Ice Empress's Fist! Lan Enrolls in Tianshui! Full of Benefits!

Skywater Academy.

This is the only advanced Soul Master academy on the entire continent that exclusively recruits female students, all of whom possess water or ice attribute soul power.

The academy's architecture is primarily composed of blue and white tones, elegant and unique, resembling a kingdom of ice and snow.

Outside the principal's office, Lan, Shui Bing'er, and Liu Ruyan stood quietly in the corridor, waiting.

A moment later, the office door opened.

Ice Empress walked out, looking refreshed.

She rubbed her fist unobtrusively, a look of satisfaction flashing through her ice-blue eyes.

"It's settled."

Ice Empress gestured to the three of them.

"I persuaded the principal, and she agreed to let Lan join as a special student to represent Skywater Academy in this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."

Shui Bing'er let out a sigh of relief, a joyful smile appearing on her face.

"Aunt Bing, how did you convince the principal?"

Liu Ruyan also asked curiously, as the rule that Skywater Academy does not accept male students had been in place for over a hundred years.

The corners of Ice Empress's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a meaningful smile.

"It was nothing."

"I simply reasoned with her in a calm and peaceful manner."

"The principal is very broad-minded and felt that my reasoning... was quite persuasive."

Lan watched Ice Empress's wrist, which was still moving slightly, and said nothing.

He could roughly guess just how much "weight" Aunt Bing's reasoning carried.

Walking through the campus of Skywater Academy, Lan's figure was like a drop of ink falling into clear water, instantly attracting everyone's attention.

The students coming and going were all young, beautiful girls.

Whether in groups of three or five or strolling alone, they all carried a water-like agility and gentleness.

When they saw Lan, the only male present, almost everyone's footsteps faltered.

"Look, that boy is so handsome!"

"My god, his eyes are blue, just like gemstones."

"How could there be a boy in our academy? Who is he?"

"I don't know, but he's walking with Senior Shui Bing'er..."

The whispers rose one after another, and countless gazes of curiosity and admiration converged upon him.

Lan seemed not to hear them; he followed behind Ice Empress with steady steps and a calm expression, as if he were simply walking across the frozen plains of the Far North.

Deep within the academy, beside a lake with rippling green waves.

Shui Yue'er was leading Xue Wu and several other reserve members of the Skywater Team through their daily training.

As Xue Wu called out, "Training over," the girls immediately let out a cheer.

They couldn't wait to shed their outer garments, revealing their well-proportioned figures soaked in sweat, and leaped into the clear lake water like joyful mermaids.

"Splash!"

Shui Yue'er was the first to jump in, kicking up a large spray of water. She stretched her body comfortably and let out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Ah... that feels so good."

The other girls followed suit, and the surface of the lake was instantly filled with laughter and joy.

After playing for a while, Shui Yue'er rested her head on her arms, floated on her back, and sighed leisurely while looking at the sky.

"Sigh, why hasn't big sister come back yet?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than a cold, slightly helpless female voice drifted over from the shore.

"I knew it, you lot must be slacking off and bathing here again."

Shui Yue'er gave a start and turned her head in surprise.

"Big sister!"

Seeing Shui Bing'er on the shore, she leaped out of the water in delight, kicking up a spray of crystalline droplets.

"We aren't slacking off!"

Shui Yue'er stood barefoot on the bluestone by the shore, arguing her case with conviction.

"We're doing mimetic cultivation! Being in this lake water speeds up our soul power recovery and cultivation rate. We really aren't slacking off, if you don't believe me, ask Sister Xue Wu!"

As she spoke, she pointed toward Xue Wu, who was still in the water.

It was only at this moment that Shui Yue'er suddenly noticed.

Beside her sister stood two other people.

One was someone she had seen before, Teacher Liu Ruyan.

The other was a man.

A man she had never seen before, so handsome that he almost made her stop breathing.

His figure was tall and straight, his short white hair shimmering under the sunlight, and his eyes, also blue, were as calm as the deep sea, as if they could suck a person's soul right in.

Shui Yue'er felt her heart skip a beat, a blush involuntarily creeping onto her cheeks as she subconsciously murmured aloud.

"So... so handsome..."

Watching her sister's textbook "lovestruck" expression, Shui Bing'er helplessly covered her forehead.

Crystal-clear water droplets slid down her fair skin, outlining the girl's exquisite figure and gleaming with an alluring luster under the sun.

"Yue'er."

Shui Bing'er sighed.

"Could you... please put on some clothes before you say anything else?"

"Ah--!"

Shui Yue'er's shriek rang out abruptly; she looked down at her body, her mind going completely blank.

The next second, with the fastest speed of her life, she let out a "splash" and dove back into the lake, leaving only her beet-red head exposed above the water, not daring to even glance at the figure on the shore again.

The other girls in the lake were also startled, and then they too spotted Lan on the bank.

"Ah!"

Another series of exclamations rose one after another.

They scrambled to submerge themselves in the water, leaving only their heads visible, their cheeks flushed crimson as they curiously and shyly peeked at the man on the shore who looked as if he had walked out of a painting.

For a time, the lake, previously filled with laughter, was left with nothing but the sound of bubbling water and the girls' rapid heartbeats.

Lan's gaze swept calmly across the lake, as if he were looking not at a group of girls who had just bathed, but at a pack of startled snow foxes, before he indifferently shifted his gaze and found a clean rock to sit on.

The Ice Empress, however, watched this scene with great interest, her ice-blue eyes sparkling with the light of someone enjoying a spectacle.

"Little Lan, look, how popular you are."

She nudged Lan with her elbow.

"Do you want Aunt Bing to pick one out for you?"

Lan ignored her.

Shui Bing'er sighed helplessly, took several clean robes from her storage Soul Tool, and tossed them onto the bank.

"Don't just sit there like fools, hurry up and come ashore to get dressed."

A short while later, the girls finally finished tidying themselves up, each of them blushing and keeping their heads low as they followed behind Shui Bing'er, not daring to look directly at Lan.

The Ice Empress yawned and stretched her back.

"This place seems quite safe."

She stood up and brushed some non-existent dust off her body.

"Little Lan, you young people chat; Aunt Bing is going to wander around the city and bring you back something tasty or fun."

With that, not waiting for Lan to answer, her figure flickered, turning into a streak of ice-blue light that vanished at the entrance of Skywater Academy.

The Ice Empress had a childlike temperament; seeing that Lan was in no danger, she had long been unable to resist the urge to go play in the city by herself.

The lakeside was suddenly left with only Lan and the group of girls.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment.

It was Shui Bing'er who finally broke the silence; she led her teammates to sit down not far from Lan and spoke softly.

"On the way back this time, we ran into some trouble."

These words successfully captured everyone's attention.

Her younger sister, Shui Yue'er, even leaned in closer, her face filled with a lingering fear, yet brimming with curiosity.

"Sister, what did you encounter? Where is Teacher Liu?"

"We encountered a Titan Snow Demon."

Shui Bing'er's voice was very soft, but the weight of her words caused all the girls present to gasp in unison.