Training, the Freshman Assessment Begins Immediately!

After Dai Huabin finished his self-deprecating remark, he left with Zhu Lu.

The days that followed proceeded according to plan.

Once Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie officially became disciples of the Tang Sect, Tang Ya was eager to pull out every technique she had kept at the bottom of her chest.

The cultivation mantra for the Mysterious Heaven Skill was passed down that very day, and the introductory mental cultivation method for the Purple Demon Eye was given to Cui Yajie as well.

As Tang Ya taught the techniques, Bei Bei stood by and watched.

In his heart, he felt quite emotional.

The Tang Sect had been in decline for so many years; it was not easy to finally have three newcomers with good talent, and all of them were girls.

"Xiao Ya, teach them slowly. Don't dump everything on them at once; they need time to digest it."

Bei Bei offered a reminder.

Tang Ya didn't listen at all; she grabbed Xiao Xiao's hand and began explaining the circulation path of the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Cui Yajie, however, was composed. After receiving the mantra for the Purple Demon Eye, she read it over and over several times before beginning to attempt to absorb the purple energy of the morning sunlight.

Wang Dong'er sat to the side, holding the handwritten copy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, but her mind was in a chaotic mess.

She kept feeling that her decision to join the Tang Sect had come too suddenly.

She clearly hadn't had any such thoughts before, but the moment she stood in front of Tang Ya, a single idea had popped into her head: join.

This thought was so intense that it didn't feel like her own.

I only bought grilled fish from him once, how could I possibly have this feeling?

Wang Dong'er shook her head violently, trying to cast all those messy thoughts away.

Whatever, the Mysterious Heaven Skill really did look good; she would learn it first and worry about the rest later.

One month later.

The effects of the Mysterious Heaven Skill were even better than Dai Huabin had anticipated.

Wang Dong'er was the first to break through to level twenty-two in soul power.

With her foundation as a twin martial soul wielder of the Radiant Goddess Butterfly and the Clear Sky Hammer, her innate aptitude was already set; once the meditation efficiency of the Mysterious Heaven Skill kicked in, the growth of her soul power was almost visible to the naked eye.

Cui Yajie didn't fall behind either, steadily advancing to level twenty-five.

What excited Cui Yajie even more was the Purple Demon Eye.

Although she had only been practicing for a month, her spiritual power had already improved significantly.

Previously, when she used "Charm," the effect on soul masters above level twenty would be greatly diminished. Now, she could vaguely feel that the range of her spiritual power had expanded quite a bit.

As for the Tang Sect, Huo Yuhao's reaction made Dai Huabin somewhat surprised.

According to Cui Yajie, when Huo Yuhao first heard that three newcomers had arrived at the Tang Sect, he had appeared very happy.

But later, for some reason, after finding out that all three of them were closely associated with Dai Huabin, he turned cold.

"That boy who sells grilled fish is very strange."

One night in the dormitory, Cui Yajie mentioned it to Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong'er.

"Every time we appear at the Tang Sect training grounds with Huabin, he finds an excuse to walk away."

Xiao Xiao tilted her head and thought, "Maybe he's introverted?"

Cui Yajie shook her head:

"It's not introversion. I've observed it several times now. Whenever Huabin is present, that Huo Yuhao exudes a... how should I put it, a very oppressive feeling."

She didn't use the term "negative emotions," but the meaning was much the same.

Xiao Xiao was a bit worried: "Should we tell the squad leader?"

"No need." Cui Yajie brushed her pink hair. "The squad leader is sharper than us; he must have noticed it long ago."

Wang Dong'er leaned against the headboard, hugging her pillow and listening to them talk without saying a word.

She had also noticed Huo Yuhao.

To be precise, every time she went to the Tang Sect to practice, she would involuntarily look for the figure of that boy in the gray cloth shirt.

This feeling made Wang Dong'er extremely irritable.

She had spoken to Huo Yuhao no more than ten times in total, and most of those were while buying grilled fish.

Why should an ordinary boy with only a dozen levels of soul power be worth the attention of a direct descendant of the Clear Sky Sect?

"Something's wrong! Something is definitely, absolutely wrong!"

Wang Dong'er buried her face in her pillow and muttered muffledly.

"What did you say, Dong'er?" Xiao Xiao leaned over.

"Nothing! Go to sleep!"

Dai Huabin was indeed quite satisfied after learning that all three of them had kept their distance from Huo Yuhao.

Wang Dong'er, in particular, put his mind at ease.

In the original story, the bond between Wang Dong'er and Huo Yuhao was absurdly deep, but now, although Wang Dong'er occasionally felt strange sensations, she had been actively resisting them.

This proved that the butterfly effect was working.

At the very least, up to this point, Wang Dong'er had not had any opportunity for deep contact with Huo Yuhao.

Without the day-to-day life of sharing a dormitory or the accidental triggering of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the "fated connection" between the two was nothing more than a faint, tenuous thread.

Whether it could be severed completely, Dai Huabin was not certain.

But what he could do was ensure that the people around Wang Dong'er were numerous and strong enough—strong enough that she would have no need to pay any attention to a teenager at the level of a dozen or so ranks.

Over the past month or so, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu had poured almost all their spare time into cultivation.

They woke up at six every morning to conduct basic Martial Soul resonance training in their single dormitory. They attended theoretical classes with Mu Jin in the morning, and the afternoon was reserved for unwavering combat practice.

The lineup for the sparring was fixed.

Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were one group.

Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and Cui Yajie were the second group.

Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er were the third group.

The three groups took turns fighting each other.

At first, the trio of Wang Dong'er and the others were beaten by Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu with no room to fight back.

But as their coordination became increasingly tacit, and coupled with the fact that Xiao Xiao's Cauldron Defense was incredibly sturdy, they were later able to withstand a few rounds of Dai Huabin's offensive.

Ning Tian's group was even more interesting.

Once Ning Tian activated the support of her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, Wu Feng's Dragon Fire would surge instantly.

Added to that was the long-range fire suppression provided by Nanmen Yun'er's Jade Slash, making the three of them surprisingly threatening when they coordinated.

After one sparring session ended, Wu Feng plopped onto the ground, panting, and glared at Dai Huabin: "Can... can you stop targeting me first every single time?"

Dai Huabin wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Because you're the most capable fighter. If I don't take you down first, Ning Tian's support will keep stacking on you."

Wu Feng froze for a moment, not expecting that he was focusing fire on her precisely because he valued her strength.

Her lips twitched, nearly revealing a smug expression, but she forced it back, snorted, and turned her head away.

Ning Tian shook her head with a smile from the side.

In reality, most of the time it was Dai Huabin holding off two Soul Grand Masters alone while letting Zhu Lu sneak attack Ning Tian; it was just that Wu Feng's eyes were entirely on Dai Huabin, so she only saw him beating her up.

Zhu Lu silently handed a handkerchief to Dai Huabin and naturally took the cap off his water bottle, unscrewing it and handing it over. The entire sequence of actions was smooth and fluid, requiring no verbal communication at all.

Seeing this scene, Wang Dong'er let out an inexplicable "tsk."

"What are you looking at?" Cui Yajie leaned in with a mischievous grin.

"Who was looking! I was counting the ants on the ground!" Wang Dong'er's face flushed red as she grabbed Xiao Xiao and walked away.

Just like that, the days flew by amidst cultivation and sparring.

In the blink of an eye, only two days remained until the freshman assessment.