Battle Against Dai Mubai, Li Yusong Makes a Move!

"So that's the kind of person you are... saying something like that to a girl so casually..."

"But do you think you have what it takes?"

"You!"

Dai Mubai finally exploded.

If the White Tiger doesn't show its might, you really think I'm some sickly cat.

His thirty-seventh-rank soul power poured out without restraint. His violent aura swept outward from him like a tangible hurricane. Xiao Wu and Oscar were both forced back several steps by the pressure. Tang San sank his stance, planting his feet firmly as he shielded Xiao Wu behind him.

The direct target of that soul power blast was Ning Rongrong.

In the original course of events, that strike would have sent Ning Rongrong flying, leaving her aching all over and crying on the spot.

But now—

Ning Rongrong lightly tapped her left foot against the ground.

The power of Wind Empress Qimen activated instantly.

Her body seemed to be standing on an incomparably slick sheet of ice. Borrowing the force of Dai Mubai's soul power blast, she was not sent flying at all. Instead, she smoothly slid five meters to the side and landed steadily.

Her white dress fluttered in the night wind, her short hair flowing behind her.

She landed as lightly as a flower petal swept up by the breeze.

Dai Mubai's pupils suddenly contracted.

She dodged it?

He cursed that damned soul skill of hers inwardly. At the same time, unable to save face, he was about to attack again.

A soft sound came from overhead.

"Splash!"

A basin-sized ball of water appeared out of thin air two meters directly above Dai Mubai. There was no warning, not even the slightest precursor of soul power fluctuations. Under the combined effects of gravity and Ning Rongrong's will, the water ball came crashing down, drenching Dai Mubai from head to toe.

Icy water streamed down his golden hair and poured into his collar, soaking his fitted combat clothes through.

Dai Mubai froze on the spot.

Droplets fell from the tips of his hair, splashing onto the ground one by one.

Moonlight illuminated his handsome yet gloomy face, as well as the wet golden hair plastered against both sides of his cheeks.

A deathly silence fell over the training ground.

Xiao Wu covered her mouth.

Oscar's sausage nearly fell from his hand for the second time.

Tang San's eyebrows twitched.

The corner of Zhu Zhuqing's mouth gave the faintest twitch.

Standing five meters away with her hands behind her back, Ning Rongrong tilted her head.

"Oops," she said with complete innocence. "My hand slipped."

Dai Mubai raised a hand and slowly wiped the water from his face.

The last glimmer of reason in his evil eyes went out.

"Ning Rongrong!"

His voice changed. It was no longer the low, threatening tone from before, but a deep, trembling roar that surged from the depths of his chest.

"You're courting death!"

Three soul rings rose beneath his feet. Two yellow and one purple.

The White Tiger martial soul possessed him.

His bones swelled and his muscles bulged. Fine white tiger markings spread from his neck to his arms. Sharp tiger claws extended from the tips of his fingers, reflecting a chilling glint beneath the moonlight. His evil eyes completely transformed into two ghostly flames of icy blue as they fixed on Ning Rongrong.

Evil-Eyed White Tiger. Full-power form.

This was no longer intimidation. This was a killing move.

The full combat state of a thirty-seventh-rank Soul Elder, directed against a twenty-sixth-rank Grand Soul Master.

Ning Rongrong's pupils shrank slightly.

She could feel the crushing pressure bearing down on her. Zhao Wuji had been powerful during the assessment that day, but he had held back. Dai Mubai was not holding back now. He was truly enraged.

What a powerful aura.

A fine layer of sweat formed on Ning Rongrong's forehead.

Yet the corners of her lips curled upward instead.

"Tang San!"

As she used Wind Empress Qimen to alter the springiness of the ground beneath her feet and launch herself away from Dai Mubai's first charge, she shouted loudly.

"This young lady will pay one thousand gold soul coins! Help me beat him up!"

Tang San did not move.

Dai Mubai's tiger claws swept through the spot where Ning Rongrong had stood a second earlier, carving five deep claw marks into the ground. Ning Rongrong had already slid ten meters away, her white dress fluttering as she panted heavily, though a smile still hung on her face.

"No, ten thousand! Ten thousand gold soul coins!"

She raised the offer while dodging, speaking at a rapid pace.

"Aren't you poor and short on money? As long as you help this young lady beat up this mad tiger, you'll have all the gold soul coins you could want!"

Tang San shook his head expressionlessly.

"This is between you and Mubai." His voice remained calm. "Mubai and I are good brothers. Not helping him already counts as going easy on you."

He reached out and stopped Xiao Wu, who was eager to rush in and mediate.

"Xiao Wu, don't interfere."

Xiao Wu pouted and stopped.

During her second dodge, Ning Rongrong nearly had her shoulder grazed by Dai Mubai's tiger claws, and cold sweat instantly broke out down her back. That was close. Too close.

As she moved, she swiftly adjusted her direction and looked toward Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu! Help this young lady beat him up! I'll bring you delicious food every day from now on! You can pick whatever you want from every pastry shop in Soto City!"

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up for a moment. But Tang San's hand rested firmly on her shoulder, so she could only look at Ning Rongrong longingly and shake her head.

Ning Rongrong clicked her tongue.

Her gaze shifted to Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing stood in the distance, her icy face revealing no attitude at all.

"Zhuqing! You can join in if you're interested!"

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze swept between Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai before she spoke flatly.

"This is too complicated. I'm not getting involved."

Ning Rongrong spread her hands helplessly and grinned.

"Fine."

