A faint medicinal fragrance lingered in the air inside Shrek Academy's Infirmary.
Tang Wulin lay quietly on the hospital bed, his face pale and his breathing steady. Clearly, he had fallen into a deep coma simply from exhausting his soul power. Beside the bed, three stunning girls—Gu Yue, Wang Qiu'er, and Wu Siduo—kept a quiet vigil. Gu Yue's silver hair spilled over her shoulders, and her usually cool purple eyes were now filled with worry. She gently held Tang Wulin's hand, tightening her fingertips slightly, as though trying to pass her own strength to him. Wang Qiu'er sat obediently on the other side, concern written all over her golden eyes as she occasionally glanced up at Tang Wulin's face. Wu Siduo leaned against the window. Although her expression remained indifferent, her gaze kept drifting toward the boy on the bed. Clearly, she was watching over him in silence too.
Out in the corridor, however, the atmosphere bristled with drawn swords.
Luo Guixing folded his arms, his brows tightly furrowed, and muttered, "That battle was such a shame. If Tang Wulin hadn't collapsed at the crucial moment, we might really have beaten Teacher Long Bing. Ah, all that effort wasted at the final hurdle."
"Do you even know how to speak properly?"
A cool voice edged with anger suddenly interrupted Luo Guixing's complaints. Gu Yue had emerged from the room at some point, her silver hair swaying and unmistakable fury flashing in her purple eyes.
"If Linlin hadn't given everything he had to hold on, could we have lasted that long?" Gu Yue glared mercilessly at Luo Guixing, her tone aggressive. "You all saw how powerful his soul skills' support abilities were. Without the healing from his Blue Silver Grass Domain and the suppression from his Golden Dragon King Bloodline, we