Practical Combat Class, Arena Brawls

The next morning, daylight shone bright.

Wang Dong woke groggily, rubbed her eyes, and looked around the room. Huh? Where did Yu Chen go?

She did not dwell on it. Rolling over, she climbed out of bed. She had slept exceptionally soundly last night, the blankets filled with Yu Chen's scent. Hugging the quilt, she had unknowingly fallen into a deep sleep.

Just as she lowered her head to tidy the pillow, she suddenly froze. There was a huge wet patch on it—it was her drool from when she had been asleep.

I'm done for! I'm done for! Wang Dong panicked, instinctively wanting to suck it back up. Then she realized how absurd that was and hurriedly wiped at it in a fluster, frantically praying that Yu Chen would not see it. Otherwise, her sweet and perfect image would shatter completely.

Her cheeks burned hot, and she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground on the spot. Fortunately, Yu Chen was not around, so this embarrassment had not been caught red-handed.

As she frantically tidied the pillow, the door suddenly creaked open.

Yu Chen walked in, carrying breakfast in his hand.

Wang Dong's body instantly stiffened, her hand still hovering beside the pillow as panic overtook her.

Pretending to be calm, Wang Dong quickly flipped the pillow over to cover the drool stain.

Holding the breakfast, Yu Chen raised a brow and teased, "Wang Dong, what are you doing to the pillow so early in the morning? Making performance art?"

Wang Dong hurriedly waved her hands in denial. "N-No, nothing! I just got up and stretched a little!"

Yu Chen gave her a sidelong look, his face full of suspicion as he examined her from head to toe. "Really? Something seems off. You didn't pull some little trick on my pillow, did you?"

"Of course not!" Wang Dong hastily waved her hands again, quickly changing the subject. "Is that breakfast in your hand for me?"

Yu Chen lifted the lunchbox and smiled faintly. "Who else would it be for? You were sleeping so deeply that I couldn't bear to wake you, so I picked some up for you. Aren't you going to thank me?"

Wang Dong immediately reached out and accepted the breakfast, pretending that nothing embarrassing had happened just now.

"No need to be polite. If you want to thank me, call me Dad."

Wang Dong rolled her eyes fiercely and muttered under her breath, "Knew you'd take advantage of me."

"Once you're done eating, you can go back."

Wang Dong's face immediately fell. "You're kicking me out already?"

"Should I keep you here instead? Hurry back. Staying here will only delay my cultivation."

Wang Dong lowered her head and nodded with extreme reluctance.

After quickly finishing breakfast, Wang Dong packed up her bedding.

She secretly glanced at the pillow with the drool stain, her eyes darting as an idea came to her. She stuffed Yu Chen's pillow into her bag, then placed the pillow she had brought back onto the bed.

Now there's no way he'll notice. I'm too smart.

Once she had finished packing, Wang Dong quickly left the renovated Room 111 and headed back to Room 108.

Watching Wang Dong's figure disappear completely through the door, Yu Chen let out a sigh of relief and muttered, "She's finally gone."

Yu Chen felt exhausted all over. He had stayed awake for nearly an entire day, so now he needed to sleep properly for a full day and night.

It just so happened that the academy was off for the weekend today, so no one would disturb him.

Just as he was about to lie down, he suddenly paused. This pillow did not feel right. It clearly was not his.

Too lazy to think about it, his drowsiness overwhelmed his doubts, and he fell straight into bed.

Before long, steady and even breathing slowly filled the room. Yu Chen had already fallen into a deep sleep.

In a daze, his consciousness left his body and plunged into an endless space of darkness.

As Yu Chen looked around in confusion, an old diary suddenly appeared in his hand out of thin air. He casually opened the first page, and a line of glaring words entered his sight:

When you see these words, I am already dead.

Cough, cough, cough. Wrong channel.

Brother, you've hit the jackpot. Once you break through to five rings, an immense opportunity and resources will be waiting for you.

Yu Chen jolted awake and sat up, his heart full of confusion. What exactly had that strange dream been about?

Turning to look out the window, he saw that it was already completely dark. It was time to go find something to eat.

