"Lu Ming, look." The Snow Empress pointed at the river beside them, her voice as light and cheerful as a little girl's. "The fish in the river are so cute."
Lu Ming looked in the direction of her finger. Several fish were playing in the clear water. He smiled.
"They are quite cute, but they still fall a little short compared to you."
The blush on the Snow Empress's face deepened. She lowered her head, but the corners of her lips kept rising.
The two of them continued hand in hand, savoring this rare, sweetly ambiguous everyday moment as they made their way toward Jixia Academy.
However, when they reached Jixia Academy's iconic Blue Silver Grass gate, a gentle yet somewhat anxious voice broke the peace.
"Please inform your Dean that Xue Qinghe wishes to see him."
Lu Ming raised his eyes and saw a refined young man in luxurious brocade robes standing at the academy gate, his way blocked by Gongsun Li.
It was Xue Qinghe, the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. Or rather, Qian Renxue disguised as Xue Qinghe.
"I already told you, the Dean isn't here."
Gongsun Li had just finished teaching Ma Hongjun a lesson, and her tone was somewhat impatient. "Being the Crown Prince doesn't help you. Rules are rules."
Qian Renxue looked at the girl before her, and her pupils suddenly contracted as turbulent waves surged through her heart.
It was her!
In the projection of the Life Simulator, it was this woman named Gongsun Li who would one day ruthlessly kill her in the future!
Those brutal scenes flashed through Qian Renxue's mind. Her hand clenched unconsciously within her sleeve, cold sweat seeping into her palm.
She forcefully suppressed the shock and confusion in her heart.
Why?
Why would she kill me in the future?
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
The Simulator's results showed that only by finding the Dean of Jixia Academy, that mysterious existence, could she change her doomed fate.
Just as countless thoughts ran through Qian Renxue's mind, two figures emerged from the forest behind her.
"A Li, what's going on?"
Lu Ming's calm voice rang out.
Gongsun Li and Li Xin, who was yawning with a massive sword slung over his shoulder, instantly straightened up upon hearing him.
The moment they saw Lu Ming, respect immediately appeared in their eyes. They opened their mouths to call out, "Dean—"
Lu Ming gently shook his head, stopping them with a look.
The two reacted swiftly and immediately shut their mouths. They merely stepped aside respectfully and bowed slightly.
Holding the Snow Empress's hand, Lu Ming calmly walked toward the gate.
Qian Renxue turned around and saw the pair, who looked like an immortal couple.
The man was handsome and dashing, with an extraordinary bearing.
The woman was stunningly beautiful. Though veiled, the noble aura she exuded made people afraid to look directly at her.
Seeing Lu Ming head straight for the gate, Qian Renxue kindly warned him.
"Brother, please stop. Jixia Academy has strict rules. That guard just said they do not receive outsiders. Even I, the Crown Prince, was turned away. If you force your way in, I'm afraid you'll be thrown out."
She had personally witnessed how the Shrek group had been beaten and thrown out earlier. She did not want this extraordinary young man to suffer an undeserved disaster as well.
However, Lu Ming merely smiled faintly at her, his footsteps not slowing in the slightest.
The next moment, something happened that shocked Qian Renxue.
Li Xin, the arrogant gate guard who had just been utterly disdainful and had not even deigned to look at her properly, hurried forward.
He pushed open the tightly shut gate and made an exceptionally proper inviting gesture.
"..."
Qian Renxue stood frozen in place, her mind unable to process it.
Wasn't this difference in treatment a little too extreme?
Lu Ming led the Snow Empress through the gate, then stopped and turned to look at the still-dazed Qian Renxue.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, aren't you coming in?"
Qian Renxue snapped out of it and hurriedly followed.
After entering the academy, Lu Ming released the Snow Empress's hand and leaned close to whisper in her ear.
"Xue'er, go back and rest first. I'll give His Highness the Crown Prince a private tour."
Though the Snow Empress was somewhat reluctant, she knew Lu Ming had business to attend to. She obediently nodded, then flashed away, transforming into an icy blue streak of light that vanished from the spot.
Seeing the Snow Empress's disappearing movement technique, Qian Renxue was once again startled.
Even with her Angel Martial Soul, she could not quite see through that kind of speed.
"Brother... why can you enter and leave this place freely?"
Qian Renxue could not help asking, her gaze full of scrutiny. "Even those two fierce guards are so respectful toward you."
Lu Ming casually made something up. "Oh, I have a friend teaching at Jixia Academy. You could say I have a few connections."
"I see." Qian Renxue came to a sudden realization. "Then I truly ought to make his acquaintance."
Lu Ming led Qian Renxue along the academy's stone-paved path.
Along the way, the sights within Jixia Academy opened Qian Renxue's eyes.
There were no stiff, conventional teaching buildings like those in ordinary academies. In their place stood all sorts of uniquely shaped structures, faintly glowing with flowing radiance.
The air was thick with Soul Power fluctuations. Rare herbs, difficult to find in the outside world, could be seen everywhere along the roadside. There were even metallic mechanisms she had never seen before operating automatically.
This place... is practically a treasure vault, Qian Renxue thought.
The two arrived beside a massive open-air arena.
At that moment, lightning flashed across the arena, and thunderous roars shook the air.
Two figures were engaged in fierce combat.
One of them was burly, his beard and hair standing on end as his entire body bathed in violent lightning, like a thunder god descending into the world.
He floated in midair, and with every wave of his hands, thick pillars of lightning came crashing down.
"Kuang Tie! You cannot defeat me!" His voice boomed like a great bell, majestic and imposing.
Below the arena, a young man covered in wounds held an enormous mechanical electric baton. He endured the lightning filling the sky and charged forward again and again.
"Sikong Zhen! Enough nonsense!"
Kuang Tie roared. Electric currents crackled around the baton in his hand as he smashed it viciously toward the descending lightning. "Even if it's a god, if it blocks my path, I'll smash it to pieces!"
"A mere electric-baton brat dares challenge me, the King of Lightning?"
Sikong Zhen snorted coldly as an even more terrifying lightning storm gathered.
Lu Ming stopped and pointed toward the arena. "This is an internal ranking tournament. There are one-on-one, three-on-three, and seven-on-seven matches. What's happening on the stage now is a one-on-one battle."
Qian Renxue stared blankly at the battle on the arena.
That man called Sikong Zhen wielded lightning capable of destroying heaven and earth with every gesture. She had only seen such might in Titled Douluo.
As for Kuang Tie, though he looked battered, his body was unbelievably tough. He withstood lightning head-on without suffering the slightest injury.
That strange baton was also filled with explosive power, beating Sikong Zhen until he could not help howling.
"So strong..."
Qian Renxue murmured.
She had originally believed that, with Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty and a God-level Martial Soul, her talent already stood at the peak of the continent.
Yet within this Jixia Academy, whether it was Gongsun Li at the gate or these two battle-crazed fighters before her, every one of them felt unfathomably deep.
Before you continue