"Old Su, are you sure you don't have a... fever?"
Liu Ren glanced at the Dream Butterfly, then at Su Hao.
He silently sighed.
The Butterfly God was too pitiful.
Being set up to fail by her own spirit master.
Unlike him—he never dared to mess with his own Turtle Lord.
But seeing a chance to defeat Su Hao and the Butterfly God, Liu Ren immediately agreed, a grin spreading across his face.
Watching those excited (strikethrough) stunned faces, Su Hao felt they just lacked experience.
Too easily surprised.
Having fought at the elite level and witnessed the destructive power of transcendent spirits...
Going back to beginner-level battles, Su Hao found them dull.
Of course, he had to up the difficulty.
Otherwise... how could the little one improve?
Su Hao crossed his arms and looked at Liu Ren and the others. "You think you've already won?"
"Out of your fifteen spirits, only three are at the beginner level. I'm not exaggerating—if you don't take this seriously, you might lose badly."
Of course,
Besides the Lava Turtle, Ascetic Dog, and Spring Spirit,
Several other spirits were at the peak of the beginner level, and the rest had spiritual power values above 110 points, mastering at least three techniques with considerable lethality.
One-on-one, they'd be easily defeated by a beginner-level spirit.
But 1+1+1+1+...+1 was never as simple as equaling 15.
Moreover, Liu Ren and the others were familiar with each other, so their coordination wouldn't be weak.
They posed a threat to the Dream Butterfly too.
'But if there's no threat, why would I have the Dream Butterfly fight?'
Dream Butterfly: ??? (Did anyone ask for my opinion? o(▼皿▼メ;)o~!)
...
A 1 VS 15 battle couldn't be confined to a small arena.
Su Hao stood on the left spectator stand.
Liu Ren and the others went to the right spectator stand.
They looked out at the spirits on the field.
The Dream Butterfly flew alone.
The fifteen spirits formed an inverted "V" formation.
The Spring Spirit, skilled in long-range attacks, stood in the center, farthest from the Dream Butterfly.
The Lava Turtle and Ascetic Dog flanked the sides.
"Su Hao underestimates us. Today, I, Liu Ren, will defeat the Butterfly God and reach the peak of my life!"
After all, winning through a group fight was still winning.
As a future strong one, I don't care about the process, only the result.
Liu Ren said, "Our tactic is simple: my Lava Turtle and Song Ting's Ascetic Dog will tie up the Dream Butterfly, while you command your spirits to unleash their best techniques.
"Don't worry about friendly fire! Defeating the Butterfly God requires sacrifice!
"Besides, both the Lava Turtle and Ascetic Dog can take more hits than the Dream Butterfly. This battle is ours!"
Since it was after school and the gatekeeper had clocked out, there was no referee.
Su Hao and Liu Ren agreed to use a coin toss to determine the start time.
He patted his wallet and finally fished out a one-yuan coin.
Holding it between his thumb and index finger, he tossed it high.
Whoosh~
The coin flipped in the air, drawing countless eyes.
The Dream Butterfly's big eyes were filled with the coin's color.
Finally,
Clang—
The sound of it landing wasn't loud.
But the spirits sprang into action instantly, following the pre-arranged plan.
The Ascetic Dog charged first.
The Lava Turtle trudged forward step by step.
The Dream Butterfly spat out a thread—its signature silk technique—and the end of the thread stuck to...
That coin!
Su Hao: "???"
The thread pulled and retracted, lifting the coin and landing it in the Dream Butterfly's tiny hands.
At that moment,
The Ascetic Dog was already close, its paw forming a fist, bright yellow light gathering around it.
Technique: Power Punch!
A fist shadow flashed by.
Boom!!!
A gust of wind swept past.
The Dream Butterfly dodged to the side.
"As expected."
Liu Ren adjusted his overlapping double chin.
On the field, the Ascetic Dog, unconcerned about wasting spiritual power, threw punch after punch, driving the Dream Butterfly in one direction.
