Extreme Ice

The Sea God Lake, which had still been radiating scorching heat a moment ago, had now completely calmed down.

On the shore, Jiang Yuheng did not rush to end things. He waited a moment, and only after confirming that his opponent would not launch a counterattack did he withdraw his Martial Soul and the two purple Spirit Rings tinged with dim red.

Huo Yuhao hurried forward. "Brother Yuheng, are you all right?"

Jiang Yuheng shook his head. "I'm fine. The consumption was just a little heavy."

After saying that, he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the deep blue in his eyes had faded.

This was the second time he had used the Soul Skill after lifting the Seal. Compared to the first time, his control over the Cold Air had improved considerably, but the weakness brought on after using it had not lessened in the slightest.

"It's good that you're okay." Huo Yuhao let out a sigh of relief. He was not at all surprised by Jiang Yuheng's strength.

Then he turned toward Sea God Lake and asked, "Should we save her?"

Jiang Yuheng said, "Leave her alone. Someone will handle it. Let's get our stories straight first, so we don't give ourselves away later."

In the distance, dozens of figures sped over from the depths of Sea God Lake at astonishing speed. In just a few blinks, they had reached the shore.

"Oh no, an Outer Court student has been injured!" The leader was an elderly man dressed in white. He suddenly took a step through the air, seeming to cross space itself, and arrived beside Jiang Yuheng and Jiang Yuheng in an instant.

"You are?" Jiang Yuheng weakly clutched his chest, his face pale as he looked at the old man before him.

Before he could speak, the old man's Soul Power had already entered their bodies. "Fortunately, they are only physically weakened and have not suffered any substantial injuries."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief and turned to order Teacher Li behind him to treat the two of them.

"Yes, Dean."

Teacher Li nodded and quickly walked over. He summoned his Life Tree Martial Soul, and rings of green Spirit Rings surrounded the two of them, gently nourishing them.

"Dean, Xiaotao is here."

With a splash, a person in white fished Ma Xiaotao out of the lake.

The old man went to her side and pressed his right hand against her shoulder. Dense white Soul Power poured into Ma Xiaotao's body at an astonishing speed.

"Strange." The old man's brows furrowed slightly.

The Evil Fire within Xiaotao's body had actually been suppressed? Who did it?!

The old man turned slightly and fixed his gaze on Jiang Yuheng and Huo Yuhao.

But after considering it carefully, these two little fellows only had one or two Spirit Rings. Even if they possessed Ice Attribute Martial Souls, it was nearly impossible for them to suppress Xiaotao's flames across such a gap in cultivation.

"Little ones, I am deeply sorry. My disciple nearly got you killed. Rest assured, the academy will give you the highest level of compensation. But before that, I have a question that I need you to answer."

Jiang Yuheng said nothing. He lightly patted Huo Yuhao with his right hand, signaling for him to answer the question.

After all, they had to act the part all the way through. If he spoke himself, they would be exposed.

Huo Yuhao understood. "Go ahead. I'll tell you everything I know!"

"Who saved you?" the old man asked.

"I don't know. At the time, we were focused on defending ourselves and escaping, so we didn't pay attention to what was happening behind us."

"By the time we turned back, that Senior had already disappeared, and the flames around us had been extinguished by the frost on the ground."

Huo Yuhao's logic was clear. He neither avoided the main question nor subtly mixed lies into his answer, making it impossible for anyone to distinguish truth from falsehood.

The old man crouched slightly and pinched a snowflake of Ice Silk between his fingers. "As expected, Extreme Ice."

After a brief moment of thought, he recalled that quite a few of the New Students recently admitted to the academy possessed Ice Attribute Martial Souls, but none of them had Extreme Ice.

It seemed these two little fellows were telling the truth. Someone had indeed secretly saved them, but who could it have been?

Just then, two figures arrived at Sea God Lake in rapid succession.

"Jiang Yuheng!"

A pink-blue figure flashed over in an instant and arrived at Jiang Yuheng's side, looking at him anxiously.

Upon hearing her voice, Jiang Yuheng could not hide the tenderness in his eyes as he happily called her name.

"Wang Dong."

"What happened? Are you hurt? Do you need to see the School Doctor?"

Before Jiang Yuheng could reply, Wang Dong began a thorough examination without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao keenly sensed that something was unusual between them. He tactfully stepped aside, leaving this small space to the two of them.

"Dean Yan. May I ask what happened? Why did even you come here?" Zhou Yi hurried over. Upon seeing the old man, she respectfully bowed in greeting.

Yan Shaozhe waved a hand. "It's nothing. Just a minor incident, and it has already been resolved."

With that, he turned around, picked up Ma Xiaotao, and flashed away in a streak of white light toward the depths of Sea God Lake.

"The compensation will be delivered later."

After saying that, the others followed Yan Shaozhe toward the depths of Sea God Lake.

Only after they had left did Zhou Yi ask what exactly had happened to the two of them.

Jiang Yuheng also recounted what had happened, making a few slight alterations.

"So it was her. No wonder..." Zhou Yi nodded, understanding already in her eyes.

"Teacher Zhou, what exactly is going on with that Senior from That Academy?" Jiang Yuheng asked in confusion.

Zhou Yi answered calmly, "You will find out, but not now. By the way, how are you feeling? Are you injured?"

Jiang Yuheng shook his head. "I'm fine. I just overexerted my Soul Power."

"It's good that you're fine. Go back to class." Zhou Yi pushed up her glasses and walked toward the teaching building.

The three of them followed behind her, returned to the classroom, and took their respective seats.

Zhou Yi stood at the front and clapped her hands, signaling everyone to turn their attention toward her.

"Originally, I planned to use special training today to decide who would become this class's Squad Leader. But after giving it some thought, as the Little Monsters of Shrek Academy, such a hasty method of deciding would be far too simple."

"I have decided to let you compete through Team Battle. First, it can test everyone's strength. Second, it can improve your teamwork and coordination, building a solid foundation for your Freshman Assessment."

"You may form teams however you like, with any combination you want. In short, the result I want is victory. You may begin."

The sudden change caught everyone off guard. Some of the quicker-reacting students had already begun gathering teammates around them.

Some formed teams of two, some groups of four, and some even formed groups of six.

After all, Teacher Zhou had not clearly specified the number of people allowed in a team.

In other words, they could choose their team size freely. As long as they wanted to, even fifty people in one team would not be a problem.

Among them, the fastest team to form was Jiang Yuheng, Wang Dong, and Huo Yuhao. The moment they heard the order, they looked at one another in perfect tacit understanding, confirming each other's intentions.

In less than ten minutes, aside from a very small number of students, most of the class had completed their team formations.