The Beaten Work-Study Students! Wang Sheng Calls for Help!

Yun Tian's tone and attitude were both extremely firm, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xiao Wu spoke up at that moment as well.

She tucked both legs up on the stool, tilted her head to study Yu Xiaogang for a while, then curled her lip. "I don't want to either. I know exactly what I'm doing with my cultivation. I don't need anyone else teaching me."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the two children before him with a complicated expression.

He considered himself deeply accomplished in soul master theory. Even the elders of Spirit Hall might not surpass him in martial soul research.

Yet today, he had actually hit a wall before a work-study student who had just enrolled.

"Student Xiao Wu, don't you want to go farther down the path of a soul master?"

"With your talent, if you had proper guidance, your future..."

Unwilling to give up, Yu Xiaogang tried once more.

"I'll walk my own future."

"And honestly, Teacher Yu, I always feel like there's some kind of... how should I put it, something off about your aura. Anyway, I don't like it."

Xiao Wu cut him off, her tone carrying the clear-eyed wisdom unique to a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that had seen the ways of the world.

She spoke very bluntly—so bluntly that a trace of embarrassment flashed across Yu Xiaogang's face.

In truth, Xiao Wu's instincts were exceptionally sharp. After taking human form, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast possessed an almost instinctive sense for danger and human nature.

Though Yu Xiaogang was an upright man, a gloomy aura had lingered around him for years.

It was the resentment and obsession accumulated from years of unfulfilled ambitions, from having his theories repeatedly rejected by authorities. Ordinary people could not detect it, but to an old monster like Xiao Wu, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, it was crystal clear.

By comparison, she found Yun Tian, seated beside her, particularly pleasing to the eye.

This sense of closeness had come out of nowhere, and even she found it strange.

He had clearly slapped her into a wall that morning. By all rights, she should have hated him enough to grit her teeth.

But after that meal, as she sat beside Yun Tian and listened to him chatter on and off,

the earth-element aura emanating from him was gentle and rich,

like a ridge of farmland warmed by the spring sun, making her feel comfortable to the bone.

Perhaps it was the instinct of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast at work.

Both plants and animals relied on earth and water to live.

She had taken human form from a Soft-Boned Rabbit, and deep in her bones was an innate closeness to Mother Earth.

The pure, dense power of the earth element within Yun Tian

felt to her like returning to the safe nest deep in the Star Dou Great Forest.

"Forget it. Since neither of you is willing, I won't force you."

"But there's something I still want to tell you, Yun Tian. Your Earthstone Martial Soul is definitely no ordinary thing. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come find me anytime."

Yu Xiaogang rose to his feet, his expression unreadable.

Yun Tian gave a slight nod, accepting the goodwill.

Yu Xiaogang turned and left, his silhouette casting a long shadow in the slanting rays of the setting sun.

His steps were heavier than when he had arrived, but his back remained straight.

Only after watching him walk away did Xiao Wu lean close to Yun Tian's ear and mutter softly, "Hey, why didn't you agree to him? He really does seem pretty capable."

Yun Tian turned to glance at her. "What about you? Didn't you refuse too?"

"That was... that was instinct!"

Xiao Wu craned her neck stubbornly. "I just think he's not very reliable! But you, how did you know he wasn't reliable?"

The corner of Yun Tian's mouth lifted slightly.

He knew Yu Xiaogang truly was a genius in theory, but he really disliked the man's personality and way of handling things.

He fancied himself clever, handing out guidance from on high as though bestowing charity, always going on about theories and research.

Besides, Yu Xiaogang could only fool a naïve newcomer like Tang San.

He was completely different from an Earth Tiger Armor summoner like him, someone who could run wild the moment he donned his armor.

"Anyway, it just doesn't suit me."

"Let's go. Time to head back and cultivate."

Yun Tian summed it up concisely, rose to his feet, and headed out of the classroom.

Xiao Wu jumped down from the stool and caught up with him in a few strides. "Hey, wait for me! Why are you walking so fast?!"

Under the setting sun, two small figures walked side by side along Nuoding Academy's stone-paved path.

One was steady as a mountain, the other as lively as a rabbit. Two utterly different people walking together somehow formed a strange harmony.

Wang Sheng and the others trailed far behind them. Watching the scene, they could not help muttering, "Boss really is charming. Even a tigress like Xiao Wu has been conquered..."

"Shh! Keep it down! If she hears you, you'll be sleeping in the hallway tonight!"

Xiao Wu's roar came from the distance. "Wang Sheng, what are you muttering about?! Are you talking bad about me again?!"

"No, no! I was praising you!"

Laughter drifted away into the twilight.

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the Seventh Dorm through the window lattice.

Yun Tian sat cross-legged on his bed, meditating with his eyes closed.

After a night of cultivation, the power of the earth element within him had grown richer, and his connection to the ground beneath his feet had become even closer.

The passive enhancement granted by the Earth Tiger Armor never ceased. Even while he slept, the power of the earth continued nourishing his meridians.

No soul master could compare to this method of cultivation.

Bang!

The dormitory door was violently slammed open from outside, and Wang Sheng stumbled in.

Yun Tian opened his eyes and saw that Wang Sheng's face was bruised and swollen, blood staining the corner of his mouth. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle, clearly broken.

"Boss... Boss, this is bad... Something huge happened!"

Wang Sheng panted heavily, bracing himself against the doorframe to remain standing. His voice trembled with suppressed fury and humiliation.

Yun Tian flipped off the bed and hurried over to support him. "Who did this?"

"That Xiao Chenyu... the leader of the noble students you beat up in the cafeteria yesterday!"

Wang Sheng gritted his teeth. "Early this morning, he brought a bunch of people to block the work-study students' dormitory. They beat up every one they saw. Old Zhang, five others, and I all got beaten. Old Zhang got it the worst—his head was split open, and they took him to the infirmary. Xiao Chenyu told me to pass along a message..."

Wang Sheng took a deep breath. "He told you to go to the grassy field behind the mountain right now. Otherwise, the work-study students can forget about having a good life at the academy from now on. There's also an eleventh-level soul master with him. Both of them have soul rings and soul skills. Boss, you... it's too dangerous for you to go alone."

Yun Tian was not surprised after hearing this. He had actually expected it long ago.

"Where's Tang San?" Yun Tian asked.

"Tang San went out with the master early this morning. He said they were going to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain his first soul ring. He probably won't be back until tonight. Xiao Wu... Sister Xiao Wu wasn't here this morning either. No idea where she went."

Yun Tian nodded.

Tang San was gone, and Xiao Wu was gone. At this moment, he was the only one in the Seventh Dorm who could fight.

Besides Xiao Chenyu, the other side had another helper with one soul ring as well. Two eleventh-level soul masters joining forces had clearly come fully prepared to deal with him.

But for all their calculations, they had failed to account for one thing—his strength was enough to crush this bunch with ease!