Together with the approaching Lava Turtle, they cornered it.
"Now's the time..." Liu Ren saw the dawn of victory.
The spirits behind unleashed their long-charged techniques.
Water Tornado!
Seed Machine Gun!
Seed Grenade!
Earth Spike!
Rock Throw!
Flame Splash!
Golden Light Slash!
...
A barrage of techniques came, colorful and deadly, sealing off almost all escape routes.
The Lava Turtle and Ascetic Dog were also caught in the attack range.
The Dream Butterfly focused, its wings fluttering slightly as it traced a spiral path, leaving afterimages.
Rumble~!
Flames, explosive damage, and shattered rocks rained down on the Lava Turtle and Ascetic Dog.
The two spirits gritted through the pain, unfazed.
They opened their eyes, searching for the Dream Butterfly.
Soon, their expressions turned to confusion.
"???"
What's going on?
Weren't you aiming at the Dream Butterfly?
Why are we battered and bruised while it's unscathed?
After two rounds,
The less durable Ascetic Dog fell first, its dog face still full of confusion, bewilderment, and the sorrow of betrayal.
The Lava Turtle fared better.
It was genuinely tough.
But without the Ascetic Dog's cooperation, it was quickly abandoned by the Dream Butterfly.
The tiny figure weaved through the storm of attacks.
It darted left and right, occasionally tossing out two energy balls that shot toward the Spring Spirit and others.
In just a few dozen seconds,
One by one, the spirits fell.
The battered Lava Turtle was the last to be taken down.
By then, the Dream Butterfly still held a shiny coin in its little hands.
It's mine, guno~!
...
Liu Ren was stunned.
Why? Why did this happen?
Whether it was the Blue Water Frog this morning or the dozen spirits now, they all seemed like sure wins. So why did they still lose?
Su Hao was also a bit disappointed.
He had overestimated Liu Ren's spirits.
And slightly underestimated the Dream Butterfly.
"The training in the Valley of Sighs and the Wind Mastery have pushed the little one's evasion to fifty or sixty points. Combined with its keen perception, it accidentally went godlike."
Training was off the table today; the spirits needed time to recover.
But the 1 VS 15 victory still meant something.
Look,
The Dream Butterfly had low odds against fifteen spirits, yet it still won.
Ancheng No.1 High vs. Yangcheng Senior High also had low odds, so...
Liu Ren and the others felt something was off.
But no one would refuse Su Shen's guidance.
...
"Seed Machine Gun requires speed and accuracy."
"The Golden Armor Warrior's left abdomen is its weakness; it needs focused training."
"The Little Stone Elephant should charge more steadily, or it'll trip before knocking anyone over..."
Su Hao pointed out each spirit's flaws one by one.
Of course, being human, he hadn't experienced using techniques himself, so he couldn't go into too much detail. That's where the Dream Butterfly's ability came in.
Teacher Butterfly gave an online lecture.
The spirits listened with dawning understanding, nodding repeatedly.
Su Hao actually knew these spirits better than their own spirit masters.
The Lava Turtle, Ascetic Dog, Spring Spirit... and four others—all followed the cultivation plans he had designed.
After seeing Liu Ren's spirits improve rapidly, Gu Lingyao had abandoned her intermediate spirit master uncle and turned to Su Hao for... ahem, advice.
The other students weren't skeptical of his plans.
These were classmates from ordinary families. Though Su Hao hadn't given them complete plans, he didn't hold back on sharing some cultivation methods and training techniques to address their spirits' weaknesses.
Besides guidance, there was training.
Water Spirit Horse's water bullet shooting trained their evasion.
Close combat with Fire Crow trained their melee skills.
Aiming at the Dream Butterfly trained their accuracy.
As the Lava Turtle and others improved rapidly, the Dream Butterfly, Fire Crow, and Water Spirit Horse also benefited greatly—they rarely found so many sparring partners.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
Yangcheng Senior High was on its way.