Jiang Mingyuan moved so fast that Gu Tian and his two brothers lost all ability to resist before they even felt a trace of pain, and all three plummeted from the air.
Thud!
They slammed heavily into the ground, their internal organs damaged, and blood gushed uncontrollably from their mouths.
Gu Tianri shakily raised a hand. He wanted to prop himself up into a sitting position, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't manage it. His injuries were too severe.
There was no doubt that none of the three could continue fighting.
Ye Yingrong, the homeroom teacher of first-year Class Three, stared blankly at the scene. She was beautiful, her Martial Soul was of decent quality, and her talent was considered outstanding in a small place like this. From childhood onward, she had never suffered a single setback.
Only after coming to Eastsea Academy and meeting Wu Changkong, the man known as the Iceberg Adonis, had she felt the urge to pursue someone for the first time. Yet Wu Changkong's response had dealt her an utterly crushing defeat.
She was competitive. Rejection hadn't made her give up on herself. Fragrant grass grew everywhere under heaven; why pine for a single blade?
She would show Wu Changkong that she was far better than him, starting with how she taught her students.
The students of Class Three ran past Ye Yingrong and swarmed onto the competition stage. Some summoned their Martial Souls, casting faint light over the three brothers' bodies to ease a little of their pain. Others joined together to stand in front of them, keeping Jiang Mingyuan from approaching.
Three Golden Feathers descended from the sky, and no one could stop them.
The three feathers landed precisely on the brothers' chests and slowly merged into them. Pure life energy flowed into their bodies, rapidly repairing their injured organs.
Class Flower helped him up. Gu Tianri wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and opened his palm. A crystal-clear tear quietly fell into it.
His experiences were much like Tang Wulin's: a child with an awakened Martial Soul had emerged from an ordinary, poor family.
He was more fortunate than Tang Wulin. His Martial Soul and Soul Power could just barely scrape past the passing mark even by the continent's standards.
He was less fortunate than Tang Wulin. His parents performed only the most basic manual labor. He also had two brothers who shared his parents' love.
As the saying went, the children of the poor learned to shoulder a household early. As the eldest of the three brothers, he had willingly taken on the responsibility of looking after his younger brothers at a tender age. All three had clearly been born on the same day, yet he was more mature than the other two.
Gu Tianri could no longer remember the last time he had cried. Perhaps it had been when he was still a baby.
His family circumstances didn't allow him to cry.
I'd suffered plenty of blows before without crying, so why am I crying this time? Even the agony of falling from that height didn't make me cry. Why am I crying now, when it doesn't hurt anymore?
He reached out to catch the tears that kept rolling down. His classmates gathered around to comfort him, and Class Flower took out a handkerchief to wipe his tears.
Gu Tianri felt lost. He seemed to be asking Jiang Mingyuan a question, yet his voice was so quiet that he might have been asking himself.
"What is this?"
Jiang Mingyuan slowly descended. Gu Tianri couldn't make out the expression on his face. Was it mockery, compassion, or approval?
Jiang Mingyuan gently shook his head.
"Who knows?"
"Go ask your companions. Mine are waiting for me to go back and celebrate."
Gu Tianri looked around and spoke in a trembling voice. "I'm sorry. I've let everyone down. I lost." He lowered his head, waiting for his classmates' reproaches and his teacher's criticism.
But what happened was the exact opposite of what he expected.
He felt someone gently patting his shoulder.
"Brother, don't say that. You did well enough."
"My legs wouldn't even move when I faced him, but you actually had the courage to step up. I'm not as brave as you."
Jiang Mingyuan quietly walked back. Tang Wulin gazed over at the others, a smile emerging as though he were lost in a reverie.
"Brother Yuan, they're pretty great too."
"Who could say otherwise? Sometimes, one little gesture or a single sentence can be the beginning of a friendship. Wasn't it the same for us? You called out to me at the amusement park."
Jiang Mingyuan and the other two returned to Class Five with their heads held high and their chests puffed out. Their classmates erupted into enthusiastic cheers. They had won again!
Wu Changkong first gave all three ample praise for their performance. Although Jiang Mingyuan had been the only one to act this time, as their teacher, he had to praise them at a moment like this.
Then Wu Changkong's expression darkened.
"Could you two explain why you flew over from the direction of the dormitory? And why you were almost late?"
Wu Changkong's face was as black as the bottom of a cooking pot.
Jiang Mingyuan let out a shout of alarm!
"Teacher Wu is going to eat children! Wulin, Xie Xie, let's run!" Jiang Mingyuan grabbed Tang Wulin and Xie Xie by the hands and sped away.
Xie Xie: ?
"Wait, why are you dragging me along? I wasn't late!"
"Xie Xie, we're companions! How could we abandon a companion and run away alone? We share the blessings and shoulder the hardships together. Come on, let's go!"
"Jiang Mingyuan! You walking disaster! You two never bring me along to share the blessings!"
"Hehe!"
"Hehe, my foot!"
The next morning, Jiang Mingyuan and Tang Wulin got dressed, tidied themselves up, and set off for the Eastsea City Museum.
Jiang Mingyuan wasn't the least bit worried about failing to get the Hundred-Year Ice Spirit Fruit. The rules were there, and the other buyer hadn't paid a deposit in advance either. If both parties wanted it, they could simply bid for it.
Jiang Mingyuan had looked into Ice Spirit Fruits. They weren't particularly rare; they simply weren't common in coastal cities like Eastsea City.
If he really wanted one, a single phone call to his teacher would get him one. But there was no need to trouble her over something so trivial.
The Hundred-Year Ice Spirit Fruit cost 1.16 million Federation Coins. As he had said yesterday, he could simply offer twice the price and take it. A little over two million wasn't unacceptable.
The Eastsea City Museum was fairly tactful. Rather than arranging for the two parties to meet directly, they led them into separate rooms.
Jiang Mingyuan sat on the sofa and gestured for Tang Wulin to sit down too. Tang Wulin still seemed a little reserved.
A Soul Guidance display hung on the wall, showing a live image of the Ice Spirit Fruit.
Some spirit fruits and snacks sat on the coffee table in front of them, along with a button used to raise their bid.
Jiang Mingyuan thought the setup looked quite convincing, even if there were only two parties bidding.
An attendant stood beside them and explained.
"Gentlemen, bidding will begin in three minutes. The starting price is 1.16 million Federation Coins, and each increase must be at least 5,000 Federation Coins."
The countdown on the screen gradually ran out.
Three, two, one-the bidding officially began.
Jiang Mingyuan placed the bidding remote directly in front of himself, extended a finger, and jabbed at it frantically.
Tang Wulin, sitting beside him, was dumbfounded. He hurriedly reached out to stop him.
"Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan, slow down. You're scaring me."