Inside the sparring room of the southern base of East City, the sound of bodies colliding was endless, accompanied by a few muffled cries of pain.
Inside the seventh-floor advanced sparring room, two figures were rapidly fighting together, their attack speed so fast that the naked eye could hardly see clearly. One person pulled back his fist and punched toward the other’s abdomen. That person raised his knee to block, then clenched his fist and hooked it downward, charging straight at the other’s face. He turned his head to dodge, but the fist wind was so fierce that his jaw was still grazed, and he collided against the wall.
He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, licked his lips, and said expressionlessly: “Again.”
Zuo Ye stood in front of him, his brows slightly furrowed. He was wearing black training clothes, and even though he was only seven years old, it made his posture appear very straight and agile, like a snow pine growing on a cliff. He looked at the person half-kneeling on the ground: “Stop fighting.”
“Are you scared?” Ren Suixing stood up. Compared to Zuo Ye, who was wearing a full set of training clothes, he was only wearing a black tank top on his upper body. His muscles already had a very obvious outline, and the knuckles of his clenched fists were distinct. He wasn’t even wearing hand wraps.
“Your condition is off.” Zuo Ye began to untie the boxing wraps on his hands. Ren Suixing stopped him: “What are you doing?”
“We’re not finished. Have another round with me.”
Zuo Ye stared at Ren Suixing’s crimson eyes, the depths of his pupils also tinged with blood. He shook his head and turned to leave.
Ren Suixing immediately grabbed his arm: “Don’t you dare leave!”
His hair was completely soaked with sweat. Beads of sweat kept dripping onto his face. His breathing was very heavy, and the veins on his forehead were bulging one by one. Bai Yanxuan came over and pulled him back: “Alright, Xiao Xing, you’ve been fighting all afternoon, it’s already dark. Xiao Yeye is tired too. Rest a while and go home.”
Only then did Ren Suixing let go. His chest kept heaving. After a long time, he took off his clothes and went to the washing room. Zuo Ye and Bai Yanxuan exchanged a glance.
Bai Yanxuan was somewhat worried. Ren Suixing had inherited his father’s irritable and hot-tempered nature, tolerating no disobedience and no provocation. But in reality, for the past seven years, he had always been a grinning, mischievous troublemaker. Although they called him the Little Demon King, he knew the clear boundaries in his heart. He would frolic at the edges of the headquarters’ tolerance without leaping into the real minefields. And contrary to his father, Ren Suixing was actually very easygoing. No matter how angry he got, it was just a lot of thunder and never any real fire. This was the first time he had displayed such strong aggression.
After his shower, Ren Suixing came out. He had changed his clothes, his hair still half-damp. Rinsed by the water, he had probably calmed down a bit. That violent aura had dissipated somewhat, but his brows and eyes were still cold and gloomy.
“Xiao Xing.” Bai Yanxuan threw something toward him.
Ren Suixing caught it with one hand. It was a cup of milk tea.
The tea base was oolong tea and milk, with a layer of sweet, fragrant cheese cap in the middle, and sprinkled all over with soybean powder. It was his favorite: Soy Milk Jade Unicorn.
Bai Yanxuan, drinking his Yang Zhi Gan Lu (a pomelo and mango drink), raised his chin: “Xiao Yeye bought it.”
Ren Suixing looked over. Zuo Ye was packing his schoolbag. Sensing Ren Suixing’s gaze, he still did not look up. Ren Suixing walked over.
“Thanks.”
Zuo Ye said: “Next time, don’t fight without wrapping your hands in bandages. It’s not good for your hands.”
Ren Suixing looked down at his right hand, which was red, swollen, and skinned. The wound was actually visibly healing already. He pressed his lips together and furrowed his little brow: “Got it.”
Having drunk the milk tea improved the mood of the sweet-toothed Little Demon King a bit. He put one hand in his pocket, held the straw in his mouth and slurped the milk tea. He was just planning to go back with Bai Yanxuan and Zuo Ye when, before he could even leave the door of the sparring room, he was blocked.
More than ten children were standing at the door. The leader was a sixth-rank, and the rest were fourth- and fifth-ranks. They were older and taller than Ren Suixing and the others, and their aggressive demeanor made it look like they had been waiting for them for a while.
Ren Suixing recognized those few fourth- and fifth-ranks as the ones he had beaten down in last week’s closed assessment. Unlike tests in ordinary schools, the regular assessments arranged by military schools were quite special. Bloodlines could allow awakened ones to cross the power gap caused by age and time, and might even surpass it. Therefore, students from different grades would be made to fight each other to determine the students’ potential and level. However, it was already rare for lower-rank students to defeat higher-rank students across two grade levels. Someone like Ren Suixing, who could hang people up and thrash them, had never even been seen before.
“Brother Zhu, it’s him.” A child gestured with his face toward Ren Suixing. The bruise on his cheek had not yet faded, and his two eyes were adorned with two big dark circles, like a panda. He looked like he had been beaten quite badly.
“Oh?” That Brother Zhu thoughtfully let his gaze fall on Ren Suixing.
