On Sea God Island, Ma Xiaotao came to.
Yan Shaozhe was right in front of her.
"Teacher?"
"You couldn't control your Evil Fire. If it hadn't been for that girl Lexuan, you would have killed a student from the Outer Court."
Ma Xiaotao asked, "Are they all right?"
"They're fine. You need to slow down your cultivation. Until we find a way to deal with this, you absolutely mustn't cultivate again. If only there were a male Soul Master with Ultimate Ice. I'd marry you off to him."
Unfortunately, the one about to gain Ultimate Ice was a female Soul Master.
"I don't want to get married."
"Don't be ridiculous. Feelings can be cultivated. Your Evil Fire is the real problem."
Thinking of the flames, Ma Xiaotao sprang up and told Yan Shaozhe, "Teacher, before I passed out, I felt an incredibly scorching flame. It was even hotter than mine."
Yan Shaozhe knew who Ma Xiaotao had run into. "Ji Siyuan from the Outer Court. Ultimate Fire. What a pity he doesn't have Ultimate Ice."
In the dormitory, Ji Siyuan sneezed. "Who's thinking about me?"
Ji Siyuan stretched and got ready to enjoy a good night's sleep.
Huo Yuhao was thrilled to have advanced four levels. She was that much closer to the level 20 she hoped to reach.
"Siyuan, are you going to sell barbecue tomorrow?"
"Why would I? Don't we already have everything we need?"
They had school uniforms for clothes, the cafeteria for food, a dormitory to live in, and the campus was easy to get around on foot.
Their basic needs were pretty much taken care of.
"But if we stop doing business without saying a word, what if some students are waiting for us outside?"
"Let's not go tomorrow. I have something to take care of. Get back to the dorm early."
Ji Siyuan had made up his mind, so Huo Yuhao didn't argue.
She didn't ask what he had to do and instead began meditating.
The Soul Ascension Pill and Mystic Water Pill had raised her to level 15, but she still needed to consolidate her cultivation.
She couldn't just lie in bed and enjoy a good night's sleep like Ji Siyuan.
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was quite pleased with how things were going. "Those two pills took you straight to level 15. Not bad. That boy is really good to you, giving you the pills to use."
Huo Yutong said, "Siyuan is a really good person. I don't even know how to repay him."
"Why not marry him?"
"Brother Sky Dream, what are you talking about?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm dropped its teasing tone. "Do you think I'm joking? I'm being serious. Ji Siyuan has Ultimate Fire, and the Martial Soul I want you to obtain is Ultimate Ice. With those two Martial Souls together, you'll cultivate incredibly fast. They're a perfect match."
Huo Yutong asked, "An Ultimate Ice Martial Soul? What Martial Soul?"
"Don't worry about that. Just reach level 20."
Their days went on as usual. The first-year classes were meant to build a foundation, so they weren't especially difficult.
Things were different for Xu Sanshi, a fifth-year student.
His problem wasn't his studies. It was his troubled love life—and the fact that an Inner Court student was currently picking on him.
Ma Xiaotao, her fiery red hair blazing, had already blocked Xu Sanshi's escape route.
"Big sis, Sister Xiaotao. Since you came to me, I'd normally have no problem helping you. But a few days ago, I promised Bei Bei I wouldn't go looking for trouble with them. And Nannan wants to eat their barbecue."
Bei Bei was just an excuse. Jiang Nannan was the real reason.
Xu Sanshi refused Ma Xiaotao's request to go pick a fight with them.
"You'd better think it over. I'll roast you until you're a dried-up turtle."
"Friendship is precious, but life is worth even more; for love, I'd throw both away. My Nannan wants to eat the barbecue those two make. How could I go wreck their stall? Sister Xiaotao, even if you roast me, I still won't do it."
After getting scorched, Xu Sanshi finally asked what he wanted to know. "Sister Xiaotao, why did you suddenly decide to pick on two first-year students? And why did you specifically ask for that Ji Siyuan?"
"He's incredibly talented. I want to see just how talented he really is!"
For hundreds of years, she had carried the title of Shrek's most talented student. But now someone with an Ultimate Attribute had appeared, and she wanted to see him for herself.
As an Inner Court student, she couldn't exactly go to the Outer Court and pick a fight with someone.
That was when she thought of Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei.
Ji Siyuan had been brought in by Bei Bei, so Xu Sanshi was obviously the better choice.
"That's easy. I'll go find them and challenge them to a Soul Fight."
"A Soul Fight? You're in fifth year, and they're in first year. Would they even accept?"
Xu Sanshi said, "Don't worry, Senior Sister. Bei Bei and I will set things up. It'll definitely work."
"Good. I'll leave this to you, then."
When Ji Siyuan and Huo Yuhao returned to their dormitory, they still had no idea that someone had set their sights on them.
Ji Siyuan took out what Yan Shaozhe had given him.
"Siyuan, what's that?"
"Thousand-year Whale Rubber."
Huo Yuhao didn't recognize it. Back at the Duke Mansion, she hadn't been allowed to eat things like this.
"It strengthens the meridians. Once I soften it, we'll share it."
"I..." Before Huo Yuhao could finish, Ji Siyuan cut her off. "After all that, you still don't plan to get revenge? Other people see a benefit and jump at the chance, but you keep backing away?"
Blazing Fire flared, softening the Whale Rubber. Ji Siyuan pinched off a piece, blew on it twice, and popped it straight into his mouth.
"Alas!" Tang San lamented. "You should've fed the Daughter of Destiny just now. What a great opportunity!"
"Uncle Tang, it was just the order we ate them in. How important could that be?"
"It's not the order that matters. It's that you feed her with your own hands!"
Ji Siyuan hadn't thought of that. He simply handed the rest over and let Huo Yuhao pinch off a piece for herself.
After Ji Siyuan had given her a talking-to, Huo Yuhao stopped arguing. She took the piece he offered.
They took turns eating, both in high spirits.
"I won't share the Pine-Fir Ganoderma. I'll eat it myself later." When Huo Yuhao didn't respond, he turned to look at her and saw that her eyes had gone glassy.
She threw herself at Ji Siyuan. "Siyuan, Siyuan."
???
Could thousand-year Whale Rubber really have this kind of effect?
Ji Siyuan held Huo Yuhao tightly, not wanting her to throw herself at him again.
But Huo Yuhao started rubbing against him like a little cat.
???
Just as he was trying to figure out how to wake Huo Yuhao, he suddenly sensed an unusual power.
Did they actually have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?
Could it even increase their cultivation speed?
Ji Siyuan closed his eyes and carefully sensed the flow of Soul Power.
It was twice as fast as when he cultivated alone. For Huo Yuhao, that kind of speed was beyond imagination.
As he sensed the flow, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm made its move.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm planned to change their Martial Soul Fusion Skill so that Huo Yuhao would be in control.
Icy threads wrapped around them. The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm flew out and gave a smug hum. "So what if he's a genius? He still has to let little Yu Tong take the lead."
Using its own power, it wrapped the two of them up in a cocoon and began to alter the flow of this power.
Black, white, and gray light suddenly burst out, shattering all its preparations and threatening to cleave it in two.
At the critical moment, it could only separate off a portion of its origin to escape disaster.
The Nine Lotus Seeds flew out as well. Blazing Fire burned the separated portion of its origin, and Ji Siyuan took complete control of this power.
The poor Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had lost the one thing it least wanted to lose: its origin.
From now on, it could be called Sky Dream Sister.