiding forever was not an option. Jiang Yue still wanted a normal academy life.

Besides, he had deliberately headed somewhere with few people. Yet even then, this person had continued following him. Was she stubborn, or simply too naive? Was she not afraid of running into danger?

His voice carried through the surroundings, but there was no response at all.

Jiang Yue sighed helplessly and summoned the Passionate Sword. He slashed a sword beam toward a certain direction, cutting away the entire patch of bushes there. With nothing left to conceal her, a pinkish-blue figure was revealed.

Seeing Wang Dong's somewhat awkward expression as she looked east and west, refusing to meet his gaze, Jiang Yue put away the Passionate Sword and silently watched her.

"In such a short time, you've already evolved from a pervert into a stalking creep! What exactly do you want?!"

"What pervert, what stalking creep? I was just passing by. Passing by! I was only taking a casual walk."

"Wow, what a fresh and refined excuse. Tell me, what exactly are you following me for? If you can't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll definitely pin you to the ground and beat you up."

"Well... the clothes. Right, I wanted to return your clothes!"

Perhaps thinking this excuse was especially good, Wang Dong nearly wanted to praise herself. She took the washed clothes from her Storage Soul Tool and held them directly before Jiang Yue, her face filled with pride.

Sensing that Wang Dong truly harbored no ill intent, Jiang Yue finally put away the Passionate Sword. However, he had no intention of reaching out for the clothes.

"I told you before, didn't I? You don't need to return those clothes. Don't worry, no one wore them before. If you don't want them, just throw them away."

"What? I worked so hard to wash these! How can you just say to throw them away?"

"Do as you like. If you still won't get to the point, I'm leaving."

"Wait!"

Seeing Jiang Yue about to turn and leave, Wang Dong visibly panicked. She put the clothes back into her Storage Soul Tool, quickly stepped forward, and closed the distance between them.

Although there was no one else nearby, Wang Dong still did not want to discuss her situation loudly. What if someone passing by with sharp hearing overheard them? Did she still want her reputation or not?

Shrek Academy's rules did not state that girls entering the boys' dormitory would receive any punishment. But Wang Dong's situation was different. She had disguised herself as a boy and moved in directly. If that were exposed, she might not face any substantive punishment, but she would definitely become the subject of gossip among students and teachers.

"Um, well... did you see it yesterday? My... body..."

"Oh, that? I saw it."

"I understand you didn't do it on purpose, so you don't need to rush to deny it... Wait, you just admitted it that easily?!"

"Yeah. It's not something shameful to me. You said yourself that I didn't do it intentionally, so what is there to deny?"

"What?! How can you say it so calmly?! Is that really the reaction a normal person should have?!"

Wang Dong clutched her head, messing up her pinkish-blue hair. She simply could not understand why Jiang Yue had admitted it so readily after she had prepared so many lines.

And why could Jiang Yue say it so casually? Should he not have been embarrassed? He did not look even remotely like a teenage boy who had seen the body of the opposite sex!

"I'm just emotionally stable. Did you come looking for me only to confirm whether I saw your body? Do you want me to evaluate your figure?"

"Sort of... No! That's not it! Who wants your evaluation, you bastard?! You're the real pervert, aren't you? You can say such embarrassing things without changing expression! I want you to keep my secret! You're not allowed to tell anyone about me! Otherwise... otherwise, before I die, I'll definitely bite you to death!"

"Those words aren't threatening at all. But don't worry. Your affairs have nothing to do with me. Even if you didn't ask, I wouldn't go around blabbing that you're disguised as a boy."

Unable to think of anything she could use to threaten Jiang Yue, Wang Dong could only leave him with that harsh warning.

Yet Jiang Yue agreed so casually, as if he did not care at all. This should have been a good thing, but Wang Dong found it strange no matter how she thought about it.

Should they not have negotiated terms at this point? How had he agreed immediately?

Forget it. It did not matter. As long as he agreed to keep her secret, everything else was unimportant.

"Fine, then. Don't worry, since you're helping me keep my secret, I won't treat you badly. I'll bring you something good next school year."

