By the shore of Sea God Lake, two figures stood out. Ning Tian wore the Outer Court student uniform, while Yu Daoyun wore a red school uniform, making a stark contrast.
Yu Daoyun was clearly taller than Ning Tian. After all, boys were usually taller than girls.
As they walked, Ning Tian asked softly, "Senior, how old are you this year?"
"About twelve and a half." Yu Daoyun thought for a moment, estimating they weren't far apart in age.
Ning Tian was startled. By her reckoning, Senior Yu seemed to be younger than her.
Yet at such a young age, he had already become a Five-Ring Soul King. It was simply astonishing. As expected of the Inner Court's number-one genius.
His talent was rare even across the continent—enough to make him a Sea God Pavilion Reserve Master, surely.
Ning Tian thought for a moment, then asked, "Senior, will we still have a chance to see each other?"
Yu Daoyun replied, "Once I return to the Inner Court, I probably won't have time to come back to the Outer Court. I have cultivation duties, and I also have missions with the Supervision Group. Evil Soul Masters have been running rampant lately, and as a member of the Inner Court, I have to take part in missions to eliminate them."
He was telling the truth. In the Inner Court, the Supervision Group's missions and the things Mu En assigned him took up more than half his time.
The rest, naturally, had to be reserved for himself.
Things like eating and sleeping.
Ning Tian suddenly felt reluctant to part with him.
She wouldn't get to see him anymore. That strict instructor would disappear from her life, and he probably wouldn't return to the Outer Court.
That was right. He was busy.
Unless she became an Inner Court student too, then they could see each other every day, and she wouldn't have to miss him.
At the thought, Ning Tian asked, "Senior, have you ever considered becoming a live-in son-in-law?"
As she said this, her cheeks flushed like apples. After all, when a girl said something like that, it was basically a confession.
Ning Tian was the young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, so she couldn't exactly confess to him—that would mean marrying into his family.
And so, the idea of him marrying into hers was born.
At that moment,
Yu Daoyun didn't first think about marrying into her family. Instead, he thought of a wronged son-in-law returning as a Dragon King.
Live-in son-in-laws never had a good ending. Either their wives changed their hearts or they were dumped, then looked down on by the old woman of the household. Even the servants at the gate wouldn't give them the time of day.
He definitely couldn't become that kind of person.
Yu Daoyun answered, "I definitely won't become a live-in son-in-law. A man who does that has no backbone. Unless I'm completely useless—but if I have what it takes, I'll become one of the leading figures in the Soul Master World."
"Marrying into someone else's family is a last resort. Especially for a man: once he's built up enough strength, he'll absolutely escape the status of live-in son-in-law."
As he spoke, Yu Daoyun gave Ning Tian a lesson along the way.
No man wanted to be a live-in son-in-law for the rest of his life, unless he truly had no ability and was completely under the thumb of a woman with a strong drive for success.
At his words, a trace of disappointment appeared on Ning Tian's face.
Senior Yu wasn't willing to become a live-in son-in-law.
That was true. Over the years, fewer and fewer men in the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect were willing to marry into the family. Few strong men would agree to it.
If that was the case, then she and Senior Yu had no chance, did they?
Ning Tian took a deep breath and said, "Senior, have you ever heard of love? We've spent so much time together, and I think you must feel something too. So I want to confess to you properly. Would you consider it?"
"Before this, I already looked into you, Senior. You're from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and I'm the young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect. I think we're well matched—at least, our families are of equal standing."
The scene was just like a young woman with a crush confessing to her instructor after military training ended.
And now, Yu Daoyun had found himself in exactly that situation.
Hearing her words, Yu Daoyun froze, his face and ears growing hot.
Was she confessing to him?
But he hadn't prepared himself for this.
He sometimes teased the other girls in the Inner Court, but being confessed to by a girl for real was still embarrassing. He was, after all, a young virgin.
"Senior, have you made up your mind?" Ning Tian had waited a long time for an answer and was getting anxious.
This was her first time confessing too. No one had told her that boys took so long to react.
Wasn't this guy so fierce during training? Why had he shown his true colors today?
After thinking it over, Yu Daoyun answered seriously, "Young Lord Ning Tian, you know I'm a man with lofty ambitions. At my age, I'm devoted to cultivation. So I've always thought of you as a friend. Later, I gradually realized you weren't just an ordinary friend to me. Anyway, I think there's no problem with waiting until we're older to talk about it."
When faced with a question, the best approach was not to answer and not to refuse.
In his previous life, goddesses had often used this trick to keep their simps on the hook. He hadn't expected to use it here.
Ning Tian stared at him, completely taken aback by this response.
This guy was avoiding the real issue.
Did he really think she, the dignified young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, was a brainless fool like Dai Huabin?
If he didn't want to accept, then he should just say so. What did he mean by stringing her along?
The more Ning Tian thought about it, the angrier she got. She turned her head and glared at Yu Daoyun with her beautiful eyes.
Yu Daoyun smiled faintly, trying to ease the awkwardness.
But in the next instant, Ning Tian suddenly grabbed Yu Daoyun by the neck and kissed him, without caring whether he agreed or not.
At least she could let off some steam first.
Yu Daoyun was stunned. He hadn't expected this girl to play by her own rules.
Had he just been kissed against his will?
Soon after the kiss, Ning Tian said calmly, "To keep you from stringing me along, I'm defining our relationship first. If you don't like me later, at least I'll have given my youth a chance."
"I'm Ning Tian, young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect. I hope we meet again."
With that, Ning Tian strode away, not stopping for a moment, as if she were afraid of what she might do next.
Yu Daoyun watched her retreating figure, slightly dazed.
What a bold girl.
That goddess trick of keeping a simp on the hook wouldn't work on him. I'm going to ask the campus belle for a refund!
Never mind... It wasn't so bad. At least he'd gotten a free kiss.
After a struggle of thoughts, Yu Daoyun put matters of the heart out of his mind and planned to return to the Inner Court and rest for a while. There was only a month left before the holiday.
However, just as Yu Daoyun was about to head back to the Inner Court, he spotted three figures elsewhere by the lake.
They were Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong.
What were they doing here?
Curious, Yu Daoyun went over to see what was happening.
At that moment,
Huo Yuhao held a bottle of wine and gazed at the vast artificial lake. The breeze blew against his face, and he felt more defeated than ever before.
They had lost. They had come just one step away from the finals, only to stop at the semifinals.
He hadn't expected to meet such a huge obstacle on the very first step toward avenging his mother.
The New Student Assessment had hit him hard. So hard that he'd come to the lakeside late at night to drown his sorrows, and had brought Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao along too.
They had lost, and the old woman would scold them as well.
Kids in their teens couldn't take a blow like that. Huo Yuhao and the others were no exception.
Wang Dong fell silent, tears streaming down her face.
She hadn't expected them to lose so completely either.
Xiao Xiao felt even guiltier. She raised her voice and said, "I didn't perform well in this assessment. I have Twin Martial Souls, but I didn't bring out their strengths. It was my fault."
Wang Dong snapped, "It was my fault, not yours."
But Xiao Xiao stubbornly insisted, "It was mine."
"It was mine," Wang Dong said.
The two of them started arguing, getting louder and louder.
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