Battle Soul Sage Zhao Wuji! Lin Xuan Hands Over Command

But the two red lipstick marks on his face were plain as day in the sunlight. There was no hiding them.

Zhu Zhuqing had spotted them long ago.

She had seen them the moment Dai Mubai climbed down from the tree where he had been hanging.

The scene outside the Rose Hotel yesterday afternoon came back to her: Dai Mubai with his arms around two women who looked like twins, grinning without a care in the world.

She said nothing, but she unconsciously took another half step back, putting one more person's worth of distance between herself and Dai Mubai.

Xiao Wu couldn't hold back. She leaned toward Lin Xuan's ear and lowered her voice.

"What's that on his face? Lipstick marks?"

"What do you think?"

"Tch."

Xiao Wu pursed her lips and glanced at Dai Mubai, who was walking at the front.

"The guy taking us to our exam is a womanizer? This academy's judgment isn't much to brag about."

Then Xiao Wu looked at Lin Xuan. "Lin Xuan, you'd better not fool around like him!"

Lin Xuan rubbed Xiao Wu's head. "All right, I promise I won't fool around. If I ever do, I'll do it right in front of you!"

Xiao Wu stamped her foot in fury. "Lin Xuan!!!"

Ning Rongrong was walking ahead of them. Her mouth twitched when she heard that. They're certainly lively.

The five of them followed a rutted dirt road toward the back of the academy, passing a row of even shabbier wooden buildings before reaching a large courtyard.

An armchair stood in the middle of the courtyard, with someone seated in it.

Calling him broad-shouldered and powerfully built didn't begin to cover it.

He stood well over two meters tall, with shoulders wide enough to block half a doorway and arms thicker than Lin Xuan's thighs.

This was Zhao Wuji.

Dai Mubai stopped at the courtyard entrance and cleared his throat.

"Teacher Zhao."

Zhao Wuji opened one eye and swept his gaze across them. Seeing five youngsters behind Dai Mubai, he sat up a little straighter.

"Mubai, you've brought a good batch this time. Five of them went straight to the fourth test?"

Dai Mubai handed him the record sheet. "Better than good."

Zhao Wuji took the sheet and looked down.

He went quiet for two seconds.

Then he read it again.

"Twelve years old, level thirty-five, support type?" Zhao Wuji read aloud. He looked up at Lin Xuan, who stood at the front. "Which one is this?"

"Me," Lin Xuan replied.

Zhao Wuji rose from his chair. As soon as he stood, the whole courtyard seemed to shrink. He walked up to Lin Xuan and looked him over from above.

"A Paper Martial Soul?"

"Yeah."

Zhao Wuji drew a breath and checked the sheet again. Level thirty-three Soft Bone Rabbit. Level thirty-one Blue Silver Grass.

He rubbed his hands together, clearly intrigued, then turned to Dai Mubai.

"Mubai, I'll handle the fourth test!"

Dai Mubai had been stealing glances at Zhu Zhuqing. Zhao Wuji's shout snapped him back, and he nodded.

"All right, Teacher Zhao."

Zhao Wuji gave Dai Mubai another look. "Mubai. Aren't you going to wipe those lipstick marks off your face?"

Dai Mubai froze and touched his face.

His fingertips brushed against something sticky. He looked down at them. Red.

The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.

Zhu Zhuqing had already turned her face completely away, her jaw clenched tight.

Ning Rongrong folded her arms and looked at Dai Mubai as if he were some rare creature.

Xiao Wu burst out laughing. "Hahaha! They really are lipstick marks!"

Dai Mubai's face went pale, then flushed. He scrubbed at it several times with his sleeve. Still unsure, he asked Lin Xuan and the others,

"Are they gone?"

Tang San obligingly nodded.

But Lin Xuan noticed that Tang San could barely keep his mouth from curling into a smile.

