Small Pebbles

Tang San turned his head to glance at Luo Yan, his gaze lingering on that smiling face for a second, then he let out a very slight sigh.

"You count as half?"

Tang San said, "An innately full spirit power, first-spirit-ring-at-four-hundred-years spirit master—if you only count as half, then Xiao Chenyu and his bunch count as at most a quarter."

Luo Yan blinked. "Are you praising me?"

"Stating facts." Tang San said.

Xiao Wu nodded fiercely beside them. "Exactly! Why do you always act like a weakling? Aren't you able to take on nine by yourself? Get serious for me once the fight starts in a moment!"

Luo Yan put on an expression of being forced into prostitution against his will, clutching his chest. "One and all, you're both forcing me to expose my strength. I'm still a child."

Tang San didn't take up that remark, shifting his gaze back to the arena.

Wang Sheng had already stood up, not even having time to pat the ash off his single knee, panting heavily, clearly still not wanting to retreat.

"Wang Sheng can't beat Liu Long." Tang San said in a low voice.

"Yeah."

Luo Yan also reined in his levity a bit. "His martial soul is only useful at close range. Liu Long won't give him the chance to close in, keeping his distance with the long staff—it's very grueling."

Tang San glanced at him. "You saw that long ago, why didn't you call it off?"

"He asked to fight."

Luo Yan said, his tone turning rare and serious for a split second. "He went up of his own accord. Win or lose, he has to stand until the end. If someone else calls it off, he'll never be able to stand up on his own again."

Tang San didn't speak, but he had clearly taken it in.

Xiao Wu also fell silent for a moment, then said in a small voice, "This fellow Wang Sheng, he's actually pretty decent today."

"Decent is decent."

Luo Yan said, "Take two more staff strikes, and tomorrow he'll be lying down shouting Big Sis Xiao Wu."

"Then what do we say now?"

Luo Yan spread his hands. "Help him out a bit, what else can we do?"

With that, his right foot quickly kicked a small stone on the ground with a small amplitude.

Meanwhile, on the "battlefield," Liu Long felt his hands gripping the staff get struck, and his attack suffered a delay.

Just at this instant, Wang Sheng suddenly pressed forward and slapped Liu Long right across the head, sending him flying on the spot.

Tang San's pupils contracted.

Luo Yan's action of kicking the stone just now had been extremely fast—so fast that even he had only captured a blurry afterimage.

That stone had struck precisely on the wrist of Liu Long's right hand.

Liu Long felt the pain, his staff momentum stuttering, and his originally fluid attack instantly broke off.

Possessing this sort of strength and control, Luo Yan was definitely no ordinary person.

Luo Yan was still smiling on the face of things, even tossing another melon seed into his mouth.

But inwardly, he was not nearly as calm as he looked.

During that kick just now, when the stone flew out, he had clearly felt his calf exert force much more violently than anticipated.

That stone had originally only been meant to hit Liu Long's wrist and make his staff swerve, buying Wang Sheng a moment for a reaction time.

As a result, he hadn't managed to suppress the strength, and Liu Long's entire attack rhythm had been shattered.

This couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

He lowered his head and glanced at his right hand, his five fingers slowly closing and opening.

Ever since entering Nuoding Academy, he had felt that his physical state wasn't quite right.

Yet precisely what was wrong about it, he couldn't put into words.

If he really had to describe it, it was as if something was slowly swelling up inside his body, pushing its way upward bit by bit.

It was very faint, but it was truly growing stronger.

Luo Yan's gaze shifted slightly, quickly recalling any special things he had done during this period of time.

Yet thinking back and forth, he had only found a bit of amusement.

The biggest change was simply that punchline he still hadn't figured out yet.

From enrollment until now, he had harvested quite a bit in total.

The doorman at the entrance, the scar-faced man in the grove, the leaders at the opening ceremony, the bed-wetting youth on the playground.

Every time someone laughed because of his rules, he felt as though something extra had been added to his body.

Could it be that these punchlines could raise his base attributes?

Luo Yan quietly took in a breath.

He had always previously thought that the punchlines harvested after completing the Pledge of Delusional Joy were meant to add damage to Jocularity skills he might acquire later.

Thinking about it now, it wasn't that simple.

That bastard Aha, couldn't you just spell it out clearly?

"That thing you did just now..."

Xiao Wu edged closer, her voice pressed extremely low. "So fast, I didn't even see it."

Luo Yan came back to his senses, wiping the surprise clean off his face and leaving only a punchable smile. "Basic operation only, don't fall in love with me because of this, oh."

The look in Xiao Wu's eyes, which had still carried a hint of admiration, instantly changed flavor.

She leaned back. "Say another asshole word and I'll beat you up first."

"Don't do that."

Luo Yan waved his hands hurriedly, though his face smiled even more broadly. "Let's resolve our internal contradictions internally. Look at those people across from us still standing there—you hurry up and don't defect yet."

"Can the two of you wait until the fight is over before arguing?" Tang San's voice drifted over from the front, clearly carrying a hint of speechlessness.

Xiao Wu glared at Luo Yan and stopped talking, though her cheeks were clearly still a bit red. (Here she's angry, see, angry.)

In the arena, Liu Long had already been helped up.

One side of his face was swollen very high, and his walk was a bit floaty.

Xiao Chenyu's face was ashen; he clearly couldn't accept that his side's person had been slapped flat by Wang Sheng's palm.

"Brother Xiao, my hand really just went numb all of a sudden..." Liu Long still wanted to argue.

"Shut up."

Xiao Chenyu interrupted him coldly. "Lost is lost. Babbling on makes it even more embarrassing."

He took a deep breath, turned his gaze to Tang San, his gaze sinister. "We'll count the first match as your win. Don't celebrate too early, though."

With that, he tilted his head. "Ling Feng, you go."

Behind Xiao Chenyu, a youth who had not spoken the entire time walked out.

He was fair-skinned with a slender build.

"Ling Feng."

"Tang San."

Ling Feng didn't waste words, his figure dropping low as all the agility brought by his martial soul erupted.

Treading with nimble steps, he feinted left and right, closing to within Tang San's front in two or three strides, his right hand forming a claw directly targeting Tang San's shoulder.

Then he went flying out.

No one saw when Tang San moved.

They only knew that the moment Ling Feng's hand touched the corner of Tang San's clothes, Tang San's body retreated half a step to the rear-side, his foot lightly tripping the other's, while his hand supported and guided at Ling Feng's elbow joint.

Ling Feng's whole person lost balance and flew out, his back hitting the ground and sliding a little under a yard.

"Thud."

Not even much dust kicked up.

Ling Feng lay on the ground, his eyes staring at the sky, not moving for quite a while.

He didn't understand how he had lost.

He had clearly already touched his opponent, so how was it that the next second he was lying on the ground?

The arena instantly quieted down.

Dorm Seven's direction suddenly erupted in loud laughter.

"... " Luo Yan opened his mouth, but in the end could not say a thing.

Really now, I dropped my guard—I should have used the Pledge of Delusional Joy to fleece some punchlines!

Tang San stood in place, his breathing not even disordered. He nodded toward Ling Feng. "You concede."

Ling Feng bit his teeth and climbed up, retreating back without uttering a word.

Xiao Chenyu's expression was no longer just dark; it was about to drip ink.

He took two steps forward, staring fixedly at Tang San, and was just about to open his mouth—

Tang San had already turned around, saying to Xiao Chenyu, "It's your turn, Xiao Chenyu."