Chapter 99
Chapter 99: Old Loach, Go Find a Mate Already—Stop Showing Off
Chong Ming’s golden eyes darkened. His low voice turned slow and precise. “So you’ve been pretending.”
He paused. “Noted.”
Jiang Tea Tea waved a hand like she didn’t care. “Sure, sure. Move.”
She stepped forward, squeezed past Chong Ming, and thrust her hand out toward the beautiful female. “Hi. I’m Jiang Tea Tea. Nice to meet you.”
Chong Ming got shoved to the side.
Around the training field, bodyguard troops who’d been sparring paused mid-motion, craning their necks.
The beautiful female looked at Jiang Tea Tea, then instinctively looked to Chong Ming.
Chong Ming gave a small nod.
Only then did the female take Jiang Tea Tea’s hand. “Hello. My name is Xia Wei Yi. I serve in the empire’s central bodyguard corps. My duty is to protect Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming.”
Jiang Tea Tea kept hold of her hand.
She drew on her magic power and sent it gently through Xia Wei Yi’s body, into her mental sea, refining and soothing.
Xia Wei Yi’s pupils tightened. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, you—”
Jiang Tea Tea winked. “Don’t talk. Give me a moment.”
Xia Wei Yi shut her mouth and focused inward.
Warm plant-type psychic power flowed through her mental sea like spring water, nourishing and smoothing everything it touched.
Knots. Impurities. Old, accumulated damage.
One by one, they loosened and cleared.
About ten minutes later, the twenty-five people from the second- and third-ranked squads were brought onto the field.
Jiang Tea Tea released Xia Wei Yi’s hand. “How do you feel?”
Xia Wei Yi’s face lit up, her sharp beauty turning vivid and alive. “Very good.”
“My ability level improved.”
“My mental sea feels… unbelievably comfortable.”
She looked at Jiang Tea Tea with genuine gratitude. “Thank you. Thank you, Classmate Jiang Tea Tea.”
Jiang Tea Tea grinned. “You’re welcome. You’re pretty. I like you.”
She could have refined Xia Wei Yi in two or three minutes.
She’d stretched it to ten on purpose.
She wanted Old Loach to watch.
Xia Wei Yi stiffened. Her voice turned firm, as if correcting a misunderstanding before it could become a disaster. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, I am tiger clan female. Not male.”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked. “I know you’re female.”
She smiled even wider. “Doesn’t change the fact you’re pretty. I like you.”
Xia Wei Yi’s stiffness deepened. “You—”
Sui Xuan Chu shot forward like a panicked mediator. “Misunderstanding, misunderstanding!”
He turned to Xia Wei Yi quickly. “My roommate’s ‘like’ doesn’t mean romantic interest. She doesn’t mean female-to-male liking or male-to-female liking.”
“She just means she admires you. She thinks you’re cool. Strong. Pretty.”
“It’s pure admiration.”
Jiang Tea Tea tilted her head. “Wait. When I said I like you, you thought I liked you like you were male? You thought it was love at first sight?”
Xia Wei Yi finally exhaled, embarrassment flickering across her face. “Sorry. It happened before. When I wore my hair short, some females mistook me for male. They confessed. No matter how I explained, they wouldn’t believe me.”
“I thought you were doing the same.”
Jiang Tea Tea nodded. “That makes sense.”
Then she added, tone softer, “Don’t worry. When I say I like you, it’s not love at first sight.”
“It’s familiarity.”
“You resemble someone I once knew. So I feel fondness by association.”
Chong Ming’s gaze drifted to Xia Wei Yi’s face, then back to Jiang Tea Tea’s.
Someone she once knew.
Was it the same person he’d been searching for?
Xia Wei Yi relaxed fully, gratitude returning. “Then it’s my honor. Thank you for soothing my mental sea.”
Jiang Tea Tea waved it off. “No problem. Get back to work. I’m going back to my classmates.”
Then she grabbed Sui Xuan Chu by the back of his collar. “Come on. What are you still doing here?”
Sui Xuan Chu grumbled as she dragged him. “I was helping you explain. Do you know how scary your words were? She almost thought your orientation was—”
Jiang Tea Tea snorted. “Your orientation is abnormal.”
“Your uncle’s too.”
“Both of you are abnormal.”
Sui Xuan Chu fell silent.
Only Jiang Tea Tea dared insult Chong Ming to his face.
He was impressed.
He was also silently mourning her.
His uncle had a huge tolerance for talent.
And an even bigger right to train talented people until they begged for mercy.
Adjutant Ai stepped up to Chong Ming and snapped a salute. “Commander-in-Chief. The personnel of the top three squads from the 30-school military academy championship are all present.”
Chong Ming nodded, gaze sweeping over the crowd.
Everyone except Jiang Tea Tea and Sui Xuan Chu stood straight with worship in their eyes.
Chong Ming walked forward and spoke, voice deep and commanding. “Congratulations to all of you for achieving the best personal and squad results in three months of competition.”
“You have brought honor to your academies and added a beautiful record to your resumes.”
“As a reward, we have five hours before arriving at Capital Planet.”
“In those five hours, you may challenge Deputy General Xia and her subordinates of the bodyguard corps. Spar with them.”
“Or ask them to instruct you on close-range combat—how to strike the enemy and cause maximum damage.”
