Ma Xiaotao gently pressed a finger against Xuanyuan Sheng's cheek.
She touched the lip mark she had left on him back at Zhang Lexuan's loft and spoke again. "Were you thinking about something important, Sister? Couldn't you wait even a little while?"
Slander. Pure slander.
Xuanyuan Sheng would stake his reputation on it: he definitely hadn't been getting impatient. He hadn't been meditating, so how could he possibly sit there spacing out for ages without getting sleepy?
He shrugged. "Then, Sister Xiaotao, have you figured out what kind of Mimicry Cultivation Ground I need to cultivate in?"
Ma Xiaotao chuckled.
For someone like her, an Inner Courtyard disciple, this was a simple matter. She knew the Mimicry Cultivation Grounds—places essential for cultivation—better than anyone.
The Xuanyuan Sword was the Holy Sword of Humanity. Since it was a holy sword, it stood to reason that he should go to a training ground with a strong concentration of light attribute energy.
"A training ground with light attribute energy will suit your Martial Soul very well," she said confidently.
"Shouldn't we test it first?" Xuanyuan Sheng asked.
Was she really that confident?
Ma Xiaotao gently bit the edge of Xuanyuan Sheng's ear, making a soft, muffled sound in her throat. "You're my little brother, and you dare not trust your big sister?"
Hey, you'd only known each other for half a day!
He quietly shifted away.
"I don't think your judgment is very reliable."
"Hmph. Come with me. I'll show you just how steady and knowledgeable a mature big sister can be."
Ma Xiaotao led Xuanyuan Sheng toward an empty spot in the Mimicry Hall.
"This is a tool made specifically to analyze students' Martial Soul attributes."
Before long,
Ma Xiaotao somehow procured a metal sphere and set it in front of Xuanyuan Sheng.
If a student's Martial Soul contained two innate elements, like the Wind-Thunder Staff, they could use an elemental sphere when they couldn't tell which element was stronger.
It would distinguish the student's attributes by color. If wind and thunder appeared at the same time, whichever element occupied the largest area of the metal sphere would be the one the student needed to focus on cultivating.
"Go ahead. Pour your Soul Power into it."
Xuanyuan Sheng placed his hand on the sphere and sent his Soul Power into it. A white glow, symbolizing the light attribute, quickly appeared inside.
Ma Xiaotao lifted her chin, showing off her sharply defined jawline.
Well? Wasn't a mature big sister really reliable?
But that wasn't what puzzled him.
In Xuanyuan Sheng's opinion, even though his Martial Soul was the Holy Sword of Humanity, it should still have the metal element as its foundation. But this light attribute...?
He examined the metal sphere closely. Just as Ma Xiaotao had said, a white light attribute appeared inside, but it occupied only a tiny portion of the sphere.
In the other empty spaces, faint specks of light were scattered throughout the metal sphere.
Ma Xiaotao stared at it in bewilderment too. Something seemed off. Shouldn't the light attribute fill the entire sphere?
Xuanyuan Sheng focused his mind and inspected his Martial Soul.
The part of the Xuanyuan Sword engraved with the sun and moon lit up. The other inscriptions were also partially activated.
Now he finally understood.
Slash-and-burn farming, the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, plants, and trees...
He summoned the Xuanyuan Sword into his hand and poured Soul Power into it, then channeled that Soul Power into the metal sphere.
The ancient carved inscriptions all lit up, sparked to life by the sun, moon, and stars engraved on one side of the blade. A dazzling array of colors instantly filled the metal sphere.
[Mission failed: Please act immediately. Countdown: one minute.]
Ma Xiaotao's delight vanished in an instant. Her smug smile froze completely.
She'd actually made the wrong call.
And why did this sword have so many elemental attributes?
Xuanyuan Sheng looked at Ma Xiaotao, frozen in place, and silently put away his Martial Soul. What was wrong with her? Had she taken a serious blow or something?
Time ticked by, second by second.
Then...
Under Xuanyuan Sheng's baffled gaze, Ma Xiaotao strode away from the sparsely populated area and headed toward the busiest spot in the hall.
She walked to the entrance and stopped.
Meanwhile, Ma Xiaotao, her face hidden behind a veil, was in utter turmoil.
"System, system, how do I stop the punishment?"
She anxiously spoke to the system in her mind.
[There's no way, dear. You chose this yourself (๑°3°๑)]
Ma Xiaotao hadn't expected a minute to pass so quickly. Before she was ready, her body was forcibly taken over again.
This time, though, she didn't float in front of herself and watch her body move. Instead, she was controlled from a first-person perspective, fully aware of everything.
She tried with all her might to keep her lips from speaking and her face from making any expressions, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't stop it.
And so...
Under Xuanyuan Sheng's bewildered gaze,
Ma Xiaotao blocked the hall entrance. Beneath her veil, her expression was devilish and arrogant, and her voice rang with smug delight. "Zhang Lexuan, your little brother... feels so good."
The final two words were drawn out on purpose under the system's control.
After saying this, Ma Xiaotao didn't have the nerve to go back and run off with Xuanyuan Sheng. Instead, she quickly left alone.
After she was gone, her remarkably penetrating voice lingered in everyone's minds, soon setting off a wave of discussion.
"Who was that senior sister in red just now? I feel like I've seen her somewhere."
"You don't recognize Ma Xiaotao? She's famous at Shrek Academy. Everyone knows her."
"What about Zhang Lexuan?"
"She's an even bigger deal. She's the eldest senior sister of Shrek Inner Court, the most reliable senior sister to all the younger students. It'd be great if we could choose the eldest senior sister at this Teacher Selection Meeting."
One person said this regretfully, voicing what everyone else was thinking. The surrounding students nodded in agreement.
"Then what did Ma Xiaotao mean when she said the eldest senior sister's little brother felt so good?"
"What do you think? It means exactly what it sounds like."
Several of them wore the same knowing grin.
More than that, the hearts of students secretly in love with their senior sister were breaking.
Because of Ma Xiaotao's provocative stunt, Xuanyuan Sheng had nearly been caught in the crossfire.
A few people who had noticed Ma Xiaotao and Xuanyuan Sheng at first told the indignant students what they knew about her without a second thought.
As a result, Xuanyuan Sheng was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. Fortunately, he managed to slip away from the Mimicry Cultivation Ground amid the chaos.
The outside world was far too dangerous.
One careless moment and some extremist might kidnap him and feed him to the fish.
So Xuanyuan Sheng chose to go home. Only the warmth of his little home could soothe him after witnessing such a crude side of the world.
As soon as he opened the door,
he saw Zhang Lexuan bent over and greeted her warmly. "Sister Lexuan, did you finish taking care of everything?"
Zhang Lexuan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The words she had been about to say caught in her throat.
There was a red lip mark on Xuanyuan Sheng's left cheek. Its color had faded quite a bit, but it was still very noticeable.
Her heart sank.
Oh no... Someone had stolen her home...
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