"Are you stupid? How dare you take my Soul Skill head-on!"
Xue Furong caught Li Jiuxuan as he fell to the ground. The little guy's Soul Power was nearly depleted, and he was burning with fever and weak. He slumped limply in her arms, without even the strength to stand.
"Teacher Pheobe, I just wanted to see where my limits are."
Li Jiuxuan's voice was faint, but a smile still tugged at his lips. There wasn't a trace of fear or regret.
Deep down, he was even bubbling over with excitement he could barely contain. He had taken a Soul Emperor's attack head-on—even at only twenty percent of its power, it was enough to set his blood racing!
"A Soul Grandmaster, and you're still showing off!"
Xue Furong gave him a rare glare. Her usually cool, distant face took on a rare flash of anger, lending her a touch of warmth.
"I-I'm sorry..."
Li Jiuxuan smiled awkwardly. He had never seen the usually even-tempered Xue Furong lose her temper. Flustered, he also felt a little caught off guard.
Seeing him like this, the anger that had been burning in Xue Furong's heart suddenly gave way to helplessness.
She lowered her eyes to the gravely wounded boy in her arms, who was still smiling. Shock, admiration, and tenderness mingled in her gaze, before finally becoming a soft sigh. "Sigh, I'm to blame too. I shouldn't have tested you with a Soul Skill so recklessly."
She crouched down and let Li Jiuxuan rest against her smooth, supple thigh. A gentle stream of water-element energy gathered at her fingertips and slowly flowed into his forehead. "Don't ever be so impulsive again. No matter what happens, your life must always come first!"
"I-I understand."
Li Jiuxuan nodded obediently.
As she treated his injuries, Xue Furong's stern expression softened completely. Looking at the little boy, she couldn't help feeling a pang of tenderness.
When Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had been his age, they were always crawling into her arms and asking to be hugged.
They'd never been as stubborn and reckless as he was.
It was good to be ambitious, but one had to know one's limits. Otherwise, it would all...
"Do more harm than good..."
Suddenly, Xue Furong grew a little dazed. The way Li Jiuxuan looked at her now—with such guilt and caution—reminded her of her own child, who had passed away long ago...
"Teacher Pheobe, a-are you all right?"
Li Jiuxuan froze. This auntie had been treating his wounds, but as she went on, it looked like she was about to burst into tears!
Sure enough, Xue Furong's slender body was trembling slightly. Her beautiful eyes glistened, and her breathing quickened.
"I-I'm fine..."
Xue Furong quickly came back to herself, lifted a hand to wipe her face, and once again became as expressionless as usual.
"Y-you're really okay?"
Li Jiuxuan felt guilty. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling it had something to do with him.
"Come on. I'll take you back."
Xue Furong quickly composed herself, then turned and bent down, hoisting Li Jiuxuan onto her back in one smooth motion.
On the way, Xue Furong didn't say another word, and Li Jiuxuan had no idea what to say to comfort her.
The tall auntie's back was soft and steady, and a faint fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.
He lay quietly against her, feeling safe and at ease.
Actually, the beautiful auntie had a gentle, waterlike face. It was only because she rarely smiled that she seemed so aloof and distant...
But no matter how cold her exterior was, it couldn't hide her gentle, tender heart...
After a long while, when they were nearing Calm Heart Lake, Li Jiuxuan finally spoke up tentatively. "Teacher Pheobe..."
"Hmm?"
"Does that mean I'm officially a student of Skywater Academy now?" he asked uncertainly. After all, Shui Yuerong's attitude had been vague.
"Yes."
Li Jiuxuan was delighted to hear it. "Then can I come ask you whenever there's something I don't understand?"
"Why?"
"Because even if I become an official student, I don't think the dean will be very willing to look after me..." Li Jiuxuan gave a little pout against Xue Furong's soft back.
"...You can."
Li Jiuxuan smiled. At last, in this world, he had another place that felt like home.
And so, he and Xue Furong chatted on and off.
"Have you known the dean for a long time?"
Xue Furong answered honestly: twenty-five years.
"Does she have some heartbreaking story in her past that she's never told anyone?" Li Jiuxuan asked curiously.
Xue Furong said she did.
"Heh, I think that guy was a coward. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have run away," Li Jiuxuan said with a hearty laugh.
Xue Furong said nothing.
"...Teacher Pheobe?"
Xue Furong patiently waited for Li Jiuxuan to ask his question.
"Can I call you Auntie Furong from now on?"
Xue Furong gave a soft hum.
In the end, Xue Furong took Li Jiuxuan back to the cabin and then left. She said that once his body had recovered, she would take him to obtain his Second Soul Ring.
Li Jiuxuan's body was already mostly fine. After all, Xue Furong had spent quite a bit of Soul Power treating his injuries.
After watching Xue Furong leave, he didn't obey her and keep resting. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated, cultivating his mental strength.
Honestly, cultivating mental strength took even more time than cultivating Soul Power. It required an environment where he could immerse himself in a state of emptiness and focus, free from disturbance.
After all, it cultivated the mind, the will, and the foundation of the soul. There was no room for the slightest shortcut.
Leaning against the headboard, Li Jiuxuan silently felt the resilient mental strength in his sea of consciousness, and understood.
It would take Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er a while to absorb the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow. They had to fuse this divine treasure into the source of their Soul Power, turning it into the purest force of ice.
If things went well, with Shui Yuerong's help, they could absorb it within a month.
If things went badly, not only would they fail to absorb it, but their foundations could be damaged.
And in an even more terrifying outcome, they could lose their lives.
But Shui Yuerong had experience absorbing it, so she should keep a close eye on them. She wouldn't let two gifted students perish just like that.
Before he knew it, time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.
About half a month earlier, Xue Furong had taken him to the Frozen Forest to hunt a Soul Beast.
He had obtained his Second Soul Ring.
It came from a seven-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Icy Profound Ice Marten.
His Second Soul Skill was called Icy Instant Shadow Slash.
Skill effect: Freezes all enemies within range, briefly increases the user's explosive power, then turns the user into a streaking blur of light, striking the immobilized enemies twelve times in rapid succession.
Each slash was more powerful than the last. The final slash shattered the ice and dealt terrifying damage.
Li Jiuxuan had grown stronger again. He had reached level twenty-two and become a Soul Master.
He'd gained one level from absorbing the Soul Ring, and another from cultivating over the past half month.
"Hmm?"
One day, Li Jiuxuan was meditating on his bed as usual, cultivating his mental strength.
He faintly sensed a different kind of breath mingling with the Ultimate Ice attribute in his body—light and graceful!
Unlike the Ice Dragon King's extremely domineering aura, this one still carried a chill that pierced to the bone, but was clearly gentler and more delicate.
It was plainly at odds with the Ice Dragon King's fierce, domineering nature!
He opened his eyes, intending to check what was causing the strange energy to flow through his body, but suddenly froze!
Because the aura wasn't coming from him at all!
A slender, graceful young woman was lying asleep on his bed!
And she had both arms wrapped tightly around his waist!
"M-Miss Yue'er!"
Before you continue