Chapter 45

Eastsea Academy, Class Zero classroom.

Before the morning sun had even warmed the desktops, Long Hengxu pushed open the door and walked in. He rarely appeared in Class Zero at this hour—their schedule was entirely handled by Wu Changkong and Lu Menge, and the academic affairs office never interfered. So when Long Hengxu stood at the podium with a briefcase tucked under his arm and an enamel tea mug printed with "Eastsea Academy Outstanding Worker," everyone in Class Zero sensed something unusual.

"Sorry to interrupt your morning class for a few minutes." Long Hengxu set down his mug and pulled out a document from his briefcase. "There's an announcement—a notice that just came from Shrek Academy."

The moment Xie Xie heard the words "Shrek Academy," his upper body shot up from the desk. Zhang Yangzi closed his tactical manual. Wang Jinxi set aside the Bone Dragon Shield Armor he had been polishing. Wei Xiaofeng lifted his face from his arms. Tang Wulin instinctively sat straighter, while Gu Yue narrowed her eyes slightly beside him.

"Shrek Academy will be holding an exchange tournament in two months, open to eligible students from all partner academies within the Federation." Long Hengxu adjusted his glasses. "Eastsea Academy has been invited, and we have one competition slot—not for an individual event, but a team event. Each team may have up to seven members."

Long Hengxu flipped to the last page of the document, glanced over the only six faces in the Class Zero classroom, then looked up at Wu Changkong standing by the door and Lu Menge leaning against the window.

"Class Zero currently has only six students. The rules for this exchange tournament require at least six members per team—you have just enough to form a team. The academy board's intention is very clear: everyone in Class Zero will participate. Teachers Wu and Lu will decide the roster together and take full responsibility for the training plan. This exchange tournament is no ordinary inter-school competition—you should have heard something about the strength of Shrek Outer Court students. Two months from now, Class Zero will be representing Eastsea Academy's honor."

After saying that, he picked up his enamel mug and took a sip, placed the document on the podium, nodded to Wu Changkong, and walked out of the classroom. The instant the door closed behind him, Class Zero erupted.

Xie Xie was the first to spring from his chair. "Shrek! An exchange tournament! All six of us are going!" Zhang Yangzi pressed a hand on his shoulder and forced him back into his seat, then turned toward Wu Changkong. For once, Wei Xiaofeng did not slump back onto the desk, his expression bouncing between excitement and nervousness. Wang Jinxi looked down at his Bone Dragon Shield Armor, then at Lu Menge by the window, and finally at Wu Changkong beside the podium.

Wu Changkong walked to the podium, picked up the notice, and scanned it. His voice was as calm as ever. "You all heard Director Long. In two months, Shrek Academy, a seven-person team event. Class Zero currently has six people, exactly the minimum required. Starting today, all training plans will follow exchange-tournament preparation standards. Physical training will be doubled, and combat drills will become a daily rotation. We'll also add specialized team coordination training—you six must learn to fight together in a Seven-Person Formation, even if there are only six of you right now."

Xie Xie raised his hand. "Teacher Wu, how do six people practice a Seven-Person Formation?"

Leaning against the window, Lu Menge leisurely added while holding her thermos, "I'll fill the seventh position. You six are responsible for coordinating, and I'll be responsible for beating you up from the other side. When you can last a certain amount of time under me, your Seven-Person Formation will count as properly integrated." Xie Xie's hand froze in midair, and the whole class fell silent. Zhang Yangzi quietly said to Wang Jinxi, "She said 'the six of us.' She's counting herself as part of Class Zero." Wang Jinxi was silent for a while before replying, "She has always been Class Zero's second instructor." Zhang Yangzi said nothing more, but he opened his tactical manual to a blank page, wrote the words "Seven-Person Formation," then added brackets beside them with the single character "Lu" inside.

Tang Wulin turned to glance at Gu Yue. Gu Yue was looking at him too. Their gazes met briefly in the air before they both turned toward the podium. The Golden Dragon King shifted in his spiritual sea, his voice lazy but his tone serious. "Shrek? Tang San came from there back then. You know what that means." Tang Wulin answered inwardly. It meant that place held traces left behind by the former master of the Golden Dragon King's seal, and it also meant that he and Gu Yue were about to step into the starting point of that legend.

That afternoon, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were summoned separately to the back mountain by Lu Menge. Beneath the crooked-necked tree, Lu Menge had unusually not lit any charcoal or brought out a grill. Sitting atop the large boulder with Little White Tiger crouched by her feet and a thermos in hand, she wore the standard expression reserved for strategy meetings.

