Assistant Instructor?

Sensing someone approaching, Xiling opened his eyes and saw Gu Yue walking over briskly. He understood at once.

Although he knew why Gu Yue had come over, he still smiled and greeted her. "Gu Yue, did you need something from me?"

Meeting his gaze, Gu Yue inexplicably felt her heart tighten. It was that feeling again, as though he had seen right through her. It was as if she had no secrets at all before this boy.

It made Gu Yue deeply uncomfortable. The words on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back down. "Nothing."

Xiling was surprised instead. Hadn't she come over because of her bet with Na'er, to get close to him?

Could it be that he had been flattering himself? Was this one of life's three great illusions?

Xiling shook his head helplessly and packed up his things. "If there's nothing, Gu Yue, I'll be going. See you this afternoon."

Without waiting for Gu Yue to react, he took a step forward and vanished from the spot in an instant.

Staring at the empty space before her, Gu Yue smacked her forehead, her face full of frustration.

What was she doing?!

After calming down for quite a while, Gu Yue silently warned herself, Next time... next time, I absolutely can't lose my composure in front of him again.

After returning home, Xiling first checked on Leng Yulai. Seeing that she had indeed cleaned the room, he nodded in satisfaction.

Leng Yulai sat slumped in a corner of the room, still wearing her bloodstained clothes. Her face was pale as paper, and her brows were laden with boundless hatred and utter humiliation.

Benares remained coiled nearby, watching her without pause.

Xiling casually took a wooden table from his storage space and set out a few simple dishes. His gaze fell upon the rigid Leng Yulai.

"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd behaved like this from the start? I only seriously injure you once in a while. It's not like I'm taking your life."

"Behave yourself, and you'll suffer less."

Leng Yulai slowly raised her bloodshot eyes. Her crimson gaze locked onto the boy before her, and she nearly ground her teeth to pieces.

Her hatred had nowhere to go, yet she could do nothing about it.

Xiling did not care in the slightest about the venomous resentment surging in her eyes. To him, what Leng Yulai thought did not matter at all.

As for whether he felt guilty treating her this way, he had one thing to declare first: Evil Soul Masters were not human.

Xiling could not be bothered to pay Leng Yulai any further attention. After placing the food by the table, he turned and left.

The barrier isolating the space closed once more, completely blocking off that hate-filled gaze within.

The afternoon class was still physical training. The promised theory lesson was canceled by Wu Zhangkong with a single sentence: "With your current physical fitness, what theory are you planning to study?"

Xiling even egged things on from the side, making the training far more intense than in the original story.

After a full day of physical training, these nine-year-old children were almost all sprawled on the ground, completely unwilling to move. Their hatred for Xiling was immense.

"Xiling, Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, come find me after dinner." Wu Zhangkong's voice rang out before class ended.

Upon hearing his name, Xie Xie, who had been sprawled on the ground, instantly pulled a miserable face. His entire body was weak and aching, and he could only barely stand with Tang Wulin supporting him.

Gu Yue was doing much better than the others, but she was still panting from exhaustion.

Xiling walked over and glanced at them, his gaze finally landing on Xie Xie. He grinned. "Xie Xie, that's all you've got?"

"It's one thing to lose to little Wulin, but you're even weaker than Gu Yue, a girl."

"Brother Ling, you don't have to train, so of course it's easy for you to talk!" Xie Xie wailed irritably. His legs would not stop trembling. "Teacher Wu is practically training us to death, and you're still egging him on from the side!"

"I don't understand. We agility-type Battle Soul Masters only need explosive bursts and flexibility. Why do we have to do this physical training at all?!"

Xie Xie's wail drew a helpless smile from Tang Wulin beside him. He was exhausted too, his whole body aching, but he was nowhere near as bad off as Xie Xie.

Gu Yue stood nearby, breathing lightly as she looked at Xiling beside her. Her fingers curled slightly.

The warning she had given herself that morning echoed through her mind again and again. She absolutely could not lose her composure in front of Xiling again.

Seeing Xie Xie's miserable expression, Xiling's smile widened. He teased, "Who says stamina isn't important? When you're doing that with your girlfriend someday, are you going to pass out before she does?"

The moment those words came out, Xie Xie's face turned bright red. He stammered for ages without managing to say anything, his exhausted expression now carrying a touch of embarrassment.

Tang Wulin, standing beside them, did not quite understand what the words meant and merely looked at them both with a confused expression.

Gu Yue's ears instantly flushed scarlet. She reflexively turned her face away, avoiding everyone's eyes, both embarrassed and annoyed.

How could this man say something so frivolous in public?!

Only then did Xiling belatedly remember that Gu Yue was standing beside him. He coughed awkwardly and reined in his teasing expression.

"Alright, go eat first. Tonight's training won't be any easier than this afternoon's."

The group answered and headed toward the cafeteria together.

Along the way, Gu Yue deliberately kept a neither-too-close-nor-too-distant distance from Xiling. Yet her gaze kept slipping uncontrollably toward his back.

She wanted to get closer and say something, but she did not know what to say.

That evening, Wu Zhangkong brought the four of them to an indoor training ground behind the academy.

The training ground was circular, with a Soul Guidance protective barrier inside. It was a place for students with relatively high cultivation to train their Martial Souls.

"Starting today, you will undergo special training with me every night, working toward the Class Promotion Tournament three months from now."

"And Xiling will serve as my assistant instructor."

The moment he said that, Xie Xie's eyes widened, his face filled with despair as he wailed:

"No way, Teacher Wu! Brother Ling as the assistant instructor? You were already brutal enough this afternoon. With him added in, won't we be trained to death?!"

Just thinking of how Xiling had egged things on that afternoon made him shudder. Wu Zhangkong was already harsh, and with another Xiling who loved stirring things up, the days of special training ahead would be nothing but darkness!

Hearing Wu Zhangkong's arrangement for him, a smile immediately curved Xiling's lips. This was much more interesting than merely watching from the sidelines.

Wu Zhangkong ignored Xie Xie's wailing. His gaze first fell on Tang Wulin. "Tang Wulin, your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. The reason I chose you for the Class Promotion Tournament back then was because I had no other choice."

"Now that Gu Yue has arrived, you've seen her strength and talent. What I said will not be taken back."

"However, you must show me that you truly deserve to represent Class Five. If you fail to meet my requirements before the Class Promotion Tournament, then I will only send two people."

"Yes." Although he had prepared himself mentally, Tang Wulin still felt somewhat dejected. Talent was, in the end, his greatest weakness.

"Teacher, what are we training tonight? It won't be physical training again, will it?" Xie Xie's focus was clearly elsewhere.

"Of course not," Wu Zhangkong said. "No matter what kind of training we do, there is only one goal: to improve your strength."

"Strength is divided into hard strength and soft strength. And in my view, all strength comes from actual combat."

"Therefore, your special training will consist solely of actual combat. Use actual combat to draw out your potential and improve your combat experience. Do you understand?"