Leng Xue'er and Wu Changkong

"Big Sister Xue'er."

After Tang Wuling let go of the embrace, she looked at Leng Xue'er and greeted her timidly.

Tang Wuling feared Leng Xue'er from the bottom of her heart.

"Hello, Little Sister Ling'er."

Leng Xue'er wouldn't deliberately ignore Tang Wuling or Na'er, nor would she deliberately give them any special favors. She treated them equally.

So whenever they greeted her first, Leng Xue'er always responded warmly.

It wasn't because she liked the two of them. It was because Cheng Duoyi liked them, and she loved them by association. That was what it meant to love the house and its crows.

Cheng Duoyi said, "Big Sister Xue'er, we've already arrived at the academy, and Little Sister Ling'er is here too, so nothing will happen to me. Why don't you go check out the teachers' dormitory first? I'll take Little Sister Ling'er for a walk around the area, and we can meet back here for dinner tonight."

Leng Xue'er furrowed her brows slightly. Considering that this was an academy, she couldn't stay by Cheng Duoyi's side forever. He needed to have a social circle of his own, too. "Whatever Yi'er says. If anything happens, be sure to contact Big Sister Xue'er with your communicator, all right?"

"Mm-hmm." Cheng Duoyi nodded.

"Then bye, Big Sister Xue'er."

"Come on, Little Sister Ling'er."

"Bye, Big Sister Ling'er."

Cheng Duoyi took Tang Wuling, who had finished saying her goodbyes, and began showing her around.

With Leng Xue'er gone, Tang Wuling relaxed, too.

"Brother Yi'er, the opening ceremony is tomorrow. They'll assign us to classes then. I wonder which class we'll end up in."

"If nothing unexpected happens, it'll be Class Five," Cheng Duoyi said.

"Why Class Five?" Tang Wuling asked, puzzled.

"Think about it. Every academy assigns classes according to Martial Souls. Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and my body is so weak. If they don't put us in Class Five, would they put us in Class One?" Cheng Duoyi said.

Actually, if he wanted to, he and Tang Wuling could go straight into Class One. But then they wouldn't meet Xie Xie and the future Xu Xiaoyan right away, nor Gu Yue, or Wu Changkong, who would become a pillar of Shrek in the future.

"Is that so?" Tang Wuling murmured, feeling a little inferior.

Her Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, the most useless Martial Soul.

Before she knew what Blue Silver Grass was like, she could still fool herself, saying her Martial Soul was the same as Sea God Tang San's from twenty thousand years ago—they both had the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

But after learning about Blue Silver Grass and seeing Cheng Duoyi's background and how formidable Leng Xue'er was, her mindset had shifted. Still, just to stay by Cheng Duoyi's side, she, a girl, had found the courage to study blacksmithing.

She wasn't afraid of hardship or exhaustion. All she wanted was to keep up with Cheng Duoyi in the future!

Fortunately, she had a talent for blacksmithing. At such a young age, she was already a Level Three Blacksmith and could complete Thousand Refinement. Only she knew how much heartache and effort it had taken.

She remembered what Mang Tian had told her: a Level Three Blacksmith was already a master-level blacksmith, a rare existence throughout the entire Sun Moon Federation.

And Tang Wuling was still so young—only nine this year. She was probably the youngest Level Three Blacksmith. As long as she kept studying and steadily raised her level, reaching Saint Craftsman at Level Eight or Divine Craftsman at Level Nine wasn't out of the question!

Thinking of this, Tang Wuling encouraged herself: I have to become a Level Nine Divine Craftsman! Then I'll be able to help Brother Yi'er!

Cheng Duoyi had no idea what Tang Wuling was thinking. Seeing her mood dip, he assumed it was because of her Martial Soul and hurried to encourage her.

"Ling'er, even if they assign us to Class Five, every grade has class competitions. If we win, we can move up from Class Five to Class Four or Class Three. Even Class One isn't beyond reach."

"Do you have the confidence to lead Class Five up to Class One with me?"

Cheng Duoyi's tone left Tang Wuling stunned. Usually, he was all smiles and seemed rather weak, as if he needed constant protection.

But now, Cheng Duoyi seemed like a completely different person.

"Mm!" Tang Wuling nodded firmly. "I believe in you, Brother Yi'er!"

The troops' morale was steady!

After that, the two of them walked around the area some more.

Meanwhile, Leng Xue'er arrived at the teachers' single dormitory building.

A man wearing a white shirt walked out.

He was tall and straight, with handsome features and long ice-blue hair casually draped over his shoulders. His gaze was cold, and an icy aura that warned others to stay away radiated from him. He was like an iceberg that had stood unmelted for ten thousand years.

Their eyes met, and both froze.

"Leng Xue'er?" the man asked first, his voice as cold as he was, with a trace of surprise.

"Wu Changkong?" Leng Xue'er was surprised, too. "Long Hengxu just told me you were the homeroom teacher for Grade 1 Class 5. I thought it was someone else with the same name, but it really is you."

This man was Wu Changkong, a student of Shrek Academy's Inner Court.

Back then, the two of them had been students in the same class at Shrek Academy's Outer Court. They were the same age and gradually got to know each other. At first, though, they weren't in the same grade at the Outer Court, yet they both passed the entrance examination for Shrek Inner Court at the same time.

At the time, Leng Xue'er hadn't been eligible to study in the Inner Court. After graduating from the Outer Court, she was supposed to return to her family or help Leng Yaozhu. But she was curious about the Inner Court, and out of consideration for Leng Yaozhu's past kindness, the Shrek Inner Court teachers agreed to let her in.

After entering the Inner Court, however, Leng Xue'er and Wu Changkong had little to do with each other.

Perhaps it was simply their natures. Leng Xue'er had been cold from birth, unlike Wu Changkong, whose coldness had developed later.

She had never thought about finding a partner, devoting herself wholeheartedly to researching Martial Souls instead.

Later, she heard that Wu Changkong had left Shrek Academy because of Long Bing, and the two of them lost touch.

After graduating, Leng Xue'er returned to the Spirit Pagoda and also took charge of educating the Leng family's disciples.

"Mm." Wu Changkong nodded, then asked, "You... What brings you here? Given your circumstances, you should have graduated from the Inner Court by now."

He'd almost asked how his teacher was doing, but considering that the two of them weren't close, he hadn't. He was also puzzled by Leng Xue'er's arrival—more than anything, he wondered why she was here.

After all, he knew a little about the Spirit Pagoda. They never did anything without profit. What could Leng Xue'er want here?

"I'm the deputy homeroom teacher for Grade 1 Class 5 now," Leng Xue'er said calmly. "We'll be colleagues from now on."

Leng Xue'er seemed to have noticed Wu Changkong's confusion. "I came with my younger brother so he could attend school. His name is Cheng Duoyi, and he's in Grade 1 Class 5. I'll handle anything that comes up for him in class. You only need to take care of the other students. I won't interfere."

A flicker of curiosity passed through Wu Changkong's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

He wasn't someone who meddled in other people's affairs.

If he hadn't known Leng Xue'er and wanted to ask about his teacher, he might not have said more than a few words.

"Fine."

Wu Changkong replied calmly, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Leng Xue'er headed for her single dormitory...