"At the exchange tournament two months from now, you can reveal your martial souls to a limited extent, but not completely. Before outsiders, the Golden Dragon King martial soul can go by the name 'Golden Dragon,' but keep the Golden Dragon Spear hidden for now—Tang San left many inheritance marks at Shrek back then. If you bring out the Golden Dragon Spear, some of the old monsters there may recognize it. The Dragon God Armament is your signature and your trump card. The exchange tournament is not a fight to the death, but neither is it an exhibition match. You cannot casually reveal your true ace."

Tang Wulin nodded seriously.

"Gu Yue, your identity as the Silver Dragon King must remain even more hidden. To outsiders, you are still the Rainbow Dragon. You can use more elemental control in the Seven-Person Formation—Water-Mirror Reflection and Ice Spear long-range support are already part of your usual style, so no one will be suspicious. But you cannot casually use your dragon bloodline suppression, especially against soul masters with dragon-type martial souls. Shrek Outer Court is full of hidden talents and every kind of martial soul. Once you suppress someone you should not with dragon bloodline pressure, their teachers will quickly guess that you are no ordinary Rainbow Dragon." Gu Yue gave a quiet acknowledgment. Lu Menge looked at her and set her thermos on her knee. "The exchange tournament rules say to stop at the proper point, but when it comes to a critical match, no one can guarantee tempers will not flare. The tacit understanding between you two is the trump card Teacher Wu and I have trained for years. Fighting side by side in the arena will work better than any individual performance. Besides, Xie Xie and the other four are your teammates too—Class Zero is one whole. You two are used to working as a pair, but a team battle requires all six of you on the field. You need to learn to trust them with your backs. From now on, you are the core of the team."

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue nodded together. Lu Menge stood, brushed grass clippings from her skirt, tucked her thermos against her chest, and tilted her head at the two of them. "You two have been together for quite a while now, haven't you?"

Tang Wulin nearly choked on his own saliva. The tips of Gu Yue's ears visibly reddened, though her voice remained cool. "Strategist. The last time Teacher Wu chopped your hand was because—"

"Fine, fine, I won't mention making little Dragon Gods." Lu Menge raised both hands in surrender, her fox-like eyes curving into crescents. "Let's go back and train. First lesson of the Seven-Person Formation—you six against me."

Special training for the Seven-Person Formation officially began that evening.

Lu Menge stood in the center of the training field, her white lab coat snapping in the wind, her amber fox eyes filled with eager excitement. The six members of Class Zero spread out in a fan-shaped formation. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue held the center, Xie Xie roamed the left wing, Zhang Yangzi circled in midair, Wang Jinxi took the front with his shield, and Wei Xiaofeng lay in wait at the rear.

"The rules are simple—you six work together. No matter what tactics you use, as long as you can force both of my feet to move at the same time, you win. But there's one condition: everyone must participate in the attack. You cannot let Tang Wulin and Gu Yue handle the whole field by themselves."

Xie Xie lowered his voice and said to Zhang Yangzi, "She said 'both feet move at the same time'—does that mean she normally only needs one foot to beat us up? Wait, that's not the point. The point is, when will we be able to survive her tiger roar?" Zhang Yangzi ignored him and was already calculating the shift in Lu Menge's center of gravity from her stance.

Wu Changkong stood at the edge of the field and blew his whistle. The moment the starting whistle sounded, all six members of Class Zero moved at once. Wielding a Light Dragon Dagger in each hand, Xie Xie cut in from the right flank to circle behind her, noticeably faster than before. Zhang Yangzi's Dark Phantom Eagle dove from the air, aiming directly at Lu Menge's overhead blind spot. Wang Jinxi fully activated his Bone Dragon Shield Armor and pressed forward from the front. Wei Xiaofeng launched an ambush with earth spikes from the rear. Tang Wulin used the Golden Dragon Head to control the field head-on, while Gu Yue silently spread a Water Mirror behind Lu Menge.

A perfect six-man encirclement—on paper.

Lu Menge did not even put down her thermos. Holding the cup in her left hand, she casually flicked her right. A phantom tiger claw seized Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger and hurled him into Zhang Yangzi, forcing Zhang Yangzi to fold his wings and dodge. Wei Xiaofeng's earth spikes were directly neutralized by the fluctuations of her tiger soul less than a foot away from her, while her heel conveniently stomped the edge of Wang Jinxi's shield armor into the ground, slowing him by half a beat when he tried to pull it free. Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Head blasted toward her, and as she sidestepped it, she flicked tea from her thermos into Gu Yue's Water Mirror—the tea passed through the Water Mirror and splashed a hole through its reflective surface.

