Xiao Wu and Xiao Chenyu stood facing each other in the middle of the playground.
Xiao Chenyu stepped forward with a dark expression, looking coldly at Xiao Wu, contempt on his face.
"Xiao Chenyu, sixth-year student. Martial Soul: Wolf. Rank eleven, one-ring Battle Soul Master."
As he spoke, azure light rose from his body, his muscles swelled, and a faint green gleam appeared in his eyes. Ghastly white wolf claws sprang from his fingertips, and a white ten-year soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.
The noble children around them gasped.
"Young Master Xiao is making his move!"
"That little brat is finished!"
Xiao Wu took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Xiao Wu, first-year work-study student. Rank eleven."
At the words "work-study student," the older students behind Xiao Chenyu immediately burst into laughter.
Xiao Chenyu also froze for a moment, then gave a mocking smile. "A work-study student? Tsk, tsk, tsk. You don't even have a soul ring, and you think you can fight me?"
"I suggest you know what's good for you. Surrender obediently and become my pet rabbit, and I can treat you a little better. Otherwise, once I make my move, it won't be pretty."
Xiao Wu did not move.
Xiao Chenyu's gaze sharpened. "Since you insist on courting death, I'll beat you into the dirt first! Once I win, you'll be my pet rabbit and follow me obediently! All you work-study students will have to obey me too!"
"Hmph, so what if you're rank eleven too?"
Xiao Chenyu rolled his neck, his wolf claws glinting coldly. "Watch me tear you apart!"
Xiao Wu took a deep breath, and her gaze changed.
"Xiao Wu, first-year work-study student. Martial Soul: Soft Bone Rabbit. Rank eleven, one-ring Battle Soul Master."
As her words fell, a layer of pink light rose from her body. Two white rabbit ears emerged from the top of her head, and with a hum, a yellow hundred-year soul ring rose from beneath her feet.
A hundred-year soul ring!
A yellow one!
The entire playground instantly fell silent.
The smile froze on Xiao Chenyu's face. His eyes widened until they nearly popped out of their sockets.
"A h-hundred-year soul ring?!"
The noble children behind him were all dumbstruck too, their mouths hanging open.
"A first-year work-study student actually has a hundred-year soul ring?!"
"How is that possible?! Don't you have to kill a hundred-year soul beast to get a hundred-year soul ring? How could a work-study student like her have the ability?"
The work-study students erupted too.
Wang Sheng gaped, only managing to squeeze out a sentence after a long while:
"Xiao Wu... Sister Xiao Wu actually has a hundred-year soul ring?!"
Xiao Chenyu's face went pale at once.
He was rank eleven, but his soul ring was a white ten-year soul ring.
The little girl opposite him was also rank eleven, yet hers was a hundred-year soul ring.
Their soul rings were an entire major grade apart in quality!
How was he supposed to fight that?!
But he had already made his boasts. With everyone watching, he could hardly chicken out.
"Hmph, so what if you have a hundred-year soul ring?" Xiao Chenyu forced himself to hold firm, pointing his wolf claws forward. "I, Xiao Chenyu, don't scare that easily!"
Xiao Wu wasted no words either. She shifted her feet and attacked immediately.
Her yellow soul ring lit up. First Soul Skill-Waist Bow!
Her waist instantly arched like a spring, and her entire body flashed right up to Xiao Chenyu like a bolt of pink lightning.
Startled, Xiao Chenyu swept his wolf claws across at her.
Xiao Wu ducked beneath his wolf claws, caught his wrist with a backhand grab, and twisted her waist. Drawing on Waist Bow's explosive force, she slammed Xiao Chenyu solidly into the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw.
Bang!
Xiao Chenyu landed face-first, his mouth filling with dirt again.
Earthshaking cheers erupted from the work-study students.
"Great!"
"Beautifully done, Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Chenyu scrambled up and charged with a furious roar, his wolf claws wreathed in azure light as he slashed at Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu neither dodged nor retreated. Her yellow soul ring lit up again, activating Waist Bow, and she twisted as though she had no bones, slipping through the gaps between his wolf claws.
The two traded blows, exchanging over a dozen rounds in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Wu's grappling techniques were masterful. Bolstered by Waist Bow, her body moved like a nimble loach, weaving between Xiao Chenyu's wolf claws.
Xiao Chenyu's wolf claws were fast and vicious, but they could not even catch the hem of Xiao Wu's clothes.
On the tenth move, Xiao Wu pushed his back with a backhand shove. Unable to check his momentum, Xiao Chenyu plunged face-first into the dirt.
On the twelfth move, Xiao Wu turned sideways to avoid a sweeping strike and kicked the back of Xiao Chenyu's knee, sending him down onto one knee with a thud.
On the fifteenth move, Xiao Wu seized an opening in Xiao Chenyu's guard and sprang high into the air. Her legs clamped around his neck like scissors, and she twisted her waist fiercely-
Waist Bow erupted at full force!
Bang!!!
Xiao Chenyu was flung away like a torn sack. He flipped twice in midair before crashing heavily to the ground, sending dust flying.
This time, he did not get up for a long while. He lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently. He could no longer even maintain his wolf-claw Martial Soul, and the azure light dispersed.
The entire playground was deathly silent.
The work-study students fell quiet for a second, then burst into even louder cheers than before.
"She won! Sister Xiao Wu won!"
"Xiao Chenyu's been beaten into the dirt!"
Wang Sheng jumped three feet into the air with excitement.
Xiao Wu landed steadily, dusted off her hands, and looked disdainfully at Xiao Chenyu on the ground.
"That's it?" Xiao Wu curled her lip.
She raised her head, swept her gaze over the noble children still standing there in a daze, and lifted her chin.
"Come on. All of you at once."
The noble children exchanged looks.
They had thought Xiao Wu was just a little brat without a soul ring. They had never expected her to beat even Xiao Chenyu into the dirt.
But now Xiao Wu herself had told them to come at her together-
Zhou Hu was the first to step forward.
He was a rank-nine Soul Scholar, only one rank below Xiao Chenyu, and the second-best fighter among them.
"Everyone, attack together! No matter how strong she is, can she fight all of us alone?" Zhou Hu shouted, bolstering his own courage.
The other lackeys exchanged glances, their eyes turning red too.
Right! However strong one person was, how many could she fight?
"Attack!"
Seven or eight of them surged forward together, surrounding Xiao Wu completely.
Zhou Hu lunged from the front, driving an iron-sand fist straight at Xiao Wu's face.
Two others attacked from either side, one kicking and the other throwing a punch.
Behind her, another two crouched low, trying to grab her legs.
Xiao Wu's expression changed. Her yellow soul ring lit up, and she immediately met their attacks.
Her grappling techniques were indeed formidable. With the hundred-year soul ring's enhancement, her strength and speed far surpassed theirs.
In their first exchange, she turned sideways to avoid Zhou Hu's fist and drove an elbow into his chin, knocking his head back and forcing him to retreat.
With a backhand grab, she twisted the wrist of the lackey on her left, making him crouch down with a scream.
But she was only rank eleven, after all, and her Soul Power was limited.
Fighting seven or eight people alone, two fists could hardly contend with four hands.
She knocked down the two in front, only to take a kick from the side and let out a muffled grunt.
She had just dodged a punch when someone wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
Xiao Wu gritted her teeth and unleashed Waist Bow, flinging the person behind her away, but her movements had already slowed.
Over those dozen or so rounds of fighting, she had used up most of her Soul Power, and even her yellow soul ring had dimmed somewhat.