Junior, Please Stay

The environment within Shrek Academy is beautiful, with lush vegetation everywhere.

As Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan stepped onto a magnificent long bridge, they could see six massive statues on either side, representing the original Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago.

These statues stand over ten meters tall, all carved from the hardest granite.

Huo Yuhao's gaze fell upon a statue with double pupils and a "King" character mark on its forehead.

He scoffed inwardly, finding his past life truly laughable for having once thought of "returning to his ancestors" and changing his surname back to Dai.

As for the statue of Tang San, it stood at the very end of the long bridge.

Huo Yuhao's gaze lingered for only a few seconds before he looked away.

Compared to these inanimate statues, he had already proven in his past life that these gods were no different from him; they, too, could feel fear, and they, too, could bleed.

Following the lakeside path southward for nearly a quarter of an hour, Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan turned west. After walking for another quarter of an hour, the path narrowed, and a wide, rectangular plaza appeared before them.

Although it was the tail end of the new student enrollment period, the freshman teaching building remained exceptionally lively, with many students who had already passed their assessments registering and reporting in.

"Alright, Yuhao, let me take you to pay your tuition."

Jiang Nannan pulled Huo Yuhao into the freshman teaching building without room for argument; after all, before she left, Huo Yun'er had specifically instructed her to take good care of Huo Yuhao at the academy.

Huo Yuhao's registration process went very smoothly, but because he had signed up so late, he was assigned to Mujin Class.

However, this was exactly what Huo Yuhao had intended; he wasn't quite sure how to face Wang Dong'er right now.

Whether certain things were the work of fate or intentional arrangements, Huo Yuhao truly couldn't tell, and he didn't even know if Wang Dong'er was actually Tang Wutong.

After collecting his dormitory key, two sets of uniforms, and a white freshman badge, Huo Yuhao walked out of the freshman teaching building with Jiang Nannan.

Huo Yuhao turned around and said softly to Jiang Nannan:

"Sister Nannan, I can head back to the dormitory on my own from here. Don't you still have to attend to the opening tests?"

"But, Yuhao..."

Jiang Nannan subconsciously wanted to look after him a bit more, but thinking of his composure, she swallowed her words and merely urged him gently:

"Alright then, Yuhao. Remember to wait for me tonight; Sister Nannan will take you out for something delicious."

"Mm-hmm, sounds good."

Huo Yuhao nodded quickly in agreement.

After watching Jiang Nannan's figure disappear from sight, Huo Yuhao spoke up:

"Senior, you've been following us the whole way. Is there something you need?"

Ling Luochen emerged from the corner of the freshman teaching building, a look of surprise on her face. Clearly, she had not expected to be detected by a first-year student.

Huo Yuhao looked at the cold and elegant Ling Luochen, a surge of indescribable emotion rising in his heart; the trajectory of fate was always so wondrous.

He had previously encountered Ning Tian, who had confessed to him at the matchmaking event in his past life, and now he was meeting Ling Luochen.

Ling Luochen's gaze fell upon the handsome youth before her. Although his face still held a hint of youthfulness, it glowed with a faint luster under the sunlight, and his deep blue eyes were profound and bright.

Suppressing the inexplicable flutter in her heart, she couldn't help but speak:

"Junior, I..."

Before Ling Luochen could finish, Huo Yuhao pointed toward the shimmering Sea God Lake not far away and suggested in a gentle tone:

"Senior, why don't we walk along the lake while we talk?"

Reminded by his words, Ling Luochen noticed that many people around them were casting curious glances, their attention focused on her and Huo Yuhao.

As an Inner Court student, her iconic red uniform was clearly particularly eye-catching in this setting.

A gentle, warm breeze brushed across the surface of Sea God Lake, stirring ripples. Looking into the distance, one could see the lush Golden Ancient Tree on Sea God Island.

The two walked along the lakeside path, neither speaking for a time.

An awkward, silent atmosphere quietly spread between them.

Ling Luochen was naturally cold and reserved, not good with words, and at this moment, she trailed half a step behind Huo Yuhao, looking like a timid young wife. She hoped Huo Yuhao would break the silence, but then she thought, she was five or six years his senior—how could she let a junior accommodate her?

Huo Yuhao withdrew his gaze from the Golden Ancient Tree on Sea God Island and glanced at Ling Luochen beside him. Seeing her brows slightly furrowed and her face filled with hesitation and unease, it was clear she was lost in thought.

Huo Yuhao naturally knew what she was struggling with. He continued walking, extended his right hand, and as his soul power surged, an intensely cold aura of ice and snow radiated from his palm, causing the surrounding air to seemingly freeze into frost.

"Senior, are you trying to ask me what my martial soul is?"

Hearing this, Ling Luochen suddenly looked up, surprise flashing in her clear, ice-blue eyes.

"Junior, is your martial soul truly Ultimate Ice?"

Possessing a top-tier ice-element martial soul, Ling Luochen could naturally feel that the quality of Huo Yuhao's martial soul far exceeded her own; she could even feel her own martial soul trembling, a fear born of instinct.

If she were to face him in a duel, she feared she wouldn't even be able to exert ten percent of her strength.

Huo Yuhao closed his right hand gently, and the frigid aura of ice and snow in his palm dissipated instantly.

"Alright, Senior, since you know now, if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Hearing this, a sense of disappointment couldn't help but appear in Ling Luochen's ice-blue eyes.

Although her own martial soul had been trembling just moments ago, it had also revealed an intense yearning. It was a longing for great power, as well as an affinity for a martial soul of the same attribute.

She couldn't help but think that if she could cultivate together with this junior, it would not only be of great benefit to her own martial soul, but her cultivation speed would surely far exceed what it was now.

As a fellow ice-attribute soul master, her junior would surely understand her, and she was, after all, protecting a naive junior; if he were to be discovered by that detestable Ma Xiaotao, he would likely never escape that woman's clutches.

As a fellow inner courtyard student, Ling Luochen detested Ma Xiaotao not only due to her own fastidiousness and the clashing of their martial souls, but more importantly, because she, too, had once been dragged in to suppress Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire.

At the time, even though there was a gap of nearly ten levels in Soul Power Level between her and Ma Xiaotao, and her ice-elemental martial soul was only "a little bit" inferior in quality to the other's Evil Fire Phoenix, she had still endured immense agony during the suppression process.

Although one could indeed gain some benefits after suppressing the other's evil fire, it was truly unnecessary to suffer so much just for that meager reward.

Yet this junior before her, despite possessing the Ultimate Ice martial soul, still had a Soul Power Level that lagged far behind Ma Xiaotao's.

If he were to be dragged off by the academy's higher-ups to suppress that evil fire, he would likely be subjected to inhuman torture.

That's right, Ling Luochen, you are rescuing an ignorant and naive junior; although it does contain a tiny bit of selfishness, the junior will surely understand.

After Ling Luochen constantly reassured herself in her heart, a gentle smile appeared on her face:

"Junior, please stay a moment."