There's Such a Thing?

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

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

In this era, where mental power was generally lacking, mental-type martial souls were still quite formidable. Huo Yuhao's soul skill seemed to be one that enhanced observation and perception, and it could also affect others, improving their senses.

According to Jiang Yue's observations, that was roughly how Huo Yuhao's soul skill worked. He did not know the precise effects, but for now, it looked like a weakened version of Mental Detection Sharing. Obtaining such a soul skill from a hundred-year soul ring was truly incredible luck.

Mental-type soul skills with supportive properties were not so easily detected. Unless someone powerful specifically investigated mental attributes, they would not be discovered at all.

Seeing Bei Bei start to exert his strength, Jiang Yue finally relaxed. The soul power circulating through his body gradually slowed, and it seemed he would not need to make a trip to the rooftop after all.

At that moment, an inexplicable fragrance drifted into Jiang Yue's nose. At some point, Wang Dong had noticed Jiang Yue and sat down right beside him, staring at him unblinkingly.

The moment Jiang Yue turned and saw Wang Dong, he sprang from his seat and decisively retreated. He looked as though he had seen the plague god.

What? Why? The Soul Fighting Arena was so large, with 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 Fighting Arena. Not only were there many students watching the matches, but the emotional fluctuations here were also extremely intense.

In such an environment, Jiang Yue's ability to sense emotions was greatly affected. That was why he had only noticed Wang Dong's approach after Wang Dong had already sat beside him.

Jiang Yue was baffled. He had not caused any commotion here, and he had only thoroughly scolded Wang Dong yesterday. By all rights, Wang Dong should not have had a good impression of him. Even if Wang Dong saw him today, should he not have simply taken a detour around 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. Other than being lazy, there should not have been any other problems.

Seeing Jiang Yue look so flustered, as though he had seen a ghost, a faint smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of Wang Dong's lips. However, he forcibly suppressed it, folded his arms across his chest, and cast Jiang Yue a cold glance. The faint dark circles beneath his eyes, though, made his expression entirely lacking in intimidation.

Thinking of what had happened yesterday, Wang Dong wished he could chop Jiang Yue alive right then and there. His soft bedding had all been buried beneath broken rocks. Coupled with the worries on his mind, he had barely slept last night. If not for his soul power supporting him, Wang Dong might already have collapsed in the street and begun snoring away.

While Jiang Yue watched Wang Dong with extreme vigilance, the two people on the Soul Fighting Arena had already determined the victor.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi had originally been evenly matched. Yet this time, Bei Bei had gone all out from the start, completely unlike his usual style, leaving Xu Sanshi somewhat unable to adapt.

Especially with Huo Yuhao's soul skill assisting Bei Bei, the enormous gap between two people who had originally been roughly equal suddenly became apparent.

With Huo Yuhao's assistance, Bei Bei seized an opening in Xu Sanshi's defenses in an instant. His dragon claw grabbed Xu Sanshi's shoulder, and the howling lightning flooded into Xu Sanshi's body, making him twitch uncontrollably. In the end, he could only intermittently accuse Bei Bei of cheating, claiming that something was off about him today.

But Xu Sanshi had no evidence. It was all merely speculation based on Bei Bei's uncharacteristic behavior, containing both an attempt to comfort himself and deep distress.

Earlier, Bei Bei had already extorted a Mysterious Water Pill from him in exchange for removing the Dragon Beard Needle. Now that he had also lost the soul fight, that was another Mysterious Water Pill gone.

Xu Sanshi was the son of the Mysterious Underworld Sect's sect master. Mysterious Water Pills were not particularly precious to him. They were family property, after all; he only needed to ask if he wanted one. What truly upset him was the frustration.

In the stands, after watching Bei Bei defeat Xu Sanshi at full force, Wang Dong felt that the trip had not been wasted. He had now seen the level of the two strongest students in Shrek Academy's outer courtyard.

He believed that if he had been the same age as Bei Bei and the others, his strength would not have been inferior to theirs. He might even have surpassed them.

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

Wang Dong's eyes widened instantly. He simply could not understand it. Did Jiang Yue see him as some monstrous beast? Was there any need to run away so quickly?

