School Opening

At the start of the school year, he got into Freshman Class One through shady dealings.

When Mu Xuanheng saw his homeroom teacher's name on the list, his vision went black.

There was nothing he could do. As Fan Yu's disciple, it was only natural that Zhou Yi would have her eye on him.

Fortunately, Mu Xuanheng already lived at Shrek Academy, so he didn't need a dormitory. He just had to show up when it was time.

He arrived fairly early in the classroom, and there were plenty of seats available.

He didn't want to be made an example of on the first day of school.

He'd originally planned to go straight to the Soul Tool Department with Fan Yu and spend a couple of days there, getting through the start-of-term period when Zhou Yi was establishing her authority. In the end, that plan fell through, and he had to come here first.

Mu Xuanheng took a seat by the window, where he could see most of the students. "If Bei Bei isn't here, can Huo Yuhao still make it to Shrek? I'm pretty curious about this child of destiny."

"Doesn't look like there'll be much fun here. I'll finish the run later and go eat with Bei Bei and the others."

"Hello, classmate. Is anyone sitting next to you?" a girl asked Mu Xuanheng.

He didn't even look up. Whoever it was, it didn't matter much to him.

Tang God King's one-third daughter couldn't possibly sit next to him.

Sometimes, the truth was even harder to accept than he'd imagined.

"Thank you."

He glanced sideways. She was a silver-haired beauty.

He took another look, then immediately stood up. He could feel that his Martial Soul was very close to the silver-haired girl's.

As far as he knew, there was only one person in the world who fit the bill.

A crowd of people turned to look at him and whisper, as if they were mocking his inexplicable behavior. His sudden rise to his feet left him terribly embarrassed.

The girl spoke up. "Classmate, do you not want me to sit here?"

"No. I just feel like you're somehow familiar to me. I'm Mu Xuanheng. Could you tell me your name?" He was a little nervous. He hoped she was the person he had in mind, yet at the same time, he didn't want her to be.

"Hello, I'm Gu Yuena."

He sat back down quietly. He looked perfectly calm, but inside, a storm was raging.

Why was she here? That was impossible. This was supposed to be the timeline of Peerless Tang Sect. How had Gu Yuena appeared too?

Had a butterfly flapped its wings? There was no way he could have affected Gu Yuena.

Mu Xuanheng was very nervous. "I can feel that your Martial Soul is very close to mine. Is it a dragon-type Martial Soul?" This was his little test.

"That's right. It's a powerful Martial Soul called the Seven-Colored Dragon. What about yours? It should be a dragon-type Martial Soul too."

"Phantom Scale Dragon. It's an evolved and enhanced variant of the Bright Holy Dragon. It's also a True Dragon Martial Soul."

Neither of them had told the truth.

And they both knew the other was lying.

How could she possibly mistake Chaofeng's aura?

How could he possibly believe that a Seven-Colored Dragon really existed?

"I remember there's a dragon called the Rainbow Dragon. Its name sounds a lot like Seven-Colored Dragon. Are they related?" Mu Xuanheng launched another attack.

"They're not related. If anything, the Seven-Colored Dragon is more powerful than the Rainbow Dragon. I remember that Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, ranked first among the Ten Great Soul Beasts, had a higher status than the Bright Holy Dragon. Which do you think would have the higher status, Phantom Scale Dragon or the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King?"

His opponent counterattacked, striking directly at Mu Xuanheng's Martial Soul.

"I don't know. After all, Phantom Scale Dragon is stronger than the Bright Holy Dragon."

They stood their ground, refusing to give way.

Mu Xuanheng's breathing quickened despite himself. He glanced around, but there was no way to escape.

At that moment, he began hoping Zhou Yi would hurry up and arrive. He was struggling to hold on.

Gu Yuena's presence was powerful, and she was clearly making a point of drawing closer to him.

Snow Empress sounded puzzled in his mind. "I've never heard of either a Seven-Colored Dragon or a Phantom Scale Dragon. Isn't your Martial Soul Chaofeng?"

