There was one truth Su Yan had come to accept, no matter the world: shopping with women was exhausting.
Long hours of cultivation and body conditioning had never worn him down quite like this. Under the hot sun, with his arms full of parcels and his legs slowly turning to lead, he felt every bit of it.
"Su Yan, hurry up already!!"
Xiao Wu called from up ahead.
Dragging himself out of his self-pity, Su Yan looked toward his tormentor.
The years at Nuoding had changed her more than he sometimes noticed day to day. She had grown taller, and the childish roundness that used to cling to her face had softened into something brighter and more delicate without losing any of its life. Her long scorpion braid still swung behind her as she moved, lively as ever, and she still carried herself with the same easy confidence.
As she turned fully toward him, lifting one hand to wave impatiently, the familiar bracelet around her wrist caught the sunlight for a moment. The little rabbit-and-carrot charm was still there. The cord had clearly been replaced at some point over the years, but she was still wearing it.
Then Xiao Wu narrowed her eyes.
"What are you standing there staring at?" she demanded. "Hurry up!"
The moment shattered.
Su Yan let out a breath through his nose and started forward again.
"I'm carrying half the market already," he said. "The least you could do is show some concern for your hardworking porter."
Xiao Wu crossed her arms.
"Brother San is carrying even more, and he has not complained even once."
Tang San was indeed carrying more than he was. Several parcels hung from both hands, yet his pace remained even and his posture straight beneath the midday sun.
Gone was the thin, gaunt boy who had first stepped into Dorm Seven all those years ago. Tang San was still lean, but now there was real firmness to his frame, the clear result of years of relentless training.
Not that Su Yan thought himself any worse off. He had filled out well enough over the years too, and if anything, he was probably a touch more muscular than Tang San.
But that was beside the point.
"Yeah, and I'm just a poor one-ringed Spirit Master," he said. "How could I possibly be compared to the two of you?"
Xiao Wu immediately puffed out her cheeks, marched up to him, and jabbed him in the stomach over and over.
"You are not allowed to keep using that as an excuse!"
"Ah—stop, you're trying to kill me!"
Su Yan shouted as he tried to flinch away from Xiao Wu's endless assault.
The nearby crowd watched the scene with fond amusement.
Xiao Wu eventually calmed after a few more jabs, though a trace of disappointment lingered on her face.
"Su Yan, are you really not coming with me and Brother San to Shrek?"
With a sigh, Su Yan answered.
"Xiao Wu, we've been over this. That isn't the path I want to take, and I'm only a one-ringed Spirit Master. I doubt I'd meet Shrek's standards anyway."
Her frown deepened.
"But Brother San said it's the best Spirit Master academy around. If you're not going there, then where would you go?"
Then she turned at once.
"If it's really just your rank, I'm sure they could make an exception, right, Brother San?"
Tang San's faint smile faded into a thoughtful frown. After a brief pause, he answered carefully,
"I could ask Master, but I can't promise anything."
The answer brought some light back to Xiao Wu's face, and she immediately turned back to Su Yan with hopeful eyes.
"It's still going to be no, I'm afraid," Su Yan said. "And while we're at it, I have to ask—why are you buying so much stuff? Can't you get some of it once you actually reach the academy? You're the one who'll have to carry all this there."
Tang San answered evenly,
"It's fine. I have a storage soul tool. I can store it."
Su Yan blinked.
Then, as if something finally clicked, he slowly turned his head.
…Right. Of course, Tang San had one.
He had been too busy suffering under the sun to think of it.
"Wait," he said. "You had a storage soul tool this whole time?"
Tang San looked back at him calmly.
"You never asked."
Su Yan stared at him. "And that makes it fine for you to let me carry this stuff all morning?"
"I was carrying things as well," he said. "It really wasn't that difficult."
Su Yan hung his head.
"Just take the stuff and store it already. I can feel my arms falling off."
The moment he was relieved of his burden, Su Yan felt alive again.
"Anything else you want to buy, Xiao Wu? We should be heading back soon. We still need to eat before the competition."
Xiao Wu's eyes kept darting from shop to shop.
"Just a little longer. I still want to look at a few more things."
She quickly darted off toward a jewellery shop, with Tang San following behind.