Not seeing Jiang Yue anywhere nearby, Wang Dong immediately stood up. He refused to believe Jiang Yue could keep hiding from him forever!

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

Wang Dong felt immensely stifled as well. If this were not Shrek Academy, and if Jiang Yue did not seem stronger than him, he might already have been so desperate that he would have threatened Jiang Yue with force to keep the secret.

So what if he could not beat him? It was not as though there were no other methods. Wang Dong felt that, at worst, when he returned from Clear Sky Sect during the next school year's break, he could give Jiang Yue some valuable cultivation resources as payment for keeping his secret.

Having thought everything through, Wang Dong immediately left the Soul Fighting Arena, intending to see whether he could wait for Jiang Yue at the entrance to the Soul Fighting District or outside the dormitories.

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

"What a pity. If my principal had been larger, I could have earned even more."

Several thousand Gold Soul Coins was no small sum, even in Shrek Academy. It was enough to cover a normal student's ordinary expenses for several years.

Unfortunately, Jiang Yue needed money—a great deal of money. At present, 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 champion of the freshman assessment.

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

The talent of Ning Tian, the young sect master of this generation's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, was rare even in a century. He also had a guardian with a dragon-type martial soul by his side. If they added a powerful sword martial soul, they could recreate the lineup from that generation ten thousand years ago.

Actually, as long as Jiang Yue revealed his soul rings now and stated that he wished to join a sect, he could sell himself for a good price that very day.

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

The main purpose of Shrek Academy's outer courtyard was to provide the descendants of major powers with a place to recruit talented individuals. 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 knocking with offers.

Jiang Yue cast the thought of selling himself aside. That was a last resort. As long as he had a choice, he would not do it.

"Hey! Come out! You've been following me the whole way. What exactly do you want?"

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

What exactly did this person want? Continuing to hide was not an option. Jiang Yue still wanted a normal academy life.

Besides, he had deliberately headed somewhere with few people around. Yet even so, this person had continued following him. Was this stubbornness, or were they simply too naive? Were they not afraid of running into danger?

His voice carried through the surroundings, but there was not the slightest movement nearby.

Somewhat helpless, Jiang Yue summoned the Passionate Sword and slashed a sword qi toward a certain direction, cutting away an entire patch of bushes. With the cover gone, a pinkish-blue figure was exposed.

Seeing Wang Dong's somewhat awkward expression as he looked east and west, refusing to meet his gaze, Jiang Yue put away the Passionate Sword and silently stared at the person before him.

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

"What kind of perverted stalker are you?! I just happened to be passing by, passing by! I was only taking a casual stroll."

"Wow, what a refreshingly original excuse. Tell me, what exactly do you want from following me around? If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, I'll pin you to the ground and beat you up."

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

Apparently thinking that this excuse was excellent, Wang Dong could not help wanting to praise himself. He took out the freshly washed clothes from his storage soul tool and held them right in front of Jiang Yue, his face full of pride.

Sensing that Wang Dong truly meant no harm, Jiang Yue finally put away the Passionate Sword, though he had no intention of reaching out to take the clothes.

"I told you before, didn't I? You don't need to return that outfit. Don't worry, nobody had worn it before. If you don't want it, just throw it away."

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

"Do as you like. If you're not going to get to the point, I'm leaving."

"Wait!"

Seeing that Jiang Yue was about to turn and leave, Wang Dong visibly panicked. He put the clothes back into his storage soul tool, hurried forward, and closed the distance between them.

Although there was no one else around, Wang Dong still did not want to discuss his situation too loudly. What if some sharp-eared passerby overheard? Did he still want to keep his reputation or not?

Shrek Academy's rules did not specifically state what punishment girls would face for entering the boys' dormitory, but Wang Dong's situation was different. He had disguised himself as a boy and moved in directly. If that were discovered, there might not be any substantial punishment, but he would definitely become a topic of idle gossip among the teachers and students.

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

"Oh, that? I saw it."

"I understand that you didn't do it on purpose, so there's no need to rush to deny it... Wait, you just admitted it that casually?!"

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

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

Wang Dong clutched his head, messing up his pink-blue hair. He simply could not understand why Jiang Yue could admit it so readily after he had prepared so many lines.

