Yu Xiaogang: Could it be...
As they spoke, Lei Nuo appeared at Lin Qingchen's side and patted him on the shoulder.
Lin Qingchen sighed inwardly. "Dean, I'm afraid you got here a while ago, didn't you? Were you just going to watch the students fight among themselves?"
His words could be understood in several ways. He could have been asking why Lei Nuo had stood by and watched the regular students beat up the work-study students, or why he had sat back and let Lin Qingchen deal with Xiao Chenyu.
"Don't you go slandering me, brat. Didn't I just get back to the academy?"
"Hm? Dean, where did you go? You were gone for a whole day." Lin Qingchen took a closer look at Lei Nuo and saw that he did indeed look travel-worn.
"Do I have to report my whereabouts to you now?" Lei Nuo rolled his eyes, then added, "By the way, that Xiao Chenyu's father is the lord of Nuoding City. You beat him up so badly. Aren't you afraid his father will come after you for revenge?"
"The city lord, huh... Dean, do you think Xiao Chenyu's father is stronger than you?" Lin Qingchen asked in return.
"What a joke. Xiao Shan is an old man who only just broke through to the Soul Elder rank. How could he possibly be a match for me?" Lei Nuo folded his arms and spoke without a care.
"Then there you have it. Surely you wouldn't hand me over to the city lord's manor, would you, Dean?" Lin Qingchen spread his hands.
"Hmph, dream on! I haven't even settled accounts with that brat Xiao Chenyu for corrupting the academy's atmosphere, and his father dares demand I hand you over?"
Lei Nuo snorted, then continued.
"All right, you don't need to say all that to goad me. Anyway, as long as I'm here, nobody in Nuoding City can touch you. Just focus on your cultivation." With those final words, Lei Nuo turned and left.
After Lei Nuo left, Lin Qingchen naturally had no reason to linger either, so he left as well.
[Detected a slight deviation from the original plot. Power of Fortune +1]
Lin Qingchen glanced at it, and his irritation nearly made him laugh.
Just +1? You might as well not have given me any!
Looking at the conspicuous 1 at the end of the Power of Fortune field, he felt as though ants were crawling all over him. His obsessive-compulsive disorder flared up on the spot.
Forcing himself not to look at that thing, Lin Qingchen ate, then returned to Dorm Seven. Tang San was already awake and was making his bed.
"Brother Chen, where did you go? I just woke up and found you were all gone."
"I don't know how, but Wang Sheng and the others got into a conflict with the regular students and arranged a fight behind the mountain. I went over to have a look."
Tang San was taken aback. "A fight? They weren't hurt, were they?"
"They suffered a few minor injuries. Nothing serious. I reckon they'll be fine after resting for a while. It'll teach them a lesson, too: they shouldn't act on impulse."
Tang San nodded and asked no more. After all, he had seen Lin Qingchen's strength for himself. With him there, he really couldn't imagine any student at Nuoding Academy being his match.
"Oh, right, Brother Chen, did you see where Xiao Wu went? Or was she hurt too?"
Lin Qingchen glanced at Tang San, whose eyes were beginning to redden, and suddenly thought that if he told him Xiao Wu had also been injured by Xiao Chenyu, Tang San might just declare on the spot that Xiao Chenyu already had a way to die.
(Xiao Chenyu: "Why are you so selfish?")
In the end, though, Lin Qingchen shook his head and put that wicked thought aside.
"I don't know where she went either. She was already gone when I woke up, and I didn't see her behind the mountain. Why, didn't she come back last night?"
"Uh... I don't know either..."
Tang San struggled to remember, but in the end, he shook his head.
He had been dead tired when he returned and had barely noticed what was going on in Dorm Seven.
But through the little consciousness he had left at the time, he seemed to remember seeing Xiao Wu.
Just as Tang San was racking his brains, the door to Dorm Seven was suddenly kicked open.
A voice that was practically begging for a beating rang out.
