"Why do I have to learn from him?"
Wang Dong'er looked at Ji Siyuan with great dissatisfaction.
Tang Ya was helpless, too. "Bei Bei and I are upperclassmen, after all, and we have other things to do. We can't stay by your side and teach you every day. But Siyuan's different. He's in the same class as you two."
Ji Siyuan shrugged. "Didn't you just feel it for yourself?"
With Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, he'd dealt with Wang Dong'er with ease.
"Hmph." She reluctantly held out her hand. "I'll be counting on you from now on."
Tang San nodded in satisfaction. "You've successfully taken the first step. You'd better work hard. We can't let a child like this go to someone else."
They had meant to shake hands and then go their separate ways.
But Huo Yuhao suddenly stepped in front of her. "Wang Dong'er, why don't you head back first? Siyuan and I still have something to do."
The scene was incredibly awkward, nothing like how things were supposed to go.
"What? I was counting on him to teach me his other skills."
"There'll be plenty of time for that later."
A strange feeling lingered in Ji Siyuan's heart. He knew that now was the time for him to step in. "You really can't rush these things. Aside from the Mysterious Heaven Skill I just told you about, only the Purple Demon Eye takes a lot of time to build up. Let's start with that."
The three of them walked along as they practiced.
Without the purple qi that rose in the east, Wang Dong'er couldn't sense the difference for the time being.
After walking her to the place where they were to part, they let Wang Dong'er go on ahead.
They still had to buy seasonings.
Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "When we sell barbecue, she won't come along to learn Tang Sect secret techniques from you too, will she?"
"Definitely not," Ji Siyuan replied firmly.
"Good."
After walking a couple of steps, Ji Siyuan saw that no one else was nearby. He lowered his voice. "Huo Yuhao, were you just about to use Spiritual Detection Sharing to help me cheat?"
He'd moved too quickly, and Huo Yuhao hadn't had time.
But he'd still sensed Huo Yuhao's Soul Skill at the very end.
"Sorry. I should've trusted you more."
"This isn't about whether you trust me." He looked at Huo Yuhao sternly. "Tell me, was this a fight where someone's life was at stake? Was it a fight you absolutely had to win? Was a small victory worth cheating to get?"
The three questions struck Huo Yuhao one after another.
The boy nearly lost his balance, his feet staggering beneath him.
Ji Siyuan caught hold of Huo Yuhao. "I acknowledge that this is your ability. But that doesn't mean it's right for you to use your Soul Skill to help me. Then it wouldn't be one-on-one anymore. It'd be two against one. That's unfair, and it goes against the agreement. Don't let little things affect your character. It could limit how far you go in the future."
"Sorry." Huo Yuhao lowered his head, on the verge of tears. It was the first time anyone had lectured him since he'd left his mother.
Ji Siyuan looked at him, feeling a pang of sympathy for some reason. "Don't do it again. Save it for a fight that truly calls for it—when lives are on the line or something else important is at stake."
Honesty mattered less than life.
Tang San nodded repeatedly. Even he hadn't noticed the lesson this time. "Siyuan's all grown up. He's not the child who used to climb trees just to jump down anymore."
"Come on, Uncle Tang. That was ages ago. How do you still remember?"
"Haha."
After they'd bought everything they needed, they were genuinely low on money. They'd have to start earning some soon.
When they reached the dormitory building, Huo Yuhao greeted Mu En as usual.
Then Ji Siyuan sent him upstairs alone.
Ji Siyuan said, "Senior, can't we change teachers? Our homeroom teacher's reputation really isn't very good."
Mu En said, "Even if another teacher came, Teacher Zhou would still be your homeroom teacher. If there's a problem with her teaching, she'll be suspended."
"Fine, then. I'll head up."
"Wait. Child, can I see your Martial Soul?"
Ji Siyuan's flames that day had been so scorching that even Ultimate Fire couldn't compare.
"There's no need to show it. My Martial Soul is the Geocentric Red Lotus—a flame of absolute heat. It's a fusion of two Ultimate Fires!"
"Good."
Back in their dorm, they began practicing diligently.
One of them was doing it for revenge; the other, to become a god as soon as possible and bring his family back.
For the next few days, that was all they did.
They sat cross-legged on their beds and meditated.
Huo Yuhao never tired, but he saw that Ji Siyuan was even more tireless than he was.
As Ji Siyuan meditated, nine Lotus Seeds circled around him. The faint flames carried such a sense of menace that Huo Yuhao didn't dare go near.
"Brother Sky Dream, Siyuan's flames are so scorching. Do you know what kind they are?"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm replied, "No idea. But those Lotus Seeds circling him are on an extremely high level. Even higher than me. The only thing on you that might compare is that gray stream of air."
"Huh?" Huo Yuhao felt a little inferior. He didn't know how he could ever compare to Ji Siyuan.
He'd awakened his Martial Soul at six, and now his Soul Power had only just reached level eleven.
But Ji Siyuan had only just awakened his Martial Soul, and his Soul Power was already at level fifteen.
"Am I going to fall way behind Siyuan?"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm didn't think much of it. "Don't forget, you have Twin Martial Souls. Once you reach level twenty, everything will work out."
Reach level twenty. Reach level twenty. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had set him that goal.
He had to make it.
On the morning classes began for the new students, Ji Siyuan woke him up.
"Time for breakfast."
Mealtimes were as regular as clockwork every day. Ji Siyuan cared even more about breakfast than Huo Yuhao did.
And Wang Dong'er usually showed up in the dining hall around then to discuss their progress in cultivation.
The three of them went to class together, ready for their lesson.
The classroom was noisy, with everyone chatting among themselves.
Their seating arrangement was strange, too: two boys and a girl in one row.
"Hey, what kind of person do you think our teacher will be?" Wang Dong'er asked Ji Siyuan, who sat beside her.
Ji Siyuan thought of Zhou Yi's reputation. "No idea. I hope it isn't someone weird."
Before long, two people entered the classroom.
An old woman came in with a middle-aged man.
They walked up to the lectern, and the classroom fell silent.
"My name is Zhou Yi. I'm your homeroom teacher. I don't know how many of you will stick with me, but let me tell you this: in my class, trash won't pass the exams. I'm here to cultivate real monsters."
That was pure nonsense. They'd have class sorting later, for one thing. And not many students would stick with her.
The middle-aged man said, "I'm Wang Yan, the assistant homeroom teacher."
Compared to Zhou Yi, he seemed like a much more decent person.
The two teachers introduced themselves differently, and the students reacted differently as well.
A large group glared angrily at Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi didn't care. "Between enrollment and the start of classes, how many of you got into a fight? Stand up!"
Huo Yuhao had guessed that Zhou Yi wouldn't do things by the book, but he hadn't gotten into any fights. Only Ji Siyuan and Wang Dong'er had fought.
Wang Dong'er asked Ji Siyuan, "You're not standing?"
"Huh? Did that even count as a fight? Did it last five seconds?" Ji Siyuan was curious, too, about what qualified as a fight.
"Hmph. If you're not standing, then neither am I. I was fighting you, after all."