One Sword to Suppress All

It was an indescribable, peculiar feeling.

It was as if something about the boy before him had instinctively put him on guard for an instant.

Cao Xin glanced at him, then withdrew his gaze.

Tang Wulin took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, I'm Tang Wulin."

His tone was warm and natural.

Only then did Xie Xie come back to his senses. He tossed his luggage onto an empty bed, his voice carrying his usual arrogance.

"Xie Xie."

He said no more, but his gaze involuntarily drifted toward Cao Xin again.

That indescribable sensation still lingered at the edge of his perception. It made him feel that this quiet boy was anything but ordinary, yet he could not spot a single flaw.

Cao Xin leaned against the window, gazing at Eastsea Academy's athletic field and school buildings outside, dyed gold by the setting sun. He ignored that scrutinizing gaze.

The next day was the freshmen enrollment and class placement.

Eastsea Academy's athletic field was packed with freshmen wearing brand-new uniforms.

Cao Xin and Xie Xie were assigned to Class 1, while Tang Wulin was placed in Class 5.

After all, without the conflict from the original story, Xie Xie naturally would not have been assigned to Class 5 by Long Hengxu.

With his talent for Twin Martial Souls...

He was bound to go to Class 1.

When Long Hengxu read out—

"Class 1: Xie Xie, Cao Xin"...

Xie Xie raised his chin, looking as though it were only natural.

Cao Xin's gaze swept over Tang Wulin in the distance and saw the boy listening intently to the class assignments.

When he heard that he had been assigned to Class 5, a trace of barely noticeable disappointment flashed through his eyes, but he quickly straightened his back.

Still, for Tang Wulin...

Class 5 truly was a good place to be.

After all, Class 5 had Wu Changkong as its homeroom teacher.

This class placement also allowed Cao Xin to witness an intense fluctuation in the Destiny Law.

It was as though, in the eyes of the Destiny Law, Tang Wulin becoming Wu Changkong's student was of crucial importance.

Over the following days, he lived just like the other students, following the usual routine.

He attended classes on time, listened carefully, occasionally went to the cafeteria with Xie Xie, and was even dragged by Tang Wulin to the athletic field to watch him practice that still-not-quite-mastered set of martial arts.

Like a drop of water blending into the small lake that was Eastsea Academy, he existed quietly and unobtrusively.

But during that time, he found an opportunity...

To visit the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform in Eastsea City's Spirit Pagoda, where he killed that hundred-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear and obtained a Right Palm External Soul Bone.

That battle had not cost him much effort.

One slash of his sword.

The Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear dissolved into a halo of light.

An External Soul Bone gleaming with a dark golden luster was left quietly floating in midair.

This matter was also learned by Qian Gu Dongfeng, far away at Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

A helpless, bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

And that was the end of it.

Zang Xin's son wanted that External Soul Bone.

And he had obtained it through his own strength.

Qian Gu Dongfeng would have to be tired of living comfortably to try and stop him.

Before long, the semester ended, and the Class Upgrade Match began.

Under Tang Wulin's leadership, Class 5 of the first year successfully advanced to Class 2 of the first year.

The boy's figure on the competition grounds was far more confident than when he had first enrolled. Though he was still immature, he already possessed the resilience to never retreat, no matter what.

Standing at the side of the arena, Cao Xin watched his somewhat clumsy yet earnest fighting stance and could feel the threads of destiny flowing around him with greater clarity.

As for Class 1 of the first year, where Cao Xin was...

Under Cao Xin's leadership, they challenged their way up to the third year before the academy put a stop to them.

Every time he took the field, he used only the simplest moves and the plainest footwork, yet the upperclassmen and upperclasswomen on the other side had no room to fight back.

One match, two matches, three matches...

Class 1's challenge streak rose at an astonishing speed.

When they finally reached the third year...

The Academic Affairs Office could no longer sit still.

After all, the academy had allowed lower-year students to challenge upper-year students...

Because it wanted to tell the lower-year students...

That there was always someone stronger.

Not to tell the upper-year students that they were trash who could not even defeat freshmen.

Thus, the Class Upgrade Match ended amid declarations of "That's enough."

After the Class Upgrade Match ended...

The academy also established a Class Zero.

Class Zero was, in essence, an elite class.

Those who joined Class Zero included Cao Xin, Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, and Zhang Yangzi.

When the list was announced, quite a few people on the athletic field cast envious and curious looks their way.

Standing beside Cao Xin, Tang Wulin clenched his fists, his face carrying the nervous seriousness of someone thinking, I absolutely can't hold everyone back.

Xie Xie still had his chin raised as usual, but his peripheral vision could not help drifting toward Cao Xin.

The questions in his heart about just how strong this person was had been partly answered during the Class Upgrade Match, yet that only made him more curious.

Of course, there had also been some other interesting events that semester.

For instance, one weekend afternoon, Cao Xin, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin left the academy and turned into the most famous Sealed-Pot Beef Restaurant on the old street near the school.

The three had just sat down at a square table by the window and had not even had time to pick up their chopsticks when three shady-looking fellows lifted the door curtain and walked in.

"The protection fee for this month should be due, right?"

The burly man in front rapped on the counter carelessly, his tone crude and overbearing.

The two lackeys behind him tilted their heads as they swept their eyes around the customers in the restaurant. Their gazes paused briefly on Cao Xin's group, clearly looking for easy targets.

Xie Xie frowned and set down his chopsticks.

He had always been proud and arrogant. How could he tolerate people like this acting so brazenly right before his eyes?

Before Cao Xin could say anything, he had already risen and walked toward the three men.

Tang Wulin hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

Though his temperament was gentle, he knew that he could not be a coward at a time like this.

The two moved swiftly and decisively.

In no more than three to five minutes...

The three thugs fled through the door with bruised and swollen faces, not even having the strength to leave behind a threat.

However, the matter did not end there.

After returning home, Guang Long, the leader of the three-man thug group, tearfully complained to his older brother, Guang Biao.

Guang Biao was the captain of Eastsea City's Mecha Brigade and a Six-Ring Soul Emperor. He was considered a notable figure in Eastsea City.

Upon learning that his younger brother had been publicly humiliated at the academy gates, he naturally could not swallow that insult.

So, two afternoons later...

Guang Biao brought dozens of uniformed subordinates to the entrance of Eastsea Academy, aggressively declaring that he would find those two "blind little brats."

When Xie Xie and Tang Wulin received the news, they were just about to get up and deal with it when Cao Xin pressed a hand to each of their shoulders.

"I'll go."

He spoke very calmly.

By then, a circle of students had already gathered at the academy entrance to watch the show. Guang Biao was loudly spouting nonsense there, relying on his status and cultivation as he declared that he would break those two students' legs.