Reminder

Seeing that the pavilion was already occupied—and by Qin Yue's group of three, who had sent them packing in a single round during the Freshman Assessment—Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, sharing an umbrella, abruptly stopped and looked at each other, unsure what to do.

With their parting imminent, Wang Dong had pestered Huo Yuhao for Grilled Fish. Unable to refuse her, Huo Yuhao had brought his tools and come with her to the shore of Sea God Lake.

They had originally planned to use a large umbrella to keep out the rain, but upon reaching the lakeside, Wang Dong unexpectedly discovered that a small pavilion had appeared in the distance at some unknown time.

Now that they had a better alternative, neither of them wanted to huddle beneath the more limited space of an umbrella. Carrying their ingredients and tools, they crossed through the rain mist, intending to set up a grill in the pavilion.

However, Qin Yue's group disrupted Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's plans. They were now in an extremely awkward situation. Going elsewhere or putting up their umbrella where they stood would both seem rather miserable, while entering the pavilion would be even more likely to offend someone.

Neither Huo Yuhao nor Wang Dong was foolish. They could tell that the atmosphere inside the pavilion was pleasant, with Qin Yue's group enjoying themselves harmoniously. If they rashly spoke up and ruined that mood, it would inevitably displease people and create unnecessary complications.

Ning Tian looked at the increasingly heavy rain, then at the fish Huo Yuhao was carrying, before silently turning back to look at Qin Yue.

Only after seeing Qin Yue give an almost imperceptible nod did she smile and say, "Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, why don't you come in and take shelter from the rain? This pavilion isn't small, and there's plenty of room."

Wu Feng, who had curled herself into a ball to fend off Qin Yue's attacks, froze. Only then did she realize there were people outside the pavilion. In embarrassment and anger, she grabbed Qin Yue's left hand and bit down on it before raising her head to look outside.

When she saw that it was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong standing outside, Wu Feng curled her lips disdainfully. Wang Dong was talented enough to be worthy of sharing a class with her, but Huo Yuhao, who had entered through the back door, was truly an eyesore.

Wu Feng did not want two outsiders suddenly joining them in the pavilion, but she had no way to openly contradict Ning Tian. She could only pull back her gaze indignantly and spit another mouthful of fire into the charcoal brazier, where the flames were already blazing.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief. Ning Tian had a good reputation at the academy and could casually chat with anyone. With her smoothing things over, the two immediately escaped the awkward atmosphere from before.

Wang Dong grabbed Huo Yuhao's free hand and walked toward the pavilion with a cheerful smile. "Isn't the First Grade about to end tomorrow? When I thought about how I wouldn't be able to eat Yuhao's Grilled Fish for the next month, I got a little greedy. The teachers won't let us make fires in the dormitory, so I had no choice but to drag him here."

Qin Yue, who had been quietly teasing Wu Feng and asking her to spit out two more mouthfuls of fire for him, suddenly paused. He raised his head with a baffled expression. "Huh? The First Grade ends tomorrow???"

Ning Tian: "..."

Wu Feng: "..."

Wang Dong: "..."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Qin Yue's sudden question left everyone stunned, and they instinctively began wondering whether they had remembered the date incorrectly.

Huo Yuhao was the first to react. Quick-witted as he was, he immediately guessed that Qin Yue had probably been too focused on cultivation and had gradually become less sensitive to the passage of time.

However, he usually had little contact with Qin Yue, so it was not appropriate to expose it now. He could only continue pretending to look completely confused.

The second to react was Wu Feng, who was usually carefree and boisterous. She burst into laughter, patted Qin Yue on the shoulder, and said with a mocking smile:

"Maybe Teacher Mu Jin assigned too many tasks, and our great class monitor Qin got so busy that he forgot this is already the eleventh month of the First Grade."

Wang Dong wanted to laugh but felt too embarrassed to do so, so she could only raise a hand to cover her mouth. Freshman Class One... no, the entire freshman First Grade—who did not know that Qin Yue, the class monitor of Freshman Class One, never handled any matters at all? He had barely even visited the Teaching Building, and every task assigned by the teachers had fallen onto Dai Huabin's shoulders.

Having suddenly understood, Qin Yue paid no attention to Wu Feng's sarcasm. He finally realized where the mistake lay.

It turned out that a school year at Shrek Academy only had eleven months, rather than the twelve months he had subconsciously assumed made up a year. Furthermore, because of the Dragon Core, he had been cultivating in seclusion outside the academy and had little interaction with students of the same year. When he met Ning Tian and Wu Feng, they never discussed such topics either, and over time, this misconception had become firmly entrenched.

When he read the original novel in his previous life, he had only skimmed through it. Remembering the broad outline of the entire book was naturally no problem, but he had inevitably overlooked some minor details.

Fortunately, he had accompanied Ning Tian and Wu Feng on this outing today. It would have been troublesome if he had only realized it a month later.

If nothing else, Ice Empress, the super bodyguard Qin Yue could currently recruit most easily, would certainly be gone. With Qin Haichuan missing for so long and only three Soul Saints remaining in the vast Qin Clan, Ice Empress, whose cultivation was nearing four hundred thousand years, was the pillar Qin Yue had personally selected to hold up the heavens and brace the seas.

His original plan to recruit Ice Empress had been for Qin Haichuan to lead the way. Elder Qin, whose cultivation had reached Title Douluo and whose Martial Soul was the Six-Winged Cloud-Piercing Swallow, might not have been Ice Empress's match, but even if she exhausted herself to death, she would never catch him!

The Six-Winged Cloud-Piercing Swallow was a mutated Martial Soul, the strongest variant of the Sharp-Tailed Swift Martial Soul in history. Not only had it gained offensive power comparable to that of other top-tier Martial Souls, it also possessed speed comparable to the Sharp-Tailed Swift's—perhaps even slightly greater!

It was precisely because of the Six-Winged Cloud-Piercing Swallow's strength that Qin Haichuan had been able to lead the Qin Clan and maintain its position in Forest Spirit City with the cultivation of a Soul Douluo after the previous clan head passed away.

When Qin Yue burst onto the scene, Qin Haichuan, who had long struggled to feel at ease about the Qin Clan's future, finally found something to place his hopes in. After a breakthrough in his state of mind, his cultivation followed suit, allowing him to become a Title Douluo in one fell swoop.

Unfortunately, Qin Haichuan's unexpected disappearance had forced Qin Yue to abandon the idea of communicating with Ice Empress. Without Qin Haichuan to demonstrate his strength and provide protection, Ice Empress would never listen to him.

But Qiu'er's appearance had turned the situation around once more, allowing Qin Yue to pick up his previous plan of recruiting Ice Empress again.

Having sorted out the situation, Qin Yue laughed heartily and directly changed the subject. "Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I last ate Yuhao's Grilled Fish. I've wanted to savor that delicious taste again for ages."

Huo Yuhao saw through Qin Yue's intentions. Since he had no grievances with Qin Yue either, he was naturally happy to cooperate. He immediately set up the charcoal stove, lit the coals, and showed everyone his skill.

Wang Dong stared blankly at Huo Yuhao as he grilled the fish with great focus. Anyone perceptive could have spotted what was going on at a glance, but aside from the unruffled Qin Yue, no one noticed Wang Dong's unusual behavior.

Soon, the first batch of Grilled Fish came off the grill. Huo Yuhao first handed one to Wang Dong, then, as he distributed the fish to Qin Yue's group, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

"Be careful of Wang Dong."