His Womanizing Reputation Spread, and the Assessment Began
Dai Huabin placed the snow lotus in front of Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie respectively.
"The treasures Lulu and I use are really hard to find, but this Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus isn't bad either. After refining it, it should help you increase your Soul Power by about three levels."
Xiao Xiao held the snow lotus in both hands, almost pressing her whole body against it:
"Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus? That's worth at least a million Gold Soul Coin at the auction house, right?"
Cui Yajie also picked up her own flower and brought it close to her nose to smell it.
The icy chill made her shiver, but then came an extremely pure energy fluctuation that seeped into her limbs and bones through her nasal cavity.
"Squad leader, you're being way too generous."
Cui Yajie played with the snow lotus, her tone unusually serious.
I'll remember this favor.
Wang Dong'er held the snow lotus in her hand, her head down, and remained silent.
She had mixed feelings.
Dai Huabin broke through to the Soul Ancestor, and the gap widened even further.
But he still remembered his promise and prepared cultivation resources for them.
This feeling is contradictory. I feel frustrated, yet I also think he really is a reliable person.
"Thanks," Wang Dong'er said in a muffled voice, without even looking up.
"Go back and refine it quickly," Dai Huabin instructed. "School starts tomorrow, so finish refining it tonight, and you'll feel better tomorrow."
The three of them left with the snow lotus.
Wang Dong'er walked in front, her steps quick. Xiao Xiao jogged to catch up with her and grabbed her arm at the top of the stairs.
"Dong'er, don't rush. Take your time."
"Who's in a hurry!" Wang Dong'er said without turning her head.
Cui Yajie followed behind at a leisurely pace, her long pink hair swaying gently with each step.
She glanced back at the closed door at the end of the corridor and silently did some calculations in her mind.
Dai Huabin's companions include: his fiancée Zhu Lu, the Ultimate Ice Soul Emperor Xue Qingyao, and Bing Hanyue, who has no cultivation talent.
In addition, there's Wang Dong'er, who clearly cares about Dai Huabin.
There was also herself and Xiao Xiao.
Cui Yajie gently shook her head. The situation around this man was becoming increasingly lively.
Meanwhile, news of Dai Huabin being surrounded by beautiful women spread faster than he had anticipated.
That evening, the entire Outer Academy was in an uproar.
"Have you heard? Dai Huabin, the class monitor of Second-Year Class One, brought back two stunningly beautiful girls!"
"Two? That can't be right. Including his fiancée Zhu Lu, there are three women with him in total."
"Three? Your information is outdated. I just passed by the dormitory on the first floor and saw Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie come out of his room with my own eyes!"
"Damn! There are six of them?"
"The eldest son of the White Tiger Duke, indeed the eldest son of the White Tiger Duke... truly enviable."
Similar conversations could be heard everywhere in the cafeteria, playground, and study rooms.
When it was time for dinner,
The version that "Dai Huabin clearly has a fiancée but is still involved with five women" has become the established conclusion and is widely circulated among students of all grades in the Outer Academy.
At that time, Dai Huabin was having dinner with Zhu Lu in his dormitory.
Zhu Lu placed a piece of pork rib into Dai Huabin's bowl.
"Huabin, it seems there are rumors circulating about you outside."
"Let them spread," Dai Huabin said, taking a bite of his rib. "It won't affect my cultivation."
Zhu Lu thought about it and felt that what he said made sense, so she didn't bring it up again.
From next door came the sound of Ice Empress gnawing on ribs, "Mmm, mmm," interspersed with Snow Empress's soft remark:
"Bing'er, don't eat so fast."
"If you don't eat the delicious food quickly, it'll get cold!"
Even when it's cold, it's still pork ribs.
Dai Huabin took a sip of soup, then gestured towards Zhu Lu with his lip. "Tell me, which of the two looks more like the older sister?"
Zhu Lu smiled slightly, "Although Sister Bing'er is sharp-tongued, Sister Xue'er can keep her in check."
At 6:30 a. m., when Dai Huabin pushed open the dormitory door, there was already a row of people standing in the corridor.
Wang Dong'er leaned against the opposite wall, her long, light blue hair casually tied back with a hairband.
Xiao Xiao stood to her left, a head shorter than her, her delicate face beaming with undisguised excitement. Cui Yajie stood on the far right, her long pink hair cascading over her shoulders, head bowed as she adjusted her cuffs.
The three people had clearly been waiting for a while.
