Your Insults Sound Like You're Acting Cute!

Lin Ximeng's face flushed red, her eyes widened into circles, and veins bulged on her neck. She strained with all her strength to pull her wrist free, but Bai Yushan's fingers clamped down like iron pincers, not budging an inch.

"Let go! Bai Yushan, I'm angry!"

Her voice was sharp and piercing, echoing through the quiet classroom.

Bai Yushan scoffed, his lips curling into a somewhat mocking smile.

"Teacher, your insults sound like you're acting cute!"

Before his words had faded, two rings of yellow light abruptly burst from Lin Ximeng's body.

Two Hundred-Year Soul Rings.

Yellow light flowed around her body, illuminating half her face. Scale-like adornments suddenly appeared on her face, extending from the corners of her eyes to her ears and shimmering with a faint azure sheen. Her eyes became slit-pupiled, her pupils narrowing to fine lines and giving off the chill unique to cold-blooded creatures.

Martial Soul Possession.

Lin Ximeng's Martial Soul was the Azure Scaled Snake, a Beast Martial Soul that was neither particularly powerful nor weak. Bolstered by her Soul Rings, her body grew more supple and agile, muscle fibers writhing and contracting beneath her skin as strength surged endlessly from within.

A gleam of excitement flashed in Bai Yushan's eyes.

This transformation, this strength, this oppressive presence-what a rush!

Lin Ximeng abruptly jerked her wrist, and a tremendous force struck Bai Yushan's palm. That force was astonishingly powerful, so powerful that the fingers clamped around Lin Ximeng's wrist were forcibly shaken loose.

Bai Yushan's entire body was flung toward the doorway by that force.

His body flipped in midair like a cat that had been thrown. His limbs shifted through the air to adjust his center of gravity, and he engaged his waist and abdomen, sending his body tracing an arc through the air.

His toes tapped lightly against the doorframe, and he flipped once more before landing steadily in the doorway.

Dust shook loose from the floor and scattered around his feet.

Bai Yushan straightened, excitement gleaming in his eyes. He made no attempt to hide it; it was written nakedly across his face, like a wolf that had gone hungry for three days suddenly spotting prey.

"Now that's strength!"

His voice exploded through the classroom, filled with irrepressible exhilaration.

The instant his words fell, Bai Yushan kicked off.

He stamped hard against the floor, and the stone slabs gave a muffled bang, fine cracks spreading outward beneath his foot. His body shot forward like a cannonball leaving its barrel, rapidly closing the distance between them.

Tiny glimmers of electric current flickered over his body.

Those currents were faint, dancing over the surface of his body like fireflies and giving off soft crackles. But under their stimulation, Bai Yushan's muscles tightened and contracted, strength surging through his body.

"Take my punch!"

Bai Yushan's voice carried an almost crazed delight.

His right hand clenched into a fist, the muscles of his arm tensing as hard as iron. Wreathed in the glow of electric current, his fist blasted toward Lin Ximeng's abdomen.

Bai Yushan's fist was already right in front of her.

Lin Ximeng had no time to think, her body reacting instinctively. Her right leg rose, her lower leg tracing an arc through the air, the top of her foot held perfectly straight.

A whip kick.

Soul Power surged from within her, enveloping her right leg in azure light. That light left an afterimage in the air, hissing like a giant snake whipping its tail.

Lin Ximeng's expression changed.

The instant she unleashed her Soul Skill, she regretted it, regretted using a Soul Skill against a six-year-old child. After all, she was a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster, while Bai Yushan was merely a child with rank-three Innate Soul Power. No matter how extraordinary his natural strength was, he might not be able to withstand her first Soul Skill.

But an arrow loosed from the bow could not turn back, and the azure light collided with the electric glow in the air.

The two lights dazzled all the children so badly they could not keep their eyes open. A few timid children covered their eyes outright and huddled beneath their desks, trembling.

Lin Ximeng's whip kick lashed toward Bai Yushan's head.

The kick carried tremendous force, so much that it tore through the air with a shrill whistle. Azure light flowed across her leg, scale-like patterns flickering in and out of sight.

Bai Yushan's eyes lit up.

That brightness was no figure of speech; his eyes were truly glowing. His pale pupils reflected Lin Ximeng's whip kick like two miniature mirrors, showing every detail of that leg with perfect clarity.

Thus, without haste, Bai Yushan opened his fist into a palm in midair.

His five fingers spread, his palm held rigid like an open fan. The electric glow around his palm grew denser, its crackling louder.

His palm slapped toward Lin Ximeng's long thigh.

Bang!

A muffled impact.

The sound was not loud, but it was dull and heavy, like someone punching a thick quilt. It echoed through the classroom, making the windowpanes buzz.

Bai Yushan's palm collided with Lin Ximeng's thigh.

Azure light and electric light clashed wildly at the point of contact, producing a series of faint explosions.

Bai Yushan's body stopped in midair.

He hung there, his palm pressed against her thigh, his entire body seeming nailed to the air. The opposing force traveled through his palm, holding his body firmly aloft.

Lin Ximeng's leg stopped there as well.

Her whip kick was blocked by Bai Yushan's palm, unable to advance another inch. Azure light surged wildly over her leg, trying to break through that palm's obstruction, but every surge was suppressed by the electric current.

The two remained deadlocked.

Bai Yushan's palm held firm against Lin Ximeng's long leg, azure light and electric current grinding wildly against each other at the point of contact with a sizzling hiss.

Lin Ximeng's face was filled with shock.

Her first Soul Skill, Azure Snake Tail Whip, had actually been blocked by the palm of a six-year-old child.

This Soul Skill was her signature move. Though it was not particularly powerful, it was still not something a child with rank-three Innate Soul Power could contend with. The gap in their Soul Power cultivation was right there; no matter how gifted a child was, they could not possibly cross an entire major realm to fight a Soul Grandmaster.

But Bai Yushan had done it.

And he even looked relaxed.

"Hahaha! What a rush! This is what I was waiting for!"

Bai Yushan's voice squeezed out from deep in his throat, filled with irrepressible ecstasy. His eyes shone like two lamps, his expression twisting out of shape, the corners of his mouth stretching to his ears to reveal a mouthful of white teeth.

His spirits soared.

On the surface of his body, the electric glow abruptly intensified. The currents that had resembled fireflies now became finger-thick bolts of lightning, dancing wildly over his body.

His strength rose another level.

Lin Ximeng felt an irresistible force pushing her leg, a force so astonishingly powerful that her body tilted backward beyond her control.

Bai Yushan's palm jolted sharply.

A tremendous force surged from his palm, unstoppable as floodwaters bursting through a dam. It spread upward along Lin Ximeng's thigh, throwing her entire center of gravity into disarray.