Your Martial Soul? I'll Hold On to It for Three Seconds

(I feel like I can make the wild changes in this book a hundred million times more awesome. In the other one, I only gender-swapped Lan Xuanyu. In this one, Tang Wulin and Lan Xuanyu both get gender-swapped! Lan Xuanyu will be formed from the fusion of the blood essence Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena shed during their battle, with the Dragon God pulling a few strings to turn it into Lan Xuanyu. As for Huihui, outright female. Wild changes! I'll keep the other book a little closer to the original! What do you handsome Daniel Wus and beautiful Liu Yifeis think?)

(Still, I hope you'll keep reading. If this doesn't make it through the next selection round, I might only update the other book.)

"That should do it."

Ye Zhiqiu said those words very softly, as though talking to himself.

But Dong Qianqiu heard him.

Almost instinctively, she sensed danger. It was an indescribable feeling, as though something in the air had drawn a bowstring taut.

She instinctively tried to retreat, put some distance between them, and readjust her stance.

But it was too late.

Because Ye Zhiqiu moved.

He stepped forward, lightly turned the Absolute Blade in his hand until its tip pointed down, then flicked it upward.

It wasn't a large movement. In fact, it looked downright casual, like an idle swing.

Yet in that instant, Dong Qianqiu felt something inside her snap.

Not a bone, not a muscle, not anything physical.

It was a special connection.

The Ice Spear in her palm shattered without warning, scattering into a shower of ice fragments that vanished into the air as though it had never existed.

The phantom Demon Soul Great White Shark behind her shuddered violently, then unraveled from its edges like smoke scattered by the wind, rapidly disappearing.

The Soul Power inside her—that warm current that had flowed through her meridians ever since her awakening—vanished completely in an instant, as though someone had sucked it out of her body.

Dong Qianqiu froze.

She looked down at her hands, looked up at her surroundings, then looked down at her hands again.

No Ice Spear.

No Shark phantom.

Not a trace of Soul Power.

Everything was gone.

She felt as though something had stripped her of her identity as a Soul Master, turning her back into an utterly ordinary six-year-old child.

"I..." Dong Qianqiu opened her mouth, her voice a little unsteady as she asked blankly, "Where's my Martial Soul?"

She looked up at Ye Zhiqiu, her deep-blue eyes filled with bewilderment and shock.

Ye Zhiqiu stood before her, having already put away the Absolute Blade. His trademark smiling expression made him look harmless to man and beast alike.

"Your Martial Soul is fine. It'll be back in three seconds," he said.

Dong Qianqiu blinked at that, then lowered her head and felt inside herself again.

Sure enough, after three seconds, that warm current welled up from deep within her meridians. Her Soul Power began circulating again, and her connection to her Martial Soul returned.

She abruptly raised her head and stared at Ye Zhiqiu, an indescribable emotion in her eyes.

"What... did you just do?"

"My first Soul Skill." Ye Zhiqiu spread his hands, his tone relaxed as he explained simply, "It's called Concept Severance. As for its effect, it temporarily severs your connection to your Martial Soul, Soul Power, and so on. For about three seconds."

Dong Qianqiu: "..."

She remained silent for quite a while before forcing a sentence through gritted teeth. "What the hell kind of Soul Skill is that?"

"Pretty practical, right?" Ye Zhiqiu said with a beaming smile, looking like he was positively begging for a beating.

Dong Qianqiu took a deep breath, then exhaled. Only after repeating that twice did she suppress the urge to march over and throttle him.

She finally understood. During those dozens of exchanges, Ye Zhiqiu had merely been helping her practice.

If he'd wanted to win, he could have severed her Martial Soul with his very first slash, turning her into a lamb awaiting slaughter.

The only reason he'd dragged it out for so long was to see what tricks she could pull off.

"You..." Dong Qianqiu bit her lip and asked angrily, "Were you just toying with me?"

"No, no, absolutely not." Ye Zhiqiu hurriedly waved his hands, his face utterly sincere as he continued, "I really wanted to see your fighting style. We're classmates, after all. Know yourself and know your opponent, right?"

Dong Qianqiu stared at him for two seconds, then gave a huff and turned to rejoin the line.

Her steps were a little heavier than usual, as though she were venting something.

At the edge of the field, Xu Rang nearly dropped the clipboard in his hands.

