Volume One, Chapter Three: The Campus Belle, Bai Ruixue

The mechanical puppet’s eyes suddenly glowed red, and its gears and hydraulic systems emitted a low, rumbling roar.

In an instant, the mechanical puppet burst forward, its iron fists slicing through the air, leaving afterimages in their wake.

Using the Shadow Step technique, Jiang Buyue swiftly retreated while swinging his combat blade. The clash of metal rang out through the empty training room.

The next moment...

Accompanied by a deafening roar, a powerful punch was thrust forward.

Jiang Buyue was blasted backward by the immense force, crashing heavily against the wall.

The mechanical puppet’s rank advanced from quasi-warrior rank four to quasi-warrior rank five.

[Name: Jiang Buyue]
[Class: Senior 3, Class 14]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 18]
[Martial Arts Rank: Quasi-Warrior Rank 5]
[Combat Duration: 1 minute 30 seconds]
[Combat Rating: B-]
[School Ranking: 1101]

Jiang Buyue rubbed his aching shoulder and left the training room.

“Not bad, Jiang Buyue. You’ve improved a lot. With a bit more real combat experience, your evaluation will be even higher. Keep working hard—you still have a chance to get into a martial arts university,” Jiang Yiyun said with a pleased expression.

Jiang Buyue smiled and nodded. “Thank you, teacher!”

[Ding! Gale Slash skill has advanced to Novice level.]

The chubby boy’s eyes widened. “Brother Yue, when did you break through to Quasi-Warrior Rank 4?”

“Just got lucky.”

“Damn! Brother Yue, didn’t you say we’d both be the bottom of the class? We promised to graduate and work in a factory together, screwing bolts! I’ve been with you through thick and thin, and you just toy with me!”

“If my dad finds out, he’ll lecture me again. I was always behind you in academics, and now you’ve surpassed me in martial arts too.”

But Jiang Buyue could tell his close friend was truly happy for him.

Jiang Buyue and Liu Yu had always been the lowest scorers in martial arts class—Jiang Buyue for lack of talent and money, Liu Yu for laziness and lack of talent.

Ding-ding-ding~

The class bell rang.

The chubby boy instantly brightened. “Finally, class is over! Let’s go, let’s go, I’m bursting!”

Jiang Buyue teased, “Did you really get circumcised?”

Liu Yu: (ー_ー)!!

“That’s not a thing I want to talk about! With my vast foundation, do I need that?”

The two of them went arm in arm to the restroom.

After washing their hands, Jiang Buyue stared seriously into the mirror.

Jiang Buyue: -_-#

His hair was a mess, like an inverted pot lid clinging tightly to his scalp.

He frowned.

What the heck? A terrible hairstyle!

At that moment, Jiang Buyue noticed the chubby boy staring fixedly behind him.

That chubby boy? His gaze looked like a lovesick piglet’s.

Jiang Buyue turned to look.

Before him was a cool and refined face shaped like an egg, with skin as pure as jade, complexion whiter than snow, and eyes as clear as autumn waters. She looked fresh and unworldly, like a crystal-clear dewdrop on a verdant lotus leaf, radiant and captivating.

“Chubby, who’s that? You look like your soul’s about to be stolen.”

The chubby boy whispered, “That’s Bai Ruixue, the school’s beauty queen, the dream goddess of every boy here.”

Bai Ruixue had just come out of the restroom and was washing her hands at the sink beside Jiang Buyue.

Jiang Buyue’s mind blanked, and he blurted out, “Did you also pee on your hands?”

Bai Ruixue’s cold eyes met his through the mirror.

The chubby boy panicked and grabbed Jiang Buyue.

“Damn it! Brother Yue, if you’re going to die, don’t drag me down with you!”

The chubby boy muttered anxiously, legs trembling as he stole glances at Bai Ruixue.

“Brother Yue, Bai Ruixue is a first-rank martial artist. Her father is the president of the Jiangnan Base City Martial Arts Association, and her mother is the chief of the Law Enforcement Division. Bai Ruixue is basically the local overlord.”

Noticing Bai Ruixue’s increasingly icy gaze, the chubby boy felt a chill.

“A brother in trouble is a brother indeed; a brother’s glory is shared!”

He fled the scene swiftly, leaving Jiang Buyue standing there, disheveled in the wind.

Seeing Liu Yu’s unhesitating escape, Jiang Buyue cursed inwardly.

This is what childhood friends are like! Brothers who grew up wearing the same pair of shorts!

He shivered under Bai Ruixue’s cold gaze.

Jiang Buyue chuckled dryly. “I just peed on my hands too!”

...

Silence.

An awkward atmosphere settled.

Jiang Buyue’s gaze involuntarily drifted toward the slender legs highlighted by the jeans!

The floor was truly white!

Damn! Forgot to turn off the self-aim!

He quickly averted his eyes but couldn’t help stealing another glance.

Bai Ruixue noticed this and her previously cold face twitched slightly.

Her clear, cold voice rang out again: “Idiot!”

Jiang Buyue looked at the stunning girl before him. “Hey, little missy, who are you calling an idiot?”

“So what if I did?”

Little missy, the school beauty queen, first-rank martial artist, daughter of the martial arts association president, daughter of the chief of law enforcement—impressive, right?

Ahem... yeah, kind of impressive.

“Have you got laxative in your mouth? You keep talking nonsense!” Jiang Buyue muttered quietly, but Bai Ruixue still heard him.

“What did you say!?”

Jiang Buyue felt a sudden pang of guilt. “Uh, Bai School Beauty, if fate wills it, we shall meet again. Hopefully, never again.”

With that, he took off running.

Bai Ruixue snorted coldly. “You think you can just run away? Not a chance!”

The chubby boy sitting in the corner watching the scene was stunned. “Wait! Brother Yue, don’t run toward me!”

“Damn it, chubby, didn’t we agree to share fortune and hardship together?”

“Brother Yue, don’t follow me! Brothers are in the heart!”

How could a mere quasi-warrior rank four like Jiang Buyue outrun Bai Ruixue, a first-rank martial artist?

Like a leopard, Bai Ruixue leapt and pinned him down onto the grass.

“You... get off me! It’s embarrassing to be seen like this!”

Bai Ruixue sat on Jiang Buyue’s waist, grabbing his ear in a twist. “Run? You’re so fast, aren’t you? Jiang Buyue, you’re impressive! Who has laxative in their mouth? Who peed on their hands? Which pervert keeps staring at other people’s legs?”

Jiang Buyue struggled but couldn’t break free.

“Bai Ruixue, get off me! People are already watching! You don’t want rumors spreading, do you?”

...

By now, a crowd had gathered.

The school beauty, Bai Ruixue, was always the center of attention wherever she went!

“Whoa! Isn’t that Bai Ruixue? Who’s the guy she’s sitting on?”

“I want Bai Ruixue to sit on me too!”

“Why does only that guy get rewarded? I want Bai Ruixue to sit on me! I want to be sat on!”

“Bai Ruixue, get up! You’re ruining my innocence!”

Jiang Buyue turned to look and couldn’t help but stare again at Bai Ruixue’s slender legs.

Bai Ruixue grabbed a handful of Jiang Buyue’s messy hair.

“Look again and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“No! No! No! It hurts! It hurts!”

Damn! A grown man, nearly seven feet tall, being pinned down and having his hair pulled by the school beauty! Humiliation! Utter disgrace!

He couldn’t just sit there and take it any longer!