Jiang Tea Tea blinked, annoyed.
She’d thought he was going to release ability pressure and feed her cubs.
Instead, he was throwing them into sparring.
Her cubs didn’t need training.
They needed soothing.
Everyone else exploded with excitement.
Someone dared to ask, voice shaking, “Commander-in-Chief, are you saying we can challenge the bodyguard corps and have them guide us?”
The bodyguard corps were the empire’s combat ceiling.
Getting taught by them felt like a miracle.
Chong Ming nodded. “Yes.”
“They may guide you. If you have questions, ask them.”
The three squads—except Jiang Tea Tea—were nearly delirious.
“This is such an honor!”
“This is priceless teaching!”
“My mom and dad are going to faint when I tell them!”
“Commander-in-Chief, thank you!”
“Commander-in-Chief, long live the Commander-in-Chief!”
Jiang Tea Tea rolled her eyes.
He wasn’t living ten thousand years. At most, a few hundred.
While everyone cheered, Jiang Tea Tea slowly backed away toward a corner she’d already picked out.
She’d barely moved a few steps when Chong Ming called out, voice calm but firm.
“Classmate Jiang Tea Tea.”
“As the first-ranked cadet in personal score, don’t you want to spar with Deputy General Xia?”
Jiang Tea Tea stopped and lied smoothly. “I just soothed Xia Wei Yi’s mental sea. It used a lot of my ability. I need rest, not sparring.”
“You all go ahead. Don’t count me in.”
She lifted her hand in a lazy wave. “I’ll cheer for you. Go! Fight!”
Xia Wei Yi, hearing that Jiang Tea Tea had used a lot of ability for her, looked concerned. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, do you want to lie down in the Medical Department?”
Jiang Tea Tea waved her off. “No. I’ll rest on my own. You all go.”
Sui Xuan Chu looked painfully jealous.
He wanted to sit in the corner with his roommate too.
But his uncle was here.
And he already knew what was coming.
Deputy General Xia had been prepared for him.
Top three squads meant thirty-three cadets total.
With Jiang Tea Tea stepping aside, that left thirty-two.
Xia Wei Yi and her thirty-one bodyguards took them one-on-one.
The highest ability level among the cadets was a 4S-rank white male dragon.
He challenged Xia Wei Yi.
In the eyes of classmates, he was a genius.
In the eyes of his family, he was a pillar that could raise his race.
In Xia Wei Yi’s hands, he became a limp little worm.
She crushed him.
He got beaten so hard his worldview cracked. He nearly shifted into dragon beast form to attack her out of rage.
Then he remembered where he was and swallowed it down.
Cheng Xiao Ting, Huang Da Zhuang, and the others fought bodyguards like Da Ma Zi and the other subordinates.
It was a massacre.
They got slammed into the ground. Spat blood. Got up swearing. Got slammed again.
Sui Xuan Chu’s prediction came true.
Xia Wei Yi beat the 4S-rank white dragon, then came for him.
If a 4S dragon couldn’t beat her, a 3S dragon definitely couldn’t.
And Sui Xuan Chu couldn’t even use his golden dragon bloodline suppression.
On his uncle’s ship, as Crown Prince and future sovereign, even if he got beaten to death, he couldn’t surrender. He couldn’t break down. He couldn’t beg.
He could only grit his teeth, endure the pain, endure the injuries, stand up, and get beaten again.
Chong Ming stepped up beside Jiang Tea Tea and glanced at the milk she was sipping. “Golden dragon imperial clan cub milk isn’t suitable for you.”
Jiang Tea Tea leaned bonelessly against the wall, one foot braced against the battleship bulkhead. She watched Huang Da Zhuang get beaten bloody and clicked her tongue.
Then she shot back at Chong Ming, “Whether it suits me or not, it’s in my stomach. I’d know.”
“If you can’t stand seeing me drink it, why don’t you get me a hundred boxes?”
Chong Ming didn’t respond to that.
Instead, he asked quietly, “Why did you suddenly reveal your plant-type ability?”
“That doesn’t fit your usual tendency to hide.”
He glanced toward Xia Wei Yi. “Something forced your hand. You changed your mind. You even used my deputy general as practice.”
Jiang Tea Tea stared at him for a second, bitterly impressed.
No wonder he was Commander-in-Chief and Prince Regent.
Too smart. Too sharp.
Too annoying.
She turned her head away, voice dripping with sarcasm as she shoved the blame onto him without hesitation.
“Commander-in-Chief Chong Ming, if you didn’t think I was ‘sick’ every time I ate more or drank more, and if you didn’t keep trying to drag me to your Medical Department for an exam…”
“Would I have needed to expose myself at all?”
She tilted her chin, eyes sharp. “And you say I used your deputy general as practice.”
“You’re the Commander-in-Chief. The empire’s top authority.”
“Everyone around you has a mental sea clogged up like constipation, and you never bothered finding them treatment.”
“How are you not embarrassed?”
Then she added, even sharper, “And you—you have multiple abilities fighting each other. Mental power surge. Ability instability.”
She smiled sweetly, like a knife. “Take my advice.”
“Either go find a mate.”
“Or go find a high-level healer.”
“Even if you don’t refine your mental power, at least have someone suppress your heat. Two or three times a year is ridiculous.”