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An hour later, in the small forest behind the academy, two groups stood facing each other.
One group was led by Xiao Wu and Chu Chengzhou, consisting of work-study students. The other was led by Xiao Chenyu, made up of the second-generation elites of Nuoding City.
"Xiao Chenyu, martial soul: Wolf, level 11 Attack Soul Master. Who's stepping up?"
Seeing that all the work-study students had arrived—and Chu Chengzhou too—Xiao Chenyu's body began to glow with a green light. His muscles swelled, his eyes turned pale green, his arms transformed into sharp claws, and a white soul ring emerged.
"Pfft~, a white soul ring? Xiao Chenyu, are you sure you're your city lord father's biological son?"
Upon seeing Xiao Chenyu's confident display of his first white soul ring, Chu Chengzhou nearly spat out the lunch he had just eaten.
In the original storyline, this kid indeed had a white first soul ring. Originally, Chu Chengzhou thought that with his own "little butterfly effect," Xiao Chenyu might have been able to change his fate. But to his surprise, Xiao Chenyu still ended up following the same old path.
A white first soul ring was standard for soul masters born as commoners.
If one had decent talent, they could reach level 10 before graduating from a beginner soul master academy and participate in the academy-organized "Soul Hunting" event, allowing them to obtain a hundred-year soul ring.
Although the academy didn't provide special favors for any student—so they might not find a spirit beast suited to their martial soul, and the age of the hundred-year soul ring they obtained might not be optimal—overall, students who reached level 10 before graduation usually managed to secure a hundred-year soul ring.
The reason many soul masters on the continent only had white ten-year first soul rings was mostly due to insufficient talent. They couldn't become one-ring soul masters before graduating from a beginner academy and didn't qualify for intermediate academies, where teachers would lead students to hunt spirit beasts in the Soul Beast Forest.
Nuoding City might be a remote small town, but Xiao Chenyu was at least a privileged second-generation child, and his father was a city lord. Chu Chengzhou couldn't understand why his first soul ring was only a white ten-year one.
Could it be that even the power of Nuoding City's city lord residence wasn't enough to hunt a hundred-year spirit beast?
That was clearly impossible!
Even Yu Xiaogang, with only 29 levels of soul power and the ability to fart explosively, dared to take Tang San to the Spirit Beast Forest to hunt a hundred-year spirit beast. There was no way Xiao Chenyu's father—a three-ring Soul Elder—didn't have the strength to help him acquire a hundred-year soul ring!
Chu Chengzhou couldn't help but suspect that Xiao Chenyu was either picked up from the roadside by his city lord father or that his mother died early and his father remarried a stepmother.
"Nonsense! My father's martial soul is also a wolf!"
Xiao Chenyu immediately retorted.
"So did your city lord father remarry a stepmother for you? Otherwise, how do you explain your white soul ring?"
"Damn it~!"
Struck by a sore point, Xiao Chenyu ground his teeth in anger.
Though the truth wasn't exactly what Chu Chengzhou said, it was close enough.
It wasn't that his city lord father remarried a stepmother—it was that his mother was a concubine, and his cultivation talent was mediocre. He wasn't highly regarded within the Xiao family.
Coupled with the suppression from the legitimate sons, this led to no one in the city lord residence helping him acquire a hundred-year soul ring. In fact, they even forbade him from obtaining one, fearing that if he grew too strong, it might affect the interests of the legitimate heirs.
"Hmph~, stop wasting words. Who's coming?!"
Snorting coldly, Xiao Chenyu changed the subject. The more he talked, the more awkward he felt—it was better to just start the fight.
"Go, Xiao Wu-chan, you're the chosen one!"
Pointing at Xiao Chenyu, who was already prepared, Chu Chengzhou patted Xiao Wu on the shoulder.
Xiao Wu: "..."
I feel like you're implying something!
The saying "eating someone's food makes your mouth soft; taking someone's favor makes your hands weak" perfectly applied to Xiao Wu at this moment.
(T/N: The saying means that when you owe someone a favor, it's hard to go against them.)
Having eaten the lunch Chu Chengzhou treated her to, and planning to sleep under the bedding she borrowed from him tonight—not to mention her lingering irritation over Xiao Chenyu wanting to make her a pet rabbit—Xiao Wu naturally didn't refuse.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Seeing that the opponent sent out the new bunny-eared loli from the work-study students, Xiao Chenyu frowned in confusion.
Shouldn't the strongest among the work-study students be Chu Chengzhou?
Last semester, he fought Chu Chengzhou. Though he didn't know Chu Chengzhou's exact soul power level, he was aware that in terms of physical strength, despite being several years younger, Chu Chengzhou wasn't much weaker than him.
Of course, that was then. Now, as a one-ring soul master—even with only a white ten-year soul ring—his physical strength had improved significantly.
Moreover, the most important aspect for soul masters was their soul skills. Someone like Chu Chengzhou, who wasn't even a formal soul master, should be easily defeated in one move, right?
"What's going on? Hmph~, you don't know, do you? Sister Xiao Wu here is the strongest in the academy!"
Tilting her head proudly, Xiao Wu declared with a smug expression.
As she spoke, Xiao Wu's soul power glowed, her Supple Bone Rabbit martial soul activated, and a bright yellow soul ring emerged.
She had heard from Wang Sheng and others that Xiao Chenyu was the new leader of the academy.
But this new leader was only an 11-level soul master with a white soul ring. With her hundred-year soul ring, Xiao Wu was naturally the strongest student across all six grades of the academy.
"Whoa~, a hundred-year soul ring?!"
Xiao Chenyu sucked in a breath of cold air.
This bunny-eared loli was a one-ring soul master? And she even had a hundred-year soul ring—an achievement that even he, the son of a city lord (albeit born to a concubine), hadn't managed to attain?
And that wasn't even the main point. First-year students were only six or seven years old. To become a formal soul master at such a young age, how high must her innate soul power be?
Goodness gracious~ Could she be the young miss of some prestigious soul master family, here in Nuoding City to experience life?
"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding~ Little girl—no, Sister Xiao Wu, it's all a misunderstanding!"
After recovering from his shock, seeing Xiao Wu preparing to attack, Xiao Chenyu quickly backtracked and shouted apologies, chickening out.
He might be arrogant, but that didn't mean he lacked brains.
He knew exactly who he could provoke and who he couldn't.
The waters of the continent ran deep. Some people might know how to navigate them, but he, the son of a concubine in a city lord's household, certainly did not.
"Misunderstanding my ass! Take this!"
Even though Xiao Chenyu backed down, Xiao Wu wasn't about to let him off the hook with just an apology. How could she forgive him after he earlier suggested making her a pet rabbit?
Before her words had even faded, Xiao Wu shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, closing the distance to Xiao Chenyu in the blink of an eye.
Before Xiao Chenyu could react, her right leg bent at the knee, and her foot shot out like a whip, aiming straight for his chin.
"Bang—!"
Xiao Chenyu saw stars as a sharp pain exploded in his jaw. His head snapped back, and his entire body was lifted into the air.
Not letting up after landing the first kick, Xiao Wu leapt into the air, hooking her right leg around Xiao Chenyu's neck and slamming him down with tremendous force.
"Boom—!"
The ground trembled slightly as Xiao Chenyu crashed heavily onto the grass, seeing stars.
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