"Qingyue, go warm up on the training arena first."
"I need to have a little 'chat' with our old friend here," Shen Xiao said softly, his voice a stark contrast to the violence he had just unleashed.
"Alright," Lu Qingyue answered obediently.
She turned away, her steps a little light-headed, still feeling the phantom warmth of the hug that had just happened.
She needed the distance to calm her racing heart.
Left alone with the wreckage of the Vice Chairman, Shen Xiao looked down at Hao Xian, who was sprawled out unconscious with foam at the corners of his mouth.
It was a pathetic sight.
Shen Xiao delivered two "friendly" kicks to the man's backside.
No response.
"Don't play dead on me. I haven't even started the interest on that debt yet," Shen Xiao muttered.
He rubbed his palms together, generating a focused hum of bio-electricity.
Using his hand like a manual defibrillator, he pressed it directly against Hao Xian's charred chest.
ZAP—!
Hao Xian's body arched like a fish out of water.
He jolted awake, his eyes bulging and bloodshot as he gasped for air.
"Shen Xiao! You... you've gone too far!"
"Me? Gone too far?" Shen Xiao cut him off, his eyes narrowing.
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood because she laughed. Otherwise, you'd be leaving this arena in a body bag, not a stretcher."
Without a shred of hesitation, Shen Xiao reached into Hao Xian's tactical vest.
He pulled out two glass vials containing a shimmering red liquid, High-Grade Recovery Potions.
"These are mine now," Shen Xiao said.
He popped the cork of one and jammed it into Hao Xian's mouth, forcing him to swallow so he wouldn't faint again.
The other bottle, he casually slid into his own pocket.
"Think of it as an 'administrative fee' for the trauma you caused."
"You... you're robbing me! That's my personal property!"
Hao Xian hissed, his voice trembling with a mix of rage and medicinal aftertaste.
"Consider it a tax for being a prick," Shen Xiao replied coldly.
"And listen well. If you want to know why Lu Qingyue has been 'underperforming' these past four months, don't just judge with those blind eyes of yours. Go ask Xiao Wen Wan. She's the only instructor who actually bothered to look at her medical records."
"Instructor Wen Wan? Why would I ask her... and how dare you call her 'Xiao' Wen Wan!"
"None of your business. Just find out the truth. If you still have a single spark of conscience left in that hollow chest of yours, you'll realize that hitting her today was the most cowardly thing you've ever done. If not?"
"Then go ahead, crawl to the Dean. I'd love to see his face when I tell him I've awakened a second element."
"Fine! I'll check! But give me back my potions!"
Hao Xian barked at his subordinates to help him up.
"It's the fee for waking up early. Be glad I didn't charge you for the electricity," Shen Xiao tossed over his shoulder as he walked toward the ring.
At the Training Arena, the atmosphere was different.
The crowd was still buzzing, but the focus was now on the two figures standing on the stage.
Shen Xiao stepped onto the mats, his expression shifting into one of calm victory.
"Last for nine more minutes, and you're officially a graduate of this assessment, Qingyue."
Lu Qingyue tightened her ponytail, her eyes sharp. "Did it start already? Since when?"
"Since you stepped on the mat. Don't be late to your own party," Shen Xiao teased, though he didn't move an inch.
One minute passed in a tense, heavy silence.
They stood like statues, the strongest student versus the girl who had just been healed by a miracle.
"Shen Xiao, attack me," Lu Qingyue said, her voice steady.
"Don't hold back out of pity. I know I'm weaker, but I need to feel the pressure. I need to know exactly how high the wall in front of me is."
Shen Xiao's heart twitched.
That's my Empress, he thought, a sense of pride swelling in his chest.
Most people would take the easy pass, but she wanted the struggle.
However, he looked at her pale, determined face and realized he couldn't bring himself to even aim a fake punch at her.
"Alright, I'll respect your wish. But I won't be the one chasing you. How about this..." Shen Xiao tapped a single, one-meter-wide stone tile beneath his feet.
"As long as you can force me to step off this specific tile, you win. Use everything you have."
"You're being too arrogant!"
Lu Qingyue felt a surge of competitive fire.
"Prove me wrong then. Come at me."
"Hiaaa!"
Lu Qingyue didn't hesitate.
She began chanting, her fingers weaving through the air.
A massive orb of water condensed above her head, shimmering under the arena lights.
Вith a sharp gesture, she launched it at him as a smokescreen, following up immediately with a calculated, low-angle strike.
SWISH—!
Shen Xiao didn't even use his lightning.
He caught her wrist with the precision of a master, his grip firm yet careful not to bruise.
With a fluid, aikido-like motion, he redirected her momentum, spinning her through the air.
As she began to fall, he slipped his hand behind her back, supporting her spine and lowering her to the floor as if he were laying a feather on a bed.
"Too much noise in your movements. You're telegraphing your intent with your eyes. Again!"
Shen Xiao said, slicking his damp hair back with a flourish that looked undeniably cool to the onlookers.
Lu Qingyue gritted her teeth and scrambled up.
She unleashed a flurry of water bullets, trying to overwhelm him from multiple angles.
But no matter how fast she moved, Shen Xiao was always there, his feet glued to that single tile, catching her or parrying her strikes with a "gentleness" that was becoming increasingly frustrating for her.
He's like a mountain... I can't even make him sway!
She thought, her breathing becoming ragged.
However, behind Shen Xiao's "cool" facade, a different battle was being fought.
"Cough... cough!" Shen Xiao suddenly choked on a breath of cold air.
"Shen Xiao? Are you okay? Was that from Hao Xian's attack?"
Lu Qingyue stopped, her face full of genuine concern.
"It's... nothing. Just a tickle. Focus!"
Shen Xiao managed to say, his voice a bit strained.
In truth, Shen Xiao was dying.
The arena was freezing, the winter air biting at any exposed skin.
And Lu Qingyue, bless her heart, was an elemental water user.
She was essentially blasting him with high-pressure ice water every ten seconds.
His clothes were now a heavy, sodden mess.
His skin was turning a pale shade of blue, and his toes were starting to lose sensation.
Every time he slicked his hair back to look "badass," he was actually desperately squeezing out freezing water so his scalp wouldn't turn into an ice block.
Empress... please... I'm literally a human popsicle right now!
He screamed in his head.
Switch to fire!
Use a rock!
Anything but more water!
My pants are turning into armor-plated ice!
But he couldn't break character.
Not now.
Not when she was looking at him with such admiration.
He maintained his stoic, legendary-warrior gaze while his teeth threatened to chatter loud enough for the front row to hear.
"Five minutes left, Qingyue! If you want to stand by my side on missions, you have to do better than a light shower! Touch me if you can!"
Spurred on by his "harsh" encouragement, Lu Qingyue's eyes flared with renewed resolve.
She began gathering an even larger amount of spiritual energy, preparing a massive wave of freezing water.
She had no idea that her "Hero" was currently praying to every god he knew that he wouldn't catch pneumonia before the timer hit zero.