“Whew…
luckily that bunch led by Xiao Chenyu isn’t around at this hour, otherwise today’s fight would’ve been unavoidable.”
Wang Sheng walked at the back of the group, scanning the empty playground with a sigh of relief.
Then he turned to Wang Teng beside him and said, “Little brother, since you have innate soul power level five, how about a spar with me?
You’ll have to do combat training sooner or later anyway.”
“Sure, I was just thinking of testing my own limits too.”
With that, Wang Teng and Wang Sheng walked to the other side of the playground.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wu and Tang San had already engaged each other.
Tang San employed the Tang Sect’s secret arts, his movements agile and his footwork exquisite.
Xiao Wu, on the other hand, used her first soul skill “Waist Bow” along with her rabbit legs.
Her supple body and flexible legs made her attacks exceptionally fierce.
The two exchanged blows back and forth, drawing occasional gasps from the watching work-study students.
The spar between Wang Sheng and Wang Teng quickly attracted everyone’s attention as well.
“Blast Spinning Top, come out!”
Wang Teng raised his right hand and called out in a low voice.
A streak of silver-white light shot from his palm and, the moment it landed, began spinning at high speed, racing across the ground.
“Hiss—”
The metal spinning top, whirling madly, rubbed against the air with a sharp, continuous whine.
“So that’s your martial soul?
Looks pretty good—at least it can attack from a distance.”
Wang Sheng studied the spinning top intently, his face showing approval.
On the other side, the bout between Tang San and Xiao Wu had already concluded: because Tang San hadn’t used his full strength, Xiao Wu eventually caught an opening and took him down.
The victorious Xiao Wu was full of energy and immediately came over to watch the Wang brothers.
“Wang Sheng, you two—hurry up and fight!”
Xiao Wu shouted excitedly.
“Battle Tiger: Possess!”
Urged on by the crowd, Wang Sheng bellowed and instantly completed his martial soul possession.
A yellow light flashed across his brow, and a tiger phantom appeared behind him.
After letting out a low roar, it vanished into his body.
Wang Sheng’s already large frame expanded further, his upper body covered in yellow-and-black tiger-striped fur, and a faint “King” character pattern emerging on his forehead.
“Crack, crack—”
Wang Sheng lightly clashed his clawed hands together and called out to Wang Teng five meters away: “Here I come!”
“Roar!”
With a tiger’s roar, he charged forward.
“Blast Spinning Top, attack!”
Wang Teng steadied his mind, focused his intent, and directed the spinning top to collide with Wang Sheng’s approaching path.
“Bang!”
The top spun rapidly and struck directly at Wang Sheng’s foot.
Wang Sheng reacted quickly, leaping into the air.
“Again!”
Wang Teng immediately redirected the spinning top.
The metal top traced a semicircular arc on the ground and, the moment Wang Sheng landed, sprang up from his flank to strike hard at his knee.
Though only half the size of a palm, Wang Teng’s top was made of solid metal.
If it actually struck the knee, the match would be decided in an instant.
Sensing the wind behind him and knowing he couldn’t fully evade, Wang Sheng adapted on the fly.
Turning, he raised his right leg sharply, intending to take the hit on his shin while kicking forward.
Wang Sheng kicked the top away, but he himself stumbled, a dull pain shooting through his calf.
He couldn’t help but frown, crouching down to check the injury.
Meanwhile, the kicked top flew wildly toward Xiao Wu.
It had stopped spinning by now, and Xiao Wu reached out to catch it firmly in her palm.
The moment Xiao Wu touched the spinning top, both she and Wang Teng shuddered involuntarily.
An invisible ripple radiated from them, causing the surrounding air to tremble slightly.
Tang San and the other work-study students standing nearby sensed the anomaly.
Though they didn’t understand what was happening, they instinctively stepped back a few paces.
“What’s going on?”
Tang San asked, his gaze puzzled.
“It seems like…
what the books called a ‘Martial Soul Fusion Skill’?”
Wang Sheng, having checked his calf, stood up just in time to see the scene.
Before his martial soul awakening, Wang Teng had asked Wang Sheng to copy many books from the academy library for him.
That was why Wang Sheng could identify what was happening now.
At this moment, an intangible connection seemed to have formed between Wang Teng and Xiao Wu.
