"Dad!" (Seeking updates... seeking reads)

She bit her lower lip hard, her hands clutching the hem of her school uniform so tightly that her body still trembled slightly, whether from anger or shame, she could not tell.

The surroundings were deathly silent. The watching freshmen were stunned. From Wang Dong unleashing that shocking martial soul and soul rings, to her launching a storm of attacks, to Su Chen dodging like a ghost and winning with a single strike, and finally to Wang Dong falling into Su Chen's arms... the entire process took less than ten seconds, yet it was filled with dramatic reversals and an... indescribable sense of ambiguity.

After a long while, Wang Dong finally lifted her head abruptly. Her powder-blue eyes were shimmering with moisture, swirling with a complex mix of shame, indignation, and shock as she glared fixedly at Su Chen.

Su Chen met her gaze calmly, waiting for her to speak.

A few more seconds passed, and Wang Dong seemed to exhaust all her strength before squeezing three words through her teeth, her voice so low it was almost inaudible, laced with deep humiliation and frustration:

"...I lost."

Having said that, she turned sharply, seemingly wanting to rush back to the dormitory immediately, but remembering the wager, her footsteps froze in place, her shoulders heaving slightly.

Su Chen watched her back, knowing that this proud little princess was likely in turmoil. He did not immediately bring up the wager, only saying faintly, "We'll talk when we get back."

Then, he turned to the freshmen still standing around in a daze, his gaze sweeping over them calmly. Those who met his eyes, for some reason, subconsciously looked away or lowered their heads, as if cowed by some invisible pressure.

Su Chen said no more, turned, and walked toward Dormitory 108.

Wang Dong stood where she was, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally stomped her foot. With her head bowed, she followed quickly, like a little peacock that had been defeated but remained unwilling to accept it.

On the recliner, Mu En's eyelids lifted a crack once more. Watching the two figures walk away one after the other, especially Su Chen's steady gait, a faint, meaningful smile flashed in the depths of his murky eyes.

Interesting... No martial soul, relying purely on physical prowess to instantly subdue a twenty-third-level soul master with a top-tier martial soul and a thousand-year second soul ring... This kid is hiding quite a lot.

Inside the dormitory.

Wang Dong kept her head down, almost burying it into her chest. Her soft, powder-blue hair fell with her movements, obscuring most of her still-burning cheeks.

The spot on her neck where Su Chen's hand-blade had lightly touched seemed to still retain a strange, subtle tingling sensation, as if an electric current had quietly crawled over it, continuously reminding her—everything that just happened was not a hallucination, but a concrete, undeniable fact.

She had lost.

Lost cleanly and decisively, without any suspense, and even... somewhat embarrassingly.

What made it even harder for her to accept was that Su Chen hadn't even released his martial soul. From start to finish, he had used the simplest physical movements to dissolve all her offensives, then with a casual strike, he had rendered her unable to resist, and finally...

She had fallen into his arms.

This realization hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water, dousing her from head to toe, causing her brain—previously filled with anger and embarrassment—to jolt into sudden clarity.

Following this was a more complex emotion that left her heart unsettled—frustration, disbelief, and a trace of curiosity that she herself subconsciously wanted to deny and suppress.

How did he do it? That ghostly speed, and that seemingly simple hand-blade... This was definitely not something any peer soul master she knew could possess, not even if the other party had a few levels more soul power than her!

Who... exactly is he? This thought swirled uncontrollably in Wang Dong's mind.

The door to Dormitory 108 was left ajar; Su Chen had already walked in first, seemingly certain she would follow.

Wang Dong lingered at the door for several seconds, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her uniform, wrinkling the smooth fabric.

In the end, she took a deep breath, gathered her courage, pushed the door open, and stepped inside, then reached back to close it gently.

"Click."

The faint sound of the latch echoed, sealing off the prying eyes, gossip, and all the sounds that had been driving her crazy. In the small dormitory, only she and Su Chen remained.

She stood by the door, not immediately walking toward her bed, standing there like a wooden stake. Her gaze lifted cautiously toward the bed by the window—Su Chen was already seated, looking back at her calmly.

His expression was very faint, lacking any victor's triumph or mockery, which only made Wang Dong feel even more at a loss.

This silence carried more pressure than any words.

Time ticked by second by second. Wang Dong could hear the violent thumping of her own heart and could feel the temperature of her cheeks rising again. Her lips were pressed tightly together, forming a pale, thin line, her inner self locked in a fierce battle.

Admit defeat? Fulfill the wager? Call him by that mortifying title? That was even worse than death!

Back out? Pretend it never happened? As soon as this thought arose, Wang Dong rejected it herself.

She was Wang Dong, the little princess of the Clear Sky Sect; her pride and self-respect would not allow her to be a person who broke her word.

Moreover... the strength Su Chen had just displayed gave her a vague feeling that trying to welch on the deal might only invite even more "terrible" consequences.

After a long while, Wang Dong seemed to finally exhaust all her courage and resolve. She lifted her head abruptly, her powder-blue eyes looking straight at Su Chen.

Although deep in her eyes there remained lingering embarrassment and indignation, the pride belonging to a descendant of the Clear Sky Sect made her struggle to straighten her slightly trembling spine, attempting to maintain a shred of dignity.

"I..." Her voice was much lower than before, still carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling, but her tone was unusually stubborn, as if every word were squeezed through her teeth. "I, Wang Dong, keep my word!"

She paused, took a deep breath, and continued: "A loss is a loss! The wager... I, Wang Dong, accept it!"

After saying this, she felt as if half her strength had been drained away, but at the same time, she felt a strange sense of relief. Admitting defeat was painful, but it was better than self-deception and avoidance.

Su Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashing across his handsome face. He was indeed a bit surprised; he hadn't expected this seemingly spoiled and willful little princess to choose to "pay up" so quickly.

He had thought there would at least be a fierce internal struggle, or that she would simply try to renege.

"A bet is a bet," Su Chen said leisurely, leaning back slightly against the headboard, looking as if he were all ears. "And then?"

And then?

These two words were like three small needles, gently pricking Wang Dong's heart. She knew what Su Chen was asking—the specific content of the wager.

"Daddy."