"So you're that kind of person... saying something like that to a girl so casually..."
"But do you think you have what it takes?"
"You!"
Dai Mubai finally erupted.
The White Tiger did not show its might, and she really thought he was a sickly cat.
His level thirty-seven Soul Power poured out without restraint. His violent aura swept outward in every direction like a tangible hurricane centered on him. Xiao Wu and Oscar were forced back several steps by the pressure at the same time. Tang San sank his stance, planting his feet firmly as he shielded Xiao Wu behind him.
The direct target of that Soul Power impact was Ning Rongrong.
In the original course of events, this strike would have sent Ning Rongrong flying, leaving her aching all over and crying on the spot.
But now—
Ning Rongrong lightly tapped the ground with her left foot.
The power of Wind Empress Qimen activated instantly.
Her body seemed to be standing on an impossibly smooth sheet of ice. Borrowing the force of Dai Mubai's Soul Power impact, not only was she not blasted away, she smoothly slid five meters to the side and landed steadily.
Her white dress fluttered in the night breeze, her short hair flying.
Her landing posture was as light as a flower petal caught by the wind.
Dai Mubai's pupils suddenly contracted.
She dodged it?
He cursed that damned soul skill inwardly. At the same time, his expression darkened with embarrassment as he prepared to strike again.
A faint sound came from above.
"Splash!"
A basin-sized ball of water appeared out of nowhere two meters directly above Dai Mubai's head. There was no warning, no precursor of Soul Power fluctuations. Driven by gravity and Ning Rongrong's will, it crashed down and drenched Dai Mubai from head to toe.
Icy water streamed down his golden hair and poured into his collar, soaking his fitted clothes through.
Dai Mubai froze where he stood.
Droplets fell from the tips of his hair, striking the ground one by one.
Moonlight illuminated his handsome yet gloomy face, along with the wet golden hair plastered to both sides of his cheeks.
The training ground fell deathly silent.
Xiao Wu covered her mouth.
Oscar's sausage nearly fell from his hand for the second time.
Tang San's brow twitched.
The corner of Zhu Zhuqing's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Ning Rongrong stood five meters away, her hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted.
"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 vanished from his Evil-Eyed White Tiger eyes.
"Ning Rongrong!"
His voice changed. It was no longer the low, threatening tone from before, but a deep roar that surged up from the depths of his chest, so low it trembled.
"You're courting death!"
Three Soul Rings rose beneath his feet. Two yellow, one purple.
Martial Soul Possession.
His bones expanded and his muscles swelled. Fine white tiger stripes spread from his neck to his arms. Sharp tiger claws sprang from the tips of his fingers, reflecting a chilling gleam beneath the moonlight. His evil eyes completely transformed into two clusters of icy blue ghostly flame as they fixed on Ning Rongrong.
Evil-Eyed White Tiger. Full-power form.
This was no longer intimidation. It was a killing move.
The full combat state of a level thirty-seven Soul Elder, against a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster.
Ning Rongrong's pupils shrank.
She could feel the pressure bearing down on her. Zhao Wuji had been powerful during the assessment that day, but he had shown restraint. Dai Mubai had none at this moment. He was truly enraged.
What a powerful aura.
A fine layer of sweat seeped across Ning Rongrong's forehead.
Yet the corners of her lips rose instead.
"Tang San!"
As she used Wind Empress Qimen to alter the elasticity of the ground beneath her feet and launch herself away from Dai Mubai's first charge, she shouted loudly.
"I'll 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, though she still wore a smile.
"No, ten thousand! Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
She raised the offer while dodging, speaking rapidly.
"Aren't you poor and short on money? As long as you help me beat up this mad tiger, you'll have all the Gold Soul Coins you want!"
Tang San shook his head expressionlessly.
"This is between you and Mubai." His voice was calm. "Mubai and I are good brothers. Not helping him already counts as showing you mercy."
He reached out and stopped Xiao Wu, who was eager to rush in and mediate.
"Xiao Wu, don't interfere."
Xiao Wu pursed her lips and stopped.
During her second dodge, Ning Rongrong nearly had her shoulder grazed by Dai Mubai's tiger claws, and cold sweat instantly ran down her back. That was close. Far too close.
She swiftly adjusted her direction while moving and looked toward Xiao Wu.
"Xiao Wu! Help me beat him up! I'll bring you delicious food every day from now on! You can pick anything you want from every pastry shop in Suotuo City!"
Xiao Wu's eyes lit up for an instant. But Tang San's hand was firmly resting 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 cold face revealing no attitude at all.
"Zhu Qing! You can join in too if you want!"
Zhu Zhuqing swept her gaze between Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai before speaking blandly.
