Gu Yue

The morning sunlight had just spread across Eastsea Academy's sports field, and a hint of chill still lingered in the air. Dressed in a fitted dark blue training outfit, his silver hair stirring gently in the breeze, Wu Changkong stood in the center of the field. His gaze swept over the panting students of Class Five, his voice as cool as ever. "Everyone, weighted laps. Ten laps each, eight hundred meters per lap. Begin."

"Huh? Ten laps?" Xie Xie's face immediately fell. He already loathed physical training with a passion. Ten eight-hundred-meter laps added up to a full eight kilometers. To him, that was sheer torture.

Tang Wulin, however, remained calm. Like Xie Xie, he wore a heavy iron vest. It hugged his body, every metal plate pressing down hard enough to steal a person's breath, but to Tang Wulin, it seemed a negligible burden.

The two stood side by side at the starting line. At Wu Changkong's command, the students of Class Five began running, their heavy footsteps echoing across the field.

For the first few laps, Xie Xie could barely keep pace with Tang Wulin. He gritted his teeth, fine beads of sweat forming on his forehead as his breathing grew increasingly rapid. But as the laps piled up, the iron vest seemed to grow heavier and heavier. His legs began to weaken, and his steps turned unsteady.

"Hah... hah..." Xie Xie gasped for breath, the world before his eyes beginning to blur. He felt as though he were running with a mountain on his back, every step demanding an enormous effort.

Just as he was about to give out, a strong, steady arm suddenly reached over and braced him beneath his armpit. Xie Xie turned to see Tang Wulin's calm face as he silently shouldered part of his weight.

"Wulin..." Xie Xie's voice was a little hoarse, tinged with helplessness and gratitude.

"Hang in there," Tang Wulin said softly. His steps never faltered; instead, he picked up the pace a little.

With Tang Wulin's help, Xie Xie felt much of the pressure on his body ease at once. He steadied his breathing and gritted his teeth, keeping pace with Tang Wulin.

Just then, however, Wu Changkong's icy voice rang out again, exploding beside their ears like a thunderclap. "Tang Wulin, you're very strong, aren't you? Since you have so much energy, add another ten laps. Both of you. Twenty laps in total."

"Twenty laps?!" Xie Xie nearly passed out on the spot. The original ten laps had already brought him to the brink of collapse, and now there were another ten? This was leaving him no way to survive!

He turned to Tang Wulin, his eyes full of guilt. "Wulin, let go of me... I've dragged you into this. I can manage on my own..."

But Tang Wulin shook his head, looking firmly ahead. "Don't talk. Save your strength. It's only twenty laps. We just have to finish them."

"But..." Xie Xie wanted to say more, only for Tang Wulin to cut him off.

"Don't worry." The corners of Tang Wulin's mouth lifted into a faint smile. "I'll just eat a little more afterward."

Simple as those words were, they carried a strange strength that warmed Xie Xie's heart. He knew Tang Wulin meant them. No matter how much energy he burned, as long as he ate enough food, Tang Wulin could recover quickly.

The two kept running around the field, Tang Wulin supporting Xie Xie steadily throughout, his strides firm and powerful. Xie Xie no longer protested. He quietly tucked that gratitude away in his heart, clenched his teeth, and did his best to keep pace with Tang Wulin.

The sunlight gradually grew hotter. Only their heavy footsteps and labored breathing remained on the field. Standing in the distance, Wu Changkong watched their backs as they supported each other, a barely perceptible flicker of approval crossing his ice-blue eyes.

Twenty laps—a full sixteen thousand meters—might ordinarily have seemed an unreachable number. But now, relying on their trust in each other and their determination, the two advanced toward the finish one step at a time.

When they finally completed the last lap and stopped, Xie Xie was almost utterly spent. He slumped onto the ground, gulping down air, his clothes soaked with sweat.

Tang Wulin stopped as well. Though he was a little breathless, he was in far better shape than Xie Xie. Looking at Xie Xie sprawled on the ground, he reached out and offered him a bottle of water. "Have some water and rest."

Xie Xie took the water and looked at Tang Wulin gratefully. He wanted to say something, only to discover that he no longer even had the strength to speak.

Tang Wulin smiled and said nothing more. He knew some things needed no words; they both understood.

Sunlight spilled over them, stretching their shadows long across the ground. In that moment, all their exhaustion and hardship became a deeper friendship and trust between them. And that promise to "eat a little more" became their simplest, most sincere pact.

The morning training field gleamed coolly beneath the autumn sun. Tang Wulin was supporting Xie Xie as they struggled along the track, their iron vests drenched in sweat and weighing heavily on their bodies. Suddenly, a voice as cool and clear as shattered jade broke through the panting and footsteps on the field.

"Hello, Teacher. My name is Gu Yue. I'm here to enroll, though... I may have missed the enrollment period."

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw a girl standing at the entrance to the field. She was not the sort of beauty who dazzled at first glance. She had a slender figure and a cool expression, but her most striking feature was her deep violet eyes. Like two clear amethysts, they held an aloofness that seemed to keep others a thousand miles away. With a simple travel bag on her back, she stood there as though her very presence had quieted the noisy air around her.

Wu Changkong turned, his ice-blue eyes looking the girl up and down. He did not seem concerned that she had missed the enrollment period. He merely spoke in his usual cool voice. "I'm not the teacher in charge of admissions."

