At dinnertime, an utterly exhilarated Wu Feng dragged Ning Tian over to tell Jiang Yu about their glorious victories that day.
Jiang Yu smiled and nodded after hearing them out.
If he remembered correctly, the Round of 32 was precisely when Huo Yuhao's team had defeated Ning Tian and the others in the original story. Now, however, the plot had been rewritten, and Huo Yuhao's team had been stopped cold in the top thirty-two. They certainly wouldn't be expelled over it, but failing to reach even the top four in the freshman assessment would definitely slow their cultivation considerably.
At the same time, that nauseating Zhou Yi would have to resign and get the hell out before the freshman assessment was over.
Just thinking about it felt satisfying.
After Wu Feng finished her endless account of her own "heroic exploits" that day, she turned around, only to find Jiang Yu standing behind Ning Tian, massaging her shoulders.
Ning Tian's eyes were half-closed in enjoyment. The two were each busy with their own business, as though neither had been listening to Wu Feng at all.
It was as if a basin of cold water had been dumped over Wu Feng's head, dousing her high spirits. Resentment and hurt swelled inside her.
They had all once been so close that there had been no distinctions between them. Yet why was it that, as they grew older, her relationship with Ning Tian had become deeper, but that depth was nothing like the intimacy she had imagined?
Instead, the atmosphere between Ning Tian and Jiang Yu had gradually begun to change, even though he was always fooling around and teasing Ning Tian, nowhere near as attentive as Wu Feng was.
Of course, the source of that change wasn't Jiang Yu, but the ever-dignified, composed Ning Tian.
Adolescent girls were far more sensitive to emotions than boys. Beneath Wu Feng's radiant, fiery exterior, she too had a girl's delicate heart.
Watching the relationship between the person she liked and her closest male friend gradually change, she felt as tormented and conflicted as a student on the night before school resumed after winter or summer break. She was frantic, yet kept wavering between enjoying those last moments of freedom and catching up on homework, until she ended up accomplishing neither.
Ning Tian's perception was keen. To her senses, Wu Feng's dejection was like a blazing little sun, but she could only sigh helplessly to herself.
Wu Feng's feelings for her were gradually straying beyond the bounds of friendship between girls. Ning Tian had already faintly sensed it, and with Jiang Yu's earlier veiled hints, however unwilling she was to believe it, the truth was just that unbelievable.
These were feelings the world would consider somewhat forbidden, and feelings Ning Tian could not return.
She was a woman with a conventional sexual orientation, and, more importantly, a woman who knew herself clearly. Everything she carried, every burden she bore, and everything she would face in the future required someone strong enough to stand beside her.
And Jiang Yu, her handsome, dashing childhood friend, was undoubtedly the best choice.
But that would inevitably hurt the profoundly stubborn Wu Feng.
Ning Tian felt melancholy. Jiang Yu and Wu Feng were both her most important companions and dearest friends. Hurting either of them would weigh terribly on her heart.
Was there really no way in this world to satisfy both sides?
The freshman assessment continued in full swing.
After defeating Huo Yuhao's team, Ning Tian's team swept through the competition, winning two more battles and smoothly advancing to the semifinals.
Jiang Yu's team likewise enjoyed smooth sailing. The only obstacle he encountered was Xie Huanyue's team in the round of sixteen.
As roommates, the two had grown quite close over the past few months.
When their teams met, Xie Huanyue immediately asked Jiang Yu not to hold back. He wanted a head-on showdown to see which of them was truly stronger.
Jiang Yu obliged and went all out, breaking through the terrifying, ball-like defenses of Xie Huanyue's Rubber Elephant with a Light Dragon Blade infused with light purification power.
Once Xie Huanyue fell, his teammates, the Mantis Brothers, were no different from clay chickens and pottery dogs before Jiang Yu. They were defeated in an instant.