His mouth hung open and his eyes were round as saucers as he stared at the little boy standing in the center of the field, hands in his pockets and looking completely at ease. His mind went blank.

In over a decade of teaching, he'd seen plenty of geniuses: some with high-quality Martial Souls, some whose Soul Power grew quickly, and some with exceptional combat talent. But he'd never seen a Soul Skill like this.

Sever the connection between a Martial Soul and its Soul Master?

What did that mean?

Martial Souls and Soul Power were the very core of being a Soul Master. Without a Martial Soul, a Soul Master was just an ordinary person. No matter how high your Soul Power was, it meant nothing if you couldn't release your Martial Soul.

And Ye Zhiqiu's Soul Skill essentially meant he could render his opponent helpless at any moment during battle. Even if it lasted only three seconds, in a clash between experts, three seconds was enough for life and death to be decided several times over.

And from what he'd just said, could this Soul Skill work on anyone?

Xu Rang swallowed, lowered his head to write several lines on his clipboard, then looked back up at Ye Zhiqiu with a complicated expression.

"Ye Zhiqiu wins."

His voice was a little dry as he announced the result.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced toward Dong Qianqiu. She stood in the line with her back to him, her ponytail swaying slightly.

He smiled without saying anything, then returned to his place in the line.

Ye Zhiqiu paid little attention to the next few matches. He leaned at the edge of the line, his eyes half-closed as he mulled over other things.

He'd actually used only thirty percent of his strength in that slash.

The effects of Concept Severance were far more complex than what he'd demonstrated.

Severing the connection between a Martial Soul and its Soul Master was merely its most basic application.

According to the information he'd received from his Martial Soul during his awakening, Concept Severance could also affect other layers, such as severing the connection between a weapon and its wielder, between a Soul Skill and its caster, or even between an object and space.

But all that was for the future. His Soul Power was only at rank twelve right now. Maintaining Martial Soul severance for three seconds was already his limit. His Soul Power couldn't sustain any deeper applications.

Still, that effect alone was frightening enough.

He noticed that Xu Rang had written quite a lot on his clipboard. He would probably report it to the Academic Affairs Office later.

Ye Zhiqiu wasn't worried. His dad had said he'd handle it if anything happened.

Besides, he had no intention of keeping everything hidden forever. When it was time to show his edge, he had to show it, or people would think he was easy to push around.

The assessment matches lasted about an hour. Thirty-one students fought in pairs, with one student fighting an extra match, for a total of sixteen matches.

Ye Zhiqiu watched the whole thing and gained a rough understanding of his classmates' strength.

Most of their Martial Souls were of average quality, and their Soul Power ranged from rank five to rank nine. Their combat experience was practically nonexistent. A few weren't even proficient at releasing their Martial Souls and flailed about during their fights, making him shake his head.

Dong Qianqiu really was in a league of her own in this class. Ice Element Control combined offense, defense, and crowd control, while her combat awareness far surpassed that of her peers. If she hadn't run into him, she would have been the strongest in the class.

What a shame.

Ye Zhiqiu silently lit a candle for Dong Qianqiu in his heart.

After the assessment matches ended, Xu Rang gathered everyone, offered a few brief comments, then dismissed them.

Ye Zhiqiu was about to head to the cafeteria when a voice came from behind him.

"Ye Zhiqiu."

He turned around. Dong Qianqiu stood three paces away, clutching the hem of her school uniform with a slightly awkward expression.

"What is it?" Ye Zhiqiu asked.

"That Soul Skill of yours..." Dong Qianqiu paused, as though arranging her words, then continued, "Can it really only last three seconds?"

"For now, yes. Didn't you experience it yourself? Once my Soul Power increases, it should last longer," Ye Zhiqiu said with a smile.

Dong Qianqiu fell silent for a while, then raised her head, determination shining in her deep-blue eyes.

"Next time, I'll challenge you again."

Ye Zhiqiu blinked, then smiled.

"Sure. Any time."

Dong Qianqiu said nothing more and turned to leave.

Watching her retreating figure, Ye Zhiqiu found her rather interesting.

This girl hadn't cried or made a fuss after losing, nor did she hold a grudge. Instead, she'd bottled up her determination to win it back. That was a pretty good temperament.

Still, he wasn't about to fall for a little kid like her. Her actual age might be a hundred thousand years, but she looked like she was still in the single digits. Who would genuinely fall for that?

Single-until-marriage advocates, invincible!