Chapter 12: The Battle for the Boss

In the canteen, after crazily wolfing down several large steamed buns and two bowls of white porridge yesterday, Shi Quan finally walked out of the canteen, full and satisfied, still carrying the two books he had borrowed yesterday.

There were only two classes in the morning: one for cultural knowledge and one for martial soul theory, with each class lasting no more than one hour.

There was still some time before class. Based on his cultivation situation yesterday and combining it with his current circumstances, Shi Quan began to plan.

He naturally could not waste the time between morning and the start of class.

"I'll use the morning to practice Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing."

Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing was an internal cultivation method; it was relatively simple to practice and appeared more ordinary compared to the other four.

Holding the book, Shi Quan came to a quiet corner of the Playground, took a step to the left with his left foot, and bent his knees into a horse stance. He stood with his upper body straight, hands on his hips, then bent his elbows and turned his palms upward, holding his forearms level as if supporting a heavy object; after a brief pause, he turned his palms downward, straightened his forearms, and relaxed, as if setting down a heavy object.

As the movements progressed, the internal energy within Shi Quan's body began to move accordingly.

Besides the internal circulation routes, Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing also required some special movements.

Although these movements were special, ordinary people could not see anything unusual, at most assuming Shi Quan was just doing morning exercises.

This was also the reason for Shi Quan's choice.

As more people arrived on the Playground, Shi Quan stopped at the appropriate time, took his book, went into the classroom, and sat down in an inconspicuous spot.

Shi Quan had originally thought that the Spirit Academy had no textbooks, but upon arriving for class, he discovered that the textbooks were only distributed on the first day.

Looking at the cultural textbook in his hand and flipping through it roughly, it was no surprise to Shi Quan that the first-grade cultural textbook was just some basic literacy and character recognition; Shi Quan had already learned these long ago and there was no need to study them again. Fortunately, he had the foresight to borrow books in advance.

The teacher lectured on the stage, and Shi Quan read his book under the stage.

The second class, on martial souls, taught some basic cultivation knowledge, which was equally useless to Shi Quan. After listening for a few minutes, Shi Quan lost interest and began reading the book in his hand.

Having self-studied for two classes like this, after eating lunch at the Canteen and returning the books to the Dormitory, Shi Quan went alone to the small hill behind the academy to begin his day's cultivation, just as he had done yesterday.

With the lessons from the previous two days, Shi Quan paid special attention to the time while cultivating today. He returned to the academy for dinner at about the right time, then hurried back to the hill to continue cultivating. On the way back and forth, when no one was around, Shi Quan would use Nine Shadows Shift to travel, which served as both practice and cultivation.

The Dormitory where Shi Quan stayed was a large one with nearly thirty people, and they already had their own cliques. Although the people in the Dormitory did not see Shi Quan often, they had heard from three nobles that he came from a commoner family, and coupled with the knowledge that his martial soul was a trash martial soul and his innate soul power was only level one, the whole Dormitory cared about him even less.

Shi Quan was happy to be at ease; every day was spent cultivating and studying, making his life exceptionally fulfilling.

Remembering that he still hadn't extracted Douluo Dalu, and having returned to the Dormitory after another day of cultivation, Shi Quan finally extracted Douluo Dalu.

The same feeling of scripture inheritance as last time washed over him, but unlike last time, although the content of Douluo Dalu was vast, it was not complicated to receive, and it was much easier to bear.

The next day in class, for a rare change, Shi Quan did not read his book, but instead kept flipping through the plot of the original work in his mind. Only then did he discover that the small hill where he cultivated was the place where Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Xiao Chenyu fought for the position of boss of Notting Academy. According to the original plot, their fight should be in three days.

After learning this, Shi Quan did not stop, but continued to browse the plot of the original work. He wanted to go through the original work first, as this would make it easier for him to formulate subsequent plans.

"Hmm? The martial soul is a twin of our own body?"

Shi Quan was originally just browsing the plot, but when he reached the part where Tang San absorbed the spirit rings of the three Qian Jun Ants, he noticed a paragraph in the original work.

It was written as a flashback, a memory of a past discussion between Tang San and Master.

The content of the discussion was exactly what a martial soul is.

A passage in it was written like this.

"The body and the martial soul are themselves a pair of twins.

The martial soul also has its own soul, only we cannot feel it. If you want it to truly become strong, then first, you must understand it.

When one day, you can discover the true heart of this twin of yours, prove yourself to it with your actions, and let it fully accept you, only then can you obtain its true recognition, so that there is no longer any separation between you brothers. Only then can you truly unleash its power."

