"What? Your Martial Soul is the Support System!"
Wu Changkong wondered if he had misheard. What kind of Support System could leave the field in that wrecked state?
"Teacher Wu, Brother Mingyuan really does have a Support System Beast Martial Soul. Xie Xie, come here for a moment."
Xie Xie looked a little bewildered at being called.
"What is it, Tang Wulin?"
Xie Xie walked up to Tang Wulin, only for Tang Wulin to punch him in the stomach with the speed of thunder before one could cover one's ears.
Xie Xie staggered back several steps, his stomach churning like an overturned sea.
"Tang Wulin! Are you out of your mind?"
Wu Changkong now understood Tang Wulin's intention. He reached out and lifted Xie Xie's shirt, revealing a red mark on his abdomen.
Jiang Mingyuan activated Martial Soul Possession. A pale golden feather drifted onto Xie Xie's abdomen and melted straight into it.
In an instant, Xie Xie's pain vanished. He patted his belly in surprise.
"Huh? It doesn't hurt at all anymore."
Just then, Xie Xie suddenly remembered that when they had first met, a few golden feathers seemed to have landed on him, too, and his back had stopped hurting.
Wu Changkong nodded. The healing effect was good; a simple superficial injury like this had healed instantly.
"There's more, Teacher Wu." Jiang Mingyuan raised his head, impatient to display his glory before an audience and show off his incredible mechanics.
"Wulin, feed Xie Xie a fruit."
"Sure thing!"
Tang Wulin summoned his Martial Soul as well. His Soul Ring shone, and egg-sized fruits grew from the Blue Silver Grass vines.
Sensing danger, Xie Xie tried to leave. But Jiang Mingyuan's eyes were sharp and his hands swift; he grabbed Xie Xie's left arm while Tang Wulin seized his right.
The two held him firmly in place. Xie Xie wanted to cry but had no tears.
"Can't you find another guinea pig for your experiments? Why do you have to keep picking on me?"
Jiang Mingyuan used his other hand to pry Xie Xie's mouth open, and Tang Wulin seized the opportunity to toss a fruit inside.
As soon as they let go, Xie Xie collapsed onto the ground, silently wiping away tears like a little girl next door who had been bullied.
"You... you... I'm not playing with you anymore!"
About a dozen seconds later, the poison began to take effect. Xie Xie's movements grew stiff, and his mind became groggy.
Jiang Mingyuan created another golden feather, which landed on Xie Xie's head.
Just like that, Xie Xie felt dizzy, and his limbs relaxed as well.
"Get up and take a few steps." Jiang Mingyuan hauled Xie Xie to his feet.
Xie Xie took a few steps forward, then hopped twice on the spot.
Next, Jiang Mingyuan demonstrated his boosts to strength, speed, and defense.
Jiang Mingyuan's boosts were 100% when applied to himself. For others, they started at only 50%, but that figure would keep rising as the target's condition weakened.
Naturally, Xie Xie remained the demonstration subject.
Wu Changkong fell utterly silent.
Wu Changkong was hardly ignorant. The most versatile Martial Soul on the continent was currently the Holy Angel Martial Soul of the Southern Legion's Angel Clan.
The light attribute already possessed some enhancing and healing effects. By relying on different Soul Skills, the Holy Angel Martial Soul could indeed both attack and provide support.
Wait! Wu Changkong spotted the crucial detail!
Hadn't Jiang Mingyuan just done all that without using any Soul Skills? All his various enhancement abilities were innate to his Martial Soul. Wasn't this Martial Soul far too versatile?
"All right, all right. Hurry up and put away your divine powers. I know you're amazing already."
Xie Xie was finally free. There wasn't a single mark on his body, but his heart had long since shattered.
"Blah, blah."
"Down to business." Wu Changkong tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention.
"At Eastsea Academy, we hold a Class Promotion Competition at the start of every school year. All six grades of the intermediate division and all three grades of the advanced division take part."
"A Class Promotion Competition?" Tang Wulin asked curiously.
Wu Changkong explained, "In the Class Promotion Competition, lower-ranked classes challenge higher-ranked classes within their grade. If they win, the classes exchange rankings. For example, if our Class Five challenges Class Four and wins, we will become Class Four after the competition, while the original Class Four will become Class Five."
"Class One of each grade can continue challenging the grade above until it loses. The academy allocates cultivation resources and additional rewards according to each class's performance."
Tang Wulin scratched his head. They were First Grade Class Five, the lowest-ranked class in all of Eastsea Academy.
Ah!
Xie Xie suddenly realized this was a great opportunity. He should have been in Class One, but an undeserved disaster had gotten him punished and sent to Class Five.
He would seize this Class Promotion Competition to fight his way back fair and square.
"So, Teacher Wu, you want the three of us to compete?"
Wu Changkong confirmed Tang Wulin's guess.
"That's right. Teams in the Class Promotion Competition have a maximum of three members and a minimum of two. The competition takes place in a month. If none of you have any objections, starting tomorrow, I'll give the three of you special training after class."
"Your goal is to become the new Class One."
Jiang Mingyuan was very unhappy. He sat alone beneath the shade of a tree beside the field, his elbows propped on his knees and his head resting in his hands, looking thoroughly miserable.
On the track, the students of First Grade Class Five were working up a sweat. Wu Changkong supervised them from the side, occasionally turning to glance at Jiang Mingyuan in the shade.
I hadn't noticed before. This child is far too lazy. Even lazier than Xie Xie. After just twenty laps, he actually claimed he was about to suffer heatstroke.
Listen to that! Is that something a human being would say? The others aren't even rank twenty, and you're a top-tier rank twenty-eight fire-attribute Soul Master. Yet you claim you have heatstroke.
Wu Changkong couldn't bear to watch anymore. He shouted to the students, "Keep your pace steady, everyone, and control your breathing. And Xie Xie, don't slack off! Don't think I haven't seen you."
At Wu Changkong's call, Xie Xie immediately removed the hand he had rested on Tang Wulin's shoulder.
Seriously. That Jiang Mingyuan wasn't even running, yet I couldn't so much as lean on someone for a little help.
After completing their forty laps, the students finally had time to rest. Tang Wulin walked over to Jiang Mingyuan, neither flushed nor breathless.
"Brother Mingyuan, are you all right?" Tang Wulin asked with concern.
While they were running earlier, Jiang Mingyuan had gradually fallen behind the group before collapsing right onto the field. It had given Tang Wulin quite a fright. He and Wu Changkong had hurried over to check Jiang Mingyuan's condition and see whether something was wrong.
Tang Wulin had wanted to carry Jiang Mingyuan to the infirmary on his back, but Wu Changkong wouldn't allow it. He had only told Tang Wulin to help him into the shade and leave him there.
Jiang Mingyuan looked listless. He said nothing, merely shaking his head in silence.
Xie Xie came over as well and pointed at Jiang Mingyuan.
"Stop pretending, you. You might fool everyone else, but you can't fool my eyes. I could tell at a glance that you were faking."
Don't ask how Xie Xie had figured it out.
The answer was that he used to pull the same act whenever he got tired at his elementary academy. Teacher Wu was much stricter than his old teachers, though, and never gave him a chance to fake it. Who would have thought Jiang Mingyuan would be so utterly shameless as to lie right down on the ground?
He, Xie Xie, had actually lost because he cared about saving face.