When Qing Linyun woke, sunlight was already slipping through a gap in the curtains.
He moved his arm, and the person beside him gave a little grunt and snuggled closer.
Leng Yulai was still lying beside him, her hair spread across the pillow, fast asleep and sprawled out in all directions.
The fierceness she usually wore on her face was gone, replaced by a touch of docility.
Last night, he had used his spatial attribute to tear open a passage from Eastsea City and step straight into the villa district of Shrek City.
When Leng Yulai opened the door, her eyes had still been red. She froze for a moment when she saw him, then pulled him inside.
Qing Linyun had spent the whole night "comforting" her and only went to sleep shortly before dawn.
All that comforting had left his back aching.
Qing Linyun looked down at the person beside him and suddenly felt like laughing.
This level 99 Demigod with an ultimate Dark Phoenix had been strutting around yesterday, threatening to beat this person and that person to death. Yet when she lay beside him last night, she had been as docile as a cat.
"If you're awake, get up." Leng Yulai kept her eyes closed, her voice muffled. "Stop staring at me."
"How do you know I'm looking at you?"
"I could feel it."
"Fine." Qing Linyun didn't expose her. "Want to sleep a little longer, then?"
"No." Leng Yulai rolled over, turning her back to him, her voice still husky from sleep.
Wait, wasn't it more like the rasp that came from crying too long? Hmm, why had she cried? I don't know. Do you?
"Hungry."
Qing Linyun opened his mouth.
He had to hand it to her.
This young lady's temper when she had just woken up made her a completely different person from last night.
"Who was it last night who said, 'Boss, let go of me, I want to go home'?" Qing Linyun drawled. "And who was it later who clung to me and refused to let go no matter what?"
"Who was that?!" Leng Yulai spun around, her face flushing. "Stop talking nonsense!"
"And another thing." Qing Linyun looked into her eyes. "Some little phoenix kept saying she wanted to go home last night, but in the middle of the night, she fought harder than anyone for the blanket. She snored, too."
"Qing Linyun! Shut up! I do not snore!"
"I'm not finished." Qing Linyun showed no intention of stopping. "Someone also talked in her sleep, mumbling something about 'Boss, don't go. If you leave, who'll buy me wontons?'"
"You! You!"
Furious, Leng Yulai grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him. Qing Linyun caught it in one hand and burst out laughing at how embarrassed and angry she looked.
"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you." Qing Linyun put the pillow back. "You're hungry, right? I'll have someone bring some food over."
"I want wontons."
"All right, wontons."
"And make them spicy."
"Why eat spicy food in the morning?"
"Because I want to."
"All right, all right, spicy it is."
Only then was Leng Yulai satisfied. She edged closer to him and muttered, "You're not allowed to tell Na Nali I cried last night."
"Why not?"
"That mouth of hers!" Leng Yulai gritted her teeth. "If she finds out, she'll go on about it for a whole year."
"That depends on how you behave."
"Qing Linyun!"
"All right, all right, I won't tell her." Qing Linyun raised his hands in surrender. "But you really were quite obedient last night."
The tips of Leng Yulai's ears turned red. After a long pause, she managed to say, "I was... I just couldn't be bothered to argue with you."
"Mm, couldn't be bothered." Qing Linyun nodded, then couldn't resist adding, "Couldn't be bothered to argue with your boss, but you clung to that blanket tighter than anyone."
"Get lost!"
After breakfast, Qing Linyun smoothed things over with Leng Yulai, then tore open a spatial passage and returned to Eastsea Academy.
He arrived at just the right time. The training field was already bustling.
Wu Changkong stood in the middle of the field with his arms crossed, his brows furrowed tightly enough to crush a fly. His displeasure was practically spilling off the screen.
The students of Class Five had divided into several groups and were sparring in pairs.
Qing Linyun watched from the sidelines for a while and got a general idea of why Wu Changkong's brows were so tightly knit.
The students sparring in these groups all had Soul Power around level eleven or twelve, and their Martial Souls were nothing special either: shovels, stone locks, canes, all sorts of things.
Their Soul Rings went without saying: every last one was white, with not a yellow ring in sight.
Their fighting routines were simple, too. They released their Martial Souls, showed their Soul Rings, then went at each other in close combat. Occasionally, they used a Soul Skill or two, but getting hit by one was like being tickled.
In one sparring match at the edge of the field, a level 12 student with a shovel Martial Soul swung his Soul Skill, Shovel Sweep, only for his opponent with a stone lock Martial Soul to block it. Then the two began shoving each other, turning a perfectly good Soul Master match into a no-holds-barred fighting tournament.
"The first Eastsea Academy No-Holds-Barred Fighting Tournament is now officially underway! I'm your host for today, Wu Changkong."
Ahem... wrong channel.
In the next group, a level 11 student with a cane Martial Soul lashed out with it. His opponent dodged, and then the two tangled together in a scuffle.
To put it bluntly, how was this a fight between Soul Masters? It was plainly a fight between ordinary people, and an ugly one at that.
At the other end of the field, a student with a kitchen cleaver Martial Soul chased a student with a carrying pole Martial Soul all over the place. One slashed with his cleaver, the other smashed with his pole. It looked frightening, but the actual damage was close to zero.
The more Wu Changkong watched, the tighter his brows drew together. This batch of children in Class Five had weak foundations and poor talent. After training for so long, they still hadn't grasped even the basics of fighting as Soul Masters.