Xiao Wu’s martial soul, “Soft Bone Enchanting Rabbit,” manifested automatically, turning into a beam of pink light that shot straight into Wang Teng’s spinning top martial soul.
The two exchanged a glance and, without hesitation, channeled their soul power to push the fusion forward.
But when the two streams of soul power made contact through their martial souls, attempting to merge—
“Pfft!”
A clear repulsive force suddenly erupted, and their soul powers clashed violently.
Xiao Wu’s Soft Bone Enchanting Rabbit martial soul was ejected and returned to her body.
Wang Teng’s Blast Spinning Top martial soul also dissolved into specks of light and faded back into him.
failed?”
Wang Sheng looked from his brother to Xiao Wu, thoroughly confused.
“Martial Soul Fusion Skills aren’t that easy to achieve.”
A low voice came from behind the crowd.
Everyone turned to see Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang standing there, hands clasped behind his back, expression serious, projecting the air of a master.
“Teacher.”
Tang San immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
“Mm.” Yu Xiaogang nodded and walked slowly between Wang Teng and Xiao Wu.
He studied them carefully for a moment before speaking, “The fusion of your martial souls did show signs of occurrence.
However, judging from what just happened, your failure occurred at the stage of soul power fusion.”
“Grandmaster, is there a way to fix this?”
Wang Teng asked immediately.
Even he was surprised to discover that he could trigger a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Xiao Wu.
But since it had happened, he had to find out more.
“Well…
that’s quite difficult.”
Yu Xiaogang mused, “According to the data I’ve collected, for most soul masters, soul power fusion is relatively easy, while martial soul fusion is extremely difficult.”
“But your situation is the opposite—the opportunity for martial soul fusion appeared, yet your soul powers couldn’t merge smoothly…
I can’t quite figure that out myself.”
“So there’s no solution?”
Xiao Wu blinked and asked.
“Not entirely unsolvable.
You can work on building your rapport in daily life.
Perhaps through long-term cooperation and mutual understanding, you can eventually overcome the hurdle of soul power fusion.”
Yu Xiaogang pondered for a moment and offered a direction.
“Forget it, too much trouble.”
Xiao Wu waved her hand, clearly not interested in putting in that effort.
“Alright, it’s getting late.
Let me treat everyone to a meal.”
Yu Xiaogang glanced at the sky and offered.
It was past five in the afternoon.
The group followed Yu Xiaogang to the second floor of the cafeteria.
Yu Xiaogang was quite generous, ordering a table full of sumptuous dishes—fish and meat, fragrant and inviting.
For the work-study students, who usually lived frugally, this meal was a rare luxury.
Everyone ate with great satisfaction.
After the meal, Tang San left with Yu Xiaogang, apparently having other matters to attend to.
Wang Teng and the others returned together to Room Seven.
Tomorrow was the official enrollment ceremony, so they needed to rest early.
Late at night, the dormitory gradually filled with steady breathing.
Wang Teng lay in bed, wide awake.
He kept replaying the scene at the playground that evening.
“Xiao Wu and I actually triggered a martial soul fusion response…
could it be because she’s a transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast?”
“I named my martial soul ‘Blast Spinning Top’—could it actually possess the properties of those spinning tops from the anime in my past life?
Is it treating Xiao Wu as a ‘Spinning Top Sacred Beast’?”
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t make clear sense of it.
Wang Teng turned over and decided to stop dwelling on it.
Instead, he calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and tried to enter a meditative state.
He knew that his innate soul power was only level five—a lower starting point than those geniuses.
So he decided to try a method he’d learned from reading fanfiction before his reincarnation: replacing sleep with meditation.
Whether or not this method worked, it was at least worth attempting.
At first, the meditation went smoothly.
Wang Teng’s consciousness gradually settled, his soul power slowly circulating through his martial soul.
But by midnight, his mental focus finally reached its limit.
Fatigue washed over him like a tide.
Wang Teng’s head grew heavier, his consciousness fading…
In the end, he couldn’t resist sleep and drifted off, his head resting on the pillow.
It seemed that truly replacing sleep with meditation would require more time and adaptation.
This cultivation path would have to be traversed step by step.
Moonlight streamed quietly through the window, illuminating the sleeping faces.
The night was peaceful and long.
Notting Academy, the next morning.
The sky was barely light when Wang Teng was still half-asleep, shaken awake by urgent calls and jostling.