After the battle, Jiang Yu invited Xie Huanyue along, while Ning Tian and Wu Feng called over Nanmen Yun'er. Just as they had on their first day at school, the group went to the cafeteria for a meal together.
As they ate, they chatted casually.
After asking the cafeteria lady for his eighth basin of rice that meal, Xie Huanyue remarked between mouthfuls:
"Bro, I seriously have no idea what you ate growing up. You know, when you slashed me with that Light Dragon Dagger, it reminded me of my mom whipping me with a belt when I misbehaved as a kid. That feeling was fucking terrifying."
Her little cheeks puffed out like a round hamster's, Nanmen Yun'er nodded frantically at his words, then said:
"Exactly! Our dream guy carried two teammates into the semifinals without breaking a sweat. At this rate, the championship is as good as nailed down."
Hearing this, Wu Feng abruptly looked up from the bowl of Braised Earth Dragon Tendon she was tackling and protested:
"Yun'er, do you even know what you're saying? Our team's in the semifinals too, okay? With the three of us joining forces, wouldn't beating one Soul Elder be a breeze? If you ask me, that championship belongs to our team."
Just as Wu Feng finished speaking, a rather shrill voice suddenly rang out:
"How shameless. Aren't you afraid the wind will wrench your tongue out when you boast like that? The championship belongs to Freshman Class Five."
Wu Feng's face instantly darkened. She turned to see a group of three approaching them.
There was one boy and two girls. Their bearing differed, but all three were exceptionally good-looking. The boy in particular had cold, handsome features, and his eyes held strange double pupils that gave him an imposing presence.
The speaker was the black-haired girl on the left. She too was stunningly beautiful, with a figure far taller and fuller than those of her peers, but the innate, superior arrogance on her face spoiled that beauty.
"Who the fuck are you? Since when did you get to butt into our conversation? Are you looking for a beating?"
Wu Feng slapped the table and sprang to her feet, her eyes blazing with anger.
Their little group could joke among themselves, but some unrelated person daring to say that to their faces was nothing short of a provocation.
The black-haired girl showed no fear of the furious Wu Feng. Instead, she thrust out her chest and declared arrogantly:
"My name is Zhu Lu, from Freshman Class Five. I'm also the opponent you'll be facing in the semifinals."
"As for the championship, it will belong to Huabin and me. No matter how hard you try, you'll only ever be stepping stones for us."
With that, the black-haired girl cast them another contemptuous glance. The blond boy beside her showed no reaction, but the arrogance in his double-pupiled eyes deepened.
The girl on the right, who had long pink hair, showed no obvious change in expression after hearing the black-haired girl's words. She maintained the same charming smile, but Jiang Yu still caught her quietly shifting two steps backward.
Well, well. This one actually has a bit of a brain?
Rubbing his chin, Jiang Yu watched Nanmen Yun'er stand up and join Wu Feng in unleashing a verbal barrage against the black-haired girl.
He had to admit, though the girl usually seemed gentle and sweet, her verbal firepower was every bit as strong as Wu Feng's. Together, they soon left the black-haired girl's eyes bloodshot and her breath heaving like an ox's, her formerly fair face flushing crimson.
Ning Tian shook her head in amusement at the sight, then remarked casually:
"You know, before I met you, I always thought saying someone's face could turn as red as a monkey's ass was a figure of speech."
That single sentence broke Jiang Yu and the others, and they burst out laughing.
Already boiling red under Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er's successive verbal bombardments, Zhu Lu completely lost control at those words. Throwing all caution aside, she screamed:
"No wonder you three filthy bitches are so good with your mouths, hanging around with someone that ugly! I bet behind everyone's backs you've done plenty of-"
Before Zhu Lu could finish, light and shadows shifted before her eyes. Then an overwhelming force she couldn't possibly resist slammed into her right cheek.
Before her mind could even register the pain and humiliation, her entire body hurtled like a cannonball into a pile of miscellaneous clutter stacked in a corner of the cafeteria, crashing into it with a thunderous boom.
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