"Challenge me?"
Lin Yang rolled the words around in his mouth, then slowly shook his head.
"No need. Since you could beat Wang Sheng, it proves your strength's not bad. If you want to be Dorm Seven's boss that badly, then the position is yours."
The whole dorm fell silent at his words. Even Wang Sheng stared at him in disbelief.
"Boss, what… what nonsense are you saying?"
Lin Yang swept his gaze over everyone and explained,
"I've already applied to be a day-student. I won't be living in Dorm Seven anymore. But I'm not leaving the academy just yet. If you run into trouble you can't handle, you can still come find me."
"But… but even so, you're still our boss," Wang Sheng shouted, stubborn.
"I only acknowledge you."
"Yeah, Wang Sheng's right."
"Boss, you'll always be our boss."
"Boss is boss."
…
Faced with his dorm mates' emotional outcry, Lin Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"All right, all right, enough with the melodrama. Instead of being this sappy, you'd be better off cultivating properly and getting your first soul ring sooner."
At that moment, the largely forgotten Tang San stepped forward, his voice cold and firm.
"Lin Yang, I don't need you to yield. What I want, I'll take with my own strength."
Everyone fell silent, staring at Tang San with gloating looks.
Wang Sheng scoffed, "Tang San, right? Don't think that just because you beat me, you can compare yourself to the boss. He's a one-ring soul master."
Tang San frowned. That was something he hadn't known.
But if he used hidden weapons, the outcome was still uncertain.
"Lin Yang, I feel like you're hostile toward me. Why?" Lin Yang asked.
"Because you were rude to my teacher," Tang San answered without hesitation.
In his eyes, a teacher for a day was a father for life. Anyone his teacher disliked couldn't be a good person.
Lin Yang understood at once. This was definitely something Yu Xiaogang would do.
"The 'Master', huh? You'd better go ask around and see what people in the academy think of him first."
Before Tang San could answer, Wang Sheng gave him a strange look.
"No way. You actually took Grandmaster as your teacher?"
"His strength is nothing special, and all he does is freeload at the academy every day. If it weren't for his relationship with the principal, he would've been kicked out long ago."
Tang San's face went cold. "Shut up. My teacher has grand aspirations and deep insight. He's not someone you can judge."
Then he turned back to Lin Yang, his gaze frosty.
"Lin Yang, dare you fight me? If I win, you must apologize to my teacher face to face."
Lin Yang's lips quirked. "What if you lose?"
"Then I'll apologize to you."
"No need." Lin Yang shook his head.
"Just apologize to Wang Sheng."
Tang San clenched his teeth, then nodded heavily after a few seconds of silence.
"It's a deal. But you're not allowed to use your Spirit…"
Tang San was stubborn, not stupid. Without knowing his opponent's full capabilities, he'd weaken the other side as much as possible.
Without a Spirit, Lin Yang was only a child one year older than him.
Wang Sheng, though, couldn't take it and shouted,
"Are you kidding? A soul master who can't use his Spirit—what kind of soul master is that?"
He mocked Tang San loudly, but Lin Yang quietly raised a hand to stop him.
Tone it down. Don't you see you're acting more and more like a stereotypical villain's lackey?
Lin Yang spoke calmly. "All right."
The students of Dorm Seven quickly cleared a space, giving the two of them the largest open area available.
Lin Yang and Tang San stood opposite each other, the onlookers holding their breath.
Tang San stared at Lin Yang with a solemn face.
Though his Mysterious Heaven Skills hadn't broken through the first level yet, he still thought it more than enough to deal with a boy his age.
But once he actually stood facing Lin Yang, he realized he had underestimated the profession of soul master. Perhaps soul rings were far more important than he had imagined.
It looked like… he'd have to go all out.
From an angle no one else could see, Tang San tightened the sleeve arrow on his wrist.
Perhaps… hidden weapons would be the key to his victory.
Tang San moved first.
"So fast!"
