Isn't That Just a Grass Chicken?

Early the next morning, Flender called everyone to the training ground.

The eight of them stood in a row. Lin Yuan leaned against the wall, yawning; Xiao Wu rubbed her face; Ning Rongrong was still fixing her hair. Tang San stood at the far end, his expression stiff.

Flender paced twice in front of them with his hands behind his back, then cleared his throat.

"Today, I'm taking you somewhere."

He pushed up his black-framed glasses and swept his gaze over the group, finally settling on Tang San.

"The Great Soul Arena. Some of you have been there. Some of you haven't."

Tang San stood where he was without a word.

Flender continued, "The Great Soul Arena is the most authoritative platform for Soul Master battles on the continent. Whatever your level or Martial Soul, only strength matters there. Before you graduate, every one of you must earn a Silver Soul Badge. No badge, no graduation."

Xiao Wu curled her lip and muttered, "This again."

Flender pretended not to hear. He turned and started walking. "Let's go."

The Soto Great Soul Arena.

The Soul Fighting Arena was much quieter by day than by night, though people still came and went. The huge circular building cast a shadow in the sunlight, and Soul Beast reliefs covered its walls.

Flender led the eight of them into the hall and pointed to the registration desk on the left. "If you haven't registered, go over there."

Tang San stayed where he was. He glanced at the Soul Masters passing through the hall, then toward Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan was leaning against the wall, talking with Xiao Wu. Ning Rongrong stood beside them, while Zhu Zhuqing stood quietly nearby. They were chatting happily, a little circle of their own.

Tang San paused. Then he turned and walked toward Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu turned. Seeing Tang San, she blinked. "What is it?"

Tang San stopped in front of her. He hesitated before speaking. "I want to team up with you for a two-on-two match."

Xiao Wu froze. "Team up?"

"Yes," Tang San said. "I've even thought of a name: the Three-Five Combination. You and me, a three and a five."

Xiao Wu blinked. Then she blinked again.

"Uh... I don't want to do two-on-two."

Tang San frowned slightly. "Why?"

"I just don't." Xiao Wu waved a hand. "Find someone else. Ma Hongjun doesn't have a partner either, does he? Go ask him."

Tang San stood there, his hand half-raised.

"Xiao Wu, we—"

"Oh, Lin Yuan!" Xiao Wu suddenly turned and called out, "Wait a second! I want to talk to you!"

She waved goodbye to Tang San and ran over.

Tang San watched her reach Lin Yuan and tilt her head up to say something. Lin Yuan glanced at her and replied. Xiao Wu paused, then burst out laughing.

Tang San pressed his lips into a thin line.

He turned and walked toward Ma Hongjun.

"Ma Hongjun. Team up with me for two-on-two."

Ma Hongjun looked him up and down, then grinned. "Sure."

They went to the registration desk. The clerk didn't look up. "Names. Martial Souls."

"Tang San. Blue Silver Grass."

"Ma Hongjun. Evil Fire Phoenix."

The clerk looked up at them, then lowered his head again. "Team name."

Tang San paused.

He hadn't considered that at all. A moment ago, the Three-Five Combination had been all he could think about. Now the three-five part was gone.

"Whatever."

The clerk looked up at him again, then at Ma Hongjun. He lowered his head and wrote a line in the team-name field.

"Done."

Tang San took the badge and looked down.

Four words were engraved on it: Grass Chicken Combination.

Tang San's face darkened at once.

Ma Hongjun leaned in to look, and his face turned green. "Grass Chicken Combination? What the hell did you write?"

The clerk slowly raised his head. "You said 'whatever.' I took one word from each of your Martial Souls. Blue Silver Grass gives us 'grass,' and Evil Fire Phoenix gives us 'chicken.' Grass Chicken. Sounds good to me."

Ma Hongjun's eyes widened. "I'm a phoenix! Are you blind?!"

The moment the words left his mouth, his Martial Soul possessed him. Purple-red light surged from his body. His short hair suddenly lengthened, gathering toward the center and rising into a mohawk. Two Yellow Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet. Long purple-red feathers spread across his thick, bare arms, and his hands turned into claws. From a distance, his round body, upright hair, and fuzzy claws made him look exactly like a fat grass chicken with its feathers all puffed up.

The clerk took one look and couldn't help laughing. "Look at yourself. Isn't that just a grass chicken?"

Ma Hongjun's face flushed red with anger. He was about to argue again when Tang San grabbed him.

"Change it!" Ma Hongjun slapped the counter. "Change the name!"

"Certainly," the clerk said, his expression unchanged. "Register again. Ten more Gold Soul Coins each."

Ma Hongjun's hand froze in midair.

"Ten?"

"Ten."

They stood at the registration desk, looking from one to the other, their faces shifting between red and white.

In the end, Tang San stuffed the Grass Chicken Combination badge into his clothes with a dark expression. Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath.

They had barely left the desk when two figures ran over.

Xiao Wu tugged Lin Yuan by the sleeve and trotted up to the registration desk.

"We're signing up! We want to register for two-on-two!"

The clerk raised his head. "Team name?"

"Zero-Five Combination!" Xiao Wu said before Lin Yuan could answer. "Zero and five!"

The clerk wrote a few strokes and handed over the badge. Xiao Wu took it, turned it over several times, and smiled in satisfaction. Then she turned and pushed it into Lin Yuan's hand. "Hold this!"

Lin Yuan took the badge, glanced at it, and slipped it into his pocket.

A few steps away, Tang San watched, his expression darkening.

Beside him, Ma Hongjun muttered a curse. "Grass."

Whether he was cursing their team name or something else, no one could tell.

The draw results came out quickly.

Tang San stood at the arena entrance. When he saw the people coming up on the opposite side, his whole body went rigid.