"This is too complicated. I won't get involved."
Ning Rongrong helplessly spread her hands and grinned.
"Fine."
She straightened up.
"Looks like counting on you people was useless."
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda emerged from her right palm. Two yellow Soul Rings rose.
"Seven Treasures Turn, Glazed Light Emerges."
Seven-colored light enveloped her body. Her speed and strength increased at the same time.
She extended her left hand, pushing Wind Empress Qimen to its limit. The ground beneath her began undergoing subtle changes centered around her. The flow of air changed, the temperature distribution changed, and even the hardness and elasticity of the ground rearranged themselves at her will.
Ning Rongrong's expression turned serious.
"Then let me see whether my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Wind Empress Qimen can defeat a stinking tiger like you."
Dai Mubai's tiger claws flashed with a sinister chill beneath the moonlight.
Ning Rongrong kicked off the ground, her figure shooting 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 and could only rely on speed and footwork to harass him constantly.
From time to time, she formed water bullets and earthen spikes to interfere. Their power was limited, but each one struck at precisely the right moment, interrupting Dai Mubai's attacking rhythm.
Dai Mubai grew more violent the longer he fought. His tiger claws became fiercer with every strike, and White Tiger Fierce Light Wave blasted out one after another, leaving the training ground riddled with craters.
But Ning Rongrong was like an impossibly slippery loach. He simply could not catch her.
The feeling drove him mad.
Why could a Soul Grandmaster eleven entire levels 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.
Killing intent boiled to its peak in Dai Mubai's evil eyes. All four of his Soul Rings lit up at once, and his Soul Power surged to its limit.
Evil-Eyed White Tiger, complete form.
Tiger stripes spread across his entire body, and his frame swelled by another size. That pressure made even Xiao Wu unconsciously take a step back.
He was going all out.
Ning Rongrong sensed the change as well.
She gravely considered whether to meet the attack or continue dodging.
But in the next moment, she no longer had to make that choice herself.
A deep shout exploded from the night.
"Enough!"
At that instant, everyone's body was pinned in place by an invisible and enormous force.
Six Soul Rings emerged from the darkness at the edge of the training ground. One white, one yellow, three purple, and one black.
A white-haired figure holding a thick Panlong Staff strode into the moonlight. Li Yusong's face was livid, and two words were written across his rigid, nearly emotionless features.
Furious rage.
"Fighting in private in the middle of the night."
His voice seemed squeezed from between cracks in stone, hoarse and cold.
"Disregarding academy rules."
The Panlong Staff gleamed with dark metallic light beneath the moon.
"One strike each."
Dai Mubai was in the midst of his full-power eruption, his attention entirely locked onto 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 explosion rang out.
Dai Mubai, a level thirty-seven Soul Elder in the complete form of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, was sent flying sideways by a single strike.
Then, with almost no pause, the Panlong Staff swept toward Ning Rongrong with a fierce gust of wind.
But just before the staff shadow touched her body, Ning Rongrong vanished into thin air.
Wind Empress Qimen. Spatial shift.
Ning Rongrong appeared three meters away and landed firmly on both feet. Her short hair was lifted by the blast of air before falling back down, while a corner of her white dress fluttered.
She stood there beneath 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 staff strike missed.
The Panlong Staff carved an arc through the air, and its residual force swept up dust and sand from the ground.
The old man paused.
His white hair drifted faintly in the night breeze, and a trace of surprise appeared on his rigid, stern face.
That strike had been intended as punishment, and he had controlled its force perfectly. If it hit a Soul Grandmaster in the twenties, it would hurt for a while at most, and two days of rest would be enough. It was the same measure of force as the strike he had used on Dai Mubai.
Yet this girl had dodged it.
Even Dai Mubai, a level thirty-seven Soul Elder, had failed to dodge. Yet she, a level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster, had avoided it.
Li Yusong's expression darkened.
He turned around and slammed the Panlong Staff against the ground, producing a heavy thud. His cold gaze locked onto Ning Rongrong three meters away.
"Incorrigible."
The four words were forced from his throat, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper scraping iron.
"You made a mistake. Taking one honest strike from this old man would have been enough. Yet you dared dodge?"
He took one step forward.
"You refuse your punishment?"
Another step.
"You deserve a beating."
Li Yusong's aura suddenly bore down on her. Six Soul Rings faintly floated beneath his feet, and the pressure of a Soul Emperor enveloped an area ten meters around him.
Ning Rongrong's body stiffened slightly under the pressure, but she gritted her teeth and did not retreat.
Li Yusong snorted coldly, his gaze turning even colder.
"Don't even dream that those 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 sneaky fellows were stopped outside the academy and driven away by this old man long ago."
Before you continue