"Last one, Tang Wulin, right?"
Only this final student remained to be dealt with.
His gaze fell on Tang Wulin. After glancing down at the file in his hands, Long Hengxu's tone softened slightly.
"I've already understood the full situation. This matter isn't your fault, so you won't be punished. However, your martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, and you were originally assigned to Class Five anyway."
Tang Wulin looked up in surprise. He had expected to be punished. After all, no matter how one looked at it, he himself hadn't been injured, while Zhou Changxi had been badly hurt.
It seemed this teacher wasn't as cold and severe as he appeared.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Long Hengxu said calmly. "Although the situation had its reasons, public property was damaged, and that must still be compensated. I'll have the finance office calculate the repair cost for the window. Remember to pay it afterward."
"Pay?" Tang Wulin froze. He had no money.
The intermediate academy provided compulsory education along with food and lodging, so he hadn't brought much cash with him.
Moreover, his family circumstances didn't allow for much spending.
He only had the three thousand federal credits his father had given him, his entire semester's allowance.
"No."
Su Qiu stepped forward.
Everyone looked at him in confusion.
"This money should be paid by Zhou Changxi."
He was simply stating facts.
In Su Qiu's view, the entire incident had started because Zhou Changxi tried to bully his dormmate.
Even if Zhou Changxi ended up suffering the consequences and Tang Wulin was unharmed, that didn't change anything.
Bullying was still bullying.
The one responsible should be the one paying compensation.
"This…" Long Hengxu hesitated. If it had been any other student daring to contradict him, he would have thrown them out already.
But the one opposing him was Su Qiu. If he upset the young master of Eastsea City, he might be dismissed tomorrow just for stepping into the academy with his left foot first.
Tang Wulin also perked up, looking gratefully at Su Qiu.
Zhou Changxi's face turned ashen. He wanted to protest, but when he saw Tang Wulin standing there unharmed, the pain from his injuries throbbed faintly, forcing him to abandon the idea of arguing.
Instead, he shot a pleading look toward Long Hengxu.
Teacher, say something! Why are you just watching?
"Fine." In the end, Long Hengxu's cold voice settled the matter.
"You may all leave. If there is another fight next time, it will be recorded in your files. Those records will affect whether you can continue your education and whether you can become mecha masters in the future."
After leaving the administrative office, Su Qiu headed straight back to the dormitory. He hadn't even made his bed yet, he wondered whether the other roommates had arrived.
At that moment, Tang Wulin hurried over. With sincere eyes and a serious tone, he said, "Thank you. My name is Tang Wulin. May I ask your name?"
"I'll repay you someday."
"It's nothing. I just can't stand campus bullying." Su Qiu's gaze shifted slightly as he placed a hand on Tang Wulin's shoulder. "No need to talk about repaying me. Just help me with something."
"What is it?"
"You're dormmates. Keep an eye on Zhou Changxi. If he ever bullies anyone again, tell me immediately."
"Huh?"
Tang Wulin was stunned at first, then immediately promised, "Alright, I'll watch him."
At the same time, he couldn't help sighing inwardly, Su Qiu was truly a person filled with a sense of justice. The city wasn't full of bad people after all; there were also kind individuals like the senior student who helped him earlier and Su Qiu.
He recalled Su Qiu saying in the office that he intended to join Class Five and silently resolved that he would learn from him as much as possible in the future.
Returning to the dormitory, he found that one of the bunk beds was already occupied, both the upper and lower berths.
"So you're our roommate?" One of them, fairly handsome with slanted bangs across his forehead, raised a hand in greeting, appearing friendly.
Su Qiu, however, could detect a faint hint of pride in his tone, his friendliness was built upon confidence in his own strength.
Before Su Qiu could respond, the other spoke first. "Hello, my name is Wang Jinxi. My martial soul is Bone Dragon King. May I ask what your martial soul is?"
Wang Jinxi was extremely thin, with cold eyes and an aura that constantly exuded darkness.
"Oh?" Zhang Yangzi looked slightly surprised. He knew his childhood friend's personality well, normally he was the one who handled social interactions. Why had Wang Jinxi suddenly taken the initiative today?
Martial soul?
Suddenly realizing something, Zhang Yangzi felt that his own martial soul seemed slightly unsettled. The sensation was faint, but now that he paid attention, he noticed it clearly.
"Hello, my name is Su Qiu. My martial soul is the Sword of Promised Victory. You can also call it the Holy Sword."
Su Qiu had never intended to hide his twin martial souls. In this era, twin martial souls didn't hold the same overwhelming advantage they had thousands of years ago, so there was little reason to conceal them.
However, unless necessary, he usually introduced only the Holy Sword.
He was too lazy to mention the Holy Spear; back in primary academy, curious children had constantly pestered him with questions, which had annoyed him endlessly.
"The Holy Sword?"
It sounded like it likely possessed a Light attribute.
Compared to Zhang Yangzi's outgoing nature, Wang Jinxi was more observant. The moment Su Qiu entered the room, he noticed that his own martial soul felt suppressed.
His Bone Dragon King martial soul possessed a Dark attribute; clearly, it was being suppressed by the opponent's Light attribute.
Even without summoning the martial soul, suppression had already formed, just how strong was the Light attribute of this Holy Sword martial soul?
That was also the reason Wang Jinxi had introduced himself first. Toward the strong, he always maintained basic respect.
"Uh, I'm Zhang Yangzi. My martial soul is the Dark Phantom Demon Eagle." Since his friend had already taken the lead, Zhang Yangzi followed suit.
"There's still one more person in our dorm. Hasn't he arrived yet?"
While unpacking his luggage and taking out his quilt to make the bed, Su Qiu chatted casually with the roommates he would be living with for a long time.
"Right. When we arrived, only your luggage was here. The last person hasn't shown up yet."
Gradually, Su Qiu became more familiar with them.
Just as the conversation was getting lively, an unfriendly voice suddenly cut in.
"Pretty lively in here, huh?"
A somewhat gloomy-looking youth stepped in from outside, his tone sharp and unpleasant.
He pointed at Su Qiu.
"You, get to the top bunk. I'm taking the lower one."
Though the gesture seemed casual, the gloomy youth was actually displeased with Su Qiu's handsome appearance.
That bright and attractive face stirred a hint of jealousy within him.
"Sigh…"
With a helpless sigh, Su Qiu truly couldn't understand why so many people seemed eager to start bullying others right at the beginning of the school term.
First Zhou Changxi, and now this guy.
"I'm talking to you. Move."
The gloomy youth stepped forward, apparently intending to shove him.
"Tch."
Smack!
Su Qiu impatiently swung his hand back, delivering a slap across the youth's face. The motion was so fast that even Zhang Yangzi, whose martial soul granted him eagle-like perception, failed to see it clearly.
Bang.
The slap was extremely fierce. The gloomy youth spun through the air in a curved arc, rotating two and a half times before crashing onto the ground.
"Y-you… you really want to die!?"
With the right side of his face numb, his speech became slightly slurred as he struggled to his feet in fury.
Two yellow spirit rings rose beneath his feet. A green glow flickered around his body, and a small green snake appeared near his shoulder.
"Average."
Su Qiu didn't even bother summoning his martial soul. In an instant, he closed the distance, preparing to engage in close-quarters combat and overwhelm the opponent purely through superior physical attributes.
Facing the rapidly charging figure, the gloomy youth couldn't react in time, the speed was simply too fast.