Zhu Lu followed Dai Huabin out, and the door next door opened almost simultaneously, with Ice Empress and Snow Empress walking out one after the other.
Ice Empress wore a light green dress today, and the scorpion-claw-shaped hair ornaments on her turquoise twin ponytails swayed slightly under the lights.
Snow Empress was still wearing a white dress, her long white hair cascading down to her waist, exuding a cool and aloof aura.
The seven people met in the corridor.
Wang Dong'er was the first to speak.
"Squad leader!"
She sprang up from the wall, chin slightly raised, her tone brimming with undisguised smugness:
"I'm level 34 now."
Dai Huabin was taken aback.
When I gave them snow lotus yesterday afternoon, Wang Dong'er was only at level thirty-one.
He rose three levels overnight; the medicinal effects of the snow lotus were even better than he had anticipated.
"Yajie and I are both level 30."
Xiao Xiao raised her hand, her little face beaming with a smile.
"Once I obtain my Third Soul Ring, my Soul Power should increase a little more."
Cui Yajie nodded and added:
"This gift from the class monitor is quite substantial."
Dai Huabin glanced at the three men and their complexions.
Wang Dong'er's skin was more radiant than yesterday, and the fluctuations in her Soul Power circulation were much more stable.
Although Xiao Xiao and Cui Yajie have a weaker foundation, they have already touched the threshold of level 30 Soul Elder.
"If you want to thank me, then work hard in your cultivation and don't fall too far behind me."
Dai Huabin paused for a moment.
"Also, good luck on today's Class Promotion Assessment."
Wang Dong'er snorted, "It's just Class Promotion Assessment, do you think I'm afraid of that?"
Xiao Xiao tugged at her arm from the side. "Dong'er, don't be careless. I heard that the assessment involves fighting Soul Beast."
"Fine, let's fight." Wang Dong'er tossed her hair. "A level 34 character can easily take down a thousand-year-old Soul Beast."
Cui Yajie didn't reply, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly. She noticed that when Wang Dong'er said those words, her gaze kept drifting towards Dai Huabin.
Dong'er probably wanted to impress the class monitor.
Dai Huabin turned around and glanced at Ice Empress and Snow Empress.
Ice Empress leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his orange-gold pupils scanning back and forth between Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie.
Snow Empress stood half a step behind Ice Empress, her sky-blue eyes quietly observing the scene before her.
The way Dai Huabin showed concern for the three girls was not fundamentally different from his attitude towards Zhu Lu.
It was all a very natural kind of concern, not deliberate, but not perfunctory either.
Snow Empress tilted her head slightly.
She had lived in the Far North for far too long, witnessing countless battles, alliances, and betrayals among Soul Beast.
However, the relationships between humans are far more complex than those between Soul Beast.
Ice Empress's Blood Pact with Dai Huabin allows her to sense Dai Huabin's attitude towards Ice Empress: trust, respect, and no malice.
But these three girls in front of him had neither Blood Pact nor a master-servant relationship with Dai Huabin, yet they still received his care.
An idea popped into my head.
Are these three women also Dai Huabin's women?
Snow Empress glanced at Ice Empress subconsciously. Ice Empress also happened to turn her head, and the two met eyes.
Ice Empress raised an eyebrow, leaned closer, and whispered something in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Xue'er, don't you think there are a lot of women around Huabin?"
Snow Empress didn't answer, but instead turned her gaze back to Dai Huabin.
Zhu Lu didn't react in any particular way. She was already used to it.
"Let's go, don't block the hallway." Dai Huabin clapped his hands and beckoned everyone to go downstairs.
Seven people filed out.
In the lobby on the first floor of the dormitory building, many students were already walking out.
Today is the first day of school and also the day of the Class Promotion Assessment, so everyone got up earlier than usual.
Dai Huabin walked at the front, with Zhu Lu half a step to his left, and Ice Empress and Snow Empress following on his right.
Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie walked behind, the three of them side by side.
The moment this lineup appeared in the hall, the atmosphere around them instantly changed.
People walking by stopped. People eating breakfast looked up. Two boys chatting by the door suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Seven people.
One man and six women.
Of the six women, Zhu Lu aloof and capable, Ice Empress is charming and cold, Snow Empress is otherworldly, Wang Dong'er is lively and bright, Xiao Xiao pretty and charming, and Cui Yajie is alluring and captivating.
