Start of School (I)

Ning Tian stood prettily beside Mo Yuan, her rosy lips curving into a smile. Xu Sanshi's antics had clearly amused her, too.

But her attention soon turned to Mo Yuan. She'd been too worried to notice before, but now that she'd calmed down and taken a closer look,

Ning Tian realized that Mo Yuan's uniform was gone, and a faint Rose Fragrance lingered around him.

The moment she caught the scent, Ning Tian froze. A sense of crisis rose in her heart. Given how intense the battle had been, Mo Yuan couldn't possibly have been flirting with Ma Xiaotao—but after the extreme cold erupted, the two of them had been alone together in silence for a while.

No one knew what had happened during that time. If his uniform had simply been destroyed, that was fine. But if something else had happened between them...

Ning Tian lowered her head and looked at her toes. Compared with Ma Xiaotao, she suddenly felt she'd already fallen behind.

After taking care of Xu Sanshi, Mo Yuan turned and spotted Ning Tian staring at the ground. He asked, puzzled, "What are you looking at? Is there something on the ground?"

At that, Ning Tian quickly raised her head and looked away. A shy blush appeared on her face. What am I even thinking? Why would I compare myself to that woman over this...

Mo Yuan was baffled by how quickly Ning Tian's expression had shifted from dejection to shyness. But he was too exhausted to ask.

"Come on. It's getting late. We should head back to the dorm."

"Ah... okay."

Ning Tian came back to herself and watched Mo Yuan walking ahead of her. After gazing at him for a while, she suddenly quickened her pace. Then Mo Yuan felt a slender, delicate hand take hold of his right hand.

He turned his head and saw Ning Tian blushing as she pretended to admire the academy, faintly visible in the distance. Mo Yuan simply smiled in silence.

Then his right hand slowly closed around hers...

The earth gradually stirred awake. A sliver of morning light broke the night's silence, and the dark sky turned deep blue. A pale glow slowly appeared in the distant eastern sky. When the first rays of sunlight fell upon the quiet square of Shrek Academy, a new day had begun...

It was also the first day of the academy term.

The freshman dormitory suddenly erupted into noise. The soundproofing was good, but it couldn't stop the entire building from shaking. The commotion jolted Mo Yuan awake.

"I really love being suddenly woken up from a sound sleep. It gives me the feeling that I'm about to kick the bucket..."

Mo Yuan usually kept a fairly regular schedule, but after nearly going all out in the battle the previous day, his accumulated exhaustion had made him sleep unusually deeply.

"Mo Yuan, you're in the dorm? I thought you wouldn't be coming back last night."

Bai Yi had also been woken by the noise. When he saw Mo Yuan getting dressed, he gave him the kind of knowing look men shared and teased him.

Apparently, he'd seen Mo Yuan and Ning Tian together the previous night.

Mo Yuan just smiled without offering an explanation. The more you tried to explain in a situation like this, the harder it was to make yourself understood.

After exchanging a greeting, Mo Yuan got out of bed. Fortunately, every freshman had been given two uniforms; otherwise, he wouldn't have had one to wear on the first day of term.

Once they were dressed and had tidied up, Mo Yuan and Bai Yi opened the door and headed to the school cafeteria for breakfast before going to class.

At the same time, the door to Room 108 across from them opened, and a thin, plain-looking boy with clear eyes stepped out.

Huo Yuhao was surprised to see Mo Yuan and Bai Yi coming out of the room across from his. He hadn't expected a genius like Mo Yuan, who was only eleven yet had reached at least level thirty in Soul Power, to live right across from him.

But in Huo Yuhao's eyes, they'd only met once and weren't acquainted. He simply smiled and nodded in greeting.

Mo Yuan smiled back, then left the dormitory with Bai Yi. If nothing unexpected happened, then given Tang San's plans, he and Huo Yuhao would almost certainly never become friends. They would probably end up as enemies, so there was no need to get involved.

Inside a private office in the freshman teaching building, a beautiful female teacher who looked to be around twenty-eight sat behind her desk, beaming with delight. In her hands was an unsealed letter.

Four large characters were engraved on the sealing wax: Bandle City.

The letter contained the details of one person.

Name: Mo Yuan.

Martial Soul: Elemental-type Body Martial Soul · Golden Eyes

Age: eleven

Soul Power Level: thirty-nine

Soul Ring age: 689 years, 3,099 years, 8,300 years

Background: ...

Mu Jin, the head teacher of Newborn Class Nine, eagerly read every word of Mo Yuan's information. A charming smile curled her lips.

"Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi. Never mind that two of the four Soul Elders among the freshmen are in my class. Just Mo Yuan alone is enough to keep you from holding your head up!"

As Mu Jin imagined how she would soon triumph over Zhou Yi while Zhou Yi could only scowl and swallow her frustration, a cheerful bell rang, distinct from the class bell.

It meant there were only ten minutes until the first class of the day.

At once, Mu Jin put Mo Yuan's letter away and locked it in her desk drawer. Then she picked up the lesson plan she'd prepared, opened the office door, and headed for the Newborn Class Nine classroom.

A faint smile stayed on Mu Jin's face as she walked. Her jade feet stepped along in crystal high heels, the crisp sound of their heels echoing through the hallway.

The other teachers who passed by saw her cheerful expression and guessed that her class must have quite a few talented students this year. They all offered their congratulations.

Compared with Zhou Yi, who wore a cold expression every day, had an unpleasant personality, and abused her authority because of her connections, the young and beautiful Mu Jin was undoubtedly much more popular.

Meanwhile, five minutes before the class bell rang, Mo Yuan and Bai Yi finished breakfast and arrived outside the Class Nine classroom.

By then, almost everyone in the class had arrived. A quick glance showed that more than a hundred students were seated inside, most of them pretty young women.

When Bai Yi entered, the students looked over at the sound. Seeing his handsome features and silver hair, quite a few female students immediately began whispering to each other.

It was clear that his good looks had won their favor. The other boys, meanwhile, gave Bai Yi hostile looks as they sized him up.

But as the saying went, behind every handsome face was an even more handsome one.

Bai Yi took in the students' reactions and pursed his lips. He knew what Mo Yuan looked like, standing right behind him.

It was a good thing he'd gone in first. Otherwise, if the girls had seen Mo Yuan before him, nobody would even have paid attention when he entered.

With that thought, Bai Yi moved aside, revealing Mo Yuan behind him.

The moment everyone saw Mo Yuan in full, the classroom erupted. Almost every female student began whispering with the classmate beside her.

Kind, gentle glances kept landing on Mo Yuan, while the boys who'd been sizing up Bai Yi fell silent all at once.

With the noble aura Dragon Blood gave him and his flawless, almost unearthly handsome face, there was no point in comparing him to anyone. Someone with a weak will might even fall for him without meaning to.

Amid the commotion, crisp footsteps stopped outside the classroom door. Then a warm female voice, laced with amusement, called out.

"All right, everyone, find a seat. You don't need to stand around here to welcome me."

When they saw Mu Jin holding her lesson plan, everyone recognized her as their head teacher. The chatter stopped at once, and they fell silent.

Most boys and girls this age still held teachers in awe.