Working Students Shouldn't Have to Keep Their Heads Down Forever

On the third day after the two-person assessment ended.

Wang Sheng returned to Dorm Seven injured.

A gash split his forehead.

His left arm hung limply at his side.

Dirt from the training grounds still clung to his clothes.

Xiao Wu was the first to jump out of bed.

"Who did it?"

Wang Sheng didn't answer immediately.

He glanced at Tang San, then looked at Dong Jian and Li Man.

"Xiao Chenyu."

Dorm Seven fell silent at once.

Xiao Chenyu was the strongest among Nuoding Academy's lower-grade noble students.

A level-eleven Battle Soul Master.

His Martial Soul was the Green Wolf.

He possessed a Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

Conflict had always existed between the working students and the noble students.

But recently, Tang San and Xiao Wu had both become Soul Masters, and Dong Jian and Li Man had taken first place in the two-person assessment. Only then had the noble students quieted down for a while.

"Why did they attack you?"

Li Man had already taken out medicine to treat Wang Sheng's arm.

"They told us to clean the training grounds for them."

Wang Sheng gritted his teeth.

"I refused."

"Then Xiao Chenyu said Dorm Seven had forgotten the rules lately."

"He told me to let you know to go to the academy's back mountain tonight."

"If we don't go, they'll come looking for trouble every time a Dorm Seven student goes out alone from now on."

Xiao Wu had already clenched her fists.

"Let's go now."

Tang San stood up too.

"Since they've issued a clear challenge, we should first find out how many people they have."

"What else is there to find out?"

Xiao Wu glared at him.

"They beat up Wang Sheng."

"We just need to beat them back."

Li Man finished splinting Wang Sheng's arm.

"Xiao Chenyu won't bring just one person."

"The terrain on the back mountain is narrow."

"If they have ranged Martial Souls, we'll be surrounded if we charge in."

Xiao Wu grew impatient.

"You want to record things first again?"

"Not record them."

Li Man looked at Dong Jian.

"Decide how to win."

Dong Jian stood up.

"Wang Sheng stays here to recover."

"Li Man, Tang San, Xiao Wu and I will go."

"No one else follows."

When the four reached the academy's back mountain, Xiao Chenyu was already waiting there with six noble students.

Lin Hao was among them.

His face visibly darkened when he saw Li Man.

Xiao Chenyu stepped forward.

The phantom of a Green Wolf appeared behind him.

A Yellow Soul Ring slowly rose.

"Quite a turnout from Dorm Seven."

"Two with Innate Full Soul Power."

"And the winners of the two-person assessment."

"How do you want to fight?"

Tang San asked.

"Simple."

Xiao Chenyu pointed at the noble students behind him.

"If you lose, Dorm Seven keeps doing our cleaning duty for us."

"If we lose, we'll stop bothering the working students."

"What gives you the right to set the terms?"

Li Man said.

Xiao Chenyu narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want to add?"

"If you lose."

"Besides stopping your bullying of the working students, you must apologize to Wang Sheng and pay for his treatment."

"Fine."

Xiao Chenyu smiled.

"Provided you can win."

The first match.

Lin Hao stepped forward of his own accord.

"I'll fight Li Man."

He had never accepted his previous defeat.

During this time, he had trained specifically to counter Green Jade Bamboo.

Crimson Fire Dog Martial Soul Possession.

The flames were no longer concentrated on his hands, but covered the entire surface of his body.

As soon as Li Man stepped out, Dong Jian asked:

"Do you need a reminder?"

"No."

Li Man gripped her Green Jade Bamboo.

"I won't fight the same person the same way twice."

The fight began.

Lin Hao didn't grab the bamboo stalk again.

He kept releasing flames, cutting off Li Man's room to move.

Whenever the Green Jade Bamboo approached, it was scorched by the intense heat.

Li Man retreated again and again.

A smug look gradually appeared in Lin Hao's eyes.

"Without Dong Jian to help you, your bamboo is nothing!"

A flaming fist smashed straight at her.

Li Man suddenly thrust the Green Jade Bamboo into the ground.

Thinking she was about to use it to vault into the air again, Lin Hao looked up in advance to guard against it.

But the stalk didn't spring upward.

Li Man planted her foot on the bamboo's base.

Its tip snapped sideways along the ground.

Smack!

It struck Lin Hao squarely on the ankle.

Lin Hao lost his balance.

Li Man didn't retreat.

Instead, she moved closer to the flames.

The Green Jade Bamboo curled around his arm, a bamboo joint catching his elbow.

She used the stalk's springiness to press down.

Lin Hao's entire arm was pinned.

The flames were less than half a foot from Li Man's shoulder.

But they couldn't advance any farther.

The base of the bamboo rose again.

Bang!

It struck the side of his knee.

Lin Hao dropped to one knee.

The tip of the bamboo had already stopped in front of his throat.

"First match, Li Man wins."