Su Yan started after them, only for his attention to be caught by a sweet scent drifting through the market. Following it, he came upon an old woman running a sweet bun stall.
"Could I have one, please?"
With a smile, the old woman quickly packed one up for him, but after taking his money, she stuffed another into his hands—this one noticeably bigger than the first.
Su Yan looked at her in confusion.
"It's for the girl," the old woman said, flashing him a toothy grin and a thumbs-up. "I'm on your side, young man."
For a moment, Su Yan could only stare at the oversized bun in his hands.
Then, deciding that trying to explain would only make things worse, he awkwardly thanked her and made a hasty retreat.
Who knew that even in another world, shipping was still very much alive and well…
When he returned to where Xiao Wu and Tang San were, Xiao Wu's attention was immediately caught by the scent of food, and she quickly dashed to Su Yan.
"Is that for me, Su Yan?"
Xiao Wu asked, her eyes shining as they fixed on the extra-large sweet bun.
"Yeah, it is."
"You're the best!"
Xiao Wu said as she quickly snatched it from Su Yan's hands.
"You really shouldn't eat that much this close to lunch. It'll ruin your appetite, Xiao Wu."
Tang San warned.
But by the time he finished speaking, Xiao Wu had already stuffed most of the bun into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed up like a hamster's, and she made a noise of immediate disagreement before managing,
"No, it won't."
After swallowing, she planted her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and added with a smug look on her face,
"I could eat two more and still have room later."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," Tang San said.
After a little while longer, the three made their way back to the academy.
Walking into the cafeteria, Su Yan was once again reminded of how much Nuoding had changed over the years. The food had improved by a decent amount, but the bigger change was in the students themselves. The old divide between noble and commoner students had all but faded, much of it thanks to Xiao Wu's influence and the rules she had laid down back then.
Looking around, Su Yan could see both the upper and lower sections filled with mixed groups of students from both sides.
There were even a few couples among them, though how well some of those pairings would hold up beyond the academy, Su Yan could not say.
After getting his bowl of noodles from the serving window, Su Yan sat down at a table with Xiao Wu and Tang San.
As he slurped down his noodles, he glanced at the two of them. Xiao Wu had taken a bowl of rice with several generous vegetable dishes, while Tang San had rice along with two simple dishes of meat and vegetables.
It did not take Su Yan long to notice that something was off. Tang San was eating at a steady pace, but Xiao Wu wore a faint frown as she nudged her food around with her chopsticks, looking far less enthusiastic than she had when she picked it out.
Eventually, the frown on Xiao Wu's face disappeared. Her eyes drifted to Tang San's bowl, and after a moment, she picked up a large helping of vegetables and placed it inside.
"Here, Brother San. Eat some more vegetables. They're really good."
Tang San paused for a brief moment, then the corners of his mouth lifted. "Alright," he said, accepting it easily before continuing his meal.
Once Tang San's bowl had become more vegetables than rice, Xiao Wu finally changed targets.
"Su Yan, you should try some as well," she said as she dropped another large helping of vegetables into his bowl.
When Su Yan looked at her, Xiao Wu's ears warmed slightly. She quickly lowered her head and hid her face in her own bowl, eating all the faster.
By the time the three finally finished their meal, all of them were thoroughly stuffed. They remained at the table until most of the students had cleared out before finally heading for the training grounds, where the graduation competition was being held.
Su Yan did not remember Nuoding ever having a graduation competition in canon, but by now he was no longer surprised by smaller deviations. He simply chalked it up to butterfly effects.
As they joined the crowd of eagerly waiting students, he saw teachers marking out the stage where the matches would take place, while others organized seating for the audience.
Even Headmaster Xu was up on the temporary platform, pacing back and forth as if rehearsing his speech for the tenth time.
Eventually, once everything had been set up and checked twice, the crowds were finally let in.
Headmaster Xu stood at the center of the platform and raised his voice.
"It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to Nuoding Academy's first graduation competition. Thanks to the suggestion and organization of our guest, Master Xiaogang, and to the truly exceptional graduating class before us, we are able to hold this event today."
He swept a hand toward the assembled students.
"And now, please give a warm round of applause for today's competitors!"