Yu Chen strolled along the stone-paved paths of Shrek Academy. The voices around him and the evening breeze both seemed to slow, while the scenery along the street appeared to stretch out invisibly.

After filling his stomach and returning to the dorm, Yu Chen took a shower and went straight to bed.

Early the next morning, he went to class as usual.

After washing up, Yu Chen headed directly for Class Nine's classroom.

As usual, he went straight to his usual spot in the last row and sat down.

Before long, the homeroom teacher, Mu Jin, entered the classroom and announced, "This class will be a practical combat lesson."

The students below instantly erupted into excited whispers. "Great! It's finally practical combat class!"

"That's right. We'll be competing in a king-of-the-hill format. The strongest person in our class will take the stage and defend it. Yu Chen, you'll do it."

The moment those words fell, the entire class burst into an uproar, disbelief written across their faces.

"No way, he's defending the stage? Then what are we even competing for? Just declare him the winner already!"

"Who doesn't know that a few days ago, he crushed the joint defense of the Outer Court Twin Stars with one hand?"

"He's a four-ring Soul Ancestor with black soul rings. How are we supposed to fight him? Most of us only have one or two rings!"

Someone immediately raised a hand and asked, "Teacher, Yu Chen is so strong. Won't there be any restrictions?"

Mu Jin nodded. "There are rules. He may use his martial soul possession, but he is not allowed to use any soul skills throughout the match."

The moment they heard that, everyone relaxed and began making calculations of their own.

"If he can only rely on his body and martial soul, without soul skills, this will be easy. Isn't he just defending the stage? We can take turns going up. We can wear him down eventually!"

The nature of this practical combat session immediately changed. Every student in the class made up their minds to take turns going onstage and gang up on Yu Chen.

"Since no one has any objections, everyone head to the Soul Fighting Arena!"

At Mu Jin's command, all of Class Nine immediately rose to their feet and poured out of the classroom. Laughing and chatting as they discussed the coming match, they hurried in a great stream toward the academy's Soul Fighting Arena. Everyone's eyes shone with eagerness, ready to join forces against Yu Chen, who could only fight with his body and martial soul.

Before long, the group arrived neatly at the side of the spacious Soul Fighting Arena.

The students gathered below the platform in small groups, whispering among themselves as they stared at the central stone stage. Everyone knew that today's format was king of the hill. As the strongest person in the class, Yu Chen would naturally be the first to take the stage.

Yu Chen did not hesitate in the slightest. He stepped up the stairs at an unhurried pace, casually stopped in the middle of the arena, folded his arms before him, and calmly waited for the others in the class to come up and challenge him one after another. Quite a few students below the stage looked at the slender yet imposing youth and secretly calculated how several of them could go up together later and gradually drain his stamina.

Standing at the edge of the stage, Mu Jin swept her gaze over the crowd below and asked loudly, "Who is willing to be the first challenger?"

A tall, burly boy stepped forward from the crowd and shouted, "Let Huang Tao go first!"

The Huang Tao who stepped forward was a two-ring Great Soul Master. His martial soul was the Lone Wolf, and his body looked exceptionally sturdy.

The moment he finished speaking, Huang Tao activated his martial soul without hesitation.

A pitch-black wolf phantom suddenly appeared behind him, savage and domineering. Two yellow soul rings slowly rose from beneath his feet, pulsing up and down. He stomped hard against the ground, turning into a swift black shadow as he charged toward the center of the arena. His first and second soul skills activated in an instant, overlapping as he lunged fiercely at Yu Chen with the howl of wind.

"Take this! Try my Lone Wolf Flash!"

Huang Tao let out a low roar, his figure suddenly blurring as the soul skill boosted his speed and sent him straight at Yu Chen's face.

The scene flashed by so quickly that no one saw how Yu Chen had attacked. In the next instant, Huang Tao screamed as he was sent flying through the air, crashing heavily beneath the arena.

---------------------------A quick note regarding the protagonist's two forms: the protagonist can cultivate as a soul beast or as a human, and their levels are separate. Their paths to godhood are also separate. The soul beast form is the Dragon God, while the human form can separately inherit another divine position.