To be fair, this Brother Zhu was not bad-looking. His features were proper, and at this age, his height was already very impressive. He was a little handsome guy. But his eyes and expression were very frivolous, and he was holding a folding fan in his hand pretentiously, like a playboy.
Ren Suixing didn’t know him. Apart from the people ranked above him on the scoreboard, he didn’t pay any attention to the other children at all. Sixth-ranks had a qualitative leap in physique and intelligence. To protect him, the academic office had not yet let him fight against sixth-ranks. And he usually only stayed with Zuo Ye and the others, so this person had never appeared in his mind at all.
But although he didn’t know this Brother Zhu, Brother Zhu had known him for a long time. With Ren Suixing’s abilities and personality, there was no one in the school who didn’t know him. It’s just that he didn’t care about any of that. No matter how young, whether boys or girls, there are bound to be small cliques and circles in school. And in a school that trains awakened ones, this situation was even more obvious. Even if the academic office forbade it repeatedly, this kind of thing could never be stopped.
Few people in the school knew Ren Suixing’s family background. Apart from this being a school rule that kept student identities confidential, this was also Ren Junzhu’s and his own intention. Ren Junzhu didn’t want him to throw his weight around relying on his status as the colonel’s only son. Ren Suixing himself disdained it too. He didn’t want others to treat him differently because he was that stinky old man’s son.
He was first Ren Suixing, and only then the stinky old man’s child.
So Ren Suixing was famous, but his identity was very mysterious. However, even so, some people had figured out that he had a deep relationship with the southern base, speculating that there must be a big shot behind him. When he first enrolled, many children came to feel him out. Don’t think they were young; they were very precocious. Some parents even specifically instructed them to build relationships. They just didn’t expect that this first-rank, though not big in stature, had a rather aloof personality and wouldn’t entertain any relationships. After a whole year, he was about to move up to the next grade, and still no one knew his identity. They only knew he was very not to be messed with.
The circle of Ren Suixing, Bai Yanxuan, and Zuo Ye, these three people, was practically the eyesore of everyone in the school. Although they were not old, they were able to enjoy the resources tilted toward them by the school. Even sixth-ranks rarely had the qualifications to use this advanced sparring room.
Seeing Ren Suixing and Zuo Ye’s bewildered expressions, Bai Yanxuan extended his small hand to cover his mouth and whispered: “Zhu Luozhen, currently ranked twentieth in the sixth grade. Rumored to possibly be a Human-Faced Owl bloodline. Pretty strong.”
His two brothers had their minds only on studying, but Bai Yanxuan was a little gossip expert, knowing everything that happened in the school inside and out.
Ren Suixing lacked interest. Only twentieth. With such a big show, he had thought it was first place. He walked around these people and was about to leave, but Zhu Luozhen took a big step to the right and blocked him again.
“Hey, don’t go, little junior.”
Not knowing which melodramatic TV drama he had learned this from, he held his fan and poked it at Ren Suixing’s neck, lifting his chin up. Ren Suixing was in the middle of drinking his milk tea and was completely dumbfounded.
“I never looked closely before. Seeing the junior up close like this, he’s really beautiful.” Zhu Luozhen sighed with genuine admiration.
Everyone said this Little Demon King was not to be messed with, but he had a very good-looking face. His features were delicate, his eyebrows clear and eyes handsome. The tear stain at the corner of his eye was like a drop of ink, making his facial features even more vivid. Even though he hadn’t fully grown into his features yet and still had a bit of baby fat, one could imagine how stunning he would be when he grew up.
“Ha?” Ren Suixing had never been flirted with like this in all his years of growing up. Little girls and little boys had written him love letters, but his disposition was straightforward. He would directly say that early romance was not allowed, and would maturely tell the little girls and little boys to focus their minds on studying. Besides, after school, he had separately arranged lessons and his own things to do, and rarely lingered at school. Therefore, he had never encountered these kinds of underhanded tricks.
Bai Yanxuan was shocked. He was not like Ren Suixing; he naturally knew what these people wanted to do. Neither was Zuo Ye. He raised an eyebrow and watched quietly.
“Go away.” Ren Suixing lifted his face. He didn’t want to talk to these people. He just wanted to go home.
With him lifting his face like this, this arrogant appearance was even more beautiful. Zhu Luozhen not only didn’t back off, but instead stepped forward, stared at Ren Suixing’s round black eyes, and laughed: “Don’t go, senior just wants to talk with junior. How can you be so disrespectful?”
Ren Suixing frowned: “Don’t you understand words? I said go away.”
The implication was: just telling you to go away, not to scram, that was already respectful enough.
Zhu Luozhen wasn’t angry, but he still wouldn’t back down, and said playfully: “My name is Zhu Luozhen, a sixth-rank student. You should call me senior. This seventh-floor sparring room hasn’t had its lights on for a long time. I was just a bit curious, so I came to take a look. I didn’t expect there to be a few first-rank juniors here… which does surprise me.”
Who was he trying to fool? It was posted on the bulletin board that the advanced sparring room would be opened to students who performed excellently in last week’s test as a reward. And Ren Suixing’s group, being the youngest, achieved the highest scores. The seventh-floor sparring room was naturally reserved for them.
