Yesterday Wang Dong, Today Xiao Xiao

"Fine, fine, whatever makes you happy..."

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was speechless at Huo Yuhao's stubbornness.

Huo Yuhao had been brainwashed, so he likely couldn't see it.

But it saw it clearly: that old hag Zhou Yi's training method was nothing short of mindless.

Students in other classes trained for about two or three hours a day, but Zhou Yi dragged every single student through training sessions lasting at least six hours. How could they not improve?

However, training twice as long didn't mean their strength was twice that of others.

The highest cultivation level in the class was only level 19. Even if they put in a hundred or a thousand times the effort, they would never be a match for a two-ring Soul Master. This was the crushing reality of innate talent, an uncrossable chasm. Effort could only be compared among those with the same level of talent; it still didn't qualify one to compare themselves to a genius.

Huo Yuhao reaching level 12 was entirely thanks to the Mysterious Heaven Skill, yet he remained the trashiest in the class. It was utterly useless.

The only benefit was that Huo Yuhao's physical fitness had indeed improved significantly, allowing him to withstand higher-year soul rings. Now, the power of his first soul skill was comparable to that of a 700-year soul ring. With such a trump card, he should be able to pass that bullshit Freshman Assessment smoothly.

Once he passed the assessment, it would have to make Huo Yuhao reach level 20 as quickly as possible so he would have a chance to obtain a second martial soul.

"Bingbing, I've gone to such great lengths for you. You must wait for me..." The image of Ice Empress surfaced in Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's mind, its eyes filled with anticipation.

Everything it did was, in the end, more for its own sake.

It became Huo Yuhao's wisdom soul ring primarily because it was on the verge of death and couldn't wait for another host.

Molding the prototype of an ice-attribute martial soul for Huo Yuhao was also to better welcome Ice Empress.

As long as it could trick Ice Empress into Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, it could be with her forever. With time, affection would grow, and sooner or later, it and Ice Empress would have a happy ending!

But all of this required Huo Yuhao to become stronger—ideally, to become a god—so that it and Ice Empress could be together for eternity.

Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao was a hot-headed, stubborn fool. What it feared most was Huo Yuhao dying prematurely due to his own recklessness, which would mean both it and Ice Empress would be buried along with him.

The next day.

Spirit Master Department, Inscription Room.

Chu Feng was still tirelessly working on inscribing a formation core.

His initial thought had been not to put too much energy into Soul Tools, but over these past few days, he discovered that inscribing formation cores greatly exercised his mental power and soul power. After spending half a day inscribing, the growth rate of his mental power and soul power upon returning would nearly quadruple.

Although his Soul Power Level remained at level 30, every session of cultivation compressed his soul power, making it purer and of higher quality, which in turn meant consuming less soul power when using soul skills.

"Tap, tap, tap~"

Just then, the door was suddenly knocked.

"Beep~"

The door opened automatically, and a petite figure appeared outside—it was Xiao Xiao.

"Oh? Xiao Xiao, why are you here?" Chu Feng asked, somewhat surprised.

"Chu Feng, I made some small snacks. Do you want to try them?" Xiao Xiao walked in, carrying a small cloth bag, looking at Chu Feng with a shy expression.

"Sure, I happen to be a bit hungry~" Chu Feng stopped what he was doing, quickly wiped his hands, and walked over.

He couldn't possibly miss Xiao Xiao's intentions; a young girl's heart was impossible to hide.

It was just that Xiao Xiao was quite shy, and with Wang Dong, that "good brother," always around, she hadn't been too obvious before.

Today seemed to be a day off, so it made sense for Xiao Xiao to come see him.

As for Wang Dong... she didn't seem to have gotten up this morning; he had no idea what she was doing.

"Huh? Where's Wang Dong? Why don't I see her today?" Xiao Xiao looked around and, not seeing Wang Dong, felt a bit surprised.

After all, Wang Dong and Chu Feng were good brothers; usually, she would come over to check on him during a day off.

"I don't know, probably still sleeping."

"Xiao Xiao, this Mung Bean Cake you made is delicious. Where did you learn to make it?"

