Ye Lingling

Upon arriving at the academy, most of those studying court etiquette here were young ladies from noble families. Not only were they beautiful, but they also carried themselves with great poise. Each of them sat elegantly on a sofa, with a harp placed before her.

"Students, another new classmate will be joining you today." Tang Yuehua brought Zhao Zilong before them and introduced him. "His name is Zhao Zilong. Zilong, introduce yourself."

"Oh." Zhao Zilong immediately said, "My name is Zhao Zilong. My Martial Soul is the Blue Silver Emperor, and I am a level 62 Soul Emperor."

"Level 62?" "So he's a Soul Master! His Soul Power is already so high at such a young age!" "That's amazing!" The noble young ladies below immediately began discussing him. However, discordant voices soon followed. "Zhao Zilong? I've never heard of him. He doesn't seem to be from some noble family, does he?" "Could he be a commoner?"

Hearing this, Zhao Zilong felt somewhat displeased. Red killing intent began to seep from his body. Even though he held no desire to kill, the killing intent around him seemed to embody his emotions. In an instant, the temperature throughout the classroom began to drop.

All the students looked at Zhao Zilong with some fear in their eyes. Beside him, Tang Yuehua thought, Such powerful killing intent. Aside from my brother, I have never seen killing intent this pure. And it seems he revealed it unintentionally.

Noble Ring... In an instant, a refreshing sensation spread through the room, and Zhao Zilong's killing intent was directly purified by Tang Yuehua's Noble Ring domain.

Zhao Zilong turned to glance at Tang Yuehua. For that brief instant, he had felt exceptionally refreshed. Tang Yuehua gave him a gentle smile and said, "Although Zilong is not a noble, he is the personal disciple of the current Pope. Like all of you, he has come here to study etiquette."

Upon hearing that Zhao Zilong was the Pope's disciple, the young ladies' opinions of him changed again. "The Pope's disciple..." "Hmph, so what if he's the Pope's disciple? He's still a commoner, isn't he?"

Although they spoke quietly, Zhao Zilong was a dignified Soul Emperor. Naturally, he heard every word clearly.

Zhao Zilong thought, As expected, nobles are all like this—arrogant, conceited, looking down on everyone else, always thinking they're superior and never taking others seriously...

Tang Yuehua then said, "Go sit beside Lingling."

"Lingling?" Zhao Zilong froze upon hearing that.

Seeing his reaction, Tang Yuehua asked in confusion, "Weren't you and Ye Lingling classmates before?"

"Ye Lingling is here too?" Zhao Zilong immediately swept his gaze over the girls. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure among them and promptly walked over.

"Lingling? You're Ye Lingling?" Zhao Zilong looked at Ye Lingling. She had changed considerably from two and a half years ago. Her once short silver-blue hair had grown to her waist. She wore a silver court dress, and a layer of silver gauze covered her face, yet her lovely features could still be seen clearly.

When Ye Lingling saw Zhao Zilong appear here, her pretty face also flushed slightly. She had never imagined that she would encounter him here. She had thought that after they parted at the academy, it would be difficult for them to meet again. Even if they did, things would surely have changed. Looking at Zhao Zilong beside her, Ye Lingling felt excitement in her heart as well.

Ye Lingling had always thought highly of Zhao Zilong. She had even harbored a secret crush on him, because he was the most outstanding boy she had ever met. However, Zhao Zilong had been with Meng Yiran, and later with Huo Wu. From beginning to end, until Zhao Zilong finally left, Ye Lingling had never dared reveal her feelings.

Looking at Zhao Zilong before her, she saw that his hair and eyes had changed again. She remembered that when she last saw him, his Martial Soul Evolution had made him very handsome. Yet now, he seemed even more handsome.

"Yes, it's me." Ye Lingling nodded gently.

Tang Yuehua began the lesson at that moment. "All right, stop talking. Let's first review what we learned yesterday. Zilong, since you just arrived today, follow everyone and learn properly."

