Sister Ping's Fury

"We haven't finished setting the terms!" Sun Chuantao spoke up. "If we lose, we can give you the Training Room. But what if you lose?"

"What do you want?" Zhang Ping picked at her ear and asked carelessly.

"I want one of your girls to go on a dinner date with us and Brother Yan!" Li Kai finally unrolled the map and revealed the dagger.

At those words, Hu Liena and Xu Xiaotang both frowned, a trace of disgust appearing on their faces.

"If this is how you pursue girls, it'd be a miracle if you ever stopped being single." Xu Xiaonian wore a strange expression. He had no idea which of the three had come up with this plan. They were practically bubbling over with stupidity.

"Holy shit!" Zhang Ping jumped in fright, covering her chest with both hands. "You actually dare set your sights on me? Dream on! Not a chance!"

She looked positively furious at having been coveted.

Xu Yu said, "Big sister, I think you've misunderstood them."

Sun Chuantao: "..."

"Think whatever you like. Are you agreeing or not?" Li Kai resorted again to his tried-and-true provocation. "You're not scared because you can't cut it, are you?"

"Me, scared of you?" Zhang Ping was furious. "I'll take you on!"

"What about the others?" Li Kai asked again, pretending not to care when he was actually nervous inside. After all, Hu Liena was his... Brother Yan's target. Who wanted a wild woman like Zhang Ping?

Hu Liena and Xu Xiaotang were about to refuse when they felt someone tugging at their sleeves. Turning their heads, they found Xu Xiaonian looking utterly confident. His eyes were wide as he said:

"Sister Xiaotang, Sister Nana, are you willing to trust me just this once? I'm confident I can win."

"..." Hu Liena hesitated for a moment, recalling his innate full soul power. Perhaps he really was certain?

Since losing would only mean having a meal anyway, Hu Liena agreed. "All right. I trust you."

Xu Xiaotang did the same.

"Thank you for trusting me, Sister Nana, Sister Xiaotang. Don't worry. I won't let you have dinner with these creeps!" Xu Xiaonian chuckled.

Seeing the three of them whispering together, Li Kai grew impatient. "Have you made up your minds yet? You're not chickening out, are you?"

Unfortunately, Xu Xiaonian was no Sister Ping. He wasn't annoyed in the slightest and instead replied calmly:

"You want to trade one Training Room for a dinner date with our two gorgeous girls? Keep dreaming. Those terms aren't enough."

"Huh?" Zhang Ping froze. "Little Brother Xiaonian, you're not very good at math. There are clearly three gorgeous girls here! Oh, right, to a little brother, all his big sisters are flowers! Don't be angry either, Xiaotang. Hehe..."

Everyone present was already too tired to comment on her antics and simply pretended not to have heard.

Li Kai frowned. "Then what do you want?"

"If you lose, you have to tell the whole school that you two and Yan are gay!" Xu Xiaonian said with a grin.

"What?!" Li Kai's and Sun Chuantao's faces darkened. If they agreed and then lost, they would probably become infamous throughout the school.

And that wasn't even the most frightening part. The most frightening part was that Brother Yan would probably kill them both if they lost.

But then again, there was no way he could lose!

"Hehe!" Li Kai gave a vicious grin. "We agree."

In the testing room, a pitch-black square stone pillar stood in the center, exuding an ancient, weathered aura.

Two rows of engraved characters covered the side of the pillar facing them.

The first row consisted of five characters: "Talent: zero zero zero."

The second row consisted of six characters: "Strength: zero zero zero zero."

Hu Liena explained to Xu Xiaonian:

"Before the test, channel a trace of soul power into it, then strike the pillar with all your physical strength. Besides displaying your strength value, it automatically scores your physical talent based on your soul power level and physical strength."

Only then did Li Kai look toward Xu Xiaonian and mock him:

"You're a newly enrolled student, right? The Talent Pillar generally gives higher scores to Soul Scholars at level ten or below. Your team might end up depending on you!"

"Enough nonsense. I'll go first!" Zhang Ping hurried forward and stood before the pillar.

Screeech!

A brilliant golden Flying Swallow circled above Zhang Ping's head. The next moment, it merged with her.

A fist glowing with golden light slammed into the pillar.

Bang!

The pillar did not budge. A hum sounded from within, and the engraved numbers soon changed.

Strength: zero, three, eight, one

Talent: zero, eight, three

"Three hundred and eighty-one kilograms of strength, eighty-three points in talent." A flicker of surprise passed through Li Kai's eyes. He hadn't expected this tomboy to actually have some ability.

Agility Attack System Battle Spirit Masters generally had less talent for strength than Power Attack System Battle Soul Masters, and many Power Attack System Battle Soul Masters didn't even score above eighty in strength talent. Clearly, Zhang Ping was quite capable.

"Hehe! But it's useless." Li Kai's expression shifted into a sneer. "Is that all you've got? Then just wait to lose!"

Xu Yu went next.

He threw a punch.

Strength: zero, two, zero, one

Talent: zero, six, zero

Since he was a support-type Soul Master and soul skills could not be used to boost their abilities during the test, this result was more or less expected.

Then came Sun Chuantao.

Strength: zero, three, nine, one

Talent: zero, eight, six

He was also an Agility Attack System Battle Spirit Master, but because his soul power level was slightly higher than Zhang Ping's, both his strength and talent were a little better.

"Tch!" Sun Chuantao looked smug as he taunted Zhang Ping. "That's all the tomboy amounts to."

"Damn it! How dare you insult me!" Zhang Ping stamped her feet in fury, then turned to Hu Liena pleadingly. "Nana, hurry up and teach him a lesson."

Hu Liena replied calmly, "No rush."

Xu Xiaotang was next.

Emerald light from the Nine Heart Begonia swirled around her as she threw a punch.

Strength: zero, three, zero, eight

Talent: zero, eight, zero

"Huh?"

Surprise crossed Sun Chuantao's and Li Kai's faces. The latter said, "Her soul power is only level twenty-six, and she's a support-type Soul Grandmaster, yet her physical talent scored eighty. That's truly impressive."

One could say this score carried more weight than Sun Chuantao's eighty-six points as an agility attack-type Soul Grandmaster.

Unfortunately, a lower score was still a lower score.

Next, Hu Liena stepped forward.

Pink mist spread out, and the phantom of a Sky Fox flashed into view before vanishing.

Hum!

The pillar trembled slightly, and the engraved numbers changed.

Strength: zero, four, six, nine,

Talent: zero, nine, five

"Hiss!" Sun Chuantao sucked in a breath of cold air and whispered to Li Kai, "Brother Kai, are you confident?"

"Hehe!" Li Kai sneered. "A few days ago, I would've only been sixty percent confident. But after swallowing the century-old spirit herb Brother Yan gave me, I'm one hundred percent certain!"

"Watch closely."

Li Kai stepped up.

The phantom of an enormous black wild boar with goatlike horns appeared, then overlapped with Li Kai's broad, fat figure.

"Whew..."

Exhaling two long streams of white breath through his nostrils, Li Kai, now under Martial Soul Possession, bulged the muscles of his right arm and threw a punch with every ounce of strength he had!

Hum!

The pillar trembled more noticeably than before.