Late at night.
In the Eastsea Academy boys' dormitory, moonlight streamed through the window, spilling silver-white across the floor.
Xie Xie suddenly sat bolt upright in bed, gasping heavily as cold sweat slid down his cheeks. His hands instinctively flew to his neck, his fingertips touching something sticky.
The scene from his dream remained vivid: Dark Earl's four sharp fangs had clamped tightly around his throat. The suffocating sensation and threat of death had felt so real, as if he would be drained of every drop of blood and die the next second.
"Hu... hu..."
Xie Xie lowered his head and looked at his trembling hands. Under the moonlight, he could clearly see that there was no blood on his hands or body, only a layer of glistening cold sweat. His pajamas were already soaked through, clinging tightly to him.
He had no idea how many times that month he had been jolted awake by the same nightmare.
What happened at the Soul Guidance Train Station was the first time Xie Xie had truly felt the threat of death. That helplessness, that fear of losing his life at any moment, had made him realize that the talent he had always been so proud of was utterly insignificant before true powerhouses.
Xie Xie took a deep breath and turned toward the other bed.
Tang Wulin was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed, faint Soul Power fluctuations lingering around him. He was using meditation to cultivate in place of sleep, night after night. That level of diligence made Xie Xie ashamed of himself.
Meanwhile, Yun Xiao and Zhou Changxi were sleeping soundly in the other two beds, their faint snores rising and falling.
"Those two guys... they're really enviable," Xie Xie muttered. He threw back his blanket, quietly walked