The light in Gu Yue's eyes dimmed slightly. Her long lashes lowered, hiding that trace of disappointment. This was indeed what she had expected. Transferring schools was never easy, let alone joining a class midway through. She gave a slight nod and was about to turn away to look for another solution.

Yet just as she turned, Wu Changkong spoke again, a barely discernible note of curiosity in his voice. "Wait."

Gu Yue stopped and looked back in puzzlement.

Wu Changkong's gaze settled on Xie Xie, who was panting nearby, before returning to Gu Yue's unusual violet eyes. His tone was calm but brooked no argument. "Since you claim to have the ability to study here, words alone won't do. Here's the deal: if you can defeat this student from my class, I'll make an exception and let you join."

The student he pointed at was none other than Xie Xie.

Hearing that, Xie Xie nearly choked on his own saliva. He pointed at himself, eyes wide. "Teacher! I just ran ten laps! And I'm still wearing the iron vest..."

Wu Changkong ignored Xie Xie's protests and merely watched Gu Yue, waiting for her answer.

Gu Yue followed Wu Changkong's pointing finger and looked at Xie Xie. Though he was a sorry sight at the moment, his refusal to admit defeat and the faint fluctuations of soul power he gave off made her violet eyes brighten slightly. She said nothing more, simply giving a light, decisive nod. "All right."

"Xie Xie, stop." Wu Changkong coldly interrupted the boy, who was still dragging his feet. "Take off the iron vest and step onto the field."

"I..." Xie Xie wanted to cry but had no tears. Faced with Wu Changkong's expressionless face, he could only resign himself to removing the heavy iron vest and shuffle toward the open space in the center of the field. Looking at the violet-eyed girl opposite him, who seemed too frail to withstand a breeze, he said miserably, "Um... could you go a little easy on me? I haven't recovered my strength yet."

Gu Yue said nothing. She simply stood there quietly, her violet eyes calm and still, as though she were inspecting an object.

"Begin," Wu Changkong commanded.

The battle erupted in an instant.

Though Xie Xie complained aloud, his instincts as an agility-type Soul Master brought him into fighting form in an instant. He knew he lacked stamina and had to end this quickly. With a slight shift of his footwork, he became a blur, closing in on Gu Yue's side in a flash.

"Light Dragon Dagger!" Xie Xie shouted under his breath. Light flashed in his right hand, and the silver dagger appeared in his grasp, thrusting straight toward Gu Yue's shoulder with a sharp whistle through the air. Exhausted though he was, the strike was still astonishingly fast. Clearly, he had held some strength back, unwilling to truly hurt this quiet-looking transfer student.

Gu Yue's response, however, took everyone by surprise.

Facing Xie Xie's lightning-fast strike, she did not dodge. She did not even move her feet an inch. Just as the Light Dragon Dagger was about to touch her clothes, she raised her right hand slightly, palm up, and the air seemed to freeze in an instant.

"Ice."

As the cool word left her lips, countless ice elements gathered in an instant, forming a crystal-clear ice mirror before her. Xie Xie's attack slammed into it with a muffled bang, sending ice chips flying, but the mirror did not budge.

"What?!" Xie Xie's expression changed in shock. He had never expected her to be an elemental controller, much less one with such precise control.

Before he could react, Gu Yue gently swept her left hand through the air. Wind instantly swept up the fallen leaves on the ground, turning them into countless sharp Wind Blades that swarmed toward Xie Xie, blotting out the sky.

Such powerful control! Xie Xie was secretly alarmed. He knew his strength and soul skills were completely countered. Facing the sky full of Wind Blades, he could only dodge left and right in disarray. Against Gu Yue's elemental attacks, which left no blind spots, the speed he had always taken pride in suddenly seemed stretched to its limits.

"Yun Xiao, do you think Xie Xie can win?" In the distance, Tang Wulin asked indistinctly as he took huge bites of a steamed bun he had just taken out to replenish his energy.

Tang Wulin swallowed a mouthful of bun and shook his head as he watched Xie Xie being suppressed so thoroughly that he could not fight back. "It's doubtful. That Gu Yue's control over the elements is too precise. In Xie Xie's current state, he can't get close to her at all."

Just as Tang Wulin had said, the situation on the field was already clear. Fast though Xie Xie was, under Gu Yue's seemingly omnipresent blockade of ice and wind, he could not even touch the hem of her clothes. Gu Yue, by contrast, remained standing where she was. Even her breathing was steady, as though she were merely doing something utterly trivial.

"I... I surrender!" Xie Xie finally could not take it anymore. Panting, he raised his hand in surrender. If he kept fighting, he feared he would not even have enough strength left to run back to the dormitory.

At his words, Gu Yue waved her hand lightly, and the Wind Blades and ice shards filling the air vanished without a trace. She lowered her hand, her violet eyes still calm, as though that overwhelmingly one-sided battle had been nothing more than a warm-up.

Watching this, a hint of satisfaction finally flashed through Wu Changkong's ice-blue eyes. He turned to Gu Yue, his tone still even but carrying a little more approval. "Starting today, you're a student of Class Five."

Gu Yue nodded slightly. Her gaze swept over Tang Wulin, who was eating a bun at the edge of the field, then shifted to Xie Xie, who lay exhausted on the ground. A faint trace of curiosity seemed to flicker in her violet eyes.