"Hahaha! I finally broke through to level ten! Dorm Seven, your Sister Xiao Wu is back!"
With her hands on her hips, Xiao Wu threw back her head and laughed wildly.
But halfway through her laughter, she suddenly felt sweat on her back, so she discreetly glanced into Dorm Seven out of the corner of her eye.
Lin Qingchen and Tang San were standing together. Lin Qingchen was looking at her as though she were an idiot, and even Tang San had a somewhat strange expression.
"Xiao Wu, what are you..." Tang San opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Ahaha, well, this..."
Xiao Wu wanted to die right then. She had been a little excited after breaking through and had actually forgotten that the bane of her existence, Lin Qingchen, was still in Dorm Seven.
No, wait...
Before level ten, I wasn't a match for him, but now I've broken through and have a Soul Ring. What if I can win?
The thought suddenly occurred to Xiao Wu.
Then.
Xiao Wu: Stare-
Lin Qingchen: "Why are you looking at me?"
Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips again. "Hmph, let me tell you, Sister Xiao Wu has broken through! I have a Soul Ring, and now I'm a Soul Master!"
Tang San: "Xiao Wu, you broke through too?"
Lin Qingchen: Stare-
Xiao Wu suddenly sprang forward, charging at Lin Qingchen as she used Martial Soul Possession. A pair of rabbit ears and a short little rabbit tail appeared.
Then her First Soul Ring lit up as well, and she unleashed her First Soul Skill, Waist Bow.
Xiao Wu: Lin Qingchen, behold the power of my First Soul Skill!
Lin Qingchen pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Bang-"
"Thud-"
"Clang-"
"Smack-"
"Gah-"
Having once again received the Supreme Nine Consecutive Throws package, Xiao Wu was helped by Tang San to lie face down on her bed.
"You didn't really think you could beat me just because you broke through to level ten, did you? Didn't you know Tang San and I went out this time to hunt for Soul Rings?"
"I knew, but wasn't this..."
Tsk...
Sure enough, I never should have expected anything of this girl's intelligence.
"If you dare provoke me again, I'll send you to the school infirmary to keep Wang Sheng and the others company."
For the sake of peace and quiet in the days ahead, Lin Qingchen gave her this warning.
"Aw, aw..." Xiao Wu buried her head in her pillow dejectedly, indicating that she understood.
Although she liked stirring up trouble, she wasn't an idiot. After all, she had no obligation to challenge an enemy she could never defeat, did she?
But hearing that, she suddenly noticed the important point. "Huh? What happened to Wang Sheng and the others? How did they end up in the school infirmary?"
As she spoke, she stared fixedly at Lin Qingchen, as though wondering whether he had beaten them up, just as he had beaten her.
Tang San hurriedly covered her mouth and whispered, "Xiao Wu, stop talking. Wang Sheng and the others were injured by those regular students."
"Regular students? Well, well, they actually dared bully us! Just watch how I teach them a lesson!"
At that moment, Xiao Wu's demon-pill nature erupted once again, and she completely forgot that she was still recuperating in bed.
Tang San could only keep talking to her patiently.
Lin Qingchen, meanwhile, immersed himself in his own world and began cultivating.
Meanwhile, in Yu Xiaogang's dormitory.
Yu Xiaogang lay on his bed, his face pale as he stared blankly at the ceiling.
Just then, the door suddenly opened.
Lei Nuo walked in.
"Xiaogang, why do you still look so listless?"
Yu Xiaogang glanced expressionlessly at Lei Nuo, then closed his eyes. "You're done with your work..."
Seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Lei Nuo didn't press him. He merely said with feeling, "Yes. I also came back from this trip with two geniuses. One has Innate Full Soul Power. Though his Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, he should still be able to accomplish something. As for the other, I'm certain he'll become a Titled Douluo in the future!"
Blue Silver Grass? Innate Full Soul Power?
Yu Xiaogang's eyes flew wide open.
Could it be...