CHAPTER 308: CHAPTER 308 - AERLIC, THE FAVORITE GUY

Tianlong’s gaze traveled down slowly—not to undress her with his eyes, more like a general assessing a soldier—taking in her combat stance, the way her weight distributed on the balls of her feet, the subtle tremor in her left calf muscle from overuse.

His eyes lingered for just a heartbeat on the tear in the stone platform, then back to her face.

"Impressive form," he said, that smile never wavering, trying to keep his mind away from guessing her nipple color and focusing on the present. "Though your follow-through leaves you vulnerable for point-three seconds. Against anyone faster than your opponent just now, you’d be countered."

Yuna’s jaw tightened. Her tail lashed once, twice, the red fur bristling. "I won, didn’t I?"

"You did." Tianlong inclined his head, reading webnovels nearly making him know the psychology of such women. He had just provoked her. "But victory against the weak teaches nothing."

The air got colder.

Someone in the crowd gasped.

Yuna’s pupils narrowed to slits again. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, and the latex gloves covering her hands creaked with the pressure. "You calling Seria weak?"

"I’m calling everyone in this yard weak." Tianlong’s voice didn’t rise; it didn’t need to. The words just landed like anvils. "Including you, Miss Yuna."

Her ear twitched.

"Oh?" She straightened up fully now, rolling her shoulders back. The motion made her chest bounce slightly, the tight outfit shifting and settling.

’Fuck, is she trying to show off her perky milkers?’ Tianlong closed his eyes as he realized.

Bullshit.

Yeah, it was bullshit that he had reached saturation due to seeing so many beautiful women naked and moaning under him.

His cock was twitching...

And just snapping the last thread keeping him in his saintly form was how she lifted her hand, her fingers with red nails the same shade as her eyes and hair color, the long tail swirling like a wave behind her, fingers flexing to show her milky white palm. Her eyes looked at him as if he were some puny ant. She threatened, "That so?"

"Quite so." He took another step forward, the ten steps of distance vanishing. His body materialized in front of her, his fingers interlocking with hers, holding them firmly.

’!’

"Wh-what—!?" Yuna was visibly shocked, seeing that speed where she definitely noticed none of his muscles flexed.

Up close, she could see the golden threads in his robes weren’t embroidered—they pulsed faintly, like circuits carrying current. "But that’s why I’m here."

And when he said it, her eyes flickered, blinking as she looked at his face. Her red, dewy lips—due to sweat—pursed as she could feel his thumb massaging her palm, as if she were some real cat. "To fix that particular problem in your body... in my way."

The murmurs got louder.

Yuna’s tail swished behind her, the tip flicking back and forth in agitation. Her red eyes locked with his, and for a long moment, neither of them moved.

The tension stretched out like taffy, getting thinner and thinner until it felt ready to snap.

Then Tianlong smiled wider. "Tell me, Miss Yuna. Do you know what separates the strong from the truly powerful?"

She didn’t answer because he was holding her erogenous zone, that sensitive palm, while massaging it in a way she never thought would feel like that—not much, but intriguing, how it tickled there.

"Intent," he continued, raising his other hand.

His fingers moved in a complex pattern, too fast to follow, and suddenly the air around his palm shimmered. "Any fool can throw a punch. Any idiot can channel energy into their fist and break stone. But to impose your will upon reality itself? To make the world bend because you decided it should?"

He clenched his fist.

The entire training platform groaned. Not the broken part—the whole damn thing.

Cracks spider-webbed out from where Tianlong stood, racing across stone that had held up against decades of combat training.

The barrier flickered, runes flashing warning-red.

"That," he said softly, "is power."

BOOM!

Yuna’s breath caught. Her ears pressed flat against her skull now, every instinct screaming at her that this man could erase her without breaking a sweat.

If not her instinct, then that sound... that was the barriers of not just this training platform but all around shattering, not due to their rune stones breaking but rather the force crushing them with sheer brute force slamming down on them.

Each of the barriers was made to withstand the force of a Peak Golden Body Realm cultivator—nearly enough force to knead metal like clay and just below Diamond Body Realm—and now they crumbled into tiny shards at the same time without this man even making a move.

’He is dangerous...’

But she didn’t step back.

Didn’t look away. Just stood there in her skin-tight black outfit with the white trim, chest heaving, tail bristled, meeting his gaze with pure defiance burning in her ruby eyes.

"Show me then," she said quietly, her pride not letting her accept defeat this easily.

’Whoa...’ Tianlong was impressed. He could see all the other students visibly shocked, looking panicked. But this woman was really something else, to just stand there like this—somewhat intriguing him now, but appearing like a cute cat with beautiful pride.

The crowd lost their collective shit—unneeded NPCs doing their thing to make it look like a cringey recycled plot, which it actually was.

"IS SHE INSANE?!"

"Yuna, what the hell— Call the professors!"

But Tianlong just laughed. Actually laughed because she was looking more hot now. The sound was rich and genuinely amused. "Now that," he said, "is the correct answer."

He lowered his hand, and the pressure vanished like someone flipped a switch. The platform stopped cracking. The barrier stabilized. Even that weird smell faded until only normal training-ground sweat remained.

Yuna’s tail slowly unfurled, though her ears stayed alert.

Tianlong turned away, black robes swirling around him as he walked toward the platform’s edge to give the vibe of an ancient beast or super mysterious professor—which he was not.

"Class begins tomorrow, eight sharp. Don’t be late, Miss Yuna." He paused at the stairs, glancing back over his shoulder. Those eyes gleamed.

"And..." Tianlong could act chad here and leave, but he couldn’t help but appreciate what was true, so he added, "...you look damn gorgeous in that dress."

Then he was gone, descending the steps and disappearing into the academy building like smoke.

For five full seconds, nobody moved.

Then the training yard erupted into chaos—everyone talking at once, shouting questions, theories, holy-shit-did-you-see-that exclamations.

Someone was already pulling out their communication crystal to spread the news.

Thump thump.

’Hm?’ But Yuna just stood there on the cracked platform, one hand resting over her racing heart—feeling it hammer against the tight latex—her tail hanging limp behind her.

"What the hell," she murmured.

Her reflection caught in a piece of the shattered barrier showed a cat-kin girl with flushed cheeks, wide eyes, and for the first time since entering the academy, an expression that wasn’t calm confidence.

It was genuine, undiluted—the kind she had for the first time she heard Aelric genuinely helping her, and even that was after knowing him for many days. But this...

’Maybe my heart is opening due to Aelric...’ A smile formed as she realized the reason she showed such an expression just now was because of the kind nature of that classmate of hers. She might have lost much of her old stoic nature, which made her flush like this due to some stranger.

’Wait.’ Then suddenly, after understanding it, she lifted her eyes, looking around, as focused on the present priority.

’Where is Aelric?’