A Contest of Physical Talent

Bang!!

The sound of the door opening rang out.

"Please make way. I need to speak to Director Qian."

A clear, familiar female voice came from behind them. Xu Xiaonian turned around and exclaimed in delight, "Xiaotang? What a coincidence! We were just talking about you."

"Xiaonian? What are you doing here, and with..." Xu Xiaotang looked equally surprised. She greeted Hu Liena and the others:

"Hu Liena, Zhang Ping, Xu Yu, you're here too?"

"Xiaotang, here's what happened..." Zhang Ping, who was fairly close to Xu Xiaotang, explained the situation, then eagerly asked, "What do you think? Your little brother has already joined my team. Why don't you join too?"

"Sure, all right." Xu Xiaotang was a little dazed by the explanation. All she understood was that joining this team gave her a shot at taking first place in the Graduation Exam and getting her tuition waived.

And just like that, a five-person team of Soul Masters was officially formed.

After completing the enrollment procedures and team registration with Qian Shushi, the five of them left the academic affairs office.

Xu Xiaotang and Xu Xiaonian whispered to each other at the back of the group. The older sister asked:

"You must have awakened your martial soul while I was at school, right? Otherwise, the school wouldn't let you enroll without soul power. Also, what martial soul did you awaken? What level was your innate soul power?"

Her younger brother answered, "I did. My martial souls are the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and..."

Before he could finish, Zhang Ping suddenly cut in. "Stop whispering for now. You can talk for the rest of your lives once you get home. Let's pick a captain first."

"A captain?" Xu Xiaotang paused briefly. "I'm fine with anyone. Whoever wants to be captain can do it."

"Hmm..." Xu Xiaonian rubbed his chin. "Actually, I wouldn't mind being captain."

Zhang Ping thought he was joking and rolled her eyes. "Such a little kid, acting all grown-up. If we made you captain, we might as well surrender."

"Ahem!" Xu Yu cleared his throat twice, trying to draw everyone's attention. "I think I'd be better suited to being captain."

Hu Liena said, "The captain's position is important. If we want to take first place in the Graduation Exam, we should choose carefully."

After some discussion, Hu Liena finally suggested:

"The captain handles the commands, so the enemy will definitely focus their attacks on them. One careless moment could lead to injury, making reflexes and physical strength crucial. Why don't we test our physical fitness in the Training Room? Whoever has the greatest strength and the best resilience and reflexes becomes captain. How does that sound?"

Xu Yu said, "Agreed."

Zhang Ping said, "Agreed."

Xu Xiaotang said, "Anything's fine... agreed."

Xu Xiaonian blinked. "I suppose I'll have to agree too."

Believing she had heard the "resignation" in Xu Xiaonian's voice, Hu Liena sighed inwardly:

He definitely has no chance in a physical fitness contest, but there's nothing we can do. It's a necessary measure to help the team win.

They arrived in the lobby of the Training Building and explained their purpose to the teacher staffing the front desk.

The teacher on duty said, "There's only one Training Room left. You..."

"We're taking that Training Room!"

A somewhat rough male voice came from the side.

Two boys around thirteen or fourteen darted out from nearby. One was broad and heavyset, while the other was tall and thin.

They approached aggressively, clearly harboring no goodwill.

"Sun Chuantao, Li Kai." Xu Xiaotang recognized them. Frowning, she explained to the other four, "The broad, heavyset one is Li Kai. His martial soul is the Black-Horned Mountain Boar. He's a level twenty-nine Power Attack System Soul Grandmaster."

"The tall, thin one is Sun Chuantao. His martial soul is the Full Moon Scimitar. He's a level twenty-eight Agility Attack System Soul Grandmaster."

"I'm not friends with either of them, but we're still classmates. They shouldn't have any reason to target us."

Zhang Ping stepped forward boldly. "What's your problem? We were clearly here first!"

"Heh!" A sinister smile spread across Li Kai's face as he turned toward the teacher. "Really? Teacher Li, which of us got here first?"

Teacher Li rolled his eyes at him irritably. "You got here first. Happy?"

At that sight, Xu Yu seemed to remember something, and his expression suddenly turned grim. "I know now. Li Kai is Teacher Li's nephew."

The others in the team looked at the faint resemblance between the two faces and were instantly left speechless.

Zhang Ping's face flushed with anger. Through gritted teeth, she said, "Li Kai, you're shameless! Why are you targeting us?"

Hu Liena's gaze turned cold as well. "Sun Chuantao, Li Kai. I'll remember you."

Sun Chuantao sucked in a breath, then whispered to Li Kai with an uneasy expression:

"Kai, do we really have to offend Hu Liena? Even if Yan told us to do this, she's His Holiness the Pope's personal disciple! If we offend her, will we still be able to join Spirit Hall?"

"Stop talking crap! We've already done it!" Li Kai looked no happier, but he forced himself to stand firm.

"Hu Liena probably won't tell His Holiness the Pope over something this minor... don't forget the task Yan gave us. The goal is to make Xu Xiaonian suffer a setback in front of Hu Liena."

Seeing that the five were about to leave, Li Kai immediately called out, "It's not like we can't give you the room, but that depends on whether you have what it takes!"

"If you've got a fart to let out, spit it out! We certainly have what it takes to beat you until you piss and shit yourself!" Zhang Ping said disdainfully.

Delight stirred in Li Kai's heart. That dumbass Zhang Ping really took the bait. Looks like all I have to do is provoke her, and she'll lose her head.

"It's simple. I'll compete against you in physical talent. If anyone on your team scores higher than me, we'll let you have the Training Room."

At that, Xu Xiaonian couldn't help asking, "Xiaotang, are physical talent tests and physical fitness tests the same thing?"

"No." Xu Xiaotang shook her head and explained, "A physical fitness test simply measures your actual values."

"A physical talent test scores your strength, reflexes, and resilience by comparing them with those of other Soul Masters of the same age and soul power level."

"So even if Li Kai competes against you in physical talent, it's still fair."

Zhang Ping hesitated. She also knew that Li Kai's martial soul was the Black-Horned Mountain Boar. In terms of physical talent alone, he was definitely among the best.

Seeing Zhang Ping fall silent, Li Kai abruptly said, "What's wrong? You were so fierce just now, saying you'd make me piss and shit myself. Why have you wilted like a drenched chicken?"

"Who are you calling a drenched chicken?!" Zhang Ping instantly flew into a rage. With the Golden Swallow as her martial soul, she would never tolerate anyone calling her a drenched chicken.

It was an insult to her!

"Whoever chickens out is the drenched chicken." Li Kai turned and walked away with a disdainful expression, silently praying that the crazy woman would hurry after him.

"Bring it on! You really think I'm afraid of you?!" Zhang Ping's chest heaved with anger as she stomped after Li Kai toward the Training Room on the second floor.

The other four couldn't abandon her, so they had no choice but to follow.

Xu Xiaonian, whose mental age was the oldest, spotted what was going on, but wasn't worried in the slightest. Are you kidding? If we were competing in physical fitness, there might be a tiny bit of suspense.

But physical talent? I've got that in the palm of my hand!