He suppressed the anger inside him again and again, but in the end he couldn't hold it down. He called a halt in a low voice.
Wu Changkong really couldn't take it anymore. He felt that watching any longer would be an insult to his career as a Soul Master. This was practically a death by a thousand cuts for a genius!
Wu Changkong stood to one side, his face growing darker the longer he watched. At last, unable to bear it any longer, he said in a low voice, "Stop!"
The students all stopped at once, none of them daring to breathe loudly.
"Shovel, stone lock, was that a Soul Master duel? That was a street brawl!"
Wu Changkong's voice was cold, and the students around him lowered their heads.
"Cane, your opponent dodged your Soul Skill, and then you didn't know what to do? Can't you anticipate his moves? Can't you change tactics?"
After giving them a thorough scolding, Wu Changkong took a deep breath and swept his gaze over the crowd. "Xie Xie, Gu Yue, step forward."
A small stir went through the crowd.
The whole class knew that Xie Xie and Gu Yue didn't get along.
The two of them bickered whenever they met. Now they were going to have a proper fight, and that would be interesting.
Xie Xie walked to the center of the field, flexing his wrists, and bared his teeth at Gu Yue. "Gu Yue, I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Gu Yue strolled over and stopped in front of him. "Oh? Are you ready to end up on the ground, then?"
"We'll see who ends up on the ground!"
"You'll find out soon enough."
The two stood there, neither willing to yield to the other. Their classmates gathered around, chattering among themselves.
"Who do you think will win?"
"Do you even need to ask? Gu Yue."
"I'm betting on Xie Xie. He does have Twin Martial Souls, after all."
"So what if he has Twin Martial Souls? Gu Yue's elemental Martial Soul is a natural counter to close combat."
"Look, look, it's starting!"
Wu Changkong stood to one side and said in an even voice, "Begin."
The two released their Martial Souls at the same time.
Two Yellow Soul Rings rose slowly beneath Gu Yue's feet.
A translucent stone appeared behind her, an Elemental Stone with seven-colored light flowing over it. The power of seven elements-darkness, wind, fire, ice, earth, light, and space-surged faintly around her.
One Yellow Soul Ring rose beneath Xie Xie's feet.
He turned his hands over, and two daggers appeared in his palms, one gleaming white and the other wreathed in shadow.
The Light Dragon Dagger and the Shadow Dragon Dagger, Twin Martial Souls.
Qing Linyun watched from the sidelines and clicked his tongue inwardly.
Seriously, the Silver Dragon King is bullying children?
She's the sovereign of the elements to begin with, so it's no surprise she can command such powerful elements.
Gu Yue moved first.
She didn't charge. Standing where she was, she raised a hand, and an earthen wall sprang from the ground in front of Xie Xie.
Xie Xie twisted aside, circled the wall, and rushed toward her low to the ground.
Unhurried, Gu Yue raised another wall of ice to block his path from the side, while several icicles whistled through the air.
Xie Xie dodged left and right, slicing through one icicle with his Light Dragon Dagger and knocking another aside with his Shadow Dragon Dagger, but he couldn't withstand Gu Yue's relentless barrage from a distance.
Wind blades, icicles, arrows of light, one after another, as if they cost her nothing.
He couldn't get close at all.
Qing Linyun shook his head as he watched.
The girl was kiting Xie Xie.
She clearly had the ability to attack head-on, yet she chose to keep moving and control the field, forcing Xie Xie into a corner one step at a time. Her approach couldn't have been steadier.
Standing nearby, Wu Changkong relaxed his brows somewhat.
Gu Yue's approach was clear: keep moving, block, and wear her opponent down. She executed a mage-type Soul Master's fighting style to perfection.
Her talent and control over the elements ranked among the best of her peers.
More remarkably, she didn't rush in recklessly. Even with the advantage, she wore her opponent down bit by bit. That temperament was worth more than talent.
This finally eased Wu Changkong's deeply furrowed brows somewhat. At last, a promising student who at least looked the part had appeared. Otherwise, Wu Changkong really might have died of anger.
Compared with Gu Yue's composure, Xie Xie was in a rather sorry state.
Xie Xie charged several more times, only to be driven back by wind blades and ice walls. The longer he fought, the more anxious he grew, and the more anxious he grew, the messier his moves became.
Gu Yue gained a little more ground. A wind blade skimmed past the hem of Xie Xie's clothes, forcing him back another half step.
She glanced smugly at Qing Linyun on the sidelines, her look clearly saying, "See that? I'm impressive, aren't I?"
Qing Linyun merely nodded calmly.
He just nodded.
Anger flared up in Gu Yue's heart.
What was that supposed to mean? She'd worked so hard fighting for so long, and all he did was nod? He could at least give her a compliment!
This bastard, Gu Yue cursed inwardly. What's with the act?
Meanwhile, Qing Linyun grumbled inwardly, She gets a tiny victory and becomes so pleased with herself. She's this cocky while smurfing in a match. Just what I'd expect from you, world-shocking wisdom Silver Dragon Fish.
On the field, Xie Xie held out a little longer before Gu Yue caught him between an earthen wall and two icicles.
He had just knocked the icicles aside when the ground beneath his feet gave way. A suddenly collapsing pit made him stumble, and several wind blades skimmed past his scalp, nearly shearing off half his handsome hairdo.
He landed on his backside, his head covered in bumps.
"I can still fight!"
"Stop fighting." Wu Changkong's voice came from the side. "Gu Yue wins."