Chapter 133
Chapter 133
“Professor Xu, I’m here.”
Song Lingyan’s voice rang out as she approached from the other side of the spectator stands.
Xu Minghu never took his eyes from the arena. He said excitedly, “You’re here? Perfect timing!”
“You can’t miss a show this good!”
“Sit, sit. Come take a seat. This isn’t something you get to see every day…”
Song Lingyan sat beside Professor Xu and looked down at the surging army of shadows below, visibly surprised.
“Is that… Su Xiaoyue’s Talent?”
“She’s improved that much? She can already condense her shadows into beasts?”
Below, one vicious black beast after another emerged from the shadows on the ground.
Snarling and roaring, they engulfed Qin Lan.
Song Lingyan had fought Su Xiaoyue before.
Back then, Su Xiaoyue’s control of shadows had still been unrefined, and her combat methods were monotonous.
Relying on her tier-four Curse Core, Song Lingyan had merged with her beast spirit and easily exhausted all of Su Xiaoyue’s energy before winning without suspense.
A difference in realm was usually insurmountable.
But only usually.
“That man… He isn’t defending at all, is he?”
“He’s enduring it with nothing but his physical body?!”
Song Lingyan spotted the truth and cried out in disbelief.
At her level, her eye for combat had become far sharper. Unlike the young freshmen below, she could see the battle’s true details.
As far as Song Lingyan could sense, Qin Lan hadn’t consumed a trace of curse energy.
He simply stood there, calmly allowing the shadow beasts to bite at him.
There was no sign of any Talent intervening, only the purest physical strength.
Xu Minghu watched intently and nodded slightly.
“You noticed?”
“That’s why I stopped you back then… Even if you’d successfully merged with the Vermilion Bird phantom and unleashed a full-power strike, you might not have injured him much.”
“And then you would’ve had to endure his fury.”
“Against an opponent like that, what chance do you think you had?”
Xu Minghu glanced at her indifferently. “Use your brain before attacking next time. One careless kick and you’ll hit an iron wall.”
Watching Qin Lan stand as lofty and immovable as a mountain, Song Lingyan’s expression grew grave.
She couldn’t imagine what sort of Curse Codex someone would have to cultivate, or what Talent they would need to pair with it, to obtain such an astonishing body.
The battle was now approaching its end.
Su Xiaoyue’s progress truly was remarkable. Against another opponent, her army of shadows would surely have displayed tremendous power.
Unfortunately, her opponent was Qin Lan.
When the energy stored in her Curse Core was finally exhausted, the enormous beasts formed from shadow dispersed with it.
Sweat beaded on Su Xiaoyue’s forehead, and her face had turned slightly pale.
“Huh? It’s over?”
Qin Lan reacted a little slowly. Only after seeing Su Xiaoyue sway on her feet did he realize she was on the verge of exhaustion.
He decisively collapsed to the ground and released a heartrending wail.
“AAAAAH! She’s beating me! Domestic violence!”
“Such powerful shadow beasts! What kind of technique is this?!”
“Could it be the legendary, long-lost divine art of beast taming?”
“Who unleashed such a mighty attack?!”
Su Xiaoyue felt embarrassed by Qin Lan’s clumsy, exaggerated acting.
She turned her head away irritably and pretended she didn’t know him.
The few remaining students who could still stand tacitly chose to act as if they had seen nothing.
What a joke. They couldn’t afford to offend Qin Lan, but did that mean they could afford to offend Su Xiaoyue?
Did they think she was called the “Queen” for nothing?
Qin Lan wailed on the ground for a full two minutes. He carried on long enough that even Song Lingyan began wondering whether he was genuinely injured before he nimbly climbed back up.
“Professor Xu, Su Xiaoyue is far too strong. I truly couldn’t withstand her.”
Qin Lan’s expression was utterly sincere. “She also lasted more than thirty seconds. Look at all these bite marks covering me.”
“So, about that mysterious prize you mentioned…?”
Qin Lan rubbed his hands together and chuckled.
Even a pig could see what he was thinking.
He didn’t dare attack his girlfriend, but surrendering outright would look bad. Instead, he chose to stand there and absorb the damage, then scream a few times at the end to show his respect.
However…
Qin Lan was sly, but Xu Minghu was even slyer.
“Of course. This mysterious prize is…”
Xu Minghu wore a solemn expression, then suddenly pulled a photograph from his clothes and announced proudly, “A personally autographed photo of Professor Me in a bikini at the beach!”
Xu Minghu waved the photo, his eyes filled with anticipation.
“Well? Tempted?”
“I took this on my sixtieth birthday. It’s absolutely explosive!”
Qin Lan turned to stone.
He felt as if even his ears had been contaminated.
What the hell did “a bikini beach photo taken for my sixtieth birthday” mean?
Su Xiaoyue sighed, turned her head, and spat irritably. “I knew it…”
Of course she knew the so-called mysterious prize was one enormous trap.
Others might not understand Professor Xu, but as his final personal disciple, she knew her mentor’s character far too well.
Academically, Professor Xu was unquestionably an industry titan.
As a human being, Professor Xu was also a first-class moral exemplar.
As for shame…
The only person capable of competing with Xu Minghu in the field of finding new moral depths was currently trapped in some unknown unsolvable instance, their fate uncertain.
“Professor Xu… I don’t think this photo is really necessary, do you?”
Qin Lan wiped away his sweat, not even daring to look at Su Xiaoyue’s expression.
He spoke weakly. “If nothing else, we can just forget the prize… It was only a spar. Participation is what matters.”
Professor Xu looked profoundly disappointed.
No, what exactly are you disappointed about?
Did he honestly think anyone wanted to see an old man in a bikini???
Xu Minghu looked bitterly disappointed, while Song Lingyan stared down at Qin Lan, lost in thought.
After some internal struggle, she clenched her fist and stood.
“Qin!”
“Last time didn’t count. Fight me again!”
Song Lingyan took a deep breath, determination instantly filling her gaze. “A fight where we both go all out.”
Xu Minghu and Qin Lan both froze at her words.
Qin Lan looked up at her in confusion.
“You still want to fight?”
“You do know you can’t beat me, right?”
Song Lingyan snorted. “How would I know without trying?”
“What, are you too scared?”
Qin Lan scratched his head. “It’s not that I’m scared… I’m simply not interested.”
“You’re too weak. Fighting you isn’t any fun.”
Song Lingyan nearly choked on her own breath.
“Don’t look down on me!”
Her brows shot up as she snarled, “Don’t use that mental attack. Then it’s anyone’s guess who’ll win!”
She was so confident.
Qin Lan tilted his head and looked at Professor Xu in confusion. “Has she always been this brave?”
Professor Xu merely cradled his photograph sadly and muttered, “Young people these days are so impetuous. No one appreciates such an artistic masterpiece…”
Fine. Forget I asked.
Qin Lan rubbed his temples wearily and spoke in resignation.
“All right. We can fight again…”
“But I have one condition.”
Song Lingyan cracked her knuckles.
She had been about to attack when she heard the rest, and her brow furrowed. “What condition?”
Qin Lan’s lips curled into a wicked smile.
“If you lose again this time…”
“You have to put Professor Xu’s beach photo on your social media profile…”
“And caption it, ‘How much farther must I go to enter your heart?'”
“It has to be visible to everyone, too.”