“Wait until you get first place in your next exam, then you’ll naturally have the chance to come in. Now get out of my way.” Ren Suixing said coldly.
“Junior has such a bad temper. Senior hasn’t even done anything yet.” Zhu Luozhen’s expression stiffened a bit at being rebuffed, but he still smiled as he spoke.
Ren Suixing swept a glance at those few students with bruised and swollen faces. Those children, looked at by his gaze, all shrank back and didn’t dare to look. He looked again at Zhu Luozhen and sneered: “Believe me, my temper is already good enough.”
“Junior is really cute.” These words from Zhu Luozhen nearly disgusted Ren Suixing to death. He just didn’t know what this person wanted, standing here blocking him like a stubborn plaster. “What exactly do you want? To fight?” If you want to fight, say so earlier. Fight early, go home early.
“Maybe when I first came, I wanted to play around with junior. But now, seeing how delicate and tender junior is, this senior can’t bring himself to lay a hand on him.”
Beside him, Bai Yanxuan was holding back laughter so hard he was getting internal injuries. Even Zuo Ye almost lost his composure.
Ren Suixing was stunned. For a moment, he didn’t realize that “delicate and tender” was referring to him.
“You like drinking milk tea so much. How about coming to my house? My house has lots of good food and good drinks. Junior would definitely like them very much.” Zhu Luozhen, though not old, spoke in this shady manner like a weird uncle trying to abduct children.
“Not interested.” Ren Suixing pushed him aside and was about to walk out, only to be grabbed again by someone.
“Junior, think it over carefully. My dad is a director of Dongcheng Glory Group. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
Zhu Luozhen’s hidden implication was actually extending an olive branch to Ren Suixing. This kind of thing was very common in Dongcheng circles, especially within the awakened community. Relying on bloodlines, they classified awakened ones into different grades, thereby seeking suitable marriage partners among them. This atmosphere had already spread to the school. Although Zhu Luozhen was only in his early teens, his parents constantly instructed him to find opportunities at school to hook children who could enhance the group’s prestige for engagement. Because the younger they were, the easier they were to fool. If they eventually differentiated into alphas, that would count as a connection. If they differentiated into omegas, even better.
The headquarters had been trying to suppress this atmosphere and had rapped many awakened organizations and families on the knuckles. But this kind of thing was like mushrooms in the shadows; a few would always sprout up stealthily.
Ren Suixing was good-looking. Zhu Luozhen felt that he would definitely end up differentiating into an omega. Someone so unruly and untamed, if someday he could be tamed into an obedient falcon, that would surely give a great sense of achievement. His father, that director, had once tamed his mother, a star, in exactly this way, and had passed this wicked thinking on to his own son.
Zhu Luozhen figured that since Ren Suixing’s identity hadn’t been exposed for so long, either his background was too big or too small. He didn’t think there was some enormous figure behind Ren Suixing. If there were, he would have been thrown into a training camp to roll in the mud. At most, he might have some family relationship with some Division Chief in the southern base. For their family to take a liking to him was also Ren Suixing’s honor.
“If these two friends of yours want to come, they can too. My house is big. I’m not picky.”
Bai Yanxuan and Zuo Ye had already changed their expressions because of his words. Ren Suixing might not have picked up on it, but the two of them could certainly hear it. They understood what Zhu Luozhen meant. Before they could even speak, they were suddenly named. They were dumbfounded.
Good grief, this kid wanted all of them.
“Scram!” Ren Suixing couldn’t take it anymore. “Even if your dad were the Jade Emperor, this young master isn’t interested. Scram!”
He bumped into the person in front of him and was about to leave, but Zhu Luozhen’s expression changed. He pulled Ren Suixing back, pinched his chin, and said: “Me taking a liking to you is your good fortune. Don’t reject a gift from heaven. Come with me!”
The people beside him, seeing their big brother get angry, finally became cheerful. Originally, it was agreed that they would just beat up this arrogant little brat who didn’t know his place. Who would have thought that when the big brother saw this little brat, he would first use courtesy before force? They had thought a fight wouldn’t even happen, and that this guy was even lucky enough to be taken home by the big brother. Who would have thought he was a fool and would give up such a great opportunity? They immediately began to egg him on.
“Yeah, don’t reject a gift from heaven. So many brothers would love to go to Brother Zhu’s house but can’t. You, acting all fierce, be careful… careful that Brother Zhu will beat you up!”
“Exactly, exactly. If you go with Brother Zhu, our grievances will also be wiped clean.”
“Judging by your looks, your mother must also be very beautiful…” Zhu Luozhen chuckled lightly. “Why don’t you call your mother over too? My dad will dong—”
“Bam—” A loud crashing sound. Zhu Luozhen’s entire body flew out. He shattered the door of the sparring room and landed on the railing of the corridor, even smashing a big concave hole into the iron railing.
Ren Suixing stood in the middle of the doorway, his eyes bloodshot, his black hair gradually turning into a burning red color from the ends.
“Say that again, just now.”