This description reminded Shi Quan of Shi Jian's martial soul control; the two seemed somewhat similar.

"If that's the case, is the reason Dad can control his martial soul so freely actually because he obtained the recognition of his martial soul?"

Shi Quan muttered to himself: "This explanation also makes sense."

According to the original work, Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor was mastered because his mother's ten-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg bone and his mother directly revealed the true heart of the Blue Silver Emperor's royal bloodline to him. The Clear Sky Hammer was also mastered after he triggered the Martial Soul Heart of the Clear Sky Hammer through the domineering act of absorbing three near-ten-thousand-year spirit rings at once.

These were all coincidences. Even for Tang San, the protagonist, it was so difficult to comprehend the Martial Soul Heart, yet Shi Jian, an ordinary person, had comprehended the Spirit Enlightenment State by chance and relied on it to comprehend the Martial Soul Heart.

The essence of martial soul control is mastering the Martial Soul Heart. The methods for mastering the Martial Soul Heart vary, but if the Spirit Enlightenment State is used properly, it can assist any martial soul in comprehending the Martial Soul Heart. Not only that, the Spirit Enlightenment State also has certain benefits for all aspects of cultivation.

That an ordinary person could research and discover such a special and powerful cultivation method shows just how outstanding Shi Jian's comprehension and talent were.

Rubbing his swollen head, the mental load of processing the million-word main plot of the original work in such a short time was not small. After resting for a while, it was time for class to end.

After putting his things away and eating lunch, everything else went as usual.

On the way to Hou Shan, Shi Quan faintly heard Xiao Wu's voice. He glanced back and saw Xiao Wu leading a group of Work-study Students arguing with Xiao Chenyu.

Shi Quan was not interested in their fight, so naturally, he did not pay attention, and his pace did not even falter.

Over the next two days, the friction between the Work-study Students led by Xiao Wu and the group led by Xiao Chenyu became increasingly intense. Under a series of provocations and stimuli from Xiao Chenyu, the Work-study Students led by Xiao Wu took the initiative to start a fight.

The time was set for the end of class the next day, and the location was exactly the Hou Shan where Shi Quan cultivated.

"At this time, Tang San should have already left the Soul Beast Forest with Master, right?"

From the current perspective, the time and place of the battle for the academy boss between Xiao Wu and Xiao Chenyu matched the original work, and on the other side, without his intervention, Tang San should also be the same as in the original work.

The next day.

Xiao Wu, who usually couldn't settle down in class, was even more restless today, her eyes filled with excitement and confidence for today's battle.

As the bell rang for the end of class, Xiao Wu immediately ran out of the classroom like a startled rabbit. In a short while, a group of Work-study Students, led by Xiao Wu, headed toward the academy's Hou Shan in a grand procession.

Seeing this, Shi Quan also slowly followed the crowd of onlookers toward Hou Shan. He was not curious about their fight; he just wanted to see if Tang San's spirit skill was Entanglement like in the original work, to ensure that everything was developing without much deviation from the original.

Arriving at Hou Shan, both sides marched up the mountain in a grand procession and headed straight into a forest on one side of the hill. There were many forests on the hill, and the forest where Shi Quan usually cultivated was on the other side.

Xiao Chenyu's people had clearly scouted the location in advance, and they quickly arrived at a clearing in a forest with the group of Work-study Students. The clearing was very large, and even with fifty or sixty people from both sides standing on it, it still appeared very spacious.

Shi Quan stood in the distance with the onlookers. The two sides stood facing each other, with a very tense atmosphere.

Before the battle began, they naturally exchanged some harsh words and then set the rules for the fight.

If nothing else, Xiao Chenyu, as the son of the city lord, was not stupid; on the contrary, he was very smart, which could be seen from his choice of a ten-on-ten battle.

The confident Xiao Wu naturally agreed immediately without even thinking.

"Tang San should be arriving soon, right?" Shi Quan's gaze turned toward the direction of the Work-study Students. Sure enough, a small figure had quietly joined them.

The fight between Wang Sheng and Liu Long had already begun, and Liu Long, who possessed a long staff martial soul, clearly had the advantage.

Just when Liu Long was about to win the fight, Shi Quan saw three small pebbles fly out and hit Liu Long's hands directly, which caused Liu Long's hands to pause, missing the opportunity, and instead, he was countered by Wang Sheng at close range and defeated.

Shi Quan curled his lip and thought to himself, "They are having a head-on confrontation, yet he is playing dirty in the shadows. What a Tang Sect; they really can't afford to lose."

The following plot was no different from the original work: Tang San had Xiao Wu swap out Wang Sheng and entered the arena himself. After easily defeating Ling Feng, who possessed a swallow martial soul, Xiao Chenyu could no longer sit still and entered the arena to spar with Tang San.

