Dorm Seven Doesn't Need a Boss

Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Dorm Seven.

When Tang San pushed open the door, the noisy dormitory fell silent.

A dozen or so children of different ages looked toward the entrance at once.

Most of their clothes were patched, and their beds were bare and simple. They were clearly work-study students from nearby villages and towns.

Tang San had barely put down his luggage when Wang Sheng blocked his way.

By Dorm Seven's rules, every new work-study student had to fight the boss.

Win, and they took over. Lose, and they had to follow orders.

Tang San had meant to refuse, but Wang Sheng had already lunged at him.

The gap between their abilities was obvious.

Tang San did not even release his Martial Soul. He used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade the attack, then redirected Wang Sheng's momentum with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, sending him off balance and onto a bed.

"I lost."

Wang Sheng rose, rubbing his wrist. "From today on, you're the boss of Dorm Seven."

"I told you, I'm not taking the job."

"It's the rule!"

"Who made the rule?"

"The work-study students before us."

"Then we'll change it starting today."

Tang San looked around at everyone in the dormitory.

"We listen to whoever is right."

"If students from another dormitory bully someone, we deal with it together."

"If we really need someone to take the lead, we can choose someone for the occasion. One person doesn't have to decide everything."

"What if we disagree?" someone asked.

"Then we talk it through."

Wang Sheng could not help asking, "And if talking doesn't work?"

Tang San thought for a moment. "Then we fight."

The dormitory went quiet before laughter broke out.

Wang Sheng laughed too.

"After all that talk, we still end up fighting?"

"At least we try reasoning first."

A faint smile appeared on Tang San's face.

He was not opposed to using force.

But his father had told him that fists could silence people, not turn wrong into right.

Just then, the dormitory door opened again.

A little girl in plain clothes stood outside.

She looked about Tang San's age. Her long black hair was braided into a scorpion-tail braid that hung past her calves, and she held a brand-new school uniform in her arms. Curiosity shone on her fair, tender face.

"Hello. Is this Dorm Seven?"

Wang Sheng nodded. "It is. Are you a work-study student too?"

"My name is Xiao Wu. Wu as in dancing."

She entered the dormitory and looked around. Her gaze soon settled on Tang San.

"What were you doing just now?"

One student answered first. "Choosing a boss."

"Then who's the boss?"

Everyone looked at Tang San.

Tang San was about to explain, but Wang Sheng spoke first. "He beat me, but he doesn't want the job."

Xiao Wu's eyes lit up.

"So if I beat him, I become the boss?"

"No."

Tang San denied it at once. "Dorm Seven doesn't have a boss anymore."

"And it's gone just because you say so?"

Xiao Wu tossed her uniform onto an empty bed and crooked a finger at him.

"Fight me first. If you win, I'll listen to your explanation. If I win, we follow my rules."

Tang San felt a little helpless.

People in this world seemed used to settling everything with a fight.

"What are your rules?"

"I haven't decided yet. I'll tell you when I win."

Before she had finished speaking, Xiao Wu rushed forward.

She was much faster than Wang Sheng, reaching Tang San in the blink of an eye. Her right leg rose, her toes darting straight for his chin.

Tang San stepped half a pace back and raised an arm to block.

But Xiao Wu's foot suddenly slipped around his arm. Her ankle pressed against his shoulder, and she used the momentum to leap up, wrapping her other leg toward his neck.

Grappling?

Tang San was startled.

He had never seen this way of fighting before. His judgment faltered for an instant, leaving him no choice but to lower his center of gravity and grab for Xiao Wu's calf with both hands.

Xiao Wu twisted at the waist. Her scorpion-tail braid whipped out and wrapped around Tang San's wrist.

An instant later, it pulled him off balance.

He stepped with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and planted his free hand on the floor, shedding the force in time.

They both flipped over in the cramped dormitory and regained their footing almost simultaneously.

Wang Sheng and the others stared, dumbfounded.

The excitement in Xiao Wu's eyes grew brighter.

"Again!"

A layer of soft red light flowed from her body, and two furry rabbit ears rose atop her head.

Tang San raised his right hand as well.

Pale blue light gathered in his palm, and a stalk of Blue Silver Grass slowly grew from it.

"Blue Silver Grass?"

Xiao Wu paused, then clenched her fists.

"So what if it's Blue Silver Grass? Keep going!"

"Wait."

Tang San withdrew his Martial Soul.

"Why did you stop?" Xiao Wu asked.

"The dormitory's too small. If we keep fighting, we'll damage the beds."

Tang San pointed to the bed Wang Sheng had struck earlier. A clear crack now ran across one of its boards.

"Besides, we have no reason to fight until one of us wins."

"I want to be the boss. Isn't that enough?"

"No."

"Then what would be enough?"

"For a start, you can't force what you want on everyone else."

Xiao Wu tilted her head and thought about it.

"What if they want me to be the boss?"

She turned to the others in Dorm Seven with a dazzling smile.

Wang Sheng and the others took an instinctive step back.

After seeing Xiao Wu's speed and flexibility, they had no doubt this seemingly adorable little girl could throw them to the floor one by one.

"Dorm Seven won't have a boss anymore," Wang Sheng said hurriedly. "We just changed the rule."

Xiao Wu glared at Tang San.

"You changed it after beating him?"

"We discussed it together."

Tang San did not claim the credit for himself.

Xiao Wu's eyes darted about. "Then what happens if someone bullies a person from Dorm Seven?"

"We fight back together," Wang Sheng answered.

"That's a good rule."

Xiao Wu nodded in satisfaction. "Then count me in."

She walked over to Tang San and held out her hand.

"We didn't settle our fight just now. We'll finish it when we have time."

Tang San shook her hand lightly.

"Fine, but the boss's position can't be the wager."

"You're such a nuisance."

Xiao Wu complained, but there was little displeasure in her eyes.

At least Tang San had not gone easy on her because she was young or because she was a girl.

Just then, a student poked his head through the doorway.

"Tang San, Grandmaster wants to see you. He's waiting outside the dormitory."

Tang San left Dorm Seven and saw Yu Xiaogang standing at the end of the corridor, holding two thick booklets.

"Here's the information you wanted."

Yu Xiaogang handed him the booklets.

One recorded the traits of common Soul Beasts; the other contained cases showing how different Martial Souls changed after absorbing Soul Rings.

Tang San opened them and read a few pages.

They contained not just conclusions, but sources and records of failures.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm going to the Soul Hunting Forest."

Yu Xiaogang looked at him. "You can come along and test my theory with your own eyes."

"As for whether you absorb the Soul Ring I choose, that's up to you."

Tang San closed the booklet.

"All right."

Documents alone could not fully prove a theory.

The best way to learn whether Yu Xiaogang's judgment was sound was to observe it for himself.

As for which Soul Ring he would ultimately absorb, he would still make that decision himself.