“Little brother!
Wake up!
We’re going to be late!
The opening ceremony is about to start!”
Wang Sheng shouted as he unceremoniously threw off Wang Teng’s blanket and pulled him upright by the shoulders.
“Huh?
Is it morning already?” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Wang Teng sat on the edge of the bed, eyes still struggling to open, fumbling for his clothes while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
The other work-study students in the dormitory had already gotten up and were filing out one by one.
Seeing this, Wang Teng didn’t dare delay any further and quickened his movements.
Before long, the brothers hurried out of the dormitory.
There was no time for breakfast, so they jogged toward the main teaching building.
Along the way, Wang Sheng glanced at his younger brother, who was out of breath and looking tired, and couldn’t help asking, “What’s wrong with you?
Didn’t sleep well last night?
You look way more exhausted than usual.”
“It’s nothing.”
Wang Teng shook his head and didn’t explain further.
By the time they reached the front of the main teaching building, several columns of students had already formed by grade.
Wang Sheng let out a relieved breath.
“Good, not too late.”
Then they quickly separated, each finding their own grade’s line.
Wang Teng stood in the first-year row and looked around—there were about forty-something students.
Since he was the tallest, he stood at the back.
Xiao Wu stood right in front of him.
Tang San, being the shortest, stood in the front row.
After a while, several teachers walked to the front of the line.
Wang Teng spotted Director Su, who had helped him register, along with Teacher Mo Hen and others.
Finally, a stern-looking middle-aged man in his forties or fifties slowly walked up to the front platform.
“Good morning, students.
I am Emmon, the dean of Notting Academy, a level forty-two Soul Ancestor…”
Wang Teng listened to the dean’s speech from below—the usual encouragement for new students and introduction to the academy.
He felt a strange sense of déjà vu, as if transported back to his university’s opening ceremony in his past life.
“Dead memories are attacking me!”
“Yawn—”
Wang Teng couldn’t help but cover his mouth and yawn.
This exhaustion was mainly thanks to last night’s attempt to “replace sleep with meditation.”
He had thought that meditating through the night would both increase his soul power and save time on sleep—killing two birds with one stone.
But actual practice proved much harder.
Last night, he had meditated until midnight before his mind gave out and he unknowingly fell asleep.
As a result, he woke up this morning not feeling refreshed, but groggy and with a dull headache.
“Looks like I can’t rush this…”
Wang Teng mused to himself.
He planned to adjust his approach: instead of meditating all night, he would gradually extend his meditation time each night, slowly adapting until he could fully replace sleep with meditation.
After all, cultivation required gradual progress—you couldn’t become fat from one bite.
“…Alright, today’s opening ceremony ends here.”
“Classes officially begin tomorrow.
I hope all new students will cultivate diligently and not waste their time.”
Dean Emmon finished speaking and stepped off the platform and left.
The surrounding teachers dispersed as well.
“Little brother, let’s go eat breakfast.”
“You look exhausted.
Eating something should help.”
As soon as the assembly broke up, Wang Sheng came over to Wang Teng and patted his shoulder.
“Mm.”
Wang Teng nodded and followed Wang Sheng toward the cafeteria.
Breakfast was simple: buns, eggs, and congee.
Perhaps because of last night’s exertion, Wang Teng found the simple food especially appetizing and finished it quickly.
“What do you want to do next?
Go back to the dorm to meditate, or head to the playground to move around?”
Wang Sheng finished his bun and looked up to ask.
“No meditation for now—my head still feels a bit foggy.
I want to go to the library to read, clear my mind a bit.”
Wang Teng rubbed his temples, thought for a moment, and answered.
“Alright, I’ll take you there.”
The two left the cafeteria, and under Wang Sheng’s guidance, arrived at the library inside the main teaching building.
Standing before a room in the corner of the first floor, Wang Sheng pointed: “Here it is—our academy’s library.”
Wang Teng looked at the room, which was only thirty or forty square meters with an ordinary doorway, and was somewhat taken aback.
“This…
is a bit different from what I imagined.
Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
“Yep, this is it.
Come on in.”
Wang Sheng pushed the door open and walked in first.
Wang Teng followed him inside.
The only things in sight were two old wooden bookshelves placed side by side, sparsely filled with books.
He looked around in disbelief.
“This is it?
Two bookshelves?”