Will of Domination

Sun Bai's lectures were truly hypnotic.

The skinny old man stood at the podium, his chalk squeaking across the blackboard.

He droned on about things like "the fundamental meridian pathways for circulating soul power" and "cultivation nodes and bottleneck periods for junior Soul Masters," his voice as flat as a straight line.

After cultivating all night and barely sleeping, Ye Xunhuan lasted less than ten minutes before his eyelids stuck together.

He did want to listen.

But not only had he memorized this material by heart, the meridian circulation routes in the Primordial Unity Art were countless times more refined. Making him study this was no different from making a high school student learn pinyin.

His head bobbed lower and lower until he simply collapsed onto the desk and fell fast asleep.

Xu Qingqing ground her teeth beside him.

She was sleepy too, but she didn't dare lie down. She already felt terrible for being late; if she slept during class too, she was bound to get failed on her exams.

She bared her teeth at Ye Xunhuan and lightly jabbed him with her elbow.

No response. She jabbed him again, but there was still no response. This man slept as soundly as a pig.

Xu Qingqing sighed and resigned herself to it.

Their little interaction was noticed by a square-faced boy seated by the aisle in the back row.

It was none other than Zhao Lie, captain of the Blazing Team and the undisputed number one student in the Genius Class.

At that moment, Zhao Lie's gaze crossed over the heads of dozens of students in front of him and landed precisely on Ye Xunhuan and Xu Qingqing.

Gloomy and furious.

The night before, one of his lackeys had reported that Xu Qingqing had eaten with an unfamiliar man in the cafeteria. Now, first thing in the morning, those two were acting all lovey-dovey right under his nose.

They really didn't take him seriously.

Xu Qingqing.

She was the woman Zhao Lie had claimed for himself.

He had invited Xu Qingqing to join the Blazing Team time and again, only to be rejected every single time.

If not for her stunning beauty and the affection Zhao Lie felt for her, he would have used force long ago.

Yet after rejecting him, Xu Qingqing had turned around and started hanging around with a freshman who had just enrolled?

This freshman had earned himself a death sentence.

And that was precisely why Xu Qingqing had yet to join any team.

It wasn't that no one wanted her.

It was that no one dared take her.

Zhao Lie had secretly sent word to the captains of every team.

Whoever dared accept Xu Qingqing would be making an enemy of Zhao Lie. If anyone truly dared take her in, they shouldn't blame his soul skills for lacking eyes.

Of course, not everyone feared him.

Shen Qingyue and Huyan Li, for instance. In terms of both team and individual strength, neither of them was inferior to Zhao Lie.

But neither of them had actively recruited Qingqing either.

It wasn't because they feared Zhao Lie, but because there was no need.

Shen Qingyue's Shadow Team specialized in agility attacks. Bringing Xu Qingqing along would only add another burden that needed protection in team battles.

Huyan Li's Ironwall Team consisted entirely of Diamond Mammoths and had its own defensive system. They had no use for her either.

The second-rate teams that genuinely needed support-type Soul Masters wanted to recruit her, but the moment they heard Zhao Lie's warning, they all backed down.

So Xu Qingqing had remained on her own.

Zhao Lie was quite satisfied with this situation. Being alone was good. Being alone meant there was a chance.

Once she had suffered enough and been wronged enough, she would naturally understand the Blazing Team's value.

But now, some freshman from who knew where had appeared.

In his sleep, Ye Xunhuan shifted positions and lightly leaned into Xu Qingqing's arms.

Xu Qingqing rolled her eyes at him but did not push him away.

In the back row, Zhao Lie's gaze darkened further.

If looks could kill, Ye Xunhuan would already have been sliced into a thousand pieces.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

When the dismissal bell rang, Ye Xunhuan was slapped awake by Xu Qingqing.

"Come on, come on! Let's go get food! We still have practical combat class this afternoon!" Xu Qingqing urged as she stuffed her textbooks into her bag.

Ye Xunhuan rubbed his eyes, yawned, and drowsily followed her outside.