Wang Sheng had just enough time to exclaim inwardly before Tang San's figure flickered like a Demon and appeared at Lin Yang's side.
His palm glowed with a warm jade-like luster, fingers shaped into a claw, aiming with ruthless precision for Lin Yang's shoulder blade.
He wanted to win with a surprise attack and take him down quickly.
But it was as if Lin Yang had expected it. Just as Tang San's hand was about to land,
Lin Yang's body tilted slightly, borrowing the motion, and his right elbow shot out like an iron rod, slamming toward Tang San's exposed ribs.
Tang San's heart jolted. Mysterious Heaven Skills spun wildly on instinct, gathering internal force in his arms as he crossed them in front of him.
Thud!
A dull impact sounded. At the moment of contact, a tremendous force surged along Tang San's arms, crashing into his body.
His expression turned to shock as his feet involuntarily staggered back three steps before he could finally dissipate the force.
Feeling the numbness in his arms, Tang San was secretly stunned.
Such powerful strength.
He'd been forging every day, his strength significantly increased, far surpassing other children.
With Mysterious Heaven Skills reinforcing him, he'd still lost in a direct clash of strength.
Was this guy born with divine strength?
"Want to continue?" Lin Yang didn't pursue. He simply stood in place, his tone flat.
Tang San took a deep breath, faint purple light rising in his eyes. "Of course."
He still had plenty of tricks.
The next second, the two clashed again.
This time, Tang San went all out, holding nothing back.
The Purple Demon Eye operated at full capacity, making Lin Yang's movements appear half a beat slower in his vision, every motion clearly traceable.
His footwork shifted, becoming eerie and strange—illusory and unpredictable, as if his figure were a drifting Demon.
Relying on Tang Sect's secret arts, Tang San no longer tried to overpower Lin Yang directly.
He used flexible steps and predictive sight to circle around him, probing for opportunity.
Lin Yang, by contrast, didn't use any fancy moves.
Each of his strikes carried a clean blend of power and speed, beautiful in its efficiency.
Amid Tang San's wave-like offensive, he remained at ease.
"So strong…"
Wang Sheng stared at the two blurred figures, eyes nearly glazed.
He had always known how powerful his own boss was, but he hadn't expected the skinny Tang San to be this formidable too.
His movement technique was so bizarre it made your eyes spin.
Were all work-study students this secretly terrifying nowadays?
But at the heart of the clash, Tang San's mood grew heavier.
Lin Yang's strength and speed both outstripped his.
The Purple Demon Eye let him see Lin Yang's moves clearly, but his body simply couldn't keep up in time.
Summed up, it looked like this:
Eyes: I see it, charge!
Body: Where? Where?
As for Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, while it was clever enough, under absolute speed and flawless anticipation, it seemed almost comical—
Making him look like a monkey that only knew how to dart about.
A deep sense of powerlessness and frustration crept into his heart.
Did all the Mysterious Heaven Skills and Tang Sect techniques he'd trained for years really crumble this easily before a soul master?
Was there even any point in continuing to pursue them?
Thanks to Lin Yang's existence, Tang San had actually begun to doubt the value of Tang Sect's inheritance.
Lin Yang, on the other hand, had the opposite reaction.
He realized he'd been too shallow before.
For a technique system to pass down through the Tang Sect for a thousand years, it had to have its unique strengths.
Take Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
Though not ideal for long-distance travel, it was insanely flexible in tight quarters. In some ways, it could even predict his movements—definitely a powerful art.
He'd been trading blows with Tang San for this long largely to observe and see if he could glean any inspiration.
After all, one shouldn't be ashamed to learn from others.
But as Tang San's emotions fluctuated more and more, his flaws multiplied.
Time to end this, Lin Yang decided.
Catching a slip in Tang San's stance, Lin Yang stepped in with a simple, straightforward punch, landing squarely on Tang San's chest.
Bang!
With a heavy crash, Tang San was sent flying, smashing onto the ground.
The winner was clear at a glance.