Soon, the students began to play. Listening to the music, Zhao Zilong also felt his heart relax somewhat, and the restlessness within him gradually subsided.

Before long, the piece ended, and Tang Yuehua began teaching the students a new one.

An hour later, the day's lesson came to an end. Everyone stood and prepared to leave. Tang Yuehua handed Zhao Zilong a music score and said, "Zilong, this is a very simple score. Practice it yourself, and I will check on you tomorrow. Lingling, you two were classmates before, so you will be responsible for teaching him."

"Yes, Teacher." Ye Lingling nodded softly.

Zhao Zilong glanced at the music score, then looked toward Ye Lingling. When Ye Lingling met his gaze, her eyes shifted away slightly. Zhao Zilong teased, "Lingling, we really are fated. I never expected us to meet here too."

Ye Lingling remained silent. Zhao Zilong continued, "By the way, why did you come here to study?"

Ye Lingling explained, "I plan to become a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so I came here to learn etiquette as well."

"Teachers need to learn etiquette now too?" Zhao Zilong asked in surprise.

"Yes."

But when he considered that all the students at Heaven Dou Royal Academy were nobles, it really did seem necessary to know some etiquette.

Seeing Ye Lingling's indifferent demeanor, Zhao Zilong was speechless. Every time he spoke with Ye Lingling, she had been like this. Her aloof personality made her seem detached from worldly affairs. Zhao Zilong teased, "Aren't you even a little curious about why I'm here?"

Ye Lingling's pretty face reddened slightly, and her gaze darted away from Zhao Zilong. She simply looked to the side, then finally turned back to him and lowered her head as she said softly, "Still, you really are amazing. In less than three years, your Soul Power has reached level 62. Compared to you, I'm far behind."

Zhao Zilong grinned. "That's because I encountered some fortunate opportunities."

Ye Lingling asked shyly, "Why are you here? Didn't you already become Your Excellency the Pope's disciple? As a Soul Master, you shouldn't need to study things like etiquette, should you?"

"That? It's because I previously went to the City of Slaughter." Zhao Zilong explained, "In the City of Slaughter, I lived amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood every day. Every day, I had to face all kinds of assassinations, ambushes, killing, and being killed. In the end, I finally passed the City of Slaughter's trial."

"However, the killing intent I honed in the City of Slaughter became my inner demon. Although I can usually suppress it, sometimes it leaks out along with my emotions. Simply put, coming here is also a different kind of cultivation for me."

However, at that moment, a discordant, disdainful voice rang out. "Hmph, so that's what you are. You're just a murderer. I really don't know why Teacher Yuehua allowed a murderer like you into such an elegant place. Get out!"

"That's right, I don't want to be with a criminal. Even the air we breathe has become dirty." "Why is a murderer here? Shouldn't he be locked in prison?" "How can a lowly commoner like this be here? Hurry up and get out."

Hearing the noble young ladies around him, Zhao Zilong's mood immediately soured. He turned to look at them, his eyes gradually turning red.

When Zhao Zilong glared at them, how could these pampered noble young ladies endure such killing intent? Their faces went pale with fright. The surrounding air grew colder and colder under Zhao Zilong's powerful killing intent. Starting from beneath his feet, frost actually began to form around him, and the temperature dropped even faster.

"So cold..." "What's going on? Why did it suddenly get so cold?" The noble young ladies stared at Zhao Zilong. Behind him, a God of Slaughter formed from condensed killing intent, more than ten meters tall. The red shadow made of killing intent frightened the young ladies until they collapsed to the ground. "What are you doing? We're nobles!" "Guards! Guards! Hurry up and arrest him!"

Zhao Zilong looked at the noble young ladies. Although the killing intent around him was powerful, he could still control his urge to kill. He said coldly, "Stop flaunting your noble status here. You study court etiquette here only so you can get close to important people, don't you? Vases with nothing but beauty and not a shred of Soul Power are nothing more than toys for those important people."