"Today's another wonderful day for skipping class."
"Without Zhou Ji in class, it's just so much better! The lessons are far more interesting than before, and Mu Ling's help with the students and the academy's affairs has been excellent. It really is much better than when Zhou Ji was in charge."
After chatting with Zhou Ji for a while, Xiao Ge left the classroom with Duoduo and the others.
Recently, Xiao Ge had learned that Chaling City was actually quite large. Just as he had expected, the Ouyang Family's Spirit Academy didn't allow people who resembled the academy's dean to appear in the city.
Although he had already been prepared for it, finding out that it was really true still left him feeling a little disappointed. The idea of taking Duoduo to the Spirit Academy and wandering around Chaling City had vanished.
Chaling City's Spirit Academy was divided into the Inner Academy and the Outer Academy, each with its own dining hall. The Inner Academy's dining hall was only open to its students and teachers, and was completely free. The Outer Academy's dining hall was open to all the students, and charged a fee—but the prices were a little cheaper than at the restaurants in Chaling City.
Of course, food was only one part of the reason.
Aside from some rare soul-beast meat and other ingredients being a little more expensive, ordinary dishes and the rooms outside weren't much different. So Xiao Ge still preferred the Outer Academy's dining hall, which was closer to them.
Duoduo wasn't the sort of person who'd think of the bustling city whenever she walked through one. Even places that seemed lively and bustling could still make her feel sad.
"Two servings of armor-plated demon fish, please. And a bowl of pear spirit soup with lotus seeds."
Eating with Duoduo and the other young ladies from the Zhu family was a good thing. She could order whatever she wanted, and didn't need to spend her own money.
As for whether a girl would feel embarrassed having a boy pay for her meal... Xiao Ge felt no guilt whatsoever.
Being able to spend a girl's money was a skill in its own right!
I'm just here to eat. Why should I feel guilty?
What? You're saying I should feel guilty for letting a girl spend money on me?
Well... he supposed they had a point.
But after all these years, he didn't want to be a kept man.
Just as Xiao Ge was enduring his inner struggle, the dining hall suddenly erupted with commotion.
Following the source of the noise, he saw a red figure suddenly appear at the entrance.
She was a beautiful woman, wearing the red uniform of the Inner Academy. She stood out among the Outer Academy students, dressed in a long red skirt. Tall and slender, she radiated a powerful aura, like a terrifying spirit that made the space around her seem to warp. A vacuum formed around her, and nobody dared approach.
Xiao Ge noticed that the space around her seemed to ripple slightly, as though it was being distorted by her presence. Wherever she went, the air seemed to crackle and bend.
Her figure seemed to have been sculpted by a master. The high-collared uniform accentuated her slender build, and the only thing that could be seen on her face was a pale mask, obscuring her features.
"She's actually an Inner Academy student!"
"How could an Inner Academy student come to our Outer Academy dining hall?"
"That girl has such a great figure. If only I could—"
"Damn... Are you trying to get yourself killed? She's one of the famous Seven Great Blazing Mountain Spirits of the Inner Academy, known as the little peach! If she hears you, you'll be burned to ashes!"
Huh? She's the little peach?
That figure... she really is Little Peach!
Little... Peach?
The instant Little Peach appeared in the Outer Academy dining hall, the expression beneath her mask shifted slightly.
Those words weren't exactly a flattering description.
A flicker of anger crossed Little Peach's face, but remembering the pain she'd suffered before, as well as the violent temper she used to have, she merely smiled. She swallowed down her anger and found a seat by the window to order some food.
She was particular about what she ate, but she was also quite good at controlling her temper.
Though she didn't say it aloud, she was still very worried about what had happened in the past.
Even though her soul power and strength had improved, and she'd gained ten years of soul age, there was still a lot of room for her abilities to grow. What's more, her innate talent had the potential to become a great flame phoenix. If she could achieve martial-soul evolution, then perhaps she wouldn't have to suffer the invasion of that power anymore, nor would she have to endure so much pain.
[Little Peach... She was a descendant of the Zhu family and the martial soul's chosen successor, born into the seventh generation of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Zhu Zhuyun had ascended to the divine realm, but had been unable to inherit the position of the Fire God. Instead, she had retreated and sought to help her second-generation descendant ascend to godhood.]
[But the second-generation god hadn't left anyone a divine inheritance, so he could only be separated from his wife and Tang San's cousin, Bai Chenxiang. From what Xiao Ge could tell, it was normal for Zhu Zhuyun to have descendants in later generations.]
[The problem was that by the time Zhu Zhuyun existed alongside Bai Chenxiang and their descendants, she'd already resolved the flaws in her martial soul. No longer affected by that power, she'd successfully evolved her martial soul into a Fire Phoenix. Even if she had descendants, they'd be far more likely to inherit the pure Fire Phoenix martial soul than a flawed Netherworld Fire Phoenix.]
[So it was very likely that Little Peach was a descendant of Zhu Zhuyun and one of the women she'd had children with in the mortal world. At that time, Zhu Zhuyun's martial soul had been the Seven-Star Glazed Tile Pagoda. It was entirely reasonable for Little Peach to inherit Zhu Zhuyun's flawless Netherworld Fire Phoenix martial soul.]
[By the time Little Peach's generation came around, the problem with her martial soul had become severe. If not for a few words of advice from that young man when she returned from outside, she might not have survived until now. The Netherworld Fire Phoenix would have devoured her.]
[That young man was quite overbearing when he dealt with other matters, but when it came to bringing Little Peach back to the Spirit Academy, it was one of the few things he'd done that Xiao Ge didn't dislike.]
Little Peach's movements as she ate slowed slightly, and her heart stirred.
Xiao Ge seemed to understand her situation very well!
Her ancestor had indeed been Zhu Zhuyun, one of the Seven Great Blazing Mountain Spirits of the Spirit Academy, but she wasn't descended from Zhu Zhuyun and her husband. And her martial-soul problem was exactly as Xiao Ge had said: extremely serious.
But even though Xiao Ge was so wary of that young man, Little Peach still felt somewhat uncomfortable.
Ever since the young man had brought her back to the Spirit Academy from outside, he'd been guiding her and teaching her how to control her martial soul. The results had been minor, but Little Peach had always respected him.
In her heart, Yan Shaozhe was both teacher and father to her.
Xiao Ge, that young man...
You really are making things hard for me, Teacher!
Before you continue