Gu Yue's Gesture of Goodwill

Once the two had taken their positions, Xie Xie wasted no words.

He drove his foot hard against the ground and shot forward at astonishing speed.

Normally, he charged straight ahead with his body upright, relying purely on explosive power.

This time, though, he lowered his body slightly and leaned forward.

He moved faster, and his changes of direction grew more agile and unpredictable.

Watching Xie Xie rush toward her, Gu Yue calmly raised a hand.

Two ice spikes formed in her hand in an instant.

One came from the left, the other from the right, stabbing toward Xie Xie with sharp whistles as they cut through the air.

But halfway through his charge, Xie Xie stopped abruptly.

He kicked backward and retreated at speed.

The two ice spikes skimmed past his body.

He planted a foot on a fragment left by one of them.

Using the force it pushed back with, he launched himself forward again.

Even Wu Changkong's eyes flashed with approval at the deft maneuver.

Gu Yue, meanwhile, was visibly caught off guard for an instant.

After all, Gu Yue and Na'er were essentially one being.

Neither had much experience with human combat.

Although Gu Yuena had lived for tens of thousands of years, she had spent most of that time simply crushing opponents with raw strength.

And she had done so in the form of a Soul Beast.

She truly knew little about human fighting techniques.

But her own strength was more than enough—or rather, her mental power was.

Her mental power had, after all, reached the level of a God King.

Relying on that power to predict his movements, Gu Yue sensed Xie Xie despite the strange, nimble twists of his attack.

As Xie Xie charged in, Gu Yue wasted no words either.

She pressed a hand toward the ground, and a gaping sinkhole suddenly opened beneath his path.

The moment Xie Xie lunged in that direction, the opening engulfed him.

But his body did not sink into the earth.

Instead, he twisted sharply in midair and hurled one of his daggers forward.

Then he planted a foot on his other Shadow Dagger.

Using the force it pushed back with, he shot clear and caught the dagger flying through the air.

Then he unleashed Light Dragon Storm.

He executed Light Dragon Storm with exquisite precision.

But as Xie Xie surged forward, a huge fireball came straight at him.

The fireball collided with Light Dragon Storm.

Gu Yue staggered back three steps.

Xie Xie, on the other hand, was sent flying by the fireball's brutal impact.

Seeing Xie Xie get to his feet in a sorry state and wipe the ash from his face, Li Qingyue looked at him with admiration.

Even Wu Changkong gave a slight nod.

The two were plainly not in the same league.

Though both had two rings, Gu Yue was far, far stronger than Xie Xie.

That fireball alone was something Xie Xie could not have withstood.

Only by using Light Dragon Storm to bleed off some of its force at the critical moment had he avoided serious injury.

Even so, Xie Xie's injuries were much worse than expected.

After all, Xie Xie had performed far beyond the ordinary this time.

Gu Yue had needed a heavy blow to defeat him.

Looking at Xie Xie, Gu Yue frowned.

His injuries really were quite severe.

But as she considered them, she saw the boy named Li Qingyue slowly raise a hand.

A branch appeared from thin air in his hand.

As the branch shimmered faintly, strands of green light gathered in the boy's palm.

At last, a strand of light slipped silently into Xie Xie's body.

Then, under Gu Yue's stunned gaze, every injury on Xie Xie healed in an instant.

The sight left even Gu Yue dumbfounded.

The boy before her had only two rings.

Even for a two-ring healing-type Soul Master, the potency and effectiveness of that healing were astonishing.

He had not only healed all of Xie Xie's injuries but restored all his Soul Power as well.

Gu Yue could not begin to understand how he had restored Soul Power so effectively.

Even Bi Ji the Emerald Swan could only heal injuries; she could not restore Soul Power.

Not even the life force of Soul Beasts could restore Soul Power.

Yet the boy before her could, and he had done it with such effortless ease.

Thinking of how he had summoned her, and of the connection between them, Gu Yue's gaze grew increasingly complicated.

She did not know who the boy before her truly was.

He was so mysterious that it astonished her.

She did know something about Tang Wulin.

At first, she had only suspected that Tang Wulin carried the Golden Dragon King Bloodline.

She had soon confirmed that Tang Wulin possessed the Golden Dragon King's complete inheritance.

But this was different. Everything about the boy before her, from his Martial Soul onward, was shrouded in mystery.

In particular, she could sense that his Martial Soul was no ordinary Martial Soul.

Wu Changkong might not be able to see that.

But she possessed the potential for God King-level mental power.

Though most of her power was sealed and she had chosen to begin her cultivation anew, she had lost none of her knowledge or insight.

She could clearly sense how extraordinary Li Qingyue was.

Seeing that even Xie Xie at full power had been defeated, Wu Changkong nodded decisively.

He would be a fool to turn away a talented student like her.

She was powerful, and she had two rings too.

Unfortunately, that strength was a little too overwhelming.

If he let her take part, the upcoming class promotion tournament would be just as impossible to hold.

At that thought, Wu Changkong sighed.

Other homeroom teachers thought their classes had too few talented students.

When he had first seen these students, he had been ready to say they were merely the tallest of a short bunch.

But after seeing the extraordinary talent Li Qingyue and Na'er had displayed—talent far beyond the norm—Wu Changkong honestly could not bring himself to say it.

Even Tang Wulin, the weakest among them with only a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, had performed quite well.

The arrival of one prodigy after another had left even Wu Changkong stunned.

His expression, however, remained fairly composed.

"You defeated Xie Xie, so you're admitted. Come with me. I'll take you to the academic affairs office."

"Everyone else, take a break. Class monitor Li Qingyue will be in charge."

Wu Changkong spoke plainly.

With that, he led Gu Yue toward the exit.

Gu Yue nodded to Wu Changkong, then stepped forward.

The girl calmly approached Li Qingyue.

Their eyes met, without a trace of hostility between them.

Gu Yue studied the handsome boy before her with curiosity.

She could sense that she was utterly incapable of attacking him.

That enforced restriction left her somewhat helpless.

Still, as she looked at him, she raised a hand.

A White Rabbit Candy appeared in the girl's hand.

She calmly offered the candy to Li Qingyue, then turned and left.

As Gu Yue walked away, two people immediately reacted.

Na'er, who had already started running nearby, glared fiercely at Gu Yue's retreating back.

Anger filled her face, along with hurt and panic.

She had never expected that awful Gu Yue to start making moves on her Qingyue the moment she arrived.

The other was Tang Wulin.

He stared at Gu Yue, his gaze going slightly unfocused.

Then he instinctively pressed a hand to his chest. He could not shake the feeling that he had lost something.