Skywater Academy, Shui Bing'er

The outer region was mostly populated by soul beasts below ten thousand years. Soul beasts that hadn't reached ten thousand years had very low intelligence. When they saw something terrifying, they would panic and run everywhere, easily triggering a small-scale beast tide.

If humans happened to be hunting soul beasts here at that time, they could very well lose their lives.

Although Ye Wen had become a soul beast himself, he wouldn't recklessly harm people without reason.

"Alright, Boss, let's head back then," said the Titan Giant Ape.

"Yeah, go ahead." Ye Wen nodded.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Titan Giant Ape returned to the Lake of Life. Ye Wen, the Evil Tiger, and Xiao Bai planned to retreat from the Star Dou Great Forest quickly in their human forms.

Because of the Titan Giant Ape's appearance, a small wave of soul beast tides had indeed been stirred up in the outer region.

Although they had avoided the beast tide, the massive number of surrounding soul beasts fleeing their habitats and territories meant many were on the move, making it extremely easy to run into them.

Normally, soul beasts had fixed territories, especially carnivorous ones. They had their own domains and wouldn't leave easily, only hunting within their range.

This disruption increased the probability of encountering soul beasts.

Ye Wen and his two companions fought their way through several soul beasts around a thousand years old. At the thousand-year level, their human forms with Soul Bones could still handle them.

But unexpectedly, in the outer region, they ran into a Ten Thousand Year Level soul beast!

It was a bear—a Berserk Demonic Bear that had just reached the ten-thousand-year level.

"Roar!!"

At that moment, the Berserk Demonic Bear stood before Ye Wen and the other two, roaring.

"Looks like our luck isn't great! Running into a ten-thousand-year soul beast in the outer region." Ye Wen shrugged helplessly.

There were ten-thousand-year soul beasts in the outer region, but very few. Normally, you almost never encountered them.

"I'll handle it." Xiao Bai prepared to act, switching to her Semi-human Form.

Just then, Ye Wen suddenly stopped her: "Wait! Someone's coming!"

"Third Soul Skill, Ice Scorpion Seal!"

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle!

A woman in a light blue dress rushed over at high speed. The ground instantly froze, directly sealing the Berserk Demonic Bear in ice.

Behind the woman were two girls—one about eleven years old, and another who looked close to ten.

The girl nearing ten already faintly carried a hint of womanly charm. Her body seemed to be just entering its developmental stage, so her figure wasn't remarkable—after all, how good could a ten-year-old girl's figure be?

But this girl was very beautiful. Long blue hair cascaded over her shoulders, her skin was fair, and her features were delicate. She wasn't strikingly stunning at first glance, but upon closer inspection, her beauty kept revealing itself—a hazy kind of beauty that grew more attractive the longer you looked.

"It's her." Ye Wen recognized the girl. She was one of the five elemental academies, a beauty from Skywater Academy—Shui Bing'er.

"What are you three standing there for! Get over here!"

The woman who had frozen the Berserk Demonic Bear quickly shouted.

Ye Wen, the Evil Tiger, and Xiao Bai hurried over to stand behind her.

"Roar!"

At that moment, the Berserk Demonic Bear broke free from the ice and lunged at the woman.

This woman was one of the strongest teachers at Skywater Academy, named Shui Xiuzhen. She was a Level 71 Attack System Soul Master with a high-grade Ice Scorpion Martial Soul.

Facing a Ten Thousand Year Level soul beast, she was naturally unafraid. Shui Xiuzhen unleashed her soul skill again: "Fifth Soul Skill, Wrath of the Ice Scorpion!"

A massive ice scorpion, condensed from soul power, crawled swiftly toward the Berserk Demonic Bear. Wherever the ice scorpion passed, everything around it froze.

Boom!

The Berserk Demonic Bear was severely wounded by this strike. Knowing it couldn't win, the clever bear turned and fled.

Shui Xiuzhen didn't pursue. She had acted only to save Ye Wen and the other two.

"Are you three alright?"

Shui Xiuzhen withdrew her power and came before Ye Wen and his companions. Shui Bing'er and another Skywater student also walked over, curiously sizing up these three six-year-old children, full of questions.

"We're fine. Thank you, Senior, for saving us." Ye Wen cupped his hands in gratitude.

"Looking at you three kids, you must have just awakened your Martial Souls, right? How did you end up in the Star Dou Great Forest? Where are the adults with you?" Shui Xiuzhen questioned.

To come here, they would normally need an adult Soul Master to bring them. There was no way kids this young could enter on their own.

Ye Wen understood this, so he had to come up with a reason, or it would be too suspicious. His mind raced, and soon he thought of an excuse: "Our mentor brought us to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain Soul Rings, but we suddenly encountered a soul beast tide. In the chaos, our teacher died protecting us..."

As he spoke, Ye Wen quickly shot a look at the Evil Tiger and Xiao Bai.

The Evil Tiger and Xiao Bai instantly caught on.

The Evil Tiger said flatly, without any emotion, "Yeah! Our teacher is dead!"

Ye Wen couldn't help rolling his eyes on the spot, thinking to himself, "Evil Tiger, could your acting be any worse?!"

Xiao Bai, however, was stunningly convincing. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed, "Our mentor, our mentor fought desperately to protect us, sacrificed himself to keep us safe... and finally died a tragic death at the hands of those soul beasts! Boohoo~"

"We were orphans to begin with. Our mentor was our only family. Now... now! We have no one left! Boohoo!"

"Little girl, don't cry. Don't cry."

"Little sister, big sister doesn't know how to comfort you, but I believe things will slowly get better."

Xiao Bai's acting not only completely convinced Shui Bing'er and her two companions, but also filled them with deep sympathy, as they all gathered around Xiao Bai to soothe her.

The Evil Tiger was dumbfounded.

Ye Wen's mouth couldn't help twitching. This acting was way too damn good, wasn't it?

Good grief, I almost believed it myself!

Xiao Bai, you're really something!

"Teacher, they're too pitiful. Let's take them in and bring them back to Skywater Academy," said the kind-hearted Shui Bing'er, hugging Xiao Bai with a pained expression.

Shui Xiuzhen shook her head. "Our Skywater Academy only accepts girls, and only soul masters with water and ice attributes. Even I, as a teacher, don't have the authority to bend the rules and admit them. However, I can help arrange for them to settle into another academy to study."

"Skywater Academy? Seems like a decent choice." Listening to their exchange, Ye Wen pondered inwardly.

His soul was no longer that of a child, and it carried the memories of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, but when it came to the human world of the Douluo Continent—its many cultures, knowledge, foundations, and all sorts of things and concepts—he was still largely unfamiliar.

There were also the types of soul beasts, the traits of various soul beasts, and all kinds of plants, or plant-type soul beasts, and so on.

A truly detailed understanding of the human world on the continent couldn't be fully grasped just by reading novels or watching television.

So, Ye Wen had it in mind to join a Soul Master Academy for further study, to make himself more like a human, more like someone of this world.

With that, he could gain a thorough understanding of the Douluo Continent world. Thus, joining an academy was part of Ye Wen's plan, but it definitely wouldn't be Nuoding Academy.