Morning

Wu Changkong's office was not large.

A desk stood by the window, with several lesson plans stacked on top and a cup of cold tea beside them. In the corner of the windowsill sat a pothos plant, its leaves hanging over the edge.

Wu Changkong leaned against the desk, his blue teacher's uniform faded from washing, sleeves rolled up to his forearms. With his arms crossed, he looked at the four people standing in a row before him.

Long Bing sat in a chair beside him, her hands resting on her knees. Her gaze swept over the four faces before finally settling on Tang Wulin.

"Tell me," Wu Changkong said. "What happened yesterday?"

Tang Wulin stood at the front. He glanced up at him, then lowered his head again. "When I came back last night, I realized I seemed to have reached a bottleneck, so I tried to break through."

"My martial soul mutated," he paused. "Then I discovered there was another strange power inside my body. I tried to draw on it, and then..."

"We were sleeping at the time," Xie Xie cut in from the side. "Then a flash of intense light suddenly shone over us, and I woke up. Good thing I woke up quickly, or I would've been blasted to bits by that golden lightning."

"It was like a soul-guided bomb." He shrank his neck back, clearly still shaken.

Zhou Changxi stood beside Yun Xiao and nodded. "Me... too."

Yun Xiao stood at the very back, gripping the corners of his clothes. "I... I don't know. When I woke up, I was already lying on the floor."

After listening, Wu Changkong did not press further. He took two steps forward and stopped in front of Tang Wulin. "Tang Wulin, if you feel unwell, you need to tell your teacher promptly."

Tang Wulin opened his mouth. "...Okay."

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence, Wu Changkong had already turned sideways. His voice once again became like a demon's whisper. "Your martial soul mutation is quite significant. This afternoon, I'll conduct an individual test with you."

When Xie Xie heard that, his shoulders relaxed. He stepped over and threw an arm around Tang Wulin's shoulders. "It's fine, bro. Your new martial soul is so fierce, you'll definitely be able to fight Teacher Wu to a draw."

"What do you mean—" Tang Wulin turned to look at him, his eyes full of shock. "Xie Xie, you're stirring things up."

"Oh? I heard that." Wu Changkong's voice drifted over from the side.

Long Bing rose to her feet and walked between the three of them. "Stop scaring them. All right, hurry back."

Tang Wulin turned and headed for the door. Zhou Changxi followed and patted him on the shoulder. "Bro, if you're unhappy with us about anything, you have to tell us. There's no need to..."

"Okay... okay," Tang Wulin scratched his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "I just hadn't expected it. It won't happen again."

The corridor grew quiet as they walked out side by side. Xie Xie tilted his head to look at him. "Tang Wulin, what level are you now? Why does your aura... feel a lot stronger than level twenty?"

Tang Wulin's steps paused. When Wu Changkong had come last night, he had not restrained his aura at all. Wu Changkong had probably seen through him.

"But Teacher Wu didn't ask. Doesn't that give me an opening? This afternoon, I'll just play dumb and ask him." Tang Wulin quietly made his calculations. To him, Wu Changkong was almost like a second father.

When they returned to the classroom, Gu Yue was sitting by the window, one arm resting on the sill as she looked outside. Sunlight streamed in, dyeing the edges of her black hair a warm gold.

Tang Wulin sat beside her and looked at her profile. Her eyelashes cast a small shadow beneath her eyelids.

"What is it?" Gu Yue did not turn around.

"Uh, uh, uh... do you want to know why we were kept in the office?" Tang Wulin put his not-so-high emotional intelligence to use and began searching for a topic.

"Could it be... you guys got caught dating?"

Tang Wulin choked.

"Gu Yue, what do you mean by that?!" Xie Xie popped his head out from the side.

"Nothing," Gu Yue said, shifting Tang Wulin a little closer to herself. "I didn't know, so I was just guessing."

Xie Xie was dumbfounded too. What was Gu Yue trying to do?

Is she afraid of me?

Just as Xie Xie was about to say something else, a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Xie Xie, what are you yelling about?"

Xie Xie's entire body froze. Bone-piercing cold seeped over him from behind.

Wu Changkong stood behind him, looking down at him. "This afternoon, the three of you should discuss your tactics. Once Tang Wulin adapts to his new martial soul, the three of you can try working together."

After saying that, he left. His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor.

Xie Xie slowly turned his head back toward the doorway, then let out a long breath.

"...When did he get here?"

Gu Yue glanced at him. "He was already at the door when you started shouting."

Xie Xie shut his mouth. "Uh, uh, uh... how awful."