The moment he stepped out of the classroom, a familiar deep voice came from the side.

"Student Ye Xunhuan."

Ye Xunhuan turned and saw Cao Feng standing by the corridor, holding something in his hand. Cao Feng beckoned to him. "Teacher Cao."

"Elder Ling Yuan asked me to pass these on to you." Cao Feng handed him a letter and a fiery-red necklace.

This was Ling Yuan's storage Soul Tool, and Ye Xunhuan recognized it at once.

He took the letter and necklace, then opened the envelope right in front of Cao Feng.

The handwriting was Ling Yuan's—elegant and neat, every stroke precise.

I never expected Sister's handwriting to be such a contrast.

"Xunhuan, Sister brought back intelligence on Tang Hao this time and sent you, this little genius, to study at Spirit Hall Academy. His Holiness the Pope rewarded me with a Fifty-Thousand-Year Explosive Tiger Right Leg Bone, and I intend to use this opportunity to attempt a breakthrough to Titled Douluo.

"During my seclusion, I may be unable to visit you for quite some time. Take good care of yourself at the academy, and do not slack off in your cultivation. The necklace contains cultivation resources Sister prepared for you. Don't be stingy when it is time to use them. Once I leave seclusion, I will come find you.

"—Ling Yuan"

Ye Xunhuan gripped the letter without saying anything.

Cao Feng added from the side, "Elder Ling Yuan told you not to put too much pressure on yourself. It's fine even if you don't win the championship."

Ye Xunhuan pressed the necklace against his chest and said softly, "I understand. Thank you, Teacher Cao."

Cao Feng patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave.

Neither of them had deliberately lowered their voices during the conversation.

Xu Qingqing, who stood beside him, heard every word clearly. Passing students also stopped one after another and pricked up their ears.

Fifty-thousand-year spirit bone, elder, about to break through to Titled Douluo.

Those words were like pebbles dropped into water, their ripples spreading swiftly.

The nearby students began whispering among themselves, occasionally glancing at Ye Xunhuan.

"That freshman is an elder of Spirit Hall's younger brother?"

"Elder Ling Yuan? Which one?"

"You country bumpkin. You don't even know Elder Ling Yuan? She's an honorary elder of the Elder Hall, very young too. She's only in her sixties this year, I think. Who would've thought she was about to attempt a breakthrough to Titled Douluo?"

"Damn, doesn't that mean this kid's backing is tougher than steel?"

Xu Qingqing listened in a daze. She tugged Ye Xunhuan's sleeve and lowered her voice. "Your sister is an elder?"

"Mm. An honorary elder of Spirit Hall."

Xu Qingqing's mouth fell open into a circle. After a long while, she finally squeezed out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked."

Xu Qingqing: ...

At the corner of the corridor, Zhao Lie leaned against the wall, twirling a pencil in his hand.

His two lackeys stood nearby. Liu Mang, the one with a crew cut, leaned over and said in a low voice, "Brother Lie, did you hear that? That freshman is an elder's younger brother."

"I heard." Zhao Lie's fingers paused, his brows knitting tightly.

This was a little troublesome. An elder's younger brother would not be easy to bully.

If things truly blew up and that elder broke through to Titled Douluo, his days in Spirit Hall would not be easy.

Seeing Zhao Lie fall silent, Liu Mang cautiously asked, "Then... are we still targeting him?"

Zhao Lie flung the pencil at the wall.

The tip lodged in a crack between the bricks, sinking more than halfway in while the other end continued to hum and tremble.

He turned to glance at Liu Mang. "If we choose not to bully someone just because their background is powerful, wouldn't that make us trash who only bullies the weak and fears the strong?"

Liu Mang shuddered and did not dare ask again.

His boss's Will of Domination was simply too powerful.

Zhao Lie straightened up, his gaze passing through the crowding heads in the corridor and settling on Ye Xunhuan's retreating back.

So what if he was an elder's younger brother? Accidental injuries during training were perfectly normal!