Xiao Xiao Decides to Take the Initiative?

Beads of fine sweat covered Ning Tian's fair forehead.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand trembled slightly, its glow noticeably dimmer than before.

Nanmen Yun'er's wings quivered faintly behind her, and the knuckles of her clenched fists had turned white.

As for Wu Feng, she was practically half-kneeling on the ground.

Her legs shook violently as she desperately tried to stand, only to find that her body would not obey her at all.

Jiang Ziming stopped before them and raised the hilt of his sword slightly.

His voice was as calm as if he were greeting a neighbor:

"Should I draw my sword, or..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three girls.

"Or will you step down on your own?"

Ning Tian raised her head and looked at the sword-wielding boy before her.

There was a trace of despair in the girl's eyes, but also a peculiar glimmer that even she herself had not noticed...

She opened her mouth, ready to say the words, "We surrender."

But at that moment—

"Heh..."

A stubborn, cold laugh sounded beside her.

Gritting her teeth, Wu Feng summoned all her strength and went from "half-kneeling on the ground" to "half-squatting on the ground."

Her legs were still trembling, and her face was pale, but an unyielding fire burned in her eyes.

"You actually dare make me, Wu Feng, surrender..."

Before the red-haired girl could finish—

Jiang Ziming moved the next instant.

Clang!!!

A fierce sword light suddenly slashed forth, nearly splitting the air apart!

An ear-piercing sonic boom followed!

Boom!!!

A violent gale erupted!

The fierce wind instantly whipped Wu Feng's red hair into a mess, like seaweed caught in an ocean whirlpool!

In that instant, Wu Feng felt as though all the blood in her body had frozen solid.

Even her consciousness seemed to vanish for a moment.

By the time she came back to herself—

The sword tip, carrying the aura of death and glinting with cold light, was already lightly pressed before her delicate nose.

Less than a millimeter from her skin.

Jiang Ziming stood before her, looking down at her with a gentle smile on his face—one that could even be called doting.

Yet Wu Feng felt as though an invisible hand had seized her heart in a tight grip.

She had already lost all feeling in her lower body.

Thud.

The girl dropped to her knees.

In her blurred vision, all she could see was the boy's straight trouser legs.

And worse still...

A patch of moisture quietly spread across the floor beneath her.

On the stage, Ning Tian, who stood closest, was the first to react.

At first, she felt relieved that Jiang Ziming had held back and had not truly brought his sword down.

Then, she noticed the unusual sight on the ground beside Wu Feng's thigh.

Ning Tian froze.

The next instant, her cheeks turned bright red.

As the clever young lady of the prestigious Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, of course she knew what it was.

One strike from Jiang Ziming's sword—

Had actually scared Feng into...

Peeing herself?

Ning Tian bit her soft lip, her cheeks burning as she quickly raised her hand. Her voice carried a trace of urgency and embarrassment.

"W-We surrender!"

The proctor also came back to his senses and instinctively confirmed:

"Freshman Class Nine, Ning Tian's team, do you confirm your surrender?"

"Confirmed!"

Ning Tian's answer was decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

The proctor nodded and announced loudly:

"The match is over! The winners are—Freshman Class One, Jiang Ziming's team!"

The spectator stands fell deathly silent.

Everyone was still immersed in the shock of that sword light and those two purple soul rings.

For a long time, no one came back to their senses.

The first day of the elimination rounds came to a temporary close.

As Jiang Ziming's team left the arena, they could feel gazes converging on them from every direction.

Freshmen, senior students, and teachers drafted from various departments to serve as referees...

Almost all of them unconsciously fixed their eyes on that boy who had made such a stunning debut.

Before Jiang Ziming's eyes, "emotion point comments" kept flooding past.

He paid them no attention and led the two girls on his team toward the cafeteria.

Below the stage.

Du Weilun, the dean of the Martial Soul Department's Outer Court, watched the boy's elegant retreating figure from afar and could not help swallowing.

After teaching for so many years, he had truly never seen any student at the two-ring level unleash such overwhelming pressure.

The instant that sword appeared, even he, an eight-ring Soul Douluo standing so far away, had felt a tremor rise from the depths of his soul!

There was no mistake.

That sword had to be an incredibly powerful weapon martial soul!

It might even be... a god-tier martial soul!

Such an outstanding seedling had to be reported to the dean immediately!

With that thought, Du Weilun had no desire to watch the following matches. His figure flashed, and he hurried away.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria.

As it was nearing the dining rush, the hall was packed with people and bustling with activity.

Jiang Ziming found a window seat, then went to the dessert counter and swiped his card for two extra-large sundaes, one for each girl, placing them on the table.

There was nothing in front of him except a free cup of plain water.

This was his apology for "hiding his strength."

Holding her extra-large green apple sundae, Xiao Xiao scooped up a spoonful and put it into her mouth, her eyes immediately lighting up.

But she quickly put on a stern little face and spoke in a deliberately serious tone.

"Ziming, you went too far! You have such powerful twin martial souls, yet you even hid them from me!"

She paused, a hint of indignation entering her voice.

"I clearly told everyone about my twin martial souls! But you? You kept yours hidden!"

Wang Donger lightly bit her ice cream spoon and gave an adorably blank huff in agreement.

"You put on quite a show, huh? You were hiding it just to mess with them, right? For the first ten matches, the two of us girls did all the fighting while you loafed around in the back. Aren't you ashamed?"

Jiang Ziming apologized repeatedly.

"My fault, my fault. Then I'll handle all the upcoming elimination matches myself, okay?"

Xiao Xiao blinked her large emerald eyes and puffed out her cheeks.

"You want to take all the glory for yourself?"

A bit of ice cream clung to Wang Donger's rosy lips as she gave a muffled snort.

"Jiang Ziming is such a scumbag. If the opponent is a girl, he can't even bear to fight her and just persuades her to surrender."

Jiang Ziming was speechless. These two little tyrants really are hard to please.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, spreading a patch of warm light across the tabletop.

At the surrounding tables, quite a few students were secretly glancing in their direction.

[Ding!]

[You drew your sword in the arena just now and scared many people into tears. A few students saw you in the cafeteria and ran away crying—Emotion Points +99!]

[Several senior students saw you going on a date with two such adorable girls at once. They were so jealous they wanted to hug the cafeteria tables and gnaw on them—Emotion Points +99!]

[Some passing senior girls noticed that you had angered two beautiful girls at once and silently called you a "scumbag" in their hearts—Emotion Points +99!]

...

Jiang Ziming ignored the constantly popping up "comments" and took a sip of plain water.

Suddenly, Xiao Xiao looked at the empty space in front of the boy, then at the extra-large green apple sundae before her, and asked:

"Ziming, why are you only treating us? Aren't you eating any yourself?"

Jiang Ziming answered casually:

"I'm not really fond of desserts."

In truth, it was because Xiao Wu had recently been trying to learn how to make all sorts of desserts every day.

Cake, egg tarts, double-skin milk, pudding...

Every day when he returned to the dormitory, several new varieties would be laid out on the table. He had eaten so much that he was getting a little sick of them.

Xiao Xiao gave an "oh," lowered her head, and continued scooping up ice cream.

Several seconds passed in silence.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, she raised her head with a blush on her face, scooped up a spoonful of ice cream from her own cup, and held the spoon out to the boy's lips.

"It's actually really delicious..."

Her voice carried a trace of shyness, though she tried hard to appear calm.

"Try some."

Jiang Ziming froze.

Wang Donger, seated diagonally across from them, widened her blue-pink eyes. She stared blankly at the two people in front of her, unable to process what had just happened.