Ice and Fire

By the shores of Sea God Lake, a gentle breeze rustled.

The grilled fish sizzling over the charcoal fire crackled, golden grease sliding down the fish's body and dripping into the embers, sending up tiny sparks. An alluring aroma permeated the air.

"That's pretty much how it happened."

Huo Yuhao skillfully turned the grilled fish while weaving the "adventure story" he had long since prepared.

Sitting opposite him, Xiao Xiao rested her chin in her hands, her large eyes filled with stars of admiration. "Class monitor, you're truly amazing! You didn't fall behind in your cultivation while you were out; in fact, you've made leaps and bounds! We're definitely going to win the freshman assessment now!"

Compared to Xiao Xiao's excitement, Wang Dong, sitting to the side, looked as if life had lost all meaning.

She held a grilled fish in her hand but couldn't bring herself to take a bite. Looking at Huo Yuhao's face, which carried a faint smile, Wang Dong felt as though the future was pitch black.

Three months! Do you have any idea how I spent these past three months?

To wash away the humiliation of having her bottom spanked, she had cultivated day and night for three months, and her cultivation had improved significantly. She had expected that when Huo Yuhao returned, she would be able to give him a sound thrashing.

And the result?

The guy goes out for a trip, takes a nap, and comes back as a level 30 Soul Elder!

How the hell is she supposed to fight that?

She was already being pinned down and beaten when he was a one-ringed soul master; now that he was a three-ringed soul master, wouldn't she just be hung up and beaten?

Just thinking about it made her bottom ache.

It's over, it's all over... Wang Dong felt a sense of despair and indignation in her heart. Is it my destiny to be bullied by this bastard for the rest of my life? Am I destined to fetch his foot-washing water forever? Oh Heavens, how unfair!

Watching Wang Dong's devastated expression, Huo Yuhao suppressed a laugh. "Eat up, don't look so sour. Rest assured, we will definitely be the champions of this assessment."

Wang Dong gave him a resentful look, her eyes seemingly saying, if you're so capable, why don't you try fetching my foot-washing water for three months?

Wang Dong took a fierce bite of the grilled fish, as if she were biting into Huo Yuhao's flesh.

After they were full, the three of them packed up their things, preparing to leave.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

The previously calm surface of Sea God Lake suddenly began to boil. A terrifyingly high temperature swept over them in an instant, scorching the dim night into a fiery red.

The surrounding vegetation withered and turned charred black in the blink of an eye.

"What's happening?!" Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were struck with terror.

Before they could react, a red figure shot over the lake surface like an arrow released from a bow.

Wherever that figure passed, the lake water instantly evaporated, turning into a sky full of white mist.

It was a suffocating, evil, and scorching heat, as if the flames had come from hell.

"Ugh..."

A wave of scorching heat surged toward them. Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were only Soul Grand Masters; how could they withstand such terrifying heat? With a muffled groan, both of them rolled their eyes and fainted.

Huo Yuhao's gaze sharpened, and he thought to himself: It's here!

Late, but arrived nonetheless—Ma Xiaotao!

The red figure reached the shore in the blink of an eye. It was a woman with an incredibly fiery figure, her long wine-red hair dancing wildly behind her. Her stunning face was currently filled with pain and madness, her eyes blood-red, and her body wreathed in dark red flames, like an out-of-control fire demon.

"Hot... so hot..."

Ma Xiaotao was delirious. Sensing the cool aura emanating from Huo Yuhao, she instinctively lunged toward him.

"Hmph!"

Huo Yuhao let out a cold snort, not retreating in the slightest.

If this were a month ago, he might have only been able to wait for death or ask Brother Tianmeng to intervene. But now—

"Heavenly Snow Woman!"

In an instant, Huo Yuhao's temperament changed. The previously gentle youth suddenly became noble and cold, like an ice monarch looking down upon all living things.

Extreme cold erupted from his body, and the surrounding charred earth was instantly covered in a thick layer of frost.

Three black soul rings rose beneath his feet.

This was the color after his simulation.

Facing the terrifying evil fire rushing toward him, Huo Yuhao raised his right hand. A stunning phantom of the Snow Woman appeared behind him, and he struck out with his palm!

BOOM—!

