"Yan, what are you thinking about?"
Silver-haired Xie Yue looked at his hot-tempered brother. The awkward expression on his face, as though he had swallowed a mouthful of shit, told Xie Yue that he was thinking about something strange again.
"N-nothing."
Yan puffed out his cheeks and denied it.
Xie Yue followed the direction Yan had been looking and discovered that his dear little sister, Hu Liena, was chatting with Lu Yuan.
"Who would have thought that the seat cleared out for the new semester was actually set aside for this unknown Lu Yuan? I wonder what his background is. Just how strong is he?"
Xie Yue pondered this. The students in this class were geniuses among geniuses compared with other Soul Masters their age. Cultivating quickly alone was not enough.
Either your background was powerful enough to let you join the class whenever you pleased, or your strength stood above the rest.
"Heh..."
Xie Yue gave a wry chuckle. Most people in the class knew that Yan openly liked his sister and dreamed of becoming his brother-in-law.
Whenever an unfamiliar boy approached Hu Liena, Yan would fly into a rage and rush over to fight him, showing Hu Liena that he was stronger.
Xie Yue shook his head. As it happened, they had a practical combat class that afternoon.
"Looks like that kid named Lu Yuan is in for some serious trouble."
Xie Yue was supremely confident. He, Hu Liena, and Yan had gradually earned the title of the Golden Generation among Spirit Hall's young Soul Masters.
Their innate soul power was either rank nine or nine and a half. Apart from the dozen or so publicly known geniuses who had awakened innate full soul power over the past century, their talent was undoubtedly the greatest.
On top of that, Pontiff Bibi Dong personally gave her disciple special instruction, with Xie Yue and Yan benefiting along the way. Their cultivation speed, combat experience, and skills far exceeded those of other Soul Masters their age.
Neither Xie Yue nor Yan himself believed Lu Yuan could be a match for them.
Happy times passed quickly. After getting to know their new classmate Lu Yuan, the students were surprised by his "special talent," but soon returned to their peaceful school routine.
Once the morning theory classes ended, Spirit Hall's students began their long stretch of individual meditation and cultivation. In the afternoon, the lessons grew exciting again.
During practical combat class, after the teacher led Lu Yuan and the others through basic warm-ups and exercises, it was time for the liveliest part: freely chosen Soul Master sparring matches.
Under Spirit Hall Academy's usual customs, newcomers like Lu Yuan were very popular. After all, everyone liked to get a look at a new student's strength.
This time, however, no one dared make a move. They all waited to watch the show. Simply because Lu Yuan had chatted with Hu Liena for a while, his classmates already knew he would face an opponent he was destined to meet.
Naturally, that was Hu Liena's little red-haired lapdog, Yan. Anyone who dared get ahead of him and challenge Lu Yuan first, or challenge Yan at a time like this, was practically asking for a private beating from Yan.
Everyone's eyes gathered on Lu Yuan and Yan. At that moment, Yan was feeling particularly pleased with himself, certain that he was about to display his mighty prowess.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Yan stepped forward, heading straight for his ultimate target, Lu Yuan.
"Hey, Lu Yuan. Since you're new here, why not let me, Yan, one of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation, test you out? Consider it a sign that I think highly of you."
Yan spoke smugly, but Hu Liena, standing nearby, grew angry.
"Yan, what are you doing? Why are you bullying a boy I'm close to again? Yuan is only a Soul Grandmaster, while you're a Soul Elder. How could he possibly beat you?"
Hu Liena felt distressed. Just last night, Bibi Dong had told her that Lu Yuan would be joining her class and asked her to look after him.
Otherwise, she would not have taken the initiative to speak to Lu Yuan today. Hu Liena had assumed Bibi Dong had also spoken to Yan and Xie Yue, but apparently she had not.
Hu Liena's face was full of worry. That morning, seeing that Lu Yuan was five years younger than her yet had nearly the same soul power level, she had thought his joining their Spirit Hall Golden Generation was already set in stone.
She did not want her fellow companions, Yan and Lu Yuan, to fall out because of her.
"Brother, hurry and talk Yan out of it."
Worried for Lu Yuan, Hu Liena grabbed Xie Yue's arm, hoping he would step in and stop Yan, but Xie Yue remained unmoved.
"Little sister, the truth is, I'd like to see Lu Yuan's strength too."
"But..."
Hu Liena's expression turned bleak. It seemed she could not stop the fight between Lu Yuan and Yan.
"Kid, you don't have a problem with this, do you? If you're scared, just call me Grandpa. For Nana's sake, I can let you off today."
Yan and Xie Yue exchanged smiles. Knowing that his good brother would back him up, Yan's expression and bearing became utterly confident.
Lu Yuan also assumed a fighting stance.
He was ready.
"Fine by me. Today, I'd also like to see whether the legendary Yan, a limp-legged shrimp in matters of love, is just as much of a limp-legged shrimp in a fight."
"Huh?"
Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Yan's face turned green.
As a native of the Douluo Continent, he did not know what "limp-legged shrimp" meant, but coming from Lu Yuan's mouth at a moment like this, it certainly could not be anything nice.
With the mention of love added in, even a hotheaded fool like Yan knew that Lu Yuan was pointing at the mulberry tree to curse the locust tree, mocking the well-known fact that he fawned over Hu Liena without winning her affection.
"Fine, fine! It seems I, Yan, haven't fought in so long that everyone at the academy has forgotten my fearsome reputation. Now even a new student dares mock me to my face."
"If I don't beat your backside until it blooms, Lu Yuan, I'll write my name backward! I hope you won't fall to your knees and beg for mercy then. Let's fight!"
A flicker of puzzlement arose in Lu Yuan's mind. Wouldn't your name still be Yan if you wrote it backward?
By then, Yan had already assumed his fighting stance, and the formal declaration for a Soul Master duel spilled from his lips.
"I am Yan, a rank thirty-two Power Attack System Soul Elder. My martial soul is the Flame Lord."
Not to be outdone, Lu Yuan declared, "Lu Yuan, rank twenty-eight Control System Soul Grandmaster. My martial soul is Meowmeow."
With those words, both summoned their martial souls. The flames around Yan's body blazed more fiercely, and the fiery patterns on his skin shone with flowing light, like actual molten lava.
Behind him appeared an enormous lava giant wreathed in roaring flames. It was Yan's martial soul, the Flame Lord.
Blue-green soul light rose around Lu Yuan, and a ball of green light appeared beside him. Green leaves emerged from somewhere and wrapped around the glowing ball, from which Meowmeow's form appeared.
This time, however, Meowmeow's appearance had changed somewhat.
Its paws were larger, while its little belly and broad face had vanished, replaced by a more slender body and a small, round green feline head.
And Meowmeow's most distinctive feature, its tail leaf, had changed from one leaf to two.
Once Meowmeow appeared, Lu Yuan noticed the changes in its body and turned to stare at it, dumbfounded.
"Meowmeow, you... evolved!"