Qi Ling felt not a shred of regret after turning down Spirit Hall.
He would have everything he ought to have sooner or later, but some things, once lost, could never be recovered.
Presumably, this was also something people had to think through when making a choice.
After leaving Yu Xiaogang's room, Qi Ling headed straight back to Dorm Seven. Before he even reached the door, he heard a commotion inside. It seemed quite lively.
Today was Nuoding Academy's official registration day. Presumably, some new work-study students had arrived, which explained all the excitement.
As Qi Ling walked in, he said, "Wang Sheng, are you bullying people again? Didn't I tell you... what's this?"
The scene inside Dorm Seven was quite different from what Qi Ling had imagined. Wang Sheng stood off to one side with a bruised face, looking as though he had suffered a terrible beating.
Meanwhile, a cute girl with a scorpion braid was bouncing up and down on the softest bed, while a delicate-featured boy beside her shook his head helplessly.
"Yay! This bed is so soft! From now on, this is Sister Xiao Wu's bed! Did you all hear me?"
The cute girl spoke as she bounced, her rosy little face filled with a sweet smile.
Qi Ling's arrival drew everyone's attention to him.
As though he had finally found someone to stand up for him, Wang Sheng lunged toward him, streaming tears and snot. "You're finally back! You have to stand up for me... oof!"
Qi Ling kicked Wang Sheng away to keep his snot from getting on him, then said slowly, "Take your time and explain. If you dare lunge at me again, I'll give you another kick."
Clutching his face, Wang Sheng said, "Yes... boss. Those two are newcomers. The moment they arrived, they tried to take over your bed. I swore I'd resist to the death! But they beat me up like this."
Qi Ling did not simply believe Wang Sheng's one-sided account. The brat's belly was full of dirty tricks. Who knew whether he was telling the truth?
"Hey! You fatty, don't go making things up!" Xiao Wu immediately protested when she heard Wang Sheng's words.
"You were the one who said we had to accept you as our leader if we wanted to move into this dorm! That's why we fought! You also said only the boss could sleep in this bed. Since I beat you, that naturally makes me the new boss!"
Qi Ling gave Wang Sheng a cold look. Wang Sheng shuddered, then immediately took to his heels without looking back. "I'll go buy you a soda! Wait for me!"
Then Qi Ling walked over to the rather delicate-featured child beside Xiao Wu.
Qi Ling had been paying attention to this boy from the start. He could sense a special quality about him.
"Hello, my name is Qi Ling." Qi Ling held out his hand. "What's your name?"
Seeing Qi Ling offer his hand, the boy hesitated for a moment before reaching out to shake it.
"Hello, my name is Tang San. I'm very sorry we hurt your subordinate, but we only fought back because we really couldn't avoid it."
"Hahaha, that guy isn't my subordinate. Besides, he was asking for a beating," Qi Ling said with a laugh.
"Tang San, I have a feeling we're going to become very good friends!"
Tang San studied the boy before him. Although he was not much older than Tang San, he had the bearing of someone who had weathered the vicissitudes of life.
More importantly, he gave Tang San a very special feeling that made him want to befriend him despite himself.
"It would be an honor. I have the same feeling." Tang San smiled as well. "I hope we'll get along well from now on."
And so, the two gifted boys who had each transmigrated from a different world met for the first time. As for what awaited them in the future, only heaven knew.
"Hey! You two, don't ignore me!" Left out by the pair, Xiao Wu immediately spoke up unhappily.
"I already beat Xiao San and that Wang Sheng. So now, as long as I beat you too, I'll be the boss here, right?"
Qi Ling smiled and said casually, "Oh? Really? Since you're so formidable, you're the boss here now. That bed is yours! As it happens, I'm not used to sleeping on such a soft bed."
"No! My mom taught me not to accept rewards without earning them. I have to beat you first!" Xiao Wu hopped off the bed, eager to have a go. "I'm really strong, you know!"
Seeing that Xiao Wu was not easy to fob off, Qi Ling could only say helplessly, "There's no helping it. Fine, I'll have a match with you!"
As he spoke, Qi Ling casually picked up a stone and drew a circle on the ground.
"See this circle under my feet?" Qi Ling pointed at the circle beneath him, which had a radius of about two meters. "If you can make me leave this circle, you win!"
"Okay, okay! You can't go back on your word!" Xiao Wu looked happily at the circle on the ground. "You'd better be careful, then. Take this!"
As she spoke, Xiao Wu bent her right knee and leaped up like a rabbit, kicking her right foot toward Qi Ling. Although the kick was not particularly powerful, it was extremely fast.
From the moment he had seen Xiao Wu's rabbitlike movements, Qi Ling had mentally prepared himself for her explosive bursts.
Now, facing Xiao Wu's kick, he calmly parried with his hand, blocking her dainty little foot with his arm.
He had thought Xiao Wu would retreat after that, but to his surprise, her flexibility was astonishing. Her body shifted to an unbelievable angle in midair, and her legs wrapped around Qi Ling's neck with the motion.
Watching from the side, Tang San could not help giving a wry smile at Xiao Wu's move. She had subdued him with that very move earlier. Now, she only needed to throw Qi Ling away, and the outcome would be settled.
Xiao Wu was clearly confident in her move as well. She tipped her body downward, intending to use the weight of her upper body to throw Qi Ling away with her legs!
But then, to her astonishment, she discovered that Qi Ling did not budge at all under her attack! The grappling technique she took such pride in had actually failed!
"A very good technique. You could say you've taken control over your body to its limits." Still locked in a stalemate with Xiao Wu, Qi Ling spoke with complete ease.
"But unfortunately, you're not strong enough!"
Qi Ling kept his center of gravity shifted backward while using a special method of borrowing force to anchor himself firmly to the ground.
No matter how hard Xiao Wu tried, she could not throw Qi Ling away.
Realizing that the move was useless, Xiao Wu immediately performed a backflip to put some distance between herself and Qi Ling, then unleashed a dazzling flurry of swift attacks!
The most distinctive feature of Xiao Wu's attacks was how she interspersed kicks from time to time, making them all but impossible to guard against.
But for Qi Ling, all he needed to do was meet ten thousand changes by remaining unchanged. The most important thing was to keep his composure. With Xiao Wu's stamina, it would not be long before she was too tired to keep fighting.
Sure enough, before long, Xiao Wu was panting with exhaustion!
All-out attacks like hers were certainly astonishingly powerful, but they also consumed a tremendous amount of stamina, making a prolonged battle impossible.
"Damn it! Sister Xiao Wu won't admit defeat!" Unwilling to give up, Xiao Wu launched another attack at Qi Ling from the air.
But seemingly because she had exhausted too much of her stamina, this time she failed to steady herself. Instead, her entire body tipped backward through the air.
Having lost her balance, Xiao Wu no longer had time to adjust her posture. Behind her was the hard leg of a bed. If she struck it, the consequences would be unthinkable.