The Extreme Ice and the Phoenix Evil Fire collided fiercely in mid-air.

Although Huo Yuhao's soul power was far inferior to Ma Xiaotao's, the Extreme Ice possessed absolute suppression over the evil fire in terms of attributes!

The originally violent dark red flames, upon encountering that pure ice and snow power, withered and extinguished rapidly, as if they had met their natural predator.

Ma Xiaotao's forward momentum came to a sudden halt, and the madness in her eyes faded slightly, revealing a trace of confusion.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate:

"Stop!"

Several streaks of light shot over from the depths of the Shrek inner courtyard, and the person in the lead was none other than the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe.

When Yan Shaozhe and the several Inner Court teachers landed and saw the scene before them, their eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.

What were they seeing?

A freshman from the Outer Court was actually holding his own and faintly suppressing the out-of-control Ma Xiaotao?!

And furthermore...

"Three rings?! All ten-thousand-year?!" Yan Shaozhe exclaimed, feeling his worldview shatter into pieces. "What kind of monster family did this kid come from?!"

What shocked him even more was the aura emanating from Huo Yuhao.

"This purity of ice attribute... it can actually suppress Xiaotao's evil fire? Is this... Ultimate Ice?!"

Yan Shaozhe was ecstatic!

He had truly searched high and low for something, only to find it without any effort at all!

The academy had always been troubled by Ma Xiaotao's evil fire, and he never expected the cure to be right before his eyes.

"Good! Good! Good!" Yan Shaozhe repeated the word three times.

"This student, thank you for your help just now. The evil fire within Xiaotao..."

Huo Yuhao retracted his martial soul and said indifferently, "During the confrontation just now, I already used Ultimate Ice to temporarily suppress the evil fire within her. It shouldn't erupt again for a short time."

"That's great." Yan Shaozhe looked at Ma Xiaotao; the blood-red color in her eyes was gradually fading, and she was no longer attacking wildly.

He glanced at the unconscious Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, then waved his hand, sending three exquisite jade bottles flying toward Huo Yuhao.

"These are Marrow Cleansing Pills and Soul Ascension Pills. Consider them compensation from the academy for the fright you received, as well as hush money. Do not speak of today's events to anyone."

After saying this, Yan Shaozhe had an accompanying Title Douluo of the healing type check on Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao. Once confirmed they were unharmed, he hurriedly left with Ma Xiaotao.

Looking at the pills in his hand, Huo Yuhao muttered, "These Marrow Cleansing Pills and Soul Ascension Pills are useless to me; it feels like a loss."

Deep in the night, the freshman dormitory building.

Huo Yuhao carried one person under each arm, bringing Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao back to the dormitory.

Standing in front of the dormitory door, Huo Yuhao was in a bind.

He couldn't enter the girls' dormitory, so he could only bring Xiao Xiao back to the room he shared with Wang Dong.

But how would they sleep?

Wang Dong was a girl disguised as a boy, but Xiao Xiao didn't know that. If he put Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong in the same bed, it would be hard to explain when they woke up.

"Forget it, I'll just suffer a little."

Huo Yuhao sighed, gently placed Xiao Xiao on his own bed, and thoughtfully tucked her in. Then, he curled up and slept on Wang Dong's bed.

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

"Ah--!"

A scream shattered the tranquility of the dormitory.

This was followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the floor.

"Huo Yuhao, why are you in my bed!"

Wang Dong thought about the scene when she had just woken up—she had been curled up in Huo Yuhao's arms, and one of his large hands had been resting on her thigh. She was about to go crazy!

"Wang Dong, are you sick? If I didn't sleep with you, was I supposed to sleep with Xiao Xiao?"

Huo Yuhao had spent the last month either traveling or absorbing soul rings and was exhausted, so he had been sleeping like a log. He hadn't expected to be woken up in such a manner.

Xiao Xiao was also startled awake by the commotion. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings and the quilt covering her that carried a faint masculine scent, her small face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple.

"Cl-class monitor... why am I in your bed?!"

"Do you still remember what happened yesterday?" Huo Yuhao asked irritably.

Wang Dong suddenly remembered and hurriedly asked, "How... how did we get back? What about that red monster from yesterday?"