Six distinct kinds of beauty, six completely different temperaments, all appearing beside one man.
"Holy crap..."
A second-grade boy in a yellow school uniform dropped a steamed bun from his hand onto the ground without even noticing.
"That's Dai Huabin? The eldest son of the White Tiger Duke?"
"Look at that white-haired girl, is she even human? She's... she's so beautiful."
"Don't just look at the white-haired one, the green-haired one is pretty good too. And the pink-haired one, my legs are about to give way."
"I know Zhu Lu, she's his fiancée. Wang Dong'er and Xiao Xiao are also in their class. Who are the other two?"
"They're the two from yesterday's rumors! Bing Hanyue and Xue Qingyao!"
A cacophony of voices rose and fell. Dai Huabin paid no heed, striding across the hall without pausing, and pushed open the door to leave.
The whispers behind them grew even louder.
Ice Empress walked beside Dai Huabin, her pupils sweeping over the boys staring at her, and her nose wrinkled slightly.
"Huabin, these people are looking at me strangely."
"You're good-looking; it's normal for young men to look at beautiful women."
"Oh." Ice Empress thought for a moment, "Then what about them seeing Xue'er?"
"That's normal."
Ice Empress thought for a moment, then asked, "What about when they see you?"
"What are you looking at me for?"
"You have six women with you."
Dai Huabin tripped over his own feet.
Zhu Lu gently tugged at Ice Empress's sleeve and whispered, "Sister Bing'er, don't talk about this outside."
The classroom of Second-Year Class One is located on the east side of the second floor of the teaching building.
As soon as the door opened, everyone looked up.
Then I didn't put it down.
Wu Feng was the first to stand up.
She stared at Snow Empress and Ice Empress behind Dai Huabin for two seconds, then looked at Wang Dong'er and Cui Yajie, before finally fixing her gaze on Dai Huabin.
"Dai Huabin, the rumors were indeed true."
Lan Susu jumped up from the table, rubbed her eyes, and peered towards the door:
"What rumor?"
Lan Luoluo tugged at her sister's sleeve and pouted.
Lan Susu looked in the direction the woman was pointing and saw Snow Empress. Then she froze.
"And this is...?"
"New students." Dai Huabin said succinctly, leading everyone into the classroom.
The atmosphere in the classroom immediately became awkward. All the boys' eyes were fixed on Ice Empress and Snow Empress.
A boy sitting in the third row even dropped his pen. When he bent down to pick it up, his head hit the edge of the table with a thud.
Ice Empress frowned and whispered to Snow Empress, "These humans are reacting exactly the same way they did to the ones in the building earlier."
Snow Empress didn't reply, and found an empty seat by the window to sit down. Ice Empress naturally sat down next to her.
Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu sat next to Ice Empress and Snow Empress. Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie sat in front.
A short while later, footsteps sounded again at the door.
Mu Jin walked in.
The new homeroom teacher of Second-Year Class One, was dressed in a plain-colored dress. She had a beautiful and gentle appearance with soft eyes and brows.
She scanned the classroom, lingering a little longer on Snow Empress and Ice Empress.
Yesterday, the Academic Affairs Office delivered Xue Qingyao and Bing Hanyue's information to her.
The Ultimate Ice Martial Soul, a level 65 Soul Emperor, specifically requested to be admitted to Second-Year Class One. Bing Hanyue, an auditor, has no talent for cultivation and is there to accompany the students.
Mu Jin read these two documents over and over again three times.
A level 65 Soul Emperor was squeezed into Second-Year Class One. The Academic Affairs Office and the dean both signed off on it. There are only a handful of people in the entire Outer Academy who can do something like this.
Mu Jin put away her questions and spoke gently:
"Class, today is the first day of the new semester. Before the Class Promotion Assessment begins, I'd like to introduce two new students who have joined our class."
She looked in the direction of Ice Empress and Snow Empress.
"Xue Qingyao, Bing Hanyue, please stand up."
Snow Empress stood up.
A white dress, white hair, and an aloof demeanor silenced the entire classroom for a moment.
"My name is Xue Qingyao."
No extra money was spent.
Ice Empress stood up, her emerald green twin tails swaying over her shoulders.
"Bing Hanyue."
Ice Empress talks even less than Snow Empress.
Mu Jin smiled slightly, did not insist, and gestured for the two to sit down.
"Alright, pack your things, come with me to the Beast Arena. The Class Promotion Assessment is about to begin."