Jiang Nannan

Yang Lin held his palms facing each other, and a blue orb of energy formed between them.

The orb exerted an immense gravitational pull, drawing every loose stone and shard of ice around him into his hands.

The white-haired boy raised the orb above his head, and the blue sphere grew larger and larger.

Centered on the tiny patch beneath his feet, the arena began rapidly collapsing.

Wu Liuqi sensed trouble and tried to stop him. The fragments of the Thousand Demon Daggers attacked the white-haired boy once more, but he was still a step too late.

A smile tugged at Yang Lin's lips as he pointed one index finger at the sky and traced three circles.

Then the enormous blue orb began revolving rapidly around the white-haired boy.

Everything in its path was sucked into the orb.

Rubble flew, and clouds of dust billowed.

Watching the orb hurtle toward him, Wu Liuqi could only keep dodging outward.

In the end, he retreated out of the arena.

Only after the dust cleared could the spectators see the state of the assessment platform, and they all sucked in a cold breath.

What assessment platform? Apart from the patch occupied by the white-haired boy,

Everywhere else lay in ruins, and the entire platform had sunk at least three meters.

"Count this round as my loss. This soul bone is yours."

Yang Lin teleported beside Wu Liuqi, tossed the soul bone in his hand a couple of times, then handed it to him.

With the battle over, Wu Liuqi deactivated his powered-up form and tied his hair into three little tufts again.

"Thanks."

Wu Liuqi accepted the soul bone without standing on ceremony. After all, increasing his strength was equivalent to increasing his original body's strength.

"Um, referee..."

"Young Yang... just call me Director Du."

Du Weilun had finally recovered his senses. His eye twitched as he surveyed the wreckage.

No wonder the boy had said he wouldn't use soul skills earlier. So their destructive power was this enormous.

Still, Du Weilun wasn't particularly pained by the loss. Shrek had money to spare.

Compared with destroying one arena, discovering a genius like Yang Lin was clearly more important.

"Now that the match is over, welcome to Shrek Academy, you two little monsters. Here are your dorm keys."

Du Weilun handed them the keys he had prepared long ago, smiling so broadly that his face creased all over.

He had discovered these two geniuses during his tenure as director of studies. Even if Dean Yan was a bit stingy, surely he would reward him handsomely.

Yang Lin accepted the key and looked at the number 108 on it...

Isn't this the God King's daughter's room... no way, right?

Has God King Tang already set his sights on me?

Forget it. Since I'm here, I might as well make myself at home.

"Oh, right, Director Du. The gold soul coins on this card should be enough to cover the academy's losses."

Yang Lin took a Purple Gold Card out of his Storage Ring and handed it to Du Weilun.

"Young Yang, the academy will cover all the losses... it was a match, after all. A little damage to the arena is perfectly normal."

Yang Lin ignored his protests. After stuffing the card into his arms, he slung an arm around Wu Liuqi's neck and headed toward the freshmen's dormitory.

Once the two had left, everyone present erupted into an animated, excited discussion.

"I thought two purple rings and one black ring were already the limit. Who knew there was an even greater expert!"

"Heavens! His first soul ring is already ten thousand years old, and it has such terrifying destructive power! Seriously, if that freshman had used a soul skill, he would've been outright bullying the teacher!"

"Tsk, why are you still calling him a freshman? Call him Brother Yang. No... God Yang."

"So handsome! Both of them were so handsome. Now I've got material for tonight's dreams, hehe."

"Yes, exactly! Especially the white-haired one. The way he pointed at the sky with one hand was so handsome my legs went weak!"

In one of the spectator areas, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Li Bai had also watched the entire match.

Li Bai had originally planned to have a good, long sleep at the hotel, but his original body had told him to hurry over with Wu Feng and Ning Tian so they could earn more emotional value.

Thus, the moment the three arrived at the hotel, Li Bai immediately dragged the other two over here.

"Hey, drunkard, could you beat that guy with the blade?"

Wu Feng had watched practically the entire match with her mouth hanging open.

She had thought Li Bai beside her was already unrivaled under heaven. Yet the moment she arrived at Shrek, she encountered two more monsters just like him.

So she hurried to ask whether their own greatest genius in ten thousand years could defeat those two monsters.

"Ah... if that fellow Wu Liuqi went all out, it might be a little troublesome."

The various clones had already let Wu Liuqi's and Yang Lin's names reach everyone's ears, whether casually or deliberately.

Thus, there was nothing suspicious about Li Bai saying Wu Liuqi's name outright.

"Just tell me whether you can win."

"Yes."

"Then what about the white-haired one?"

Wu Feng asked again. Ning Tian also turned toward him, a little curious about how Li Bai would answer.

"Three-seven split, I guess."

Li Bai spoke casually.

"That's not bad, then. At least you've got a thirty-percent chance."

Wu Feng breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure that white-haired boy put on her was simply overwhelming.

It was even greater than the pressure from that damned drunkard.

They were all freshmen, yet they hardly seemed like the same species.

But Li Bai's next words instantly left her dumbfounded.

"He throws three punches, and I die seven times."

"Brother Yang! Brother Yang, you were amazing! Brother Wu was amazing too!"

Huo Yuhao spoke excitedly, his little face glowing with enthusiasm.

Yang Lin chuckled. "No matter how amazing I was, I still lost to this guy..."

With that, he patted Wu Liuqi on the head again.

"Handsome, don't say I'm good at fighting. Just say I'm good at cutting hair. I really don't like fighting!

"Besides, if Brother Lin had used his soul skills right from the start, I would've lost ages ago."

The two chatted back and forth with Huo Yuhao as they walked.

The Tang Sect Trio had started following them as soon as the two left.

Huo Yuhao had simply run the fastest.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya arrived shortly afterward.

But they weren't the only ones who came. There was also someone with golden hair and someone with red hair.

One was Jiang Nannan, known as the Outer Academy's greatest beauty.

The other was Xu Sanshi, known as the Outer Academy's number-one lapdog.

"Junior Yang, look who I brought! Ta-da!"

Tang Ya pulled forward a bashful Jiang Nannan.

She hadn't expected the man her best friend constantly talked about to be Yang Lin.

As soon as she found out, she had hurriedly dragged Jiang Nannan over to meet him.

Tang Ya was quite interested in playing the matchmaking god.

As for that green turtle Xu Sanshi? Who cared about him?

Of course, Tang Ya had her own little schemes as well.

After watching that match, she was even more eager to recruit Yang Lin into the Tang Sect.

If the two really got together, she could ask her best friend to whisper a little pillow talk into his ear. Perhaps he would want to join the Tang Sect then?

If she really got Yang Lin to join the Tang Sect, their sect's revival would surely be within reach!

(Jiang Nannan)

(Which version looks better? Discuss it, everyone, and I'll post that version next time.)