Fire Butterflies Fill the Sky, Warming Everyone, 0030 Throws Herself into His Arms!

"Don't rush, don't rush! One at a time!"

The grin beneath Huo Wushuang's mask nearly reached his ears. He frantically squeezed out every bit of flame he could produce, drying the clothes of the drenched people queued up before him.

These people had all gotten water on their formal attire. After the guide had said that getting their attire wet would lower their scores, they had panicked. Air-drying was far too slow, so they could only rely on these Fire Attribute soul masters.

This delighted the people from Blazing Academy. It was their first time enjoying being used for free so much.

Several students stood in a row, carefully releasing flames as they busied themselves with great enthusiasm.

Quite a few black-clad evaluators focused their attention on Blazing Academy.

"That girl's control over the fire element is quite good. She's far better than the few beside her."

"I remember her. Her name seems to be Huo Wu. She's considered a genius among Blazing Academy's younger generation."

"Give her a score... Wait, what is this?"

The black-clad man hidden in the shadows suddenly froze. He curiously stared at a red butterfly fluttering before him.

The butterfly was exceptionally dazzling, its entire body fiery red. It had long tail wings, with countless tiny sparks scattering behind it, dreamlike in appearance.

Just then, the butterfly brushed past the black-clad man beside him, and his robe instantly caught fire.

"Fuck! Fuck! I'm on fire! Put it out! Hurry!"

Huo Wu wiped the sweat from her chin, her sense of accomplishment overflowing.

"Brother, you're so slow!"

She turned to mock Huo Wushuang, only to find him staring blankly at the scene around them.

Huo Wu immediately turned to look around.

In that instant, her eyes widened in utter shock.

Countless fiery-red butterflies floated slowly through the air. Their flapping wings were formed from wisps of flame, beating in perfect rhythm as they danced around everyone.

"What... is this...?"

Huo Wu stood rooted to the spot, suddenly unable to speak.

Chi Xiu stood before the girls from Skywater Academy, snapping his fingers expressionlessly.

Snap!

"Whoosh—"

With every snap, another swarm of incomparably gorgeous fire butterflies appeared in the air.

Every soul master present stared foolishly at the sight before them. For a moment, they felt as if they were dreaming, but the warm sensation told them otherwise. This dreamlike scene truly existed in reality!

Shui Binger's breathing quickened, and she could not help swallowing.

She could sense 0000 staring directly at her, his gaze carrying a provocative edge.

After Chi Xiu finished snapping his fingers, he shifted his gaze toward the girl who had insulted him earlier and smiled. "Sorry. I may have disappointed you, but I can control more than just the water element."

The insulting girl trembled, her lips pressed tightly together. Even if she wanted to argue, she had no idea what she could say.

This man was so petty. How could there be such a narrow-minded man!

Yet he had not laid a hand on her. He had merely used his astonishing talent to shut everyone up... but that only made her feel even more humiliated.

Chi Xiu sneered, bumped his shoulder against that girl's, and walked toward an open area.

"Don't panic, everyone. Since so many of you got your clothes wet and that might affect your scores, I'll lend you a hand while I'm at it. No need to thank me."

Yes, slapping that girl in the face had been his main purpose. Since he was done with that, he might as well dry everyone's clothes and improve his performance score.

Chi Xiu began waving his hands. All the fire butterflies dancing in the air followed his movements in orderly patterns, flying around each soul master whose body was wet.

White steam drifted through the air, and warm smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

They might have been very envious of 0000's talent, but they had to admit... this really felt amazing.

"Third Brother, why aren't there any butterflies flying around the four of us?"

Ma Hongjun looked around stupidly, only to discover that butterflies surrounded nearly everyone. Only the four of them had been left out.

Tang San remained silent, his face dark as his mood plummeted to rock bottom.

Not only were they behind in scores, they had even been left out of the drying. With so many people here, how low were the odds of that?

"You fat bastard! Stop staring blankly! Spit fire too!"

Dai Mubai flicked Ma Hongjun on the forehead again.

When there was almost no more steam floating in the air, Chi Xiu curled his five fingers into a fist. All the fire butterflies gently exploded at that moment, the scattered sparks resembling a fireworks display, dazzling beyond compare.

0030 sat on a stone stool, looking up at the sight in the sky. A sweet smile unconsciously appeared on her lips.

She looked at Chi Xiu standing there, and for some reason, her eyes grew slightly warm.

Those butterflies were truly beautiful.

She was especially happy today, happier than she had ever been in her life.

Qian Daoliu only snapped out of it when the butterflies vanished, blinking involuntarily.

As though he had just remembered something, he hurriedly turned to Bibi Dong. "Y-you said this kid was a soul master who controlled the water element, didn't you...?"

Bibi Dong's beautiful eyes flickered. She glanced at Qian Daoliu in confusion, unsure how to respond.

"When he crossed the river, he did display astonishing Water Element Control, but just now..."

Bibi Dong frowned slightly and did not continue. "Could he possess dual-element control? But that level of control..."

Qian Daoliu burst into laughter.

"This child must be kept!"

"Big Brother... how should we score this?"

One of the black-clad men looked timidly at the man beside him.

The other man's face was covered in soot, and the flames on his body had only just been extinguished.

"How should we score him? Give that little bastard the fucking lowest score! Damn it! Didn't I just say I couldn't stand him showing off? Then that brat immediately set me on fire!"

"The lowest score... wouldn't that be too obviously fake? Even an average score would be ridiculously fake. This is clearly a top score."

The scorched black-clad man snatched the evaluation sheet away. "No! I'm giving him the lowest score!"

"Big Brother, Big Brother! Calm down! Calm down!"

Chi Xiu walked toward 0030, but she immediately rose from the stone stool and rushed over, opening her slender, pale arms to embrace him.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

Chi Xiu was a little confused. Why was 0030 reacting so strongly?

Shui Binger and the others exchanged several awkward glances before slinking away. There was no point staying any longer. They had been slapped in the face, then force-fed romance on top of it. That man and woman together were simply making things unbearable for them.

"No matter what, thank you. I'm really happy today."

0030 hugged him tighter, her chest rising and falling with excitement.

"You're happy? That's good... though I didn't really do much..."

"Do you know why I like butterflies?"

0030 asked.

"Why?"

"Because they have wings and are incomparably free. I have more wings than they do, yet I'm trapped in a cage."

"I envy them so much..."

Chi Xiu frowned slightly. He could feel that 0030 was sad. She might even have been crying.

He gently patted 0030's back. The exposed skin there was incredibly soft and smooth, yet beneath it seemed to lie a wounded heart.

(End of Chapter)