To avoid being assigned to Zhou Yi's class, Su Qing had deliberately chosen the Auxiliary System when selecting his country's development path. Mu Jin had been somewhat unable to believe her eyes when she saw Su Qing in her class again, but she didn't think much of it. The academy couldn't possibly overlook a genius like him; perhaps this was to help him develop in every possible way.
As for whether not choosing the Power Attack System would leave him without the relevant knowledge and weaken his cultivation later on, Su Qing wasn't worried. The outer court was still studying Grandmaster's theories. Although some had already been disproven, out of respect for the academy's founder, they had no choice but to keep sifting through shit for gold, pulling out whatever parts they could still use to teach.
Of course, the biggest reason he chose to stay in Mu Jin's class was the freedom. Mu Jin wouldn't force her ideas on her students. As long as they had a reasonable explanation, she would do everything within her power to secure the greatest possible freedom for them.
Since the start of the school year, she had lost count of how many times she'd applied for permission to use the Soul Fighting Arena so Su Qing could study Self-Created Soul Skills. There weren't many teachers who respected their students' wishes so much. The better he got to know Mu Jin, the more he felt that Fan Yu was blind.
"Student Su, there's an empty seat here."
Su Qing had overslept and missed his morning classes. As he looked for a seat that afternoon, Ning Tian called out to him and pointed to the empty place beside her. Wu Feng was in the Power Attack System, so she would naturally be in Zhou Yi's class. Nanmen Yun'er was in the Agility Attack System and shared a class with Zhu Lu. Left on her own, Ning Tian wasn't about to let this opportunity pass. If she could build a good relationship with someone as talented as Su Qing, even if she couldn't bring him into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, she could still give the sect another pillar of support in the future.
"No need. Someone will probably be here for that seat in a moment."
Su Qing waved his hand and said something that left Ning Tian baffled. Hadn't everyone in the class already arrived? Who else would be coming to sit beside her?
Before she could ask, though, a familiar figure appeared in the classroom doorway. It was Wu Feng, but she looked rather battered. For some reason, she had two paper wads stuffed up her nose, and she staggered as she walked.
As she passed Su Qing, she happened to kick a desk leg and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Fortunately, Su Qing caught her. Otherwise, she might have lost a few teeth when she got back up.
"Xiao Feng? What happened to you?"
Wu Feng's appearance gave Ning Tian quite a fright. Hadn't she been perfectly fine when she left that morning? How had she ended up like this in just half a day? Wu Feng didn't answer. She simply walked over to the seat beside Ning Tian, sat down, laid her head on the desk, and began to cry.
"Huo Yuhao really doesn't pull his punches..."
Remembering the huge footprint on Wu Feng's backside as she'd passed him, along with the finger-shaped bloodstains on the front of her shirt, Su Qing couldn't help sighing.
Before he'd even reached the back row, he heard another window shatter. No surprise, that must have been the sound of Zhou Yi throwing the little white cat out of the classroom. Whatever else you could say about her, Zhou Yi was certainly efficient. In no time at all, she'd expelled the students with the highest Soul Power Levels in the class.
But it had nothing to do with him. As usual, he took a seat by the window in the back row and immersed himself completely in his own world.
In the outer court, the only other person allowed to skip class was Huo Yuhao. Ever since Zhou Yi had taken him to join the Soul Tool Department, he rarely came to class. Most of the time, he was in the department studying Soul Tools and learning how to carve Core Arrays...
One fine afternoon, Su Qing had just left the classroom when the frantic Ma Xiaotao grabbed him and dragged him away, heading straight for the new students' dormitory building.
"Ma Xiaotao, you're going to make people get the wrong idea."
Su Qing was a little helpless. He'd agreed to help Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire, but what was with dragging him away from a crowd in such a hurry? He didn't even want to imagine how ridiculous the rumors would be in a couple of days. He didn't care about them himself, but people who heard them might take them to heart. What if Zhang Lexuan or Xiao Xiao got the wrong idea?
"I...I know...but...but I...can't hold it in anymore!"
The Evil Fire burning inside her left her struggling to get her words out. After kicking open the door to Su Qing's dormitory in a rush, her legs went weak and she slumped down on his bed, gazing up at him with pleading eyes.
"C-can we start now?"
She looked close to losing her senses. Given how urgent things were, he didn't hold Ma Xiaotao's actions against her. He immediately circulated his Soul Power, channeling pure Ultimate Fire Soul Power into the meridians in both her hands and guiding it through her body, burning away the Evil Fire lurking in her meridians one strand at a time.
The sensation of countless ants gnawing at her body made Ma Xiaotao instinctively clamp both arms around Su Qing. Struggling to catch his breath, Su Qing wanted to clean up this mess as quickly as possible, so he increased the flow of Soul Power. He hadn't expected the even more intense sensation to make Ma Xiaotao moan. Her soul-stirring voice sent a tremor through him.
He instinctively looked down and was secretly glad he was still wearing his pants. Still, he worried that the sounds might accidentally carry outside, so he slowed the flow of Soul Power. But when Ma Xiaotao felt the Evil Fire being cleared more slowly, she wrapped herself around him, letting the words slip from her lips:
"Don't stop..."
"..."
Su Qing's mouth twitched. He hadn't said he was going to stop. And seriously, did she have to be so loud? It was a good thing he didn't have a roommate, or he really would have been ruined.
So he kept the flow of Soul Power at a suitable pace. Ma Xiaotao still moaned from time to time, but it was much better than at the beginning.
"Ah..."
Faint moans drifted from inside the room. Zhang Lexuan stood frozen at the door, her body trembling slightly as she pressed her ear against it. The sounds from within made her face burn red, while Su Qing's words, "Finally, it's over," struck her heart like a bolt from the blue. How could this be?
"You're really amazing..."
At the sound of a coquettish female voice, Zhang Lexuan even considered leaving right then and there. But after thinking it over, she decided Su Qing wasn't that kind of person. She would see for herself.
"Creak—"
"Who is it?!"
At the sound of the door opening, Ma Xiaotao instantly became alert. Su Qing turned around and saw Zhang Lexuan looking a little awkward. As if realizing what she must have thought, he immediately rushed over and took her hand.
"Sister Lexuan, don't get the wrong idea. I was just clearing her Evil Fire."
Hearing that, Zhang Lexuan breathed a sigh of relief. She knew Little Qing wasn't that kind of person. But the process of clearing Evil Fire had been a little too... After thinking it over, she decided she needed to discuss it with Su Qing. Next time, they should clear the Evil Fire when she was there. Otherwise, what if Ma Xiaotao seduced him? It wasn't that she had anything against Ma Xiaotao. It was just that Yan Shaozhe was really unpleasant. If he found out Ma Xiaotao had won Su Qing over, that favor would surely go up in smoke.
"It's fine. I just got here, so I didn't hear anything."
Zhang Lexuan pinched Su Qing's cheek and said with a smile.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaotao left a Gold Soul Coin Card on the bed and made herself scarce.
"Sister Lexuan, why did you bring so much food today?"
Su Qing stared in surprise as Zhang Lexuan took dishes out of her storage Soul Tool and spread them across the entire table.
"Because I want to have a meal with you today."
Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan smiled gently again. She picked up a piece of Earth Dragon Tendon and fed it to Su Qing, gesturing for him to finish eating before they talked.
"Yay!"