And why could Jiang Yue say it so lightly?! Shouldn't he have been embarrassed? He did not look at all like a young man who had seen the body of the opposite sex!

"I'm just emotionally stable. You came to me only to confirm whether I'd seen 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 here! You can say something so embarrassing without changing your 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!"

"There's no threat in what you just said. But don't worry, your affairs have nothing to do with me. Even if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't go around blabbing that you're a girl disguised as a boy."

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

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

Shouldn't they have negotiated terms at a time like this? Why had he agreed so easily?

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

"Alright, that's good. Don't worry, since you're helping me keep my secret, I won't treat you poorly. I'll bring you something good next school year."

"Remember this: aside from you and me, my secret cannot be known by a third person! If anyone else finds out, I'll absolutely perish together with you!"

"You're overthinking it. At least ten or twenty people probably already know your secret. No, it can't really be called a secret. It would be more accurate to call it your own little game."

"What?! How is that possible?! My disguise is flawless! I'm using a secret method from my family! Even a Title Douluo wouldn't be able to spot anything wrong! How could so many people know?!"

Hearing Jiang Yue's words, Wang Dong instantly felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss. He refused to believe that so many people knew he was disguising himself as a boy, and for a moment, he could not accept reality.

He did not believe there could be any problem with his family's secret method.

Jiang Yue was certain now. Wang Dong was not the only illiterate one; those rough 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 his own Martial Soul. It really was asking too much of someone who had grown up in an environment where beasts taught him everything.

"What? You don't know the traits of your own Martial Soul?"

"Traits? The Radiant Goddess Butterfly has traits?"

The clear stupidity in Wang Dong's eyes could not have been faked. He clearly truly did not know what traits the Radiant Goddess Butterfly possessed.

Jiang Yue felt that he had still expected too much from the people of Douluo Continent. He had actually thought that a lazy bum like Wang Dong would understand the traits of his own Martial Soul.

This guy had awakened his Martial Soul at the age of three and even possessed innate full soul power, yet he was only a rank twenty-one Grand Soul Master by now. How could such a lazy bum possibly spend time specifically learning about his Martial Soul?

"Perhaps your disguise really is flawless, at least on the surface. Judging by your appearance alone, no one could tell that you're a girl."

"But don't forget, Martial Souls come in all kinds, each with their own traits. Unfortunately for you, the Radiant Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul is one of them. This Martial Soul only appears in female soul masters. In other words, from the very beginning, your disguise was a joke to high-level soul masters or anyone with broader knowledge!"

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

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

"The traits of a rare Martial Soul like the Radiant Goddess Butterfly are known only to those with extensive experience or broad knowledge. In the outer academy, fewer than five people know about this trait."

"I'd guess there's definitely a fairly powerful force behind you. Shrek Academy might not want to interfere, or perhaps they're giving the force behind you some face. That's why they're allowing 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 won't expose you first."

"My suggestion is that you try coming clean to the higher-ups. That way, you'll definitely be assigned a brand-new dormitory. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Wow! How did I not think of that? Well, no matter what, 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 stayed farther away from me. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself from laying a hand on you."

"Hm? Lay... lay a hand on me? Oh—I get it!"

Who knew what Wang Dong thought he understood, but seeing the inexplicable blush on his face, along with that suggestive tone and expression, Jiang Yue was certain that this guy had definitely gotten the wrong idea.

Ignoring Wang Dong, Jiang Yue turned and walked away. Seeing this, Wang Dong immediately followed, silently trailing behind him, lost in thought.

Everything felt a little unreal to Wang Dong. She had never expected the matter to be resolved so smoothly, without the slightest argument or coercion. And she felt that this guy in front of her was not so detestable after all.

He had handed her clothes, agreed to her request so easily, and even explained the traits of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly to her—yet he could still say something as infuriating as he had last night.

Thinking about it now, whether it was last night or just now in the Soul Arena, he had acted like a hedgehog bristling at the slightest provocation. Wang Dong found it rather amusing.

He was basically a good person who just was not good with words. What was that called again? It seemed to be tsundere?

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