"Remember, other than you and me, no third person can learn my secret! If anyone else finds out, I'll definitely perish together with you!"

"You're overthinking it. At least ten or twenty people probably already know your secret. No, I suppose it can't really be called a secret. It's more like your own little game."

"What?! How is that possible?! My disguise is flawless! I used one of my family's secret techniques! Even a Titled Douluo wouldn't be able to discover anything wrong! How could so many people know?!"

Hearing Jiang Yue's words, Wang Dong instantly felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss. She could not believe that so many people knew she was disguised as a boy, and she could not accept the truth for a moment.

She did not believe there could be any issue with her family's secret technique.

Jiang Yue was certain now. Wang Dong was not the only illiterate one. Those brutes from the Clear Sky Sect, along with the two soul beasts that had lived for who knew how many years, were all illiterate too. He had actually hoped Wang Dong would know the traits of her own martial soul. That was asking too much of someone who had grown up in an environment taught by beasts.

"What? You don't know the traits of your own martial soul?"

"Traits? The Light Goddess Butterfly has traits?"

The clear stupidity in Wang Dong's eyes could not be faked. She clearly truly did not know what traits the Light Goddess Butterfly possessed.

Jiang Yue felt that he had expected too much from the people of Douluo Continent. He had actually thought a lazy person like Wang Dong would know her own martial soul's traits.

She had awakened her martial soul at the age of three and even possessed Innate Full Soul Power, yet she was only a level twenty-one Soul Grandmaster now. How could someone this lazy possibly spend time specifically learning about her martial soul?

"Perhaps your disguise truly is flawless—at least, it is on the surface. Based on appearance alone, no one could tell that you're a girl."

"But don't forget that there are countless strange martial souls in this world, each with its own traits. Unfortunately for you, your Radiant Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul is one of them. This martial soul only appears in female Soul Masters. From the start, your disguise was a joke to high-level Soul Masters or people with broad knowledge!"

"Huh? Is that really a thing? Wait, that's impossible! If Shrek Academy knew I was a girl, how could they allow me to live in the boys' dormitory?!"

Wang Dong instinctively refuted him, unwilling to believe it was true.

Few people knew the traits of a rare martial soul like the Light Goddess Butterfly, aside from those with extensive experience or broad knowledge. At least in the Outer Court, fewer than five people knew this trait.

"I'm guessing there's definitely a powerful force behind you. Shrek Academy either does not want to interfere, or it wants to give that force some face. That's why they've allowed you to continue disguising yourself as a boy."

"Either way, one thing is certain: as long as you don't take the initiative to end this game, Shrek Academy will not expose you."

"My suggestion is that you try speaking frankly with the higher-ups. That way, you'll definitely be assigned a new dormitory. Isn't that what you want?"

"Wow! Why didn't I think of that? Anyway, thank you. Don't worry, I'll still give you the good thing I promised next school year. Consider it repayment for teaching me about martial soul traits and giving me advice."

"I'd rather you stay farther away from me. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from making a move on you."

"Hm? Making... a move? Oh—I get it!"

Whatever Wang Dong thought she understood, the inexplicable blush on her face, along with her suggestive tone and expression, made Jiang Yue certain that she had misunderstood completely.

Ignoring Wang Dong, Jiang Yue turned and left. Wang Dong immediately followed after him, silently trailing behind him as though lost in thought.

Everything felt somewhat unreal to Wang Dong. She had not expected the matter to be resolved so smoothly, without even the slightest argument or coercion. Besides, she felt that the person in front of her was not as detestable as she had imagined.

He had handed her clothes, agreed to her request so easily, and even explained the Light Goddess Butterfly's traits to her. Yet he had also said such infuriating things last night.

Thinking about it now, whether last night or earlier in the Soul Arena, he had acted like a startled hedgehog. Wang Dong found that quite interesting.

He was simply a kind person who was bad with words. What was that called again? Tsundere?

"Hey, hey, I still don't even know your name. We know each other now, right? You can tell me, can't you?"