After a round of tidying up.
Dorm Seven finally quieted down.
Tang Tian sat on the edge of his bed.
His gaze fell on the little girl in pink, who was poking and prodding everything like a curious baby.
With a thought, the System Panel instantly popped up:
[Ding! Special conquest target discovered!] [Soft Bone Demon Rabbit] [Current Affection Level: 40/100 (Favorable)]
Tang Tian looked at that starting Affection Level of 40.
He couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
Well, damn. That's even higher than my socially anxious Little Blue's starting affection?
Is this rabbit really that easy to fool?
Could the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline in me have a naturally fatal attraction for herbivorous Soul Beasts?
Watching Xiao Wu, who wore a silly expression and occasionally twitched her nose to sniff the air.
Tang Tian rubbed his chin and silently decided:
Looks like I won't need to buy any expensive gifts. Snagging a few carrots from the cafeteria more often will be enough to have her wrapped around my finger.
Night fell.
Dorm Seven welcomed its fiercest battle for territory.
Xiao Wu displayed both her domineering nature as the boss and her potential as a female hooligan.
She couldn't care less about keeping a proper distance between boys and girls.
With a swagger that acknowledged neither kith nor kin, she walked up to the bed Tang San had just made.
"Move, move!"
Without another word, Xiao Wu acted.
She shoved Tang San's bedding all the way to the edge.
Then she flung out her quilt and imperiously spread it on Tang Tian's left.
"I'm sleeping here! This spot smells the best!"
Once she had made her bed.
Her large eyes turned toward the empty space on Tang Tian's right.
She was just about to toss her pink rabbit pillow over to claim the spot.
And completely monopolize Tang Tian, that "giant carrot."
But a chilly figure blocked her way like a phantom.
Tang San, the fanatical protector of his older brother, was expressionless.
With deft movements, he gathered up the bedding she had pushed aside and brought it back.
He planted it firmly on Tang Tian's right.
His voice was as cold as shards of ice:
"First come, first served."
"You get my brother's left. I get his right."
Fuming, Xiao Wu widened her eyes.
She planted both hands on her hips:
"Stingy! Why can't I have both sides?"
Tang San wouldn't yield an inch:
"No."
What a joke!
If you take both sides, where am I supposed to go?
Besides, what if you can't behave in your sleep and try something on my brother in the middle of the night?
My brother is so innocent!
I have to protect him!
And so, the strangest sleeping arrangement in the history of Nuoding Academy's Dorm Seven was born.
Two beds were pushed together.
Tang Tian lay in the middle with a look that said he had nothing left to live for, serving as the Chu River-Han Border.
On his left was the hooligan rabbit Xiao Wu, lying on her side and drooling as she stared at him.
On his right was the brother-obsessed Tang San, lying on his side and staring at him while keeping watch over Xiao Wu as though guarding against a thief.
Wang Sheng and the other Work-Study Students huddled on the few beds in the corner.
Watching this three-way standoff, they hardly dared to breathe.
How was this sleeping?
This was clearly an Asura battlefield!
Lying in the middle, Tang Tian sighed.
He felt somewhat troubled.
I can't live like this... There's no personal space at all.
I need to find a chance to apply to the academy for a private dorm room, or rent a place outside.
Otherwise, with so many people watching, how am I supposed to let Little Blue and Little Iron Hammer out to build our relationships?
Tang Tian wasn't the only one complaining.
Inside his Sea of Consciousness.
Resentment also soared to the heavens.
[Blue Silver Grass Little Blue (Trembling)] [Waaah... Master...] [That newcomer is so annoying!] [She has such a scary herbivore smell! She's a natural enemy!] [She's inhaling Master's scent! That's my scent!] [At this time of night, Master would normally stroke my leaves gently with Soul Power and say good night...] [Because of this rabbit, Master is ignoring me tonight...] [Waaah, Master's been stolen away. I'm going to wither...]
Sensing the aggrieved emotions coming from Little Blue.
Tang Tian could do nothing about it either.
This suppression from an inherent incompatibility really did make the socially anxious girl Little Blue miserable.
Little Iron Hammer, on the other hand.
Was putting on a thoroughly haughty act, enjoying the spectacle without caring how big the trouble got.
[Little Iron Hammer (Gloating)] [Hmph, serves you right!] [I told you long ago that you lousy clump of grass were too clingy. You have no independence at all.] [The truly strong never need such cheap caresses and comfort.] [I'm different. I've always disdained competing for affection.]
Little Iron Hammer spun in a circle inside the Sea of Consciousness.
Her handle tilted high.
[You have to fight for everything yourself! But I don't need to fight. I'll wait for that idiot Tang Tian to come begging me himself!] [But...]
Her tone suddenly grew a little awkward.
[That idiot hasn't nourished me with Soul Power tonight?] [Hmph! Fine, don't give me any! As if I care!] [Unless you beg me and apologize, I absolutely won't speak to you! Absolutely!]
While the sleeping war played out in Dorm Seven.
Inside the teachers' dormitory.
There came a muffled bang!
Yu Xiaogang slammed his fist onto the table.
His hand twitched with pain, and even his face trembled.
But the old wooden table didn't budge, as though mocking his incompetence.
"Refused? Refused again?!"
After hearing the upper-year student's report of Tang San's attitude.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned livid, his belly full of rage with nowhere to vent it.
He felt as though he had missed out on a hundred million!
That was Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls!
If he could take him as a disciple, even an idiot could achieve success with the talent of Twin Martial Souls.
When that happened, who in the world would still dare call him, Yu Xiaogang, useless?
"It must be that Tang Tian!"
Yu Xiaogang ground his teeth:
"That older brother is jealous of his younger brother's talent!"
"Tang San has Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls, while Tang Tian is nothing but a mediocrity with an innate level of six."
"He must be afraid his younger brother will surpass him after taking a master, so he's interfering and sowing discord!"
This thought gave Yu Xiaogang some comfort.
It's not my theories that are wrong!
Nor is it my charisma!
It's that jealous little brat!
"I have to find a chance later to avoid Tang Tian and have a proper talk with Tang San alone."
"I must lay bare his older brother's sinister intentions!"
Just then.
A gust of cold wind blew past.
Yu Xiaogang whipped his head around.
Only to discover that, at some point!
A man had appeared by the window, looking utterly dispirited and covered in stubble, yet carrying an aura as majestic as a mountain.
It was none other than Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao.
Tang Hao had also watched this farce from the shadows today.
Although watching his eldest son Tang Tian talk back to Yu Xiaogang had been deeply satisfying.
And had even left him somewhat surprised by the boy's meticulous thinking and sharp tongue.
He still stubbornly believed that Tang Tian merely possessed petty cleverness.
The true future still lay with his younger son Tang San, who possessed the Clear Sky Hammer.
And although Yu Xiaogang was useless in terms of Soul Power, he did have something of a reputation in the world of theory.
Tang Hao felt that he was a failure.
Unqualified to teach his son, he therefore decided to give Yu Xiaogang a chance.
Yu Xiaogang was startled at first.
He was just about to shout for help.
Then he felt that terrifying pressure.
Deep admiration and reverence appeared in his eyes.
That was the aura of a Titled Douluo!
Before you continue