Huo Yuhao said, "Yesterday, a senior from the Inner Court had a cultivation deviation and almost roasted you two. Fortunately, the academy teachers arrived in time and took her away. So you wouldn't have to sleep outside, I brought you both back. And here someone is, ungrateful, and kicks me right off the bed."

Wang Dong retorted stubbornly, "I've said it before, I hate people getting into my bed."

"We're all bros, why be shy?" Huo Yuhao said dismissively.

Xiao Xiao nodded as well, saying, "Yeah, that's right."

Wang Dong had grievances she couldn't voice. She pouted and muttered, "If we're all bros, why do you make me fetch your foot-washing water every day?"

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but laugh.

"What did you say, Wang Dong?" Xiao Xiao hadn't heard clearly.

"Nothing, I didn't say anything." Wang Dong denied it immediately. She didn't want a third person to know about such an embarrassing thing.

Wang Dong hurriedly changed the subject, looking at Huo Yuhao suspiciously: "Then how are you fine? That senior's aura was so terrifying, at least at the Soul Emperor level. We both fainted, so why are you perfectly fine?"

Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes, walked over, and gave Wang Dong a flick on the forehead.

"Thud!" (Good head!)

"Ouch! You're bullying me again!" Wang Dong clutched her forehead, glaring at Huo Yuhao with teary eyes.

"I hit you because you're heartless!" Huo Yuhao said irritably. "Do you really want something to have happened to me? If I hadn't risked my life to hold off that crazy woman for a moment, do you think you'd still be here, hopping around and defying me?"

"Pfft! Bragging!" Wang Dong curled her lip, looking completely unconvinced. "You? Holding off a Soul Emperor? If you could hold off a Soul Emperor, I'd eat this quilt!"

In her eyes, although Huo Yuhao was a freak, he was only a Soul Elder. How could he possibly cross three major realms to fight a Soul Emperor? It must have been that the teacher arrived quickly, and this guy was just gilding his own lily.

Huo Yuhao couldn't be bothered to explain to this tsundere, so he turned to look at Xiao Xiao. "Xiao Xiao, do you believe it?"

Xiao Xiao was still immersed in the shyness of having "slept in the class monitor's bed." Upon hearing this, she nodded like a pounding pestle, her eyes full of admiration. "I believe it! I believe whatever the class monitor says! The class monitor is the most amazing!"

Watching Xiao Xiao's infatuated look, Wang Dong helplessly covered her forehead. "It's over, this girl is hopeless; she's completely fallen for him."

"Alright, enough joking around."

Huo Yuhao took out the medicinal pills Yan Shaozhe had given him last night and distributed them to the two of them. "This is the compensation from the academy: Soul Ascension Pills and Marrow Cleansing Pills. They are both good things; you can consider this a blessing in disguise."

Seeing the pills, Wang Dong's eyes lit up. As the little princess of the Clear Sky Sect, she naturally knew their value. These were treasures that money couldn't buy.

"At least you have a conscience and didn't keep them all for yourself." Wang Dong grumbled as she put the pills away, her resentment dissipating quite a bit.

Huo Yuhao was genuinely annoyed now. "Damn it. Give me back my share, I'll give them all to Xiao Xiao."

"Don't, I was wrong." Wang Dong immediately backed down.

Thus, Wang Dong received two Soul Ascension Pills and one Marrow Cleansing Pill, while Xiao Xiao received two Marrow Cleansing Pills and one Soul Ascension Pill.

"Class monitor, do you really not need these?" Xiao Xiao felt embarrassed to accept the portion that belonged to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao waved his hand and said, "If I had these good things, I would have taken them out sooner. Now that I'm already a Soul Elder, they're useless to me."

"Oh, then thank you, class monitor."

Although Wang Dong didn't say anything, she was touched inside, though she didn't understand why Huo Yuhao was so excessive when bullying her, yet now he was giving her pills worth ten thousand gold.

Even if Huo Yuhao didn't need them, he could have sold them for a fortune.

Huo Yuhao looked at the sky outside the window and clapped his hands. "Hurry up and wash up and get ready; today's competition is about to start."

"Yes! Class monitor!" Xiao Xiao replied, full of energy.

The three-person team had finally assembled, aiming straight for the championship.