"Boss Xiao, I just heard the dorm supervisor say they're assigning a work-study student to Dorm Six!"
"What the hell? A work-study student? Weren't they all assigned to that rundown dump in Dorm Seven? Why would they put one in our noble Dorm Six?"
"Wouldn't that just drag down our standing for no reason?"
"Actually, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Aren't we always short of someone to serve tea, run errands, and do chores? We can put him to work as free labor!"
"What if he doesn't listen?"
"Doesn't listen? He's just a work-study student from the countryside. What's he going to do, overturn the heavens? We'll beat him into submission!"
"Oh, right, Boss Xiao, I just saw a super cute little loli. Let's go tease her tomorrow!"
Chatter filled the room, their voices full of mockery and disdain for work-study students.
Outside the door, Han Qiu frowned slightly as he listened.
Well, well, that's some naked class prejudice. They're obviously talking about me.
I'm a mighty transmigrator with a system cheat, and I'm not even as arrogant as you guys.
He hesitated no longer and suddenly drove his foot forward!
Bang!
A thunderous crash rang out!
He kicked the refined-steel dormitory door open, sending it slamming hard against the wall!
In an instant, all the laughter and commotion in the room came to an abrupt halt.
Several noble children in the dormitory, ranging from seven or eight to eleven or twelve years old, froze on the spot.
They were all dressed in fine clothes and carried themselves with spoiled arrogance, children of well-off families. Now, every one of them stared dumbfounded at Han Qiu in the doorway, the smiles frozen on their faces.
"Why did you stop laughing? Weren't you having a good laugh just now?"
"Fuck, who are you? How dare you come to Dorm Six and cause trouble? Do you have a death wish?!"
Han Qiu stepped into the room, his gaze sweeping indifferently over the group as his lips curved into a cold smile. "I'm the work-study student you were talking about, and now I'm here. Which one of you said you'd beat me into submission?"
The noble children's faces turned ugly. None of them had expected the new work-study student to be so arrogant, and rage flared in every one of them.
Fine, fine, fine! A work-study student from the countryside actually dares to run wild in Dorm Six? And kick the door in to provoke us?
Arrogant. Far too arrogant!
He's carrying a lantern into a latrine, looking for death!
The tallest boy among them, a handsome youth at the front of the group, stepped forward with an arrogant, mocking expression. He was the one they called Boss Xiao.
He looked down at Han Qiu, his voice full of disdain. "Kid, you're from the countryside?"
Then he fired off three questions, brimming with arrogance. "That kick just now was pretty bold, huh? Do you know the rules of Dorm Six? Do you know whose turf this is?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a boy beside him named Zhang Jian stepped forward, a fierce look on his face as he clamored to fight. "Boss Xiao, don't waste your breath on this country bumpkin! A measly work-study student dares to kick our door in? Let me teach him a proper lesson!"
Boss Xiao gave a cold, indifferent sneer and drawled, "Fine, he's yours. Just watch yourself and don't cripple him. We'll still need him to do the dirty work and heavy chores around here."
"Don't worry! I know what I'm doing!"
As Zhang Jian spoke, he walked toward Han Qiu with a vicious grin.
The other noble children in the dormitory folded their arms and watched Han Qiu with amused expressions. As far as they were concerned, he was bound to end up black and blue.
"Kid, give me your name. I, Zhang Jian, don't fight nobodies." Zhang Jian's body gave a slight shudder, and a black wild boar Martial Soul appeared behind him.
Han Qiu raised his middle finger in a provocative gesture. "You talk too much."
Though Zhang Jian didn't know what the gesture meant, he instinctively sensed its naked contempt and provocation. The fury in his chest ignited completely.
Zhang Jian clenched his fists, his muscles bulging as he sent them smashing toward Han Qiu's face with a whistling gust.
He only had level-eight Soul Power and had yet to condense a Soul Ring, so naturally he had no Soul Skills to bolster him.
