Fainted. Why Was She a Girl?

The instant the blood touched his skin, Ye Xunhuan shuddered all over.

Something was wrong!

System, you fucking screwed me over!

It was hot.

Not the heat of ordinary hot water, but a burning sensation that drilled from his pores straight into his bones.

The dark-gold blood seemed alive. The moment it touched his skin, it began seeping in. Every pore turned into a pinprick-sized entrance as the essence blood poured through them into his muscles and bones.

Then—

Pain.

Pain so intense that Ye Xunhuan clenched his teeth, veins bulging across his forehead.

He had felt pain when absorbing his first Spirit Ring in the Star Dou Forest, but that had come in waves, leaving gaps between each surge for him to catch his breath.

Bloodline fusion was different. It was a constant, unbroken burn, as though someone were grinding a red-hot branding iron over every inch of his muscles.

From the soles of his feet to his calves, from his thighs to his waist and abdomen, from his chest to his shoulders, the dark-gold blood seeped into him layer by layer. Every new layer brought another wave of excruciating pain.

Ye Xunhuan bit his lips until they bled. The pain nearly made him pass out, but he did not dare.

No one knew what would happen if the fusion failed.

Sitting cross-legged in the wooden tub, he gripped its rim tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white.

In his sea of consciousness, the Behemoth seemed to sense something. It rose from the corner, its dark-gold mane bristling as it let out a low roar.

It was not anger. It was excitement.

His bloodline was resonating.

Time passed second by second.

Ye Xunhuan felt as though his body was being torn apart and rebuilt.

Every bone was being tempered by dark-gold power,

Every muscle fiber was ripped apart, then woven anew.

Every drop of blood was drawn out before flowing back in.

He wanted to scream, but his throat had tightened, leaving him able to make only muffled groans.

By the end, his consciousness began to blur.

The first time he nearly fainted was when the blood seeped into his chest cavity.

The burning sensation drilled through the gaps in his ribs and rushed straight for his heart. Ye Xunhuan's vision went black, and he nearly plunged headfirst into the tub.

He forced himself back with sheer willpower, but his vision had already begun to swim.

The second time was when the blood began tempering his spine.

It felt as if someone were hammering down his back, vertebra by vertebra. With every strike, a dark-gold light burst across his spine.

Ye Xunhuan convulsed all over and let out a garbled roar. Then his consciousness blanked out for several seconds.

The third time... he could no longer remember when it happened.

He only remembered the blood rushing straight into his brain, the pain rising like tide after tide, nearly drowning his sea of consciousness.

Fortunately, the Zhu Xian Sword hanging high above and the Behemoth phantom in the corner acted at the same time.

While the deep-blue sword light firmly shielded Ye Xunhuan's divine consciousness, it also suppressed the rampaging essence blood. The Behemoth opened its jaws and sucked desperately, barely keeping his sea of consciousness from being damaged.

No one knew how long passed before the dark-gold blood finally vanished from the bottom of the tub.

The wooden tub was spotless, as if something had sucked it dry. Not even the slightest residue remained.

Ye Xunhuan, meanwhile, had collapsed unconscious in the tub.

His body lay submerged at the bottom of the wooden tub, wisps of black impurities seeping from him. His breathing was weak, but steady.

Beneath the black impurities, his skin faintly revealed a thin layer of dark-gold sheen. It flickered a few times before slowly sinking beneath his skin and disappearing.

In his sea of consciousness, the Behemoth raised its head and gave a silent roar.

Its dark-gold mane was brighter than before, faintly covered in a bronze metallic luster. Its body had grown by more than a full size, and it radiated a fiercer aura than ever.

The Zhu Xian Sword hanging in the center of his sea of consciousness had drawn in its sword light and remained utterly still.

Night had fallen, and footsteps and conversations continuously drifted through the corridor.

Ye Xunhuan knew nothing of the voices outside. He remained sprawled in the wooden tub, waiting for the storm inside his body to settle on its own.

"La la~"

Outside Dormitory 301, a gentle female voice rang out. She hummed an unknown tune as her footsteps approached from afar.

"Classes all day were exhausting... I'll go back to the dorm and take a bath, then head to the cafeteria for something tasty. Today, I'm going to eat—"

Xu Qingqing's words abruptly stopped.

Her key was still in the lock, and the door had only been pushed halfway open. She stood at the entrance as the theory books in her arms crashed onto her feet with a thud, yet she did not even notice.

What did she see?

A man.

A completely naked man.

He was currently sprawled in a thoroughly indecent position at the bottom of an empty wooden tub, covered in thick black sludge like someone who had crawled out of a mud pit.

His arms rested on the rim of the tub, his head tilted to one side, his eyes shut tight as he lay unconscious.

Xu Qingqing's brain crashed for a full three seconds.

Three seconds later—

"Aaaaaahhh!!"

A shriek loud enough to blow off the roof erupted, drawing repeated glances from Genius Class students returning to their dorms.

And Ye Xunhuan was blasted awake from his unconsciousness.

"Shut up..." Ye Xunhuan mumbled instinctively, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.

He braced himself against the tub's rim, trying to sit up. His entire body was so limp and sore that it felt as though he had been taken apart and put back together.

And in truth, he had.

His arms trembled as he struggled to push himself up from the bottom of the tub.

Then he raised his head and saw the person standing in the doorway.

A girl.

She looked seven or eight years old, short in stature, with a delicately pretty face and twin ponytails. She wore the uniform of Spirit Hall Junior Spirit Master Academy, with a golden Genius Class badge pinned to her chest.

Her little face was flushed bright red.

Whether from fright or embarrassment, her eyes were wide open as she stared fixedly at his bare upper body.

And at the lower half of his body, where there was nothing at all in the tub.

Ye Xunhuan looked down at himself.

Then he looked back at the girl in the doorway.

The air fell silent for a second.

"Aaaaaahhh!!"

This time, Ye Xunhuan was the one screaming.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he sprang out of the tub, grabbed the bedding from the bed, wrapped it around himself, and shrank into the corner of the bed, staring at the girl in the doorway in terror.

"Y-you, who are you?!"

The girl at the door took a step back as well, pressing her back against the doorframe. She covered her eyes with both hands, but the gaps between her fingers were wider than her fingers themselves. Her voice was embarrassed and trembling.

"Y-you, who are you?! I should be the one asking that! This is my dorm! Why are you in my dorm?!"

"Your dorm?" Ye Xunhuan froze. "This is 301, the Genius Class, my dorm!"

"Nonsense! I'm in the Genius Class too! 301 is my room!"

The two stared at each other with wide eyes.

Then Ye Xunhuan looked away, his gaze landing on the bed beside him.

Pink sheets. Pink quilt cover. Pink pillowcase.

His mind buzzed.

Not gay.

Not an orientation problem.

She was a girl.

His roommate was a girl?!

How exactly did Spirit Hall Junior Spirit Master Academy assign dorm rooms?

Holy shit.

What the hell?!

They actually assigned me a roommate like this!