Do you want to come home with me?

Counting the time, it had already been over seven months since Xue Mingqing left Blizzard City.

It was time to head home and visit his mother, Xue Ningxian.

Although he hadn't spent much time with Xue Ningxian, the kindness she showed in recognizing his potential and nurturing him was something Xue Mingqing would never forget as long as he lived.

That was precisely why, despite being a transmigrator, he was willing to pour his heart and soul into her and treat her as his own mother.

Now that he had spent half a year at Shrek, the regular inner and outer court students had already gone on break.

It was only natural for Xue Mingqing to return home, and Mu En had already given his consent.

He saw things very clearly: Xue Mingqing had taken him as a master, not sold himself to Shrek. He had neither the reason nor the right to stop Xue Mingqing from going home.

As for whether Xue Mingqing might never return, that was entirely outside of Mu En's considerations.

Mu En was no fool. As a Limit Douluo, he could often discern a person's true character at a single glance.

Having spent half a year with Xue Mingqing, Mu En had seen right through him.

He was a person who repaid kindness, would not actively harm others, and would not allow others to offend him.

How could such a person take the benefits and run?

It was completely inconsistent with his personality.

Therefore, Mu En did not hesitate in the slightest when Xue Mingqing proposed going home for the holidays; he agreed immediately.

As for whether Xue Mingqing might slack off on his cultivation after returning home.

That didn't really matter, after all...

Mu En knew the intensity of his own training regimen. Given the half-year of hellish special training he had put Xue Mingqing through, what was the harm in letting him go home for a month to rest?

It wouldn't delay his progress toward becoming stronger in the slightest.

One had to know that Mu En's grandson, Bei Bei, had received the same resource allocation as Xue Mingqing, yet at seven years old, he was only just past the peak of level 19.

In comparison, Xue Mingqing, who had been stuck at level 20 for over a month, was simply a peerless prodigy.

What grounds did Mu En have to say he wasn't training hard?

Wouldn't that just be looking for trouble where there was none?

At this moment, hearing Xue Mingqing's question, the middle-aged beauty wearing a chef's hat and a simple white shirt that accentuated her graceful curves nodded.

"Mm, Elder Mu has already made arrangements. I am responsible for your diet, so I will follow you wherever you go."

Lu Xiaoxiao—she was the one who arranged food for Huo Yuhao and Cai Tou in the original story, but here, she had been directly assigned to Xue Mingqing by Mu En.

Ever since she arrived, Xue Mingqing's diet and medicinal baths had all been handled by her.

This made Xue Mingqing feel somewhat uncomfortable, after all...

Looking at the beautiful, voluptuous Lu Xiaoxiao before him, he couldn't help but associate her with the private secretaries from his past life...

Given Lu Xiaoxiao's current position...

Hmm... it seemed, it wasn't all that different, was it?

Glancing with a strange expression at the curvaceous Lu Xiaoxiao, Xue Mingqing found it hard not to suspect that Mu En had some ulterior motives.

In fact, it wasn't that he was overthinking it; Xue Mingqing's intuition was actually spot on.

To Mu En, the entire Sea God Pavilion, and even Shrek as a whole, Xue Mingqing was undoubtedly the golden generation they were cultivating.

If this golden generation were to be lured away by another faction due to some romantic entanglement, well...

They would lose so much they wouldn't even have their pants left!

Therefore, to prevent this possibility, the heaven-defying figures within the Sea God Pavilion decided to choose a woman with exceptional looks and a trustworthy background to stay by Xue Mingqing's side, arranging his medicinal baths and meals.

And Lu Xiaoxiao, standing before Xue Mingqing, was the person they had selected.

Both Lu Xiaoxiao and Mu En were aware of this.

The former had been at Shrek for so long that she was deeply indoctrinated, feeling that sacrificing herself for the academy was only right, so she accepted it readily.

The latter, well, simply pretended not to know and turned a blind eye.

So, if Xue Mingqing were to crook his finger at Lu Xiaoxiao, he could truly experience a famous saying from his past life.

If there's work, the secretary does it; if there's nothing...

As for why they didn't assign a younger female student to Xue Mingqing, it was because most of those students came from other noble factions; it was difficult to make such arrangements.

Secondly, if they were assigned to him and Xue Mingqing was lured back to their families, the heaven-defying figures of the Sea God Pavilion would have nowhere to cry.

Thus, combining these factors, they had no choice but to select Lu Xiaoxiao based on the criteria of an acceptable age, exceptional appearance and figure, and being unmarried.

Of course, Xue Mingqing was completely unaware of all this...

The next day.

Shrek Academy Outer Court, freshman dormitory building.

Xue Mingqing, dressed in a cyan-white long robe with black-gray hair reaching past his neck, arrived at the location.

He had come to find Zhang Lexuan.

Over the past six months, although Zhang Lexuan had been unable to enter the Inner Court and Xue Mingqing had been busy with his own cultivation, the communication between the two had not diminished in the slightest.

This was because Zhang Lexuan would write letters almost every day, entrusting the mysterious dormitory warden to convey her greetings to her junior brother, Xue Mingqing.

Between the lines of every letter, every single word revealed her longing for the Inner Court and for the prospect of cultivating alongside Xue Mingqing.

Xue Mingqing was happy to respond to this, carving out time during his medicinal baths every day to write back to Zhang Lexuan.

Because of this, through the exchange of letter after letter, their bond did not fade but instead grew, taking on the flavor of a sibling relationship.

As for what kind of sibling relationship this was, well, Xue Mingqing firmly believed it was a perfectly ordinary one.

At least, that was what he thought.

At this moment, watching Zhang Lexuan walk down from the dormitory building, growing more graceful and elegant by the day, the corners of Xue Mingqing's mouth curled up.

"Sister Lexuan, it's the holidays. Do you have anywhere to go?"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Zhang Lexuan's small face instantly collapsed.

Glancing at Xue Mingqing with a look of resentment, Zhang Lexuan said gloomily, "You aren't here just to make fun of me, are you...?"

Due to the butterfly effect caused by Xue Mingqing, Zhang Lexuan's family had not been wiped out in this timeline.

However, her situation was no better; in fact, it was even more frustrating than in the original story.

Her mother had been the head of the Zhang Clan, but half a year ago, while returning from a soul-hunting trip near Tianbei City, they had been ambushed by the Evil Soul Master Demon Bear. Her mother had died protecting her.

With her mother dead and Zhang Lexuan failing to return to the Zhang Clan in time, the vast family estate had long since been usurped by other branches of the family.

Now, Zhang Lexuan was not recognized by the Zhang Clan at all. She had no home to return to and was no different from a lone wanderer.

Therefore, homeless, she could only stay in the Shrek Academy dormitory, spending the lonely holiday by herself.

Hearing Xue Mingqing ask if she had anywhere to go, wasn't that just purely coming to tease her?

Hearing this, Xue Mingqing coughed awkwardly, finally realizing Zhang Lexuan's predicament.

Zhang Lexuan had actually told him about this before; he had simply been so happy to have finally escaped Mu En's hellish special training that he had momentarily overlooked it.

Scratching his head, Xue Mingqing gave a sheepish laugh.

"No, no, Sister Lexuan, that's not what I meant. What I wanted to say was..."

"If you don't have anywhere to go, would you like to come with me to Blizzard City...?"