Quite a Few Old Friends Have Arrived

Below the main arena, the waiting area was bathed in pale blue morning light filtered through the soul-guidance barrier. Competitors crowded the tiered seats as badge scanners beeped, referees shouted, and soul power detectors hummed into one chaotic din.

Yun Ying planted the tip of her spear downward in a crack between the steps. The phantom crystal patterns along its shaft were dim, and the energy ring hanging from its tail had gone dark. She leaned her whole body against the spear, her waist still aching and the bruise on her stomach, left by "Gu Yue's" punch, throbbing faintly. Her brown ponytail spilled over her shoulders, dust smeared the orange trim of her combat uniform, and she looked like a neon rod freshly pulled from the mud.

Xie Xie sat crookedly on the step beside her, the tuft of yellow hair sticking up from his head blown every which way by the wind. His hands were in his pockets, his knuckles tapping irritably against his trouser seams. The matter with "Gu Yue" had spun around in his mind eighty times already, making his back teeth ache. Tang Wulin had gone to line up at the drawing machine, leaving the two of them to hold their seats.

Two rows ahead, a boy sat with his back to them, a sword tucked horizontally at his lower back. The sword was neither gold nor iron, gleaming with a deep blue tempered from the night itself. A few crystal fragments were embedded in its blade, revealing a faint trace of star power whenever the boy moved, as though he had cut off a piece of the Milky Way and pinned it behind his waist.

That boy was chatting with the competitor beside him, his words pouring out as densely as an old man selling herbal tea on the street outside. "—I'm telling you, that... (four thousand words omitted here; honestly, I have no idea what he was talking about either).

Yun Ying leaned against her spear, and the sound wore at her ears with a strange familiarity.

Far too familiar.

She frowned. Her brown ponytail slid against her cheek as her gaze passed over Xie Xie's head and fixed on the back of that boy's head. His black hair was casually tousled, there was a faint scar on the back of his neck, and he liked to gesture with his left hand whenever he talked.

"...Yao?" Yun Ying did not make a sound, but her lips moved.

Xie Xie was bored out of his mind. The boy in front of him kept talking in that shrill, rapid voice, and after enduring it for half a minute, he reached out and smacked the boy on the shoulder. "Hey, chatterbox, you're blocking my view."

The boy turned around.

His eyes curved with a smile, his skin was rather pale, and his lips naturally seemed to be smiling. The sword at his lower back shone starry blue. His eyes swept over Xie Xie, then over Yun Ying leaning against her spear behind him, and his pupils abruptly widened.

"Yun... Yun Ying?!" Dongfang Yao's voice rose half an octave as the star pendant swayed. "Why are you here?!"

Yun Ying froze. The spear shaft tilted back half an inch under her weight, but she steadied it and glared at him. "Dongfang Yao? You're asking me? I was about to ask you! What are you doing under East Sea Academy's arena, babbling away?!"

"I was about to ask you!" Yao turned around, his sword striking the steps behind him with a clack. He crossed several steps in a few strides and stopped in front of Yun Ying, gesturing with his left hand. "I came through with the teleportation array! I figured I'd take the entrance qualification test while I was at it. What about you? Didn't you say Federation City had too many rules and that you'd never come?"

"My dad kicked me out." Yun Ying raised her chin. "He said I should go see the world. Instead, the first thing I saw was someone called Gu Yue, who punched me right into a barrel."

Yao let out a "Ha!" "Gu Yue? Purple eyes? This academy has someone like that? I was eating at a restaurant yesterday and didn't see—"

"That restaurant on the outer street yesterday?" Yun Ying perked up. "The table with the boiled fish?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I was sitting by the counter drinking something, and I heard two guys and a girl at a table in the corner. The girl wanted the guobaorou extra crispy—" Yao pointed at Yun Ying. "That was you, right?"

Yun Ying's ears heated slightly. "...It was me. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I had a seat. I couldn't be bothered to move." Yao smiled, then glanced at Xie Xie. "Who's this blondie?"

Xie Xie pulled a hand from his pocket. He could not even be bothered to press down the stubborn tuft of yellow hair, and his knuckles tapped the step. "Xie Xie. Agility attack department. Yesterday, I was the victim of this brown-haired girl calling me blondie the whole way."

Yao gave an "Oh" and looked Xie Xie up and down, his gaze lingering for half a second on that tuft of hair sticking up over his forehead. "That blond hair is pretty distinctive. Xie Xie, right? What kind are you?"

Xie Xie said, "..."

Yun Ying said, "He's a rich young master with money power. The kind who buys me yogurt."

Yao blinked. "Yogurt? The kind in Federation City made from frozen raw milk? Is it good?"

"It's good," Yun Ying and Xie Xie said at the same time, then fell silent at the same time.

Xie Xie turned his face away. "It was a savage's first time drinking it. Her eyes lit up like lightbulbs."

Yun Ying kicked him. "Blondie, shut up."

Yao stood nearby laughing so hard his shoulders shook, while the Star Sword at his lower back flickered blue. Then he suddenly asked Yun Ying, "Little Yun, how did you get to this continent? Teleportation?"

"I walked here." Yun Ying sounded entirely justified. "My waist hurt halfway through, so I rolled down a slope and rolled into a Gu Yue."

"Tang Wulin?" Yao caught the name. "The black-haired one?"

"Yeah." Xie Xie cut in. "Tang Wulin went to draw lots. You know him?"

"I don't." Yao touched the hilt of the sword at his lower back, and star power streamed half an inch through the gaps between his fingers. "When I came to this continent, quite a few old friends hitched a ride through the teleportation array too. Li Xin went north, Jail Kai is probably somewhere in Heaven Dou City, Zhao Huaizhen—"

Yun Ying suddenly grabbed his wrist. "Wait. You said Zhao Huaizhen came too?"

"Yeah."

"What?!" Yun Ying's voice exploded as she nearly slid down from where she leaned against the spear. "Zhao Huaizhen is near East Sea Academy?! That sickly guy?"

Yao shrank his neck from her shout. "That's him. What's wrong?"

Yun Ying's head boomed. At yesterday's dinner table, she had snatched Xie Xie's ribs, been punched into a barrel by Gu Yue, dealt with Xie Xie's blond hair, Tang Wulin's black hair—all of it became background noise. Zhao Huaizhen was here. What did that mean? It meant she finally had someone she could tell anything to."

She abruptly looked at Xie Xie. "Blondie."

"What?" Xie Xie was still sulking.

"Nothing."

"You."

Yun Ying leaned against her spear. The bruise on her stomach hurt, her lower back ached, and her mind was filled with "Zhao Huaizhen."

She looked at Yao. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You didn't ask." Yao spread his hands. "I thought you had come to Federation City purely because your dad kicked you out to see the world."

Xie Xie stood up, trying and failing to press down the tuft of yellow hair. "Tang Wulin's back."