Su Yan rose along with Tang San, Xiao Wu, and seven other students.
Ten Spirit Masters in total.
The cheers and applause from the crowd were thunderous.
Headmaster Xu waited until the noise died down before continuing.
"Now for the rules of this competition. All participants will first be seeded according to their Spirit Master rank, from highest to lowest, and each participant will receive a single challenge token," he said, raising a small gold medallion for the crowd to see. "If a lower-ranked participant challenges a higher-ranked one and wins, the two will swap positions in the rankings. To keep the competition fair, any two participants who have just fought in a challenge match may not be selected again in the following round of challenges."
Lowering the medallion, he placed his hands behind his back.
"Now for the all-important top three seeds. First will be Tang San, with a Spirit Master rank of twenty-nine. Second will be Xiao Wu, at rank twenty-eight. And third will be Su Yan, at rank nineteen. If anyone has any objection to this seeding, speak now."
Silence answered him.
"Good. Since this is a special competition, the academy has also prepared rewards for the top four placements. First place will receive ten gold soul coins, second place five, third place three, and fourth place one."
The headmaster continued announcing the remaining seeds, but most of the competitors were no longer listening closely. With prizes extending to fourth place, their attention had already fixed on the student holding that position.
"Now, you may begin. Announce your challenges with confidence and courage."
Fifth place immediately seized the chance to challenge fourth. The two clearly had an existing rivalry, and while the fight itself was not especially exciting, it ended in a narrow loss for the challenger.
The next round was fought between some of the lower-ranked students, but the moment it ended, fourth place was challenged again.
Su Yan did notice a few students' eyes drifting toward him, but in the end, none of them chose to challenge him.
More than once, Su Yan caught Tang San looking at him instead of at the matches for fourth place, as though that ongoing scramble had never really held his interest at all.
Su Yan had assumed things would end once the last few matches were settled.
Instead, Tang San suddenly rose to his feet and raised his medallion high.
"I wish to challenge Su Yan to a match!"
Su Yan froze.
A wave of whispers broke out through the crowd at once.
"First seed is challenging third?"
"What's the point of that?"
"Tang San is already a two-ringed Spirit Master. Su Yan only has one ring."
Su Yan's brows drew together. There was very little to gain from accepting a match like this.
Before he could speak, Teacher Lin's voice rang out from the side.
"I object."
All eyes turned toward her.
"Tang San is already ranked first in the competition," she said coldly. "And Su Yan is only a rank nineteen Spirit Master. Everyone here can see this is not a challenge of equals."
For a brief moment, the crowd quieted.
Then a familiar and irritating voice cut through the silence.
"Is there really any problem with this?"
Yu Xiaogang stepped forward, standing with his hands behind his back. His tone was calm, but his eyes were fixed on Teacher Lin.
"This is a competition, is it not? Or will Su Yan only accept challenges when he holds the advantage?"
He let the words hang for a heartbeat before continuing.
"If he cannot even face a challenge in a controlled environment such as this, how can he claim to possess the courage expected of a Spirit Master?"
"This isn't about courage," Teacher Lin said sharply. "There is no point in Tang San challenging Su Yan."
Yu Xiaogang's expression did not change.
"You are simply asking for special treatment for your student," he said evenly. "There is no rule forbidding a higher-ranked participant from challenging a lower-ranked one. Headmaster Xu can confirm that."
The crowd's gaze shifted at once to Headmaster Xu, whose expression turned grim.
After a long, displeased look at Yu Xiaogang, he said,
"There is indeed no rule forbidding this challenge. That is an oversight on the part of the academy. Though I acknowledge the unfairness of it, I will not create new rules in the middle of the competition."
Teacher Lin opened her mouth to object again, but Su Yan cut her off.
"That's enough, Teacher Lin. Thank you for your concern, but I'll accept this challenge."
With that, he stepped forward and walked past Tang San toward the arena.
Once he reached the centre, Su Yan looked back.
Xiao Wu looked between him and Tang San with clear unease on her face. Teacher Lin looked both angry and worried. Xiaogang remained as composed as ever, wearing that infuriating air of someone who believed himself above the whole matter. Opposite him, Tang San stood ready, determination burning in his eyes.