Dai Mubai looked as though he had been granted a reprieve. He hurried to the edge of the courtyard and leaned against the fence, not daring to look Zhu Zhuqing's way again.

Zhao Wuji had no interest in the distraction.

He strode back to the center of the courtyard, planted his hands on his hips, and surveyed the five of them.

"The rules are simple."

"The five of you work together and hold out against me for the time it takes one stick of incense to burn."

He picked up a stick of yellow incense beside the chair, set it in the burner on the ground, and lit it with a fire striker.

A thin trail of smoke drifted upward.

"You have two minutes to get to know each other." Zhao Wuji stepped back and sat in the armchair again. "Then we begin."

Ning Rongrong frowned. "May I ask what level you are?"

Zhao Wuji grinned. "Level seventy-six Soul Sage. Assault type. My Martial Soul is the Vigorous Vajra Bear."

A level seventy-six Soul Sage.

Ning Rongrong's expression changed.

Xiao Wu stopped smiling too and turned to Lin Xuan.

Three Soul Elders and two Soul Grandmasters against a level seventy-six Soul Sage? How was that any different from walking to their deaths?

"Don't panic."

Dai Mubai spoke from where he leaned against the fence.

"Teacher Zhao will hold back. This is an entrance exam, not a fight to the death. But even with him holding back and you going all out, the gap will still be ridiculous."

"So don't think about winning. Think about buying time. It's only one stick of incense. Run when you can, dodge when you can, and don't take him head-on."

Tang San fell silent for a few seconds, quickly organizing his thoughts.

"Two minutes. Everyone, tell us your Martial Soul and soul skills."

Lin Xuan spoke first.

"Lin Xuan, level thirty-five support-type Soul Elder. I have three support skills."

He held up three fingers and folded them down one by one.

"First soul skill, Blazing Fire Talisman. I place it on you, and your attacks gain a fire attribute with roughly a forty percent boost."

"Second soul skill, Gale Talisman. I place it on you, and it greatly increases your movement and reaction speed for a short time."

"Third soul skill, Frost Lock Talisman. I place it on you, and your close-range attacks gain a freezing, slowing effect."

When he finished, the courtyard fell silent.

Ning Rongrong's mouth opened slightly.

A forty percent boost? Three different elemental enhancements? All from one person?

How could he do that?

With a Paper Martial Soul?

Zhu Zhuqing turned her head slightly and took another look at Lin Xuan.

When no one else spoke, Xiao Wu jumped in. "Xiao Wu, level thirty-three assault-type Soul Elder. My Martial Soul is the Soft Bone Rabbit. I specialize in Close-Combat Fighting, and my explosive power is strong."

Tang San followed.

"Tang San, level thirty-one control-type Soul Elder. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. My first soul skill is Entanglement, and my third is Spider Web Restraint. I focus on control."

Blue Silver Grass had control skills?

Zhu Zhuqing gave Tang San another look but said nothing.

"Zhu Zhuqing. Level twenty-seven agility-type Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Hell Spirit Cat. I'm fast and specialize in surprise attacks."

Ning Rongrong was last.

She hesitated, then gave her introduction.

"Ning Rongrong, level twenty-six support-type Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. I can boost strength and speed."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Tang San stirred slightly. He had clearly heard of this Martial Soul.

Lin Xuan wasn't surprised.

Two support types, two attackers, and one control type. It wasn't a bad lineup, but they were facing a level seventy-six Soul Sage. No arrangement would change that.

Xiao Wu moved closer. "Lin Xuan, how should we fight?"

Lin Xuan didn't answer right away. He looked at Tang San and said,

"Little San, you're the control type. Our team should fight around your control, so I'll follow your lead."

Tang San froze for a moment.

He hadn't expected Lin Xuan to hand command over to him. Back at Notting Academy, whether in training or actual combat, Lin Xuan had always made the decisions himself.

But Tang San soon understood. Lin Xuan recognized his role on the team.

I can't let him down!