"So she's lying to me too." Mu Xuanheng wasn't sure whether he should explain things to Snow Empress. He could only drop a few hints.

"Check the records. Those two dragons definitely don't exist. Mine is Chaofeng, and there are only a few dragons that could be close to Chaofeng. There's definitely no such thing as a Seven-Colored Dragon."

Snow Empress chuckled. "Chaofeng really is the embodiment of calamity. You don't even have to leave the school for a huge secret to come looking for you."

Mu Xuanheng felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He had no idea what to do.

"She shouldn't cause trouble, should she?"

At this point, plenty of powerful gods were around. Her showing up was one thing; using divine power was another.

Gu Yuena suddenly turned to him. "You seem nervous. Is it because I'm sitting next to you?"

The battlefield, moments ago at a ceasefire, flared back to life.

Mu Xuanheng reacted quickly. "It's because our homeroom teacher is Zhou Yi. She's the wife of my Soul Tool teacher, which makes her my teacher's wife. She'll be here soon, so I'm nervous."

Gu Yuena tilted her head as she looked at him, as if preparing her next attack.

How could he hand the initiative over to the enemy?

Better to sacrifice a piece than let the other side take the first move.

Mu Xuanheng made up his mind. He had to steer the conversation elsewhere, to a harmless topic.

Before Gu Yuena could speak, he brought up Soul Tools. "My Soul Tool teacher is Fan Yu, a Level 8 Soul Engineer. I've learned a lot from him. Maybe one day I'll surpass him and become a Level 9 Soul Engineer. I'll definitely make even better Soul Tools."

Mu Xuanheng had already worked out what to say next. If she asked him anything about Soul Tools, he could launch into an enthusiastic explanation and keep going until Zhou Yi arrived.

"But whether you're a Soul Engineer or a Soul Master, at the heart of it, both are about applying Soul Power. You need better Soul Rings to gain stronger Soul Power."

He spoke with conviction, steering the topic toward Soul Rings. Once they started talking about Soul Rings, they would inevitably get into the subject of killing Soul Beasts.

That wasn't something they could discuss now.

"That's true, but Soul Tools can store energy through certain specialized devices. They don't necessarily need a Soul Master. That kind of Soul Tool might not become mainstream in the future, but it'll definitely be a direction for research."

He steered the conversation back again. They absolutely couldn't get onto the topic of Soul Rings.

They each pulled the conversation one way and the other, determined not to fall into the other's trap.

Mu Xuanheng even forgot to look for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, focusing all his attention on going back and forth with Gu Yuena.

That continued until Zhou Yi came in and began her usual routine. Huo Yuhao also appeared in Freshman Class One.

Aside from Gu Yuena and Mu Xuanheng, everyone else was acting normally.

At last, Mu Xuanheng had found his savior. He didn't care whether Zhou Yi's teaching methods were reasonable; he just wanted to get away from the two of them.

It was suffocating.

A change of scenery didn't mean he could escape.

The square wasn't large, but it was certainly big enough for them to keep their distance.

But whenever Mu Xuanheng sped up, Gu Yuena kept pace.

The sound of their footsteps running together sent a chill down his spine.

He took off his weighted Soul Tool and immediately sped up, trying to leave Gu Yuena behind.

Just when he thought he was finally going to succeed, Gu Yuena actually stopped and waited for him to run a whole lap.

"You're running too fast. I can't keep up. Could you slow down?"

???

"I feel more at ease when someone I'm close to is with me."

He wanted to firmly refuse, but Gu Yuena grabbed him. "You'll say yes, right?"

He found himself slowing down and began wondering what to do.

The way she'd put it made it clear he'd been singled out.

"I have one lap left. Do you want to run with me?"

"Okay."

He really wanted to know what on earth was going on.

In the Divine Realm, Tang God King watched his daughter flying with Huo Yuhao, thoroughly pleased. "This'll be a piece of cake."

Another couple watched the two of them passionately sparring, unable to hide their smiles.

"They can fall in love, right?"

"If they're getting involved, then they can fall in love."