The attack relied purely on the boost to brute strength provided by his Martial Soul. His fists whistled through the air with the headlong force of a brash youth, and he thought it more than enough to crush this ignorant country hick before him.
In the eyes of the noble children, the outcome was already decided. A six-year-old who had only just awakened his Martial Soul could never match Zhang Jian, who had cultivated for two years, in either physique or Soul Power.
They watched with mocking eyes, seemingly waiting for Han Qiu to be beaten into a sorry state and beg for mercy.
But faced with the heavy punch coming straight at him, Han Qiu simply stood still, not retreating so much as half a step. There was no trace of panic on his face, only a faint indifference.
To him, a brute-force charge backed by a mere level-eight Soul Power was riddled with openings and not worth mentioning.
Just as the fist was about to touch his robes, Han Qiu shifted slightly to one side. His movement was as light as a drifting cloud, letting him dodge the supposedly certain strike at precisely the right moment.
Whoosh!
The gust brushed past the tip of his nose as Zhang Jian's full-force strike missed completely.
His tremendous forward momentum left him unable to stop. He stumbled half a step forward, completely losing his balance in a thoroughly awkward display.
Zhang Jian attacked again as soon as he steadied himself, but Han Qiu's hand shot out like lightning and landed precisely on his shoulder.
The press looked light, yet it carried the crushing weight of a thousand jin.
"Ugh!"
Zhang Jian felt an irresistible force pressing down on his shoulder. He strained with all his might, but the strength granted by his wild boar Martial Soul was completely restrained. His level-eight Soul Power was like a clay ox sinking into the sea before that force; he couldn't summon even a trace of it.
His face flushed bright red and the muscles in his arms went taut, yet he couldn't budge an inch.
The room fell silent in an instant.
The noble children who had been laughing and enjoying the show froze, their amused smiles stiffening as their eyes widened in disbelief.
How is that possible?
Zhang Jian has level-eight Soul Power!
His Beast Martial Soul boosts his strength too, yet a six-year-old work-study student restrained him so easily?
"Let go of Zhang Jian!"
As the shout rang out, Han Qiu felt a fierce gust from a staff bearing down on the back of his head!
The attacker was Liu Long, another noble child in the dormitory.
Seeing Zhang Jian restrained in an instant, he was both shocked and furious. Without hesitation, he summoned his Martial Soul and swung it viciously at Han Qiu's back, his ruthless attack aimed squarely at injuring him.
The other children in the dormitory cried out in alarm, seemingly not expecting Liu Long to launch a sudden sneak attack.
The instant before the short staff struck his back, Han Qiu's free left hand shot behind him and seized it with unerring precision, gripping it tight!
Liu Long jerked to a halt, his forward momentum forcibly stopped in an instant.
In that opening, Han Qiu's left foot flashed out in an afterimage, too fast for the naked eye to follow. A swift kick slammed squarely into Liu Long's lower abdomen!
"Argh!"
Agonizing pain swept through Liu Long's body in an instant. His face turned the color of pig liver, his body curled like a shrimp, and the piercing pain shot straight to the crown of his head. Beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.
Han Qiu released the short staff.
With nothing to support him, Liu Long's strength gave out. He swayed and crashed heavily to the floor, collapsing completely!
In an instant, a deathly silence filled Dorm Six.
Everyone stared fixedly at Han Qiu. None of them had expected two of the dormitory's strongest fighters to be defeated by a newly arrived work-study student!
And defeated so easily at that.
Even if Boss Xiao, the strongest of them all, had stepped in, he could never have crushed them so completely!
Han Qiu took his time, walking slowly into the dormitory. Then he gave a light hook of his right foot.
Thud!
The steel door swung shut with a muffled bang that echoed through the room, striking every noble child in the heart like a heavy hammer.
They couldn't help but swallow in unison, an inexplicable chill creeping into their hearts.
Apart from Boss Xiao, whose expression was grave, the others all instinctively took a step back, every face wary.