Chu Feng asked, his mouth full of Mung Bean Cake.

"I taught myself! As long as you like it~"

Xiao Xiao sat to the side, resting her chin on her hands, her short legs dangling and swinging on the chair. Watching Chu Feng eat with such gusto, she felt a trace of sweetness in her heart.

"Right, I happened to make a little gadget recently. I'll give it to you." After finishing, Chu Feng suddenly remembered something and took out a silver-white ring.

"Ah, this is a ring..."

Xiao Xiao gasped, her face instantly turning burning hot.

He's giving me a ring... he's actually giving me a ring...

What does he want to do? Should I accept it? If I accept it... ahhh...

Xiao Xiao's little brain overloaded and crashed on the spot.

"What? You don't like it?"

Seeing Xiao Xiao's head practically steaming, Chu Feng found it quite amusing.

"No... it's not that... I... but..."

Xiao Xiao stammered, head bowed, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Chu Feng's initiative had caught her completely off guard; the romance novels she had read in the past weren't written like this. This was a ring, after all—how could he just give it away so casually?

Chu Feng, however, didn't give Xiao Xiao a chance to react. He gently pulled her soft, delicate hand toward him and slid the silver-white ring, engraved with intricate patterns, onto her middle finger.

In an instant, the ring flickered, and the surrounding heaven and earth energy began to converge toward Xiao Xiao, causing the concentration of energy around her to surge suddenly.

"Eh? This is... a Soul Tool???" Xiao Xiao finally snapped back to reality, staring blankly at the ring on her hand. It was currently emitting a faint, beautiful glow.

"That's right. This Soul Tool has the effect of gathering surrounding heaven and earth energy, which can accelerate cultivation. What else did you think it was?"

Chu Feng nodded as if it were a matter of course.

This ring was considered a special second-level Soul Tool. It only required a tiny amount of soul power to activate, allowing it to gather surrounding heaven and earth energy and increase cultivation speed by about 10% to 20%. It wasn't much, really, as it was only a prototype.

However, to keep the volume as small as possible, this ring had been crafted from a small piece of a sixth-level Soul Tool core, which had cost Chu Feng quite a bit of effort.

Using sixth-level materials to create a second-level Soul Tool could be considered a waste of precious resources, but it was perfectly suitable for a gift.

"Th-thank you."

Xiao Xiao lowered her head, feeling so mortified she wanted to bury her face in the dirt. What had she been thinking? Chu Feng was so outstanding... how could he possibly...

For some reason, a flicker of inexplicable disappointment crossed Xiao Xiao's heart—a very strange feeling.

Neither of them said anything more.

Xiao Xiao looked down, her gaze fixed on her own toes, her fingers lingeringly caressing the ring on her hand. It felt smooth and carried a trace of warmth.

Chu Feng, meanwhile, was in a bit of a predicament himself...

He looked down at Xiao Xiao's flushed cheeks and caught the faint fragrance wafting from her. Perhaps influenced by hormones, Chu Feng couldn't help himself...

He reached out, gently hooked Xiao Xiao's delicate chin, lowered his head, and gave her soft cheek a light nip.

"Ah—eh?"

Xiao Xiao looked up at Chu Feng, dazed, her entire body freezing in place. She had never expected Chu Feng to launch a surprise attack.

Although... but... oh my...

In that brief moment, it felt like a lifetime to Xiao Xiao.

"Tsk, the taste is quite unique~" Chu Feng smacked his lips, looking at Xiao Xiao with a grin.

"Ah—Chu Feng, you scoundrel!"

Xiao Xiao let out a startled cry, covered her face, and fled in a hurry.

"Seems like I went too far..." Chu Feng rubbed his chin, muttering to himself.

But the atmosphere had reached that point; it would have been impolite not to take the initiative.

Xiao Tao the day before yesterday, Wang Dong yesterday, and Xiao Xiao today...

A scumbag, confirmed!

Yet, Chu Feng felt no psychological burden regarding this.

After all, transmigrating to Douluo felt to him like a game with 100% realism. His goal was to keep growing stronger and to conquer the female characters in the game one by one.

Enjoy life first, worry about the rest later.