"You two… know my father?"
Xiao Chenyu was surprised, but after another glance at Zhou Qing and Tang San's simple clothes, he let out a dismissive laugh.
"Don't think flattering me will get you off the hook."
Zhou Qing and Tang San exchanged glances, speechless:
How on earth did he interpret "like father, like son" as a compliment?
Forget it.
That's not important.
What is important… is that Xiao Chenyu is about to get beaten.
"How about we make a bet?"
Xiao Chenyu turned his gaze back to Xiao Wu.
"Best of three matches. If you working students win, we'll stop bothering you for good. But if you lose, this little bunny becomes my pet! Don't worry, stick with me and you won't suffer. Who knows—maybe someday you'll even become the Lady of this city."
Xiao Chenyu was the son of the Lord of Nuoding City, with an inherited noble title in the Heaven Dou Empire.
While the position of City Lord wasn't hereditary, with his father's connections, it wouldn't be hard for Xiao Chenyu to eventually succeed him.
"Get lost! Ugly as sin and you dare covet Sister Xiao Wu's beauty? A toad lusting after a swan! Dream on! Go take a piss and look at yourself!"
Xiao Wu shouted, imitating phrases she'd picked up from adventurers at the Adventurer's Guild.
"Hmph, country folk—so uncivilized. Definitely need some taming in the future."
Xiao Chenyu sneered, then looked at Zhou Qing and Tang San.
"So, do you accept or not? Refuse, and don't blame us when we bully you even harder from now on."
"No."
Zhou Qing shook his head.
"The wager is unfair. You can't use people as stakes."
Tang San had been confident they wouldn't lose, and was momentarily stunned by Zhou Qing's rejection.
But upon hearing the second half of Zhou Qing's sentence, he reflected and nodded in agreement:
"Yeah, people shouldn't be used as betting chips."
Coming from the Tang Sect, Tang San had a strong sense of justice. In his past life, the world of martial arts was plagued by child trafficking...
This situation reminded him of impoverished parents forced to sell their children due to hardship. But he and Zhou Qing weren't Xiao Wu's guardians— they had no right to wager her.
If they agreed to this, it'd be no different than the traffickers themselves.
This line shouldn't be crossed.
"Whatever. If you won't bet the little bunny, then don't blame us for being ruthless," Xiao Chenyu snorted.
"Then—"
Zhou Qing grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth.
His blood-circulation martial soul activated, and a yellow soul ring rose beneath him.
"A h-hundred-year soul ring?!"
Xiao Chenyu's eyes widened as he instinctively stepped back in fear.
As the son of a city lord, even a spoiled brat like him knew what that meant—those with century-old soul rings usually came from powerful clans or soul master families.
He'd heard stories of elite heirs traveling to small cities to experience hardship as training...
"Boss Xiao, it's just a hundred-year soul ring, right? Why are you freaking out?"
A follower named Liu Long spoke up in confusion.
Coming from a minor noble family, he didn't think century rings were that rare—after all, some soul masters in the Nuoding Guild had them.
"You don't get it. He's a new student. He's only six years old!"
Xiao Chenyu snapped.
He didn't know Zhou Qing had innate full soul power, but a six-year-old soul master with a hundred-year ring? That spelled serious backing.
People like that weren't to be provoked.
But Zhou Qing didn't care what Xiao Chenyu and Liu Long were muttering.
He took six steps forward, each one sending faint tremors through the ground.
"Wait, we're not done ta—"
Before Xiao Chenyu could finish, Zhou Qing closed the distance.
He stopped, leaned forward, and both fists shot out like cannonballs, his yellow soul ring lighting up.
First Soul Skill: Wing Chun!
Soul power surged through his fists, and a spectral image of a mighty spring ox shimmered behind him.
As he struck, the ghostly ox exploded forward with a blood-red aura, charging past Xiao Chenyu and his crew, sweeping them off their feet with the sheer force of its momentum and searing energy.
The shockwave continued, blasting into the trees behind them—flattening everything within a ten-meter radius.
Gray dust clouds and collapsed trees marked the power of that blow.
Xiao Chenyu lay on the ground, dumbstruck and speechless.
Had that strike landed directly—he'd be dead.
"Whew—"
Zhou Qing lowered his fists and chuckled.
"So, still want to use Xiao Wu as a wager?"
"N-no!"
Xiao Chenyu frantically shook his head, all thoughts of resistance gone. He just wanted to leave as fast as possible.
"Good. Then we'll change the stakes. If we win, you're allowed to spar with working students, but no more mocking or bullying them without cause."
Zhou Qing stated the new condition.
"Huh?"
Xiao Chenyu was confused.
Was the match still on?
Seeing Zhou Qing had already walked away, he didn't dare object...
"Zhou Qing, why didn't you just hit him?"
Xiao Wu glared at Xiao Chenyu's awkward smile and turned to Zhou Qing.
"That would've let me vent my anger!"
"If I really hit him, I'd end up in jail for a while—and then Nuoding's city lord would probably string me up in front of the entire town."
Zhou Qing rolled his eyes, then casually glanced around at the working students now watching him with admiration and awe.
He lowered his voice slightly:
"We can help them now, but not forever. Once we graduate and leave Nuoding, the younger working students will just get bullied again."
"What I did just now wasn't for revenge. It was to send a message—create a slightly more fair fighting ground. Hopefully, going forward, nobles, civilians, and working students will abide by this new rule."
Tang San nodded.
"That's the best outcome. So, should we sit out the rest of the matches?"
"I'm definitely out. That last move took both fists—and most of my soul power."
Zhou Qing shook his head. Then he looked at Xiao Wu and the others like Wang Sheng, raising his voice back to normal.
"You can fight. You're a working student. The other two participants must also be working students. Best of three."
"I'll go!"
Wang Sheng volunteered immediately.
"Anyone else want to step up?"
Zhou Qing addressed the group.
"A single strong punch today can save you from a hundred tomorrow. If you don't want to be bullied, you can't just rely on others to protect you. You must become strong yourselves. Even if you're not powerful yet, you need the courage to raise your fist against those who are."
Young hearts are easily stirred.
Zhou Qing's stirring speech, paired with his still-active blood-circulation martial soul, which thumped rhythmically like a war drum in sync with his heartbeat, seemed to spark a resonant effect among the students.
It was as if that sound carried a passive ability—one that roused others' fighting spirit.
Suddenly, all the working students raised their hands eagerly.
Even the timid ones found their voice.
"Me!"
"Pick me!"
"I'll go!"
"We're in fifth and sixth grade! Our soul power's just one or two levels below theirs—no big deal!"
"I can do it too!"
In that moment, every working student wanted to join the battle.
In the end, Zhou Qing let Wang Sheng choose.
He picked a tall, skinny student to fight alongside him...