Seeing the yellow Soul Ring rise beneath Tang San's feet, everyone at the scene was in an uproar.

Shi Quan also frowned upon seeing this scene. He wasn't frowning because of Tang San's Soul Ring, but because of Tang San's martial soul!

Upon seeing Tang San's martial soul, Shi Quan could feel a sense of bloodline oppression; this oppression originated from his own Blue Silver Grass martial soul.

"Can the Blue Silver Emperor suppress Blue Silver Grass even without awakening?"

In the original work, it was never mentioned that there would be any suppression of other Plant Spirits before the Blue Silver Emperor awakened.

"Or is it that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass can only intimidate and suppress me because I also have a Blue Silver Grass martial soul?"

Shi Quan's expression tightened. He felt fortunate that he had chosen to watch the battle; otherwise, he would never have noticed.

"That is to say, although Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor hasn't awakened, it still possesses certain characteristics of the Blue Silver Emperor. No wonder the control effect of Blue Silver Grass in the early stages is not weak."

While reading the original work, Shi Quan had always had a doubt: a piece of ordinary Blue Silver Grass was already so strong after adding a Century Spirit Ring; even with amplification, it shouldn't have been that exaggerated.

One must know that even a child could easily tear apart ordinary Blue Silver Grass. If it were a martial soul like a vine or a rope, even an ordinary person wouldn't be able to tear it under normal conditions. Wouldn't the control effect be even more exaggerated after these martial souls added a Century Spirit Ring?

After all, it was Blue Silver Grass possessing the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline. Even though the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline hadn't awakened, how could it possibly be ordinary Blue Silver Grass?

"An unawakened Blue Silver Emperor is not the true Blue Silver Emperor. Who will be the Emperor in the future is still uncertain." A dark light flickered in the depths of Shi Quan's eyes. He circulated his Internal Energy, suppressing his trembling Blue Silver Grass.

The battle on the field had already begun.

Xiao Chenyu and Tang San collided. With a muffled bang, green and white lights shone simultaneously.

He looked at Tang San's hands, which were as white and clean as jade.

"Is this the Mysterious Jade Hand? Isn't it just a weakened Vajra Indestructible Divine Skill?" Shi Quan smiled faintly. The next second, he saw Tang San rely on the defensive capability of the Mysterious Jade Hand to withstand Xiao Chenyu's pounce, then use a backhand pull and a forward shoulder-butt—a basic Iron Mountain Lean—to send Xiao Chenyu flying directly.

Next, it was time for Tang San's show-off scene.

"I have other things to do and no time to play with you. Let's end it here. Blue Silver Grass, Entanglement."

As his voice fell, more than ten thick stalks of Blue Silver Grass suddenly surged from beneath Xiao Chenyu's feet without warning, binding his legs tightly.

"As expected, it's still the Datura Snake and Entanglement." Shi Quan curled his lip. Knowing what he wanted, he was no longer interested in the subsequent developments and turned to walk down the mountain.

He hadn't eaten lunch yet and planned to go back to eat before returning to cultivate. By then, the people on Hou Shan would have mostly dispersed, and no one would disturb him.

After Tang San finished the battle, he still had to go to the Spirit Hall for certification and buy lunch for Master. After saying a few words to Xiao Wu, he also headed down the mountain without stopping.

"Is that Shi Quan?" Tang San looked at the figure walking toward the academy at the foot of the mountain. After an uncertain glance, he didn't think much more about it and turned to walk outside the academy.

Soon, the news that the Work-study Students had won the fight and that the first-year Work-study Student Xiao Wu had become the academy's new boss spread like a thunderclap among students of all grades.

However, when everyone learned that these two first-year Work-study Students were an eleven-level Spirit Master and a twelve-level Spirit Master, and that both their Soul Rings were Century Spirit Rings, they were shocked while also understanding the reason behind it.

At the same time, a wave of discussion arose. After all, Xiao Chenyu, the son of the city lord, only had a ten-year white Soul Ring, so what kind of background could the two Work-study Students have to obtain Century Spirit Rings?

Shi Quan, who was cultivating on Hou Shan, knew nothing of this. He cultivated as usual until evening, then used Nine Shadows Shift to rush back to the Dormitory.

However, to Shi Quan's surprise, his roommates, who were almost always cultivating on weekdays, were not cultivating today. They were discussing something with aggrieved and ugly expressions. Seeing Shi Quan return, most of the people in the Dormitory cast their gazes over in unison, as if they had been waiting for him...

(End of this chapter)