Lin Yuan stood across from him, with Xiao Wu at his side, smiling as she said something to Lin Yuan.

Tang San's gaze fell on Xiao Wu. His lips moved.

The referee raised a hand. "Both teams, take your positions!"

Beside Tang San, Ma Hongjun cursed under his breath. "Why them?"

Tang San's face was grim. He said nothing.

At the referee's signal, the battle began.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass instantly spread across the floor, reaching to entangle Lin Yuan. Faint purple poison markings ran along its leaves as they fanned out over the arena.

Ma Hongjun moved at the same time. Phoenix Flame rose in his palm, and a straight stream of crimson fire shot toward Lin Yuan.

Crimson flames swept across the arena, their heat rushing forward.

They struck the Blue Silver Grass.

Hiss—

The Blue Silver Grass caught fire at once, twisting and curling in the flames before crumbling to ash. Tang San's Entanglement had not even reached Lin Yuan's feet when Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame burned it to nothing.

Tang San whipped his head around. "Ma Hongjun!"

Ma Hongjun froze too. "I—"

"Couldn't you aim before attacking?" Tang San kept his voice low, but every word burned with anger.

Ma Hongjun's expression soured. "How is it my fault your grass burns so easily? I made my attack. Who are you blaming?"

"Then couldn't you wait until I had them under control?"

"Wait for you? Who could that grass of yours hold?"

They stood in the arena trading retorts, their faces drawing closer and closer.

Across from them, Lin Yuan watched and sighed.

"What a waste of time."

He stepped forward.

Tang San sensed something was wrong. Blue Silver Grass spread from beneath his feet again to intercept Lin Yuan. But Lin Yuan never slowed. His toe touched a leaf, and before the grass could wrap around his ankle, he was past it.

Lin Yuan lifted his foot and kicked.

Tang San flew backward, spun twice in the air, and slammed into the barrier at the edge of the arena before sliding down.

Ma Hongjun had only just reacted. Before he could release his Phoenix Flame, Lin Yuan was already in front of him.

Another kick.

Ma Hongjun's round body went flying and landed squarely on Tang San. Tangled together, they rolled off the arena.

The referee froze for two seconds, then raised a hand. "Zero-Five Combination wins!"

The audience fell silent for an instant, then burst into laughter.

Xiao Wu stood in the arena with her mouth open. It took her a long moment to close it.

She turned to Lin Yuan. "...I didn't even get to make a move."

Lin Yuan brushed the dust from his trouser leg.

"I'll let you go first next time."

Flender rose from the audience seats, his hands trembling as he counted Gold Soul Coins. Golden light reflected off his glasses.

"One more match. Just one more match."

"Headmaster." Lin Yuan cut him off.

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"We won so much today. Aren't you going to treat the Gugas to a meal?"

Flender's smile froze.

Slowly, he turned to look behind Lin Yuan.

Five Gugas had appeared at some point and were looking up at him. Every one of them had raised its little hands, eyes full of hope.

"Food, Guga."

Flender's lips began to tremble.

"F-food."

He remembered their last meal.

"I just remembered I have something to take care of at the academy."

His Cat Owl Martial Soul possessed him instantly. His wings spread, their feathers rustling in the night breeze. Flender pushed off with both legs and soared into the air. The Gold Soul Coins in his arms clinked together; a few fell to the ground, but he did not turn back to pick them up.

The girls doubled over laughing.

Ning Rongrong laughed until tears came to her eyes. She held on to the edge of the arena, unable to straighten up.

"He runs faster than a rabbit!"

Xiao Wu crouched on the ground, laughing, and pointed at the shrinking black speck in the sky.

"He—he dropped his money."

Zhu Zhuqing bent down, picked up a Gold Soul Coin, turned it in her hand, and passed it to Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan took it and weighed it in his palm.

The five Gugas tilted their heads and watched the black speck fly farther away. Guga stretched out a little hand and pointed at the sky.

"Dinner flew away, Guga."

Dark Gold Guga clicked its tongue and muttered.

"Next time, catch him before asking, Guga."

Starry Guga nodded beside it.

"Right. Catch him first, Guga."

Xiao Wu stood up and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Next time Headmaster Flender comes looking for Lin Yuan, he'll definitely ask one thing first: 'The Gugas aren't here, are they?'"

Lin Yuan tucked the Gold Soul Coin away and glanced in the direction Flender had disappeared.

When Xiao Wu had laughed enough, she stood up and brushed off her skirt. She looked toward where Flender had vanished, then back at Lin Yuan.

She grabbed his sleeve, her eyes brightening. "Let's fight another match!"

"We just finished one."

"That one doesn't count! I didn't even move! Come on, fight another one with me!"

Lin Yuan glanced at her. "Against whom?"

"The Soul Elder division!" Xiao Wu said. "The Soul Grandmaster division's no fun. They're done in one move. I want to fight Soul Elders!"

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow. "You're level twenty-nine. You want to fight Soul Elders above your level?"

"What's there to be afraid of? I have you!" Xiao Wu said, as though it were obvious. "Besides, you could even beat Teacher Zhao. Why would you be afraid of Soul Elders?"

Before Lin Yuan could answer, Xiao Wu dragged him toward the registration desk.

At the desk, the clerk paused when he heard Xiao Wu's request. "Are you sure? If you enter the Soul Elder division as Soul Grandmasters, your opponents will be at least level thirty-one. With bad luck, you could draw someone at level thirty-nine."

"We're sure, we're sure!" Xiao Wu leaned over the counter, her eyes sparkling. "Hurry up!"

The clerk looked at Lin Yuan, then at Xiao Wu. He shook his head and registered them.

"Zero-Five Combination. Entering above their level. Soul Elder division."

The draw results came out quickly.

Their opponents—Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan.

Silver Soul Badges.

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