Practicing on Both Sides

Early the next morning, three people arrived at the Gate of Shrek Academy.

There was a middle-aged Deacon, a tall, thin young man, and a girl with a short bow on her back. All three wore ordinary clothes, but the cuffs bore Spirit Hall's discreet insignia.

Flender's eyes shifted slightly when he saw the insignia.

People from Spirit Hall were nothing unusual. What was unusual was how stiffly respectful they were before Bai Jin.

"Lord Bai."

Luo Wenshan, the middle-aged Deacon leading them, bowed. "The Great Enshrined ordered us to follow your instructions."

Bai Jin was eating candy. He merely nodded. "You got here fast."

Luo Wenshan glanced at the shabby academy Gate, then at the dust-covered Shrek students on the training ground, struggling to keep his composure.

"I hadn't expected you to really be training students here."

"Neither had I."

"Then why are you..."

"Sect Master Ning is paying me."

Luo Wenshan promptly shut his mouth.

Oscar whispered to Ma Hongjun, "Is this Spirit Hall's special squad?"

Ma Hongjun whispered back even more quietly, "They look pretty serious."

Bai Jin's ears twitched. "Don't worry. That won't last long."

All three Spirit Hall Soul Masters stiffened.

Training began soon after.

Bai Jin mixed the two sides together. Dai Mubai faced Luo Wenshan, Tang San faced the tall young man, and Xiao Wu faced the girl with the short bow. Zhu Zhuqing ran laps alone; Ning Rongrong and Oscar stood in the center, while Ma Hongjun provided suppressing fire.

Flender had only come to watch the fun, but as he watched, his expression grew serious.

Bai Jin's training never involved showy moves, grand lectures, or a strong man's airs. He simply flicked a pebble at the most dangerous moment.

Just as Dai Mubai moved to take Luo Wenshan's punch head-on, the dirt beside his foot burst apart.

Bai Jin's voice followed. "An enemy won't necessarily agree to face you head-on."

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and turned aside. Without even activating his White Tiger Protection Barrier, he managed to gain half a step through footwork alone.

Just as Xiao Wu closed in on the girl with the short bow, a silver flash grazed past her shoulder.

"Fast legs don't mean your eyes can see everything."

Xiao Wu landed and rolled. She muttered a curse, but her movements became noticeably more cautious.

Tang San's fight was the quietest.

The tall young man's Martial Soul was a Soft Sword. His attacks came from tricky angles, always targeting wrists and the backs of knees. Tang San used no Hidden Weapons and made no rush to counterattack. He only spread layer after layer of Blue Silver Grass, like a spiderweb, yet not quite.

He was waiting for his opponent to lose patience first.

After several sword strikes missed, the young man's footfall finally grew half a beat heavier.

Tang San moved a finger.

Blue Silver Grass surged up from the ground. One strand caught his opponent's ankle, another curled toward his wrist. The angles were exquisite: they caused no injury, yet completely shut down the Soft Sword's leverage.

Bai Jin saw it clearly.

This boy's hand was far steadier than any twelve-year-old's should have been.

It was not softness. He knew exactly how much force to use, and when.

Ning Rongrong was having a hard time in the center, too.

She had thought a support-type Soul Master only needed to provide boosts, but Bai Jin demanded that she first decide who needed one most.

"Dai Mubai."

"Wrong."

Bai Jin struck the ground by her foot with a pebble.

"He can still hold on."

Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth and turned toward Xiao Wu.

"Xiao Wu."

"Too late."

The girl with the short bow fired at Xiao Wu's landing spot. Xiao Wu barely dodged.

Ning Rongrong went pale.

She suddenly understood: if a support-type Soul Master took one beat too long to decide, a teammate might take another blade.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda finally lit up.

"Seven Treasures Have Names, First: Strength!"

Light fell over Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu sprang forward with the boost and kicked the archer's wrist. The bowstring went askew, and the arrow buried itself in the dirt.

Bai Jin nodded. "That was all right."

Sweat poured down Ning Rongrong's temples, but she did not argue.

Halfway through training, Zhao Wuji arrived too.

He had learned only last night that a Seven-Ring Soul Sage had come to the academy—and one from Spirit Hall at that. It had left a bitter taste in his mouth. But after watching for half an hour, his expression changed.

These children were improving too quickly.

Their Soul Power had not increased. Their reactions were changing.

They were learning to watch people—their enemies' feet, shoulders, and breathing, and whether their teammates could keep up.

In a real fight, nothing was more valuable.

Bai Jin clapped his hands.

"Stop."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at once.

Then he said, "Switch groups."

Ma Hongjun nearly fell to his knees. "Switch again?"

"You seemed to enjoy hiding in the back and breathing fire."

"I'm Power Attack System!"

"Power Attack System doesn't mean standing there like a furnace."

Bai Jin walked up to him and lightly touched his forehead.

There was no pressure from Soul Power.

Yet Ma Hongjun felt as though a cold hand had pinned him by the forehead.

"Make your fire burn where it needs to."

Ma Hongjun blinked.

Bai Jin withdrew his hand and looked at Oscar.

"You too."

Oscar immediately puffed out his chest. "I can make sausages anytime!"

"Learn to run first."

"Huh?"

“A slow Support System dies fast.”

Oscar fell silent.

It was unpleasant to hear, but it was true.

Training ended that afternoon.

Spirit Hall's three Soul Masters sat off to one side, panting. The Shrek students were in no better shape.

Yesterday, the two sides had eyed each other warily. Today, they were passing each other water without a second thought.

Ning Rongrong had never much liked people from Spirit Hall. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Spirit Hall had not openly fallen out, but they were far from close. Yet when the girl with the short bow rested after Xiao Wu kicked her wrist, she merely rubbed it and handed Xiao Wu her waterskin.

Xiao Wu paused, took it, and awkwardly said thanks.

The girl with the short bow smiled. "That was a precise kick."

Xiao Wu immediately perked up. "Of course it was!"

Tang San watched from the side without speaking.

He could tell Bai Jin had deliberately mixed the two groups. Shrek's students were wild; Spirit Hall's were disciplined. One was like scattered flames, the other a honed blade. Put together, they were bound to clash, but they could see more clearly what they lacked.

Dai Mubai had figured it out, too.

He glanced at Luo Wenshan and suddenly said, “Another round?”

Luo Wenshan calmly wiped the dirt from the back of his hand. “All right.”

At that, several Shrek students looked over.

Dai Mubai was usually proud, while Luo Wenshan was steady. One was like a beast straining against its leash; the other, a stone lion guarding a Gate. Their earlier fight had not been pretty, but every collision had been real.

Ma Hongjun stared at them in horror. "Are you two sick? We just stopped!"

Bai Jin smiled at him.

"See? That's called initiative."

Ma Hongjun silently hugged his waterskin tighter and decided he had heard nothing.

Bai Jin crouched beneath a tree, leafing through the dossier Luo Wenshan had brought.

Several missing-person reports were tucked inside.

Over the past half month, several low-level Soul Masters had vanished in Suotuo City after Soul Fighting matches.

No one had seen the culprit.

Only a faint, sweet scent tinged with blood had been detected at the scenes.

Bai Jin raised his head and looked toward Suotuo City.

"Afternoon class is canceled."

Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up. "A day off?"

"Field training."

The light in Ma Hongjun's eyes went out at once.

Tang San, however, was already on his feet.

"A mission?"

Bai Jin smiled.

"Yes."

He closed the dossier.

"We're going to Suotuo City to see who's stealing people."