"Not bad. Your coordination is better than last time. But there was a half-breath gap in your encirclement—Xie Xie was too fast, Wang Jinxi too slow, and Zhang Yangzi's dive angle only sealed off directly above me. You six, do it again." She put the thermos back at the side of the field. This time, she did not even take the cup with her.

Xie Xie climbed up from the ground, rubbing his waist as he whispered to Zhang Yangzi, "She used a tiger claw to grab my dagger just now—she can grab my Light Dragon Dagger barehanded and throw it at you. Doesn't that mean she can catch one of my attacks with her bare hands?" Zhang Yangzi rolled his shoulder where he had been hit and calmly replied, "She also used tea to splash Gu Yue's Water Mirror. Have you ever seen a Titled Douluo break elemental reflection with tea? That means she does not even need to exert herself to break our strongest methods."

Lu Menge added with a smile, "I'm not mocking you. I'm telling you where the gap lies—only by knowing the gap can you learn how to close it. Again."

The special training of six members of Class Zero against Lu Menge alone continued for a full month and a half. From their first six-man encirclement being broken by a single cup of tea, to Xie Xie finally leaving a faint Light Dragon Dagger mark near her feet, to Gu Yue's Water Mirror managing to block her vision long enough to make her tilt her head slightly, until one evening, their six-man encirclement forced both her feet off the ground as she shifted one step.

That night, all six members of Class Zero collapsed on the training field, too exhausted even for Xie Xie to brag. But after lying there and staring at the ceiling while panting for a long time, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Tang Wulin's sleeve beside him. "Wulin—both her feet left the ground just now, right? When my strike cut in, she had to twist aside to dodge—both her feet moved!" Tang Wulin's whole arm shook from the tug. Lying on his back, he laughed, then turned to Gu Yue beside him, who was panting with a towel over her face. The corners of Gu Yue's mouth curved beneath the towel. Then she pulled it down, turned her profile toward him, and softly said, so quietly that only the two of them could hear, "The timing between your Golden Dragon Head and her Water Mirror was just right—we forced her back half a step."

Lunch beneath the ginkgo tree continued, now with new dishes added to the menu. During one lunch break, Lu Menge borrowed a steamer from the cafeteria and brought out a basket of homemade shrimp dumplings. Xie Xie was so excited that he announced on the spot he was switching to specialize in the agility attack system, only for Zhang Yangzi to choke him with, "You already are in the agility attack system."

Their barbecue arrangement had not stopped either. Beneath the crooked-necked tree on the back mountain, Gu Yue tucked herself into the hollow of Lu Menge's shoulder as usual, gently rubbing against her hair as she muttered, "I'll come find you after training tonight—not because I want barbecue. I just want to lean on you for a while." Lu Menge rubbed the top of her head without exposing her, merely taking the last skewer of honey-grilled corn from the grill and placing it in her hand.

When Wu Changkong and Lu Menge walked side by side toward the teachers' apartments, the autumn night breeze already carried a hint of chill. Lu Menge tightened the collar of her white coat and casually mentioned how Tang Wulin had expanded the control range of his Golden Dragon Head again in practical combat class that afternoon, how Gu Yue's Water Mirrors could now maintain more reflection points at once, and how Xie Xie had finally learned to check whether Gu Yue's Water Mirror had blocked his face before charging. Wu Changkong listened quietly. At the foot of the apartment building, he stopped and held the door that the wind had blown open for her.

"You said in the training field tonight that the six of them were your pride—you weren't praising them." He looked down at her, the dim sound-activated light at the end of the corridor reflected in his ice-blue eyes. "You were telling yourself. These seven years were not spent waiting in vain."

Lu Menge twisted her thermos lid open, then closed it again, and looked up at him. She had spent seven years watching Tang Wulin rise from the useless Blue Silver Grass martial soul to the awakening of the Golden Dragon Spear; watching Gu Yue go from refusing to step through the gates of a human school to leaning against her shoulder and acting spoiled; watching Xie Xie grow from a boy who only knew how to boast into the core of an agility attack system who could leave blade marks near her feet. She and Wu Changkong had stood side by side beneath these ginkgo trees, watching more fallen leaves drift away than all of Class Zero had turned pages in their tactical manuals combined.

"What are seven years?" She laughed, looking up at the half-open door of her dormitory at the end of the corridor as she tightened and loosened the thermos lid again. "I plan to see them off for several more decades. Then I'll watch them raise a whole nest of little Dragon Gods for me—don't chop me yet, I was just saying."