Some of the smile vanished from Xiao Chenyu's face.

In the second match, Xiao Wu easily defeated a level-nine Soul Scholar with a Beast Martial Soul.

In the third match, Tang San used Blue Silver Entanglement to restrain his opponent.

Three victories in a row.

The noble students' morale visibly sank.

At last, Xiao Chenyu stepped out himself.

"All of you coming at me together?"

Xiao Wu was about to speak.

Dong Jian stepped into the arena first.

"I'll do it."

Xiao Chenyu looked at his Panda Martial Soul, with no Soul Ring at his feet.

"A level-nine Soul Scholar challenging a level-eleven Soul Master?"

"You'll soon understand the difference."

His First Soul Ring lit up.

"First Soul Skill, Wolf Claw Enhancement!"

Cyan claws extended from Xiao Chenyu's hands.

His speed and strength increased at the same time.

He pushed off and reached Dong Jian almost instantly.

His first claw slashed at Dong Jian's chest.

Dong Jian made his left arm heavier and held it across his body.

Riiip!

His sleeve tore open.

Three bloody scratches appeared on his arm.

Even though shifting his weight had improved his defense, it still couldn't truly withstand a Soul Skill.

Xiao Chenyu attacked again and again.

Dong Jian could only use Center of Gravity Perception to keep dodging.

Wounds appeared one after another on his shoulder, side, and back.

"No Soul Ring is still no Soul Ring."

Xiao Chenyu sneered.

"Technique can't make up for the difference in level."

Dong Jian didn't argue.

He was watching.

Wolf Claw Enhancement increased Xiao Chenyu's attack speed.

But with every swift lunge, his body was briefly airborne.

No point of support.

That was his chance.

Xiao Chenyu charged again.

His right claw aimed for Dong Jian's face.

His left claw cut off his escape.

Dong Jian did not dodge backward.

His legs suddenly grew lighter.

He moved forward instead.

The claws grazed his shoulder.

Blood sprayed.

But Dong Jian succeeded in getting inside Xiao Chenyu's reach.

Black Soul Power concentrated in his shoulder.

Mountain-Leaning Collision!

Bang!

Xiao Chenyu's feet left the ground.

The blow struck him squarely in the chest.

He flew back three meters, but forced himself to twist in midair and remained standing when he landed.

A Soul Master's physique and the enhancement from his Soul Skill allowed him to withstand the blow.

"You've got some skill."

Xiao Chenyu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

The Yellow Soul Ring lit up again.

"But how many more times can you ram into me?"

A sharp pain shot through Dong Jian's shoulder as well.

Without a First Soul Ring, his body could not repeatedly withstand collisions of that magnitude.

"He can't win,"

Tang San said.

Xiao Wu turned her head.

"How do you know?"

"There's a gap in their levels, Soul Rings, and physical enhancement."

"If they keep fighting, Dong Jian will be the first to give out."

Li Man said nothing.

She watched Dong Jian's stance.

His right leg was already trembling slightly from repeatedly growing lighter.

His shoulder was also close to its limit.

The next Mountain-Leaning Collision would very likely injure him.

Xiao Chenyu charged for the third time.

Dong Jian did not continue meeting him head-on.

He dodged to the side.

Xiao Chenyu immediately changed direction and pursued him.

Dong Jian deliberately retreated toward a patch of soft mud.

The wolf claws came down again.

He suddenly crouched.

Both hands grabbed Xiao Chenyu's wrist.

Circular Force Redirection!

The force of Xiao Chenyu's charge was redirected to the side.

His foot sank into the mud.

His center of gravity shifted.

Dong Jian's right leg returned to its normal weight, while the weight of his left shoulder increased in an instant.

It was not a head-on Mountain-Leaning Collision.

Instead, he drove his shoulder into Xiao Chenyu's waist from the side.

Bang!

Xiao Chenyu lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Dong Jian pinned his wrist beneath a knee.

His other hand stopped in front of Xiao Chenyu's throat.

Silence fell outside the fight.

"I lost?"

Even Xiao Chenyu himself could not believe it.

His strength and speed had held the advantage all along.

Yet in the end, Dong Jian had used his footing to bring him down.

"You can still keep going,"

Dong Jian said, panting.

"But next time, I won't stop."

Xiao Chenyu looked at the fist right in front of him.

At last, he retracted his wolf claws.

"I admit defeat."

The noble students fell silent.

Xiao Chenyu got to his feet.

He did not go back on his word.

He led everyone to Dorm Seven, apologized to Wang Sheng in person, and paid for his medicine.

From that day on,

the working students still had no backing.

But they were no longer a group anyone could trample on as they pleased.

And Dong Jian became even more certain.

A level-nine Soul Scholar could defeat a level-eleven Soul Master through skill.

But the process had already been this difficult.

If he wanted to truly stand on the same level as Tang San and Xiao Wu-

he had to reach level ten as soon as possible and obtain a First Soul Ring of his own.