The moment the words left his mouth, Xia Yuan stopped himself.
He had nearly switched genres.
"My name is Xia Yuan. You can call me by my name."
"If you only came here to find that out, then now you know. You can leave."
Hearing Xia Yuan's words, Ning Rongrong smiled even more brightly. "So you're the one training them..."
"I think it's more fun here. Let me join, okay?"
Xia Yuan glanced at her and refused without hesitation. "I don't take in drama queens."
"Drama queen? What's that?" Ning Rongrong found the term strange, but she could clearly sense Xia Yuan's rejection.
Beside them, Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan exchanged glances after hearing Xia Yuan's words, inexplicably feeling relieved.
"You mean... you're refusing me?" The smile on Ning Rongrong's face faded.
Xia Yuan said, "If you can't understand human speech, I can consider putting it more bluntly."
"What happens between you and Qin Ming has nothing to do with me, but this isn't a place you can come and go as you please."
"Then tell me, what do I have to do for you to let me join?" Ning Rongrong immediately asked.
Xia Yuan looked straight into her eyes. "If you train here, then you have to listen to me."
"A spoiled young lady like you has always been the one bullying others. When have you ever listened to anyone?"
"I..." Ning Rongrong choked on her words before quickly speaking again.
"What if your training is unreasonable, or you deliberately want to punish me? Why should I listen to you then?"
"Have I done that?" Xia Yuan asked in return.
"You haven't yet, but who knows whether you'll be like that Qin Ming?"
"Since you have that concern, shouldn't you stay even farther away from us?" Xia Yuan settled the matter directly.
"I don't want our normal training to be turned upside down by you."
He had no interest in wasting energy arguing with a Demon Pill like Ning Rongrong. It was best to shut the door in her face.
"Fine, then I'll listen to you!" Ning Rongrong put one hand on her hip, lifted her chin, and struck a pose that said, "I'm doing you a favor."
Shi Mo remained silent, while Yu Feng secretly looked toward Xia Yuan, feeling that this was utterly unbelievable.
He had noticed long ago that both Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan seemed to treat Xia Yuan differently.
Especially after the first day had passed, they had become noticeably more intimate with him.
And this direct descendant of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had dared to openly defy the education committee and Teacher Qin Ming.
Yet now, she was saying that she would obey Xia Yuan's orders.
What, was Xia Yuan some kind of succubus? Did everyone love him?
Xia Yuan had not expected Ning Rongrong, who had just been blaming Qin Ming for having no right to control her, to agree to this condition.
"Then go explain it to the education committee. Come back after they agree."
"What? They have to agree too?" Ning Rongrong froze. "Can't you make the decision yourself?"
Xia Yuan said, "It was the three education committee members' decision to place you under Qin Ming's instruction."
"As long as the education committee agrees to transfer you to my team, I'll train you."
"Just wait, I'll go find them right now!" Ning Rongrong hurried away.
"Xia Yuan, are you really going to train her with us?" Dugu Yan asked.
"If she can really make the education committee change their minds."
But Xia Yuan knew that the heart of the matter probably did not lie with the three education committee members, but with Ning Fengzhi.
Anyone could figure out that Ning Rongrong's admission into Heaven Dou Royal Academy must have had Ning Fengzhi's approval.
The three education committee members had assigned Ning Rongrong to Qin Ming right from the start. That might have been their own choice, but it was also very likely Ning Fengzhi's choice.
If it had been Ning Fengzhi's choice, then the three education committee members would definitely have to report the matter to him, leaving the final decision to Ning Fengzhi.
If it had only been the three education committee members' own choice...
Then he would take her in.
It was not as though he had to cater to Ning Rongrong. If she really insisted on being a drama queen, he would just kick her out.
Xia Yuan disdained using the methods Shrek Academy had used against Ning Rongrong in the original story to PUA her.
That had been Flender's way of ensuring that Ning Rongrong remained at Shrek Academy.
He had no need to ensure that.
Whether Ning Rongrong came or not would not affect anything.
At most, he would have one more person to teach.
If Ning Rongrong only trained sporadically, then it would simply mean she was not meant to be with him.
Xia Yuan turned back to Shi Mo and explained the first stage of cultivation he intended to teach him.
In this world, there was one profession that Soul Masters did not value.
It was blacksmithing.
Tang San had relied on the hidden weapons he brought with him to improve the status of blacksmithing as a trade.
And the Clear Sky Sect's Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer was revered by blacksmiths as a legendary forging technique.
The cultivation method Xia Yuan had devised for Shi Mo was to bring out the greatest characteristic of Shi Mo's Black Tortoise Martial Soul.
He would treat the Black Tortoise's defense like a piece of raw iron, tempering it over and over until the impurities were forged out.
Of course, this did not mean literally beating Shi Mo with a hammer.
Instead, while the natural environment could still affect Soul Masters, he would use the natural environment as that hammer to strike this piece of "raw iron" called Shi Mo.
That was why Xia Yuan wanted Shi Mo to first experience the new Mimetic Cultivation Environment.
The same was true for Yu Feng.
His Wind Bell Bird Martial Soul did not hold an advantage in attack.
The training method Xia Yuan had given him was to experience the "wind," to become part of the "wind," rather than fight against it.
Only after this first stage of wind-sense training could the later training build layer upon layer, until he reached the final goal.
Not only would this not waste their precious early cultivation time, it would instead allow them to thoroughly understand their own condition, enabling them to achieve twice the result with half the effort during cultivation.
Xia Yuan expected this training to take two to three months.
After that, he would decide when to begin the next stage based on their training results.
As for Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, he had plans for them as well.
Xia Yuan himself, however, did not need to go through so much trouble.
The first thing he needed to do was use Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphorous Serpent venom to stimulate the medicinal power hidden within his body.
What he needed to develop now was not his Martial Soul, but the abilities of his domain.
After assigning the group their cultivation tasks for the next three months, Ning Rongrong returned.
Her expression was not very pleasant. Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan exchanged glances, both sensing what the other was thinking.
Ning Rongrong had definitely been rejected!
That was wonderful!
However, the truth was not what they had imagined.
"Xia Yuan, the education committee has already agreed. You can train me now, right?"
Xia Yuan:?
"Are you sure the education committee agreed? Why didn't they call me back to discuss it?"
Hearing Xia Yuan's words, Ning Rongrong pouted. Only after a long while did she say:
"They said they need to see what my father thinks. Before he replies, I can train with you first."
Then it was fine.
That also confirmed that Ning Fengzhi had indeed deliberately chosen Qin Ming.
Before you continue