Chapter 28

The air in Zhou Yi's office seemed to freeze.

Beside them, Wang Dong was struggling so hard to hold back her laughter that her shoulders shook. Huo Yutong hid behind Ye Tianming, showing only half her face, her big eyes blinking.

She was nervous, but what her Tianming said made so much sense.

A vein throbbed twice on Zhou Yi's forehead. She took a deep breath, forced down the urge to throw all three little brats out for a hundred laps, then said with a cold laugh,

"Fine. Fine! Every last one of you has ideas of your own, huh?"

"You're only saying this because you don't want to be separated, aren't you?"

"And when have you ever seen the Power Attack System and the Control System split up?!"

"They'll be assigned to the same class anyway!"

"You little brats, change it back!"

At her words, Wang Dong's eyes widened.

"Huh? Is that how it works?"

Ye Tianming nodded in agreement while holding back a laugh.

"Of course, Teacher Zhou. No problem, Teacher Zhou."

He had read the original story, so of course he knew. He had just thought it would be funny.

Wang Dong rushed forward and hurriedly changed her choice.

Ye Tianming followed at his leisure and changed his back to the Power Attack System too.

Seeing that both Wang Dong and Ye Tianming had switched back, Zhou Yi finally nodded in satisfaction.

"All right. Of everyone taking this assessment, you three are the ones I have the highest hopes for."

"Only if you achieve good results will the academy make your training a priority."

"And you have just one task: win the Freshman Assessment!"

"Win it?!"

Wang Dong and Huo Yutong exclaimed together in shock.

Zhou Yi nodded, then said slowly,

"All right, you can go."

"Remember to get yourselves ready. I believe in your abilities, especially yours, Ye Tianming."

Ye Tianming nodded at once and said confidently,

"Don't worry, Teacher Zhou. Just watch Yutong, Wang Dong, and me sweep through everyone out there."

Outside the teaching building.

Ye Tianming, Wang Dong, and Huo Yutong walked along together, chatting.

"Man, I thought Teacher Zhou was going to give us a proper thrashing."

Huo Yutong chimed in from beside them.

"Me too!"

Ye Tianming merely nodded, then took Huo Yutong's hand and said to Wang Dong,

"All right, Wang Dong. Yutong and I have something else to do."

Without waiting for Wang Dong's reply, Ye Tianming led Huo Yutong away by the hand.

Wang Dong stared blankly at their retreating figures. She suddenly felt as though her head had turned into a lightbulb.

One that was glowing...

After the Freshman Assessment was announced, the whole of Class One wound up like clockwork.

Every day, Zhou Yi drove them out to run before dawn. After a hundred laps came sparring, and anyone who slacked off got one word from her: "Out."

During the first week, new students shouted every day that they wanted to quit. After Zhou Yi chewed a few of them out and sent them packing, the rest accepted their fate and gritted their teeth through each day as though it were their last.

Huo Yutong had the lowest cultivation in the class, but she worked harder than anyone.

She knew her Soul Power was low, so she pestered Tianming for extra training all day long.

Tian Meng also gave her private lessons in the Sea of Consciousness. His voice was lazy, but every word struck closer to the heart of the matter than the last.

"With Spiritual Detection, don't just look. Learn to think about where your target is and what it'll do next."

"Your eyes aren't there just to see. They're there to calculate."

Over three months, Huo Yutong's Soul Power surged from around level eleven or twelve to level nineteen.

Though it was still Class One, the entire class's tactics had quietly begun to revolve around her eyes.

Wang Dong had held herself aloof at first, but after working with Huo Yutong a few times, even she had to admit that fighting beside the girl felt like having a heavenly eye opened for her.

One evening, the two were sparring in a corner of the Training Grounds. Wang Dong struck with her palm. Huo Yutong slipped to the side, and somehow their hands met.

Their Soul Power suddenly merged through their palms, and golden light exploded outward with a boom.

A thirty-meter-long golden furrow plowed straight across the Training Grounds.

The two of them stared, dumbfounded.

"What the heck was that?"

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill."

Ye Tianming's voice came from behind them. He stood at the edge of the grounds with his arms folded and spoke slowly.

As for stopping them, the thought had never crossed Ye Tianming's mind.

First, he knew Wang Dong was a girl. Second, Yutong... forget it.

And third, Ye Tianming thought the move was actually quite good.

As for a certain God King Tang's scheme, Ye Tianming had no intention of letting it proceed as planned.

After all, he had been rather fond of Wang Dong in his previous life. He wanted to change her ending from the original story, not let her end up being so-called...

As for Tang Wutong later on...

At that thought, Ye Tianming slowly shook his head, then continued.

"Your Martial Souls are highly compatible. Once your Soul Power merges, it produces strength far beyond what either of you has alone."

Wang Dong turned to stare at Ye Tianming and asked,

"How do you know?"

Ye Tianming smiled, then said slowly,

"Just a guess."

"Keep this quiet for now. Save it as a trump card for the Freshman Assessment."

Huo Yutong ran over to Ye Tianming, tugged at the hem of his clothes, and asked softly,

"Tianming, I..."

Seeing little Yutong like this, Ye Tianming gently rubbed her head.

Then he leaned close to Huo Yutong's ear and whispered a few words.

Huo Yutong looked at Wang Dong in shock, then turned back to Ye Tianming with a wary, angry expression.

Ye Tianming let out a long sigh. He had known she would react like this.

But it was better to clear things up with Yutong early. Otherwise, all sorts of misunderstandings would give her a terrible headache.

Ye Tianming leaned toward Huo Yutong's ear again and whispered a few more words.

At last, Huo Yutong hesitantly tugged at his clothes once more.

How could Ye Tianming not know what the little girl was thinking?

He started by stroking her head, then gave her a quick peck.

Ye Tianming had no romantic interest in Wang Dong. He only wanted to make up for a regret from his previous life.

"Don't worry, little Yutong. I'm not interested in that tomboy."

"The one I like..."

Before Ye Tianming could finish, Huo Yutong hurriedly covered his mouth.

Wang Dong watched from the side, utterly baffled.

What are those two doing?

What are they whispering about now? Why do they have to hide it from me?

Wang Dong walked over and said,

"Ye Tianming, what do you think we should call that move?"

"Withering Amid Splendor, Golden Road."

Ye Tianming answered without thinking. The moment the words left his mouth, even he froze.

Then he shook his head inwardly.

That's the trouble with reading the original story. How did that come out so naturally?

(P.S. Wang Dong is a girl! There won't be a romance between her and the protagonist, or between Huo Yutong and Wang Dong!!! No yuri! As for why the Martial Soul Fusion Skill stays, it's because the author genuinely likes Wang Dong from the original story. The later Tang Wutong is best left unmentioned.)