The newcomer was Yan Shaozhe. He had just seen Ma Xiaotao hurrying back to Sea God Pavilion in a panic and immediately realized something had gone wrong. Without wasting a moment, he'd followed the same route she'd taken. Fortunately, these little ones hadn't left. Otherwise, Ma Xiaotao's reputation would have been utterly ruined.
But the greatest relief was that none of them had been hurt. After all, they were all Shrek students; they were all dear to him.
"Who are you?"
The three little ones had never seen Yan Shaozhe before. Seeing the large group approaching, they looked puzzled. Was the person from just now an outsider who'd broken into the academy? Had these teachers come to catch him? If so, Shrek was far too easy to infiltrate. And these teachers had only shown up now? If something had really happened, it would've been too late to do anything.
"I'm Yan Shaozhe, Dean of Shrek's Martial Soul Department. The person who attacked you was an inner-court student who'd lost control while cultivating. We've dealt with the matter now. I hope you'll keep it confidential. I'll give you some Soul Ascension Pills as hush money, but if you let even a word slip, you'll be expelled. Do you understand?"
As he spoke, Yan Shaozhe took a bottle of Soul Ascension Pills from his Storage Soul Tool and handed it to them.
"Wow, these are such good stuff!"
Wang Dong reacted with the same shock as in the original story. Su Qing secretly wondered whether Wang Dong really hadn't eaten these things like snacks back when she was in the Clear Sky Sect. Why was she acting like she'd never seen anything so nice? And she didn't look like she was pretending at all.
"We understand!"
Before Xiao Xiao could speak up, clearly displeased, Huo Yuhao quickly answered for them. With Xiao Xiao's blunt nature, she was bound to say something that would upset the other man. In truth, this was the best outcome for students who'd only just enrolled. No one was hurt, and they'd even received hush money. It would be awful if they lost both their money and their peace of mind by making an issue of it.
"Thank you, Dean Yan, for explaining things to us. But someone who loses control as soon as they start cultivating should be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'm afraid they might cause a great calamity in the future."
Although Su Qing knew Ma Xiaotao wasn't bad by nature, he couldn't resist taking a jab at him. After all, she was Yan Shaozhe's direct disciple. She'd caused such a huge mess, yet this was how he treated the people she'd harmed. If he'd simply apologized on Ma Xiaotao's behalf, they wouldn't even have needed hush money. A few awkward words would've been enough to put the matter behind them.
They wouldn't go around talking about it, either. But what was with threatening students? He didn't act like a dean at all.
"You... You don't need to worry about this matter."
Yan Shaozhe was furious, but when he looked at Su Qing, whose face seemed familiar, he suddenly appeared to remember something. He only glared at him before hastily ending the conversation and leaving with the other teachers.
"Big Brother Su, we don't have the strength to fight back yet. That was too reckless."
Huo Yuhao said solemnly. He was genuinely afraid Yan Shaozhe might kill Su Qing on the spot in a fit of anger. That wouldn't do—he hadn't even had the chance to repay his debt of gratitude.
"Mm."
Su Qing nodded without saying anything and quietly handed the Soul Ascension Pills to Xiao Xiao. He had no use for them. Xiao Xiao might as well use them to level up before the freshman assessment. Then she wouldn't have to give her Second Martial Soul a Hundred-Year Soul Ring just for some lousy competition.
"Xiao Qing, did I hold you back...?"
After facing Yan Shaozhe and experiencing the difference in their strength firsthand for the first time, Xiao Xiao hesitated to accept Su Qing's gift.
"That's why you should accept them all the more. You need to grow stronger, so I can feel at ease leaving my back in your hands."
His gentle smile captivated Xiao Xiao once again, leaving her momentarily frozen in place. Su Qing hadn't denied what she'd said about holding him back. After all, the weak could hold others back—that was a fact. But the weak wouldn't always remain weak. They just took a little longer to grow. Once they'd grown strong, they too could fight shoulder to shoulder with the people who'd protected them.
"I'll get stronger as fast as I can. I won't hold you back again!"
Xiao Xiao gazed at Su Qing with newfound determination.
"But come to think of it, Xiao Qing's so amazing. Can we still win the freshman assessment?"
While the two were still gazing into each other's eyes, Wang Dong posed the ultimate question. Right—Zhou Yi had threatened the three of them, saying they had to win the championship. But Su Qing stood in front of them like a city wall. How were they supposed to manage that?
"It's fine, Wang Dong. We still have a secret weapon!"
Huo Yuhao was very confident in the Martial Soul Fusion Skill he and Wang Dong could use. After all, the Golden Road could forcibly make their opponents deactivate their Martial Souls. Even someone as powerful as Su Qing couldn't face that head-on, right? That had to be how it worked!
"What? You two have been secretly developing a secret weapon behind my back? As your teammate, I'm heartbroken!"
Hearing the two of them talk, Xiao Xiao immediately put on a wounded expression. So much for an unbreakable, rock-solid team of three. Was she just an accident after all? Teammates, you've really been raising me terribly...
"I'm looking forward to your secret weapon. See you in the finals."
With that, Su Qing ruffled Xiao Xiao's hair and left the three little ones to themselves. It wasn't late yet, and they would surely train for a while longer. As their opponent, his presence would make them hold back to some extent. He didn't want that, so he took his leave.
After nightfall, someone knocked on Su Qing's door again. This time, it was Zhang Lexuan, whom he hadn't seen in quite a while. After he opened the door, they exchanged only a few words. A brief glance passed between them, then Zhang Lexuan turned toward Sea God Lake, and Su Qing followed.
"I heard you ran into the rampaging Ma Xiaotao today?"
Su Qing had more or less guessed that she'd taken time out of her busy schedule to see him after hearing what had happened. But he hadn't expected her to get straight to the point. He'd thought she'd start by catching up.
"Yeah. At the time, I briefly gave her purer flames, and she burned away the Evil Fire that was controlling her mind herself."
He said it as casually as if it were nothing important. But Zhang Lexuan was clever enough to quickly pick up on what he meant. The flames Su Qing controlled were a higher grade than Ma Xiaotao's. He could control her Evil Fire, but until she knew whether doing so would have side effects on him, she had no intention of asking him to suppress it. After all, Su Qing mattered more to her than Ma Xiaotao.
"Would that affect your body?"
"Of course not. Have you forgotten how I cleared away the Demon Flame in the forest back then? But, Sister Lexuan, were you going to ask me to clear away that person's Evil Fire?"
As of now, Su Qing had never revealed his Ultimate Attribute. He'd only let others assume that the elements he controlled were a little higher-grade than ordinary ones. Exactly how much higher? About as much as the gap between a pinched index finger and thumb.
"No. I only heard you'd been in danger and wanted to see for myself that you were safe and sound. After all, I don't want to go through losing a companion again."
Although Yan Shaozhe had repeatedly assured her that they were all fine, some things would always keep you on edge until you saw them with your own eyes.