"Do you want to get stronger?"
A smile curled Qing Linyun's lips as he lifted his chin toward Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin froze.
He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
Get stronger? Of course he wanted to.
He dreamed of it.
But no one had ever asked him that question.
Teacher Wu taught him because it was his duty as a teacher.
His classmates looked after him out of fellowship.
No one had ever asked him if he wanted to get stronger.
After all, who would believe that a one-ring Blue Silver Grass Soul Master could get stronger? He was doing well enough just to look after himself.
His eyes suddenly stung. His throat bobbed, and his voice was hoarse. "I do."
Qing Linyun didn't rush to answer. He added something else.
"Following Teacher Wu, you'll learn how to become an ordinary Soul Master. What I'll teach you is how to become a genius. If you want to become a genius, you first have to ask yourself whether you're willing to endure the hardship."
Tang Wulin raised his head and met his gaze. The playfulness in those eyes slowly faded, replaced by a touch of seriousness.
"I am."
Tang Wulin's voice wasn't loud when he said it, but it was firm.
"I'm willing to try anything."
Qing Linyun looked at him for a while, then nodded and smiled meaningfully.
"Good."
"Just wait. First, follow Teacher Wu's special training. When the right opportunity comes, I'll give you something good and let you experience the world of a genius."
Qing Linyun spoke meaningfully, but Tang Wulin had some trouble understanding him.
Tang Wulin froze again, as though he hadn't understood what Qing Linyun had said.
Qing Linyun didn't explain further. He patted him on the shoulder, turned, and walked away.
Tang Wulin stood where he was, watching his back disappear into the night. It took him a long time to come back to his senses. He looked down at his hand, then touched the spot where he had released the Golden Dragon Claw. It was still a little hot.
Get stronger?
He clenched his fists. The little flame in his heart, which had almost gone out, seemed to have been gently breathed on and was burning again.
The lights were off in Gu Yue's dorm room.
She was curled up alone on her bed, hugging a pillow, her face puffed up with anger as she muttered one name over and over.
"Qing Linyun, bastard, Qing Linyun."
Her right hand rubbed absently at the jade pendant hanging against her chest. Its cool surface rested against her fingers as she stroked it again and again.
She cursed him, yet gripped the pendant tightly, as though she wanted to crush it, or perhaps feared it would run away.
"He kept Tang Wulin behind alone. What for?"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. "What couldn't he say in front of everyone? Why did he have to keep him behind alone? Sneaking around like that-one look and you can tell he's up to no good!"
She rolled over, then rolled back. The more she thought, the less she could sleep.
In truth, Qing Linyun keeping Tang Wulin behind wasn't the only thing bothering her tonight.
There was also that damn business on the arena stage today.
When had she, Gu Yue, ever been pointed at and told off like that?
That bastard had jabbed at her heart, word by word, in front of so many people.
"You're the strongest one on the team," and "you don't step up as its backbone," and "the Class Promotion Tournament isn't a one-person affair."
He'd made it all sound so logical, as if it were true.
But she couldn't argue back.
Because he was right.
When had she, Gu Yue, ever admitted to something like that?
But today, she knew full well that she really had fought a complete mess of a match. She hadn't even won.
It was all that Xie Xie's fault. Damn Xie Xie, just wait. One of these days, I'll call Di Tian over and have him snap you dead.
Today, she really had been so caught up in squabbling with Xie Xie that she'd thrown everything Teacher Wu had told them to the back of her mind.
If that bastard hadn't reminded me, I would've fallen flat on my face today.
As she thought about it, she bit her lip again.
No.
She hurriedly snuffed out that thought.
He was just sticking his nose where it didn't belong. I'm not going to be grateful to him.
But the jade pendant still rested warmly against her palm.
And then there was that smile of his today.
Gu Yue rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, the roots of her ears growing hot again.
So annoying, so annoying, so annoying.
She cursed several times into her pillow before she managed to suppress that restless feeling.
Once it passed, she remembered something else, and her gaze slowly turned cold.
The Golden Dragon King Bloodline.
She was certain now. The presence that made her uncomfortable all over came from Tang Wulin. That honest-looking, ordinarily talented Tang Wulin had the Golden Dragon King Bloodline hidden within him.
The Golden Dragon King was one of the two great Dragon Kings into which the Dragon God had split, an existence on the same level as her, the Silver Dragon King.
How could the bloodline of such an existence appear in a human for no clear reason?
Gu Yue couldn't understand it.
The Golden Dragon King had clearly fallen, and his presence had appeared in the Divine Realm at the time.
She hadn't made a move against Tang Wulin because she wanted to see if there was anything else special about him.
She wanted to understand what was going on with this bloodline, and who had placed it in Tang Wulin.
But tonight, Qing Linyun keeping Tang Wulin behind alone had pulled a string taut in her heart.
Why had Qing Linyun kept Tang Wulin behind? What could the two of them have to talk about?
The more Gu Yue thought about it, the more uneasy she grew.
She thought of Qing Linyun's identity, his mysterious methods, and the thoughtful look he'd given Tang Wulin today.
A thought surfaced, and she couldn't suppress it no matter what she did.
Does Qing Linyun know something too?
Has he set his sights on Tang Wulin too?
Who is he, really?
She remembered how Qing Linyun had smiled at her across half the field that day.
Then she remembered how, on the arena stage today, he had pointed out her problems one by one in front of everyone.
That fellow seemed able to see through her at a glance, to know when she was bluffing and when she was truly angry.
And he always wore that playful expression, as though he could see through everyone under heaven. It made our little silver dragon fish's skin crawl whenever she saw Qing Linyun.
The feeling left Gu Yue both irritated and with a hard-to-describe flutter in her heart.
He's so smart. Could he have seen through me already? she thought. Seen what I'm thinking?
She hurriedly wrapped the blanket a little tighter around herself, as though she could hide herself that way.
Gu Yue's fingers stopped on the jade pendant. She stared at the ceiling, her pupils slightly contracted.
She suddenly realized that she actually knew pitifully little about Qing Linyun.
That fellow was always flippant, but she couldn't see through his strength, his origins, or his purpose.
All she knew was that he was strong, ridiculously strong, strong enough to make her skin crawl.
Yet she couldn't help wanting to get closer.
No, she told herself. Tomorrow, I have to question him properly.
She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head, then felt stifled and flung it off.
Moonlight streamed in through the window and shone on her face.
She lay there for a long while, her mind in a jumble. One moment it was Qing Linyun's smile, the next the Golden Dragon King's presence on Tang Wulin, and then the messy scenes from the arena stage today. They were all tangled together, and she couldn't sort them out.
Gu Yue rolled over under the covers and faced the wall, but the jumbled thoughts in her head still hadn't completely dispersed.
She simply closed her eyes and stopped thinking about them. Tomorrow, when she saw that bastard, she would question him properly.
He can't run away anyway.
With that thought, her breathing slowly evened out.
Finally, she wrapped the blanket around herself in frustration and burrowed completely under the covers.
Under the covers, she curled into a ball, her fingertips still holding the jade pendant.
Warm and cool at once, it was hard to say how it felt.
She slowly closed her eyes, and Qing Linyun's punchable smiling face flashed before them again.
See you tomorrow, she said in her heart. Just you wait.
The night fell completely quiet, leaving only the sound of her muffled breathing in the dorm room.
After Gu Yue fell asleep, a short silver-haired girl suddenly appeared beside her, though the girl's body was semi-illusory.
She looked at the sleeping Gu Yue, then at the dormitory building in the distance, and murmured softly.
"Big brother..."