Come to Me If You Need Anything, Concept Severance! (Testing the Waters, Please Keep Reading)

Outside the simulation chamber

The dean and several teachers stood before the screen, their eyes sweeping across the various windows, occasionally lingering on one before moving on.

The window at the very center of the main screen had been enlarged to three times its usual size. It showed Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu standing side by side in the middle of a clearing, with several soul beast corpses scattered around them.

The dean narrowed his eyes slightly, turned to Xu Rang beside him, and asked, "How many times have these two worked together?"

Xu Rang thought for a moment before answering, "They've practiced quite a few times. They often spar after class, but today should be their first time actually fighting together."

Watching the two children's figures on the screen, so perfectly in sync, the dean remarked, "They're doing this well on their first try. Very impressive."

Xu Rang nodded. "Ye Zhiqiu has excellent battlefield judgment. His timing and angles are very precise, and Dong Qianqiu's combat instincts are sharp too. She's already highly proficient with her spear."

"Flank from the left, with Ye Zhiqiu applying pressure head-on. Eliminate the roaming small fry first, then concentrate their attacks on the leader." The dean repeated their earlier tactics, then paused and looked at the other teachers. The same sentiment was reflected in all their eyes.

"The other children are still struggling against ten-year soul beasts one-on-one, while these two have already started coordinating tactics in the Simulation Pod," the technical instructor said with genuine admiration.

"Children with high spiritual power have much better reaction speeds and battlefield perception than their peers. That's normal. But Ye Zhiqiu is different. He truly knows how to fight," the dean analyzed.

For most children their age, fighting amounted to little more than "charge in, unleash a soul skill, and hope for the best." Yet every step of Ye Zhiqiu's earlier performance, from assessing the situation and assigning targets to choosing the timing and angle of his attacks, followed clear logic.

Spiritual power alone couldn't accomplish that. This was combat awareness.

"They seem to be... heading deeper in." Xu Rang watched the two figures, who had already left the clearing.

The dean frowned slightly. "Deeper?"

"The danger zone is marked to the southeast. That area simulates soul beasts with higher cultivation ages. Their current position is approximately two kilometers from its boundary," the technical instructor explained.

The dean fell silent for a few seconds, then said, "Let them go."

Xu Rang opened his mouth to say something, but swallowed the words in the end.

True enough, Ye Zhiqiu's strength clearly exceeded the intensity of the standard assessment. Making him circle around the safe zone like the other children really would be something of a waste.

Meanwhile, in the Simulation Forest.

Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu walked side by side. The flat ground beneath their feet gradually gave way to a gentle slope. The trees were a little less densely packed than before, but their trunks were noticeably thicker. The crowns of some old trees blotted out the sky and sun, blocking nearly all the daylight.

The deeper they went, the quieter their surroundings became. Even the birdsong grew scarce.

"That should be the danger zone over there," Ye Zhiqiu said, stopping beside a large tree and pointing at the slope ahead.

Dong Qianqiu followed his gaze. Beyond the slope lay a lower stretch of terrain with denser vegetation. The air was noticeably more humid, and a thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, soft beneath their feet.

"Are you sure you want to go over there?"

"What, scared?" Ye Zhiqiu asked with a grin.

"Who's scared?" Dong Qianqiu immediately glared at him and strode past. "Let's go, then."

Watching her indignant figure, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help chuckling.

This girl was great in every way, except that she fell for a challenge every single time.

They crossed the hill. The slope beneath their feet grew a little steeper, and the layer of fallen leaves thickened, producing muffled sounds as they stepped on it.

After about fifteen minutes, a relatively open valley appeared ahead. Low, gently sloping hills surrounded it on all sides, and a shallow stream ran through its center, its water murmuring.

A sudden rustling came from the bushes at the edge of the valley. Branches shook and leaves fell as a massive dark shape burst out with a rush of wind, pouncing on the spot the two had only just passed.

"Stay calm. Something's coming," Ye Zhiqiu warned, his voice deepening. "Watch out."

Both dodged to opposite sides at the same time.

The dark shape missed and landed with a dull impact, scattering fallen leaves and dirt.

An enormous leopard-shaped soul beast crouched where they had just stood. Its fur was jet-black, as though dyed with ink, and its limbs were thick and powerful. Its claw tips gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen in the sunlight, and its body was nearly twice the length of an adult human.

An aura so dense it seemed almost tangible emanated from it. Ye Zhiqiu needed only a few glances to know that this thing was on an entirely different level from the soul beasts they had faced earlier.

A Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard.

He had seen information about it in his soul beast identification class at the Junior Academy. Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopards were nocturnal soul beasts that excelled at concealment and surprise attacks. Adults typically had between eight hundred and twelve hundred years of cultivation, with a few surpassing fifteen hundred years.