She straightened up.

"Looks like it's useless to count on any of you."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda emerged from her right palm. Two soul rings rose, both yellow.

"Seven Treasures Turn, Glazed Light Emerges."

Seven-colored light enveloped her body. Her speed and strength were enhanced at once.

She extended her left hand, pushing Wind Empress Qimen to its fullest. The ground beneath her feet began to undergo subtle changes centered on her. The flow of the air changed, the distribution of temperature changed, and even the hardness and elasticity of the earth rearranged themselves under her will.

Ning Rongrong's expression turned serious.

"Then let this young lady see whether my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Wind Empress Qimen can beat a stinking tiger like you."

Dai Mubai's tiger claws flashed with an eerie cold gleam beneath the moonlight.

Ning Rongrong pushed off the ground and shot forward.

Their figures crossed on the training ground.

Relying on Wind Empress Qimen's real-time alterations to the terrain and air, Ning Rongrong darted back and forth within Dai Mubai's attack range.

She did not dare take his attacks head-on. She could only use her speed and positioning to continuously harass him.

From time to time, she condensed water pellets and earth spikes to disrupt him. Their power was limited, but every strike landed at exactly the right time, breaking Dai Mubai's attacking rhythm.

Dai Mubai grew more irritable with every exchange. His tiger claws became fiercer and fiercer, and he repeatedly unleashed White Tiger Fierce Light Wave, blasting the training ground full of craters.

But Ning Rongrong was like a slippery loach. No matter what he did, he could not catch her.

The feeling drove him mad.

Why could a Grand Soul Master a full eleven ranks below him keep tangling with him for so long?

"Stand still!" Dai Mubai roared.

"Only an idiot would stand still." Ning Rongrong's voice came from behind him.

He spun around sharply.

Ning Rongrong had already slid another eight meters away.

The killing intent in Dai Mubai's evil eyes boiled to its peak. All four of his soul rings flared brightly as his soul power rose to its limit.

Evil-Eyed White Tiger, complete form.

Tiger markings spread across his entire body, and his frame swelled by another size. Even Xiao Wu unconsciously took a step back under that pressure.

He was going all out.

Ning Rongrong sensed the change as well.

She considered gravely whether she should meet his attack or continue dodging.

But in the next moment, she no longer needed to make that choice herself.

A deep, furious shout exploded from the night.

"Enough!"

Everyone's bodies were pinned in place at the same instant by an invisible, overwhelming force.

Six soul rings rose from the darkness at the edge of the training ground. One white, one yellow, three purple, and one black.

A white-haired figure strode into the moonlight, holding a thick Panlong Staff. Li Yusong's face was livid, and two words were written across his stern, nearly emotionless features.

Towering rage.

"Fighting privately in the middle of the night."

His voice seemed to squeeze out from between stones, hoarse and icy.

"Disregarding the academy's rules."

The Panlong Staff glinted with dull metallic light beneath the moon.

"One strike each."

Dai Mubai was in the midst of his full-power eruption, his attention completely fixed on Ning Rongrong. When Li Yusong appeared, he did not even have time to withdraw his attack.

The shadow of the Panlong Staff was faster than moonlight.

"Bang!"

A dull impact exploded.

Dai Mubai, a thirty-seventh-rank Soul Elder in the complete form of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, was sent flying sideways by a single strike.

Then, almost seamlessly, the Panlong Staff swept toward Ning Rongrong with a fierce gust of wind.

But just before the staff shadow could touch her body, Ning Rongrong vanished into thin air.

Wind Empress Qimen. Spatial displacement.

Ning Rongrong appeared three meters away and landed firmly on both feet. Her short hair was lifted by the shockwave before falling back down, and one corner of her white dress fluttered.

She stood there under the moonlight, her face slightly pale but still stubborn. Her almond-shaped eyes stared at Li Yusong as her chest rose and fell.

Li Yusong's strike missed.

The Panlong Staff traced an arc through the air, its residual force whipping up sand and dirt from the ground.

The old man's movement paused.

His white hair drifted slightly in the night breeze, and a trace of surprise appeared on his stern, rigid face.

That strike had been meant as punishment. He had controlled its force perfectly. Against a Grand Soul Master in their twenties, it would hurt for a while at most, and they would recover after two days of rest. It had been measured with the same restraint as the strike he had just used on Dai Mubai.

But this girl had dodged.

Even Dai Mubai, a thirty-seventh-rank Soul Elder, had failed to dodge. Yet she, a twenty-sixth-rank Grand Soul Master, had dodged it.

Li Yusong's expression darkened.

He turned around and slammed the Panlong Staff against the ground with a heavy thud. His cold gaze locked onto Ning Rongrong three meters away.

"Stubborn beyond reason."

The four words squeezed from his throat, hoarse as sandpaper scraping against iron.

"You made a mistake. You should have just obediently taken this old man's strike. And you dared dodge?"

He took a step forward.

"Refusing your punishment?"

Another step.

"You deserve a beating."

Li Yusong's aura suddenly pressed down on her. Six soul rings floated faintly beneath his feet, and the pressure of a Soul Emperor covered a radius of ten meters.

Ning Rongrong's body stiffened slightly beneath that pressure, but she gritted her teeth and did not retreat.

Li Yusong snorted coldly, his gaze turning even colder.

"Don't even think that the scouts and guards from your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect can protect you." The tip of his staff pointed toward the darkness beyond the academy walls. "Those sneaking cowards were stopped outside the academy and driven off by this old man long ago."