The one before them was over three meters long, with ink-black fur, clearly defined muscles in its limbs, and metallic-looking claw tips. By the guide's standards, it was at least a thousand-year specimen.

As it had pounced through the air, Ye Zhiqiu had also noticed several pale markings near its shoulder blades, faintly revealing the pattern of its ink-like markings.

It was indeed a Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard.

Dong Qianqiu recognized it too. Her grip on her spear tightened slightly, but she didn't step back. "A Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard. It specializes in ambushes and high-speed rushes. Its hide offers a degree of resistance to physical attacks."

"You remember that pretty well," Ye Zhiqiu remarked casually.

"I just paid attention in class."

After landing, the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard didn't immediately pursue them. It slowly turned around, its amber, slit-pupiled eyes sweeping between the two as a low rumble vibrated in its throat.

Ye Zhiqiu lowered his voice. "You take the left, I'll take the right. Let's test it out first."

Dong Qianqiu nodded lightly, the Ice Spear already taking shape in her hand.

The next instant, both moved.

Ye Zhiqiu cut in from the right, holding the Absolute Blade across his body as its edge swept toward the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard's line of sight.

Dong Qianqiu flanked from the left, thrusting her Ice Spear upward from below, its tip aimed straight at the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard's flank.

The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard reacted far faster than the Ironback Wolves they had faced earlier. Just before their attacks reached it, it pushed off with its hind legs and shot diagonally backward, evading their combined assault. It landed silently, barely disturbing even the fallen leaves.

It showed no eagerness to attack and began circling them, its steps light. Each paw landed on the soft leaves with barely a sound.

"At least twelve hundred years," Ye Zhiqiu said.

Beside him, Dong Qianqiu tightened her grip on her spear, but she didn't retreat.

She glanced at Ye Zhiqiu, then locked her gaze back onto the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard. The meaning in her eyes was clear: I'm not planning to run.

The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard seemed to sense something. It stopped circling, lowered its body, bent its legs slightly, and then sprang forward with explosive force. Like a bolt of black lightning, it lunged straight at Ye Zhiqiu.

It had made the same judgment as the wolves earlier: eliminate the blade-wielding human first.

Ye Zhiqiu didn't block it head-on. The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard really was much faster than those wolves. He stepped to the left, clearing its direct path, and simultaneously turned his right hand, bringing the Absolute Blade up from the side.

The slash struck the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard near its shoulder blade, but its hide was far tougher than he had imagined. The Absolute Blade cut less than half an inch deep before its muscles trapped it.

The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard shuddered slightly as it landed, hurt by the blow. It shook its head, looked back at Ye Zhiqiu, and let out an even deeper snarl.

Ye Zhiqiu withdrew his blade and retreated two steps. His gaze lingered on the wound for an instant before he readjusted his center of gravity.

He wasn't worried. He hadn't used his most crucial ability yet.

Dong Qianqiu had already closed in again from the side. A layer of cold light enveloped her Ice Spear as she thrust upward, its tip carrying a bone-piercing chill straight toward the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard's lower jaw.

The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard shifted diagonally backward, and the Ice Spear brushed past its chin, scattering a trail of ice shards. Dong Qianqiu didn't pull back her spear. She turned her wrist and swept it horizontally, continuing her attack along the leopard's retreat route.

Forced back twice in succession, the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard braced its hind legs against a protruding rock, shifted back, then retreated a third time.

Ye Zhiqiu seized the opening and pressed forward again.

One on the left and one on the right, one ahead and one behind, they formed two intersecting lines of attack. Although the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard was fast, their coordinated, crossing footwork trapped it between them. Every attempt to charge through was driven back by a soul skill from the other side.

The Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard opened its mouth. A wind blade formed within it, then whistled toward Ye Zhiqiu's face, wrapped in a fierce gust.

Ye Zhiqiu twisted aside. The wind blade skimmed past his ear, shearing off a small lock of hair before striking the tree trunk behind him and leaving a deep slash.

"It can attack at range. Now this is troublesome." Ye Zhiqiu quickly reassessed the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard in his mind.

The wind blade packed considerable power. The cut in the tree trunk was a full two fingers deep. Taking a direct hit might not actually kill him in the Simulation Pod, but being declared eliminated would only be a matter of time.

Dong Qianqiu also saw the aftermath of the wind blade. Her gaze darkened, and she sharply tapped the ground with her spear tip. A thin layer of ice rapidly spread across the ground, freezing the fallen leaves near the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard's hind legs.

The instant the Shadow Ink-Patterned Leopard's rear paws touched it, they slipped.

That single slip was enough for Ye Zhiqiu's Absolute Blade to close in.

The hundred-year Yellow Soul Ring around his waist flashed.

"Concept Severance!"