Core Disciple and Explanation

Yan Shaozhe was, after all, the dean of the Martial Soul Department. He had enough discernment to recognize it.

He stared at Ling Feng in disbelief, then shifted his gaze to Ling Luocheng.

Seeing Ling Luocheng confirm it, Yan Shaozhe looked back at Ling Feng, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

Seventy-six years had passed since he entered Shrek Academy.

Yet this was the only person he had ever seen who possessed an Ultimate Ice martial soul!

With Ling Feng, not only could Ma Xiaotao's martial soul weakness be remedied, but once Ling Feng matured, he would absolutely become one of Shrek's greatest pillars!

Fortunately, he was a new student, and judging by the looks of it, the Soul Guidance Department had not discovered him yet.

"Hmph, so what if they had?"

"The Soul Guidance Department is ultimately nothing but a second-rate school of thought."

"The future of the continent still belongs to powerful soul masters!"

Yan Shaozhe could no longer contain his excitement. He even had the urge to immediately report Ling Feng to the elders of the Sea God Pavilion.

As for Ling Feng—

Becoming a core disciple was a must.

No, he had to be a core disciple among core disciples!

"Luocheng, undo Xiaotao's ice seal first."

Yan Shaozhe spoke to Ling Luocheng, but his eyes remained glued to Ling Feng.

The way he looked at him was as though he were gazing upon some priceless treasure.

"Hm? Luocheng, why are you still standing there? Release Xiaotao!"

Yan Shaozhe waited for a while without seeing Ling Luocheng make a move, so he urged her again.

"This woman nearly hurt my little brother. I'm not unsealing her."

Ling Luocheng's stubbornness surprised even Yan Shaozhe.

Ever since he had known Ling Luocheng, he had never seen her defy any teacher's instructions.

This was the first time.

"This girl is actually a brother-obsessed type."

Yan Shaozhe smacked his lips, then helplessly tried to persuade Ling Luocheng.

"Luocheng, I know Xiaotao was at fault in this matter."

"But you also know about Xiaotao's condition. What she did was not her intention; it was all that evil fire acting up."

"If you were willing to help her suppress it normally, she wouldn't have ended up like this."

"Isn't this the same? If you had agreed to help Xiaotao earlier, she wouldn't have suddenly run out, would she?"

Yan Shaozhe said something similar to what Ma Xiaotao had said. It seemed Ma Xiaotao had been greatly influenced by him as well.

Hearing this, Ling Feng finally understood.

So Yan Shaozhe had called Ling Luocheng over to suppress Ma Xiaotao's evil fire.

"Dean Yan, if all she needed was my ice element to suppress her evil fire, then naturally I would have no objections."

Ling Luocheng frowned, and a trace of grievance appeared on her cold, beautiful face, making her look rather pitiful.

"But every time I help her suppress her evil fire, the soul power I painstakingly cultivated gets damaged by it."

"Twice, I was even injured myself!"

"The worst time, I had to recuperate for an entire week."

"Tell me, how far am I supposed to go? Give Ma Xiaotao my life too?"

Ling Luocheng shot Ma Xiaotao a glare, then met Yan Shaozhe's eyes.

Even Yan Shaozhe felt somewhat guilty at that moment and did not dare look directly at her.

"Ahem, the academy compensated you too, didn't it... cough, cough."

"Anyway, help Xiaotao get free first."

"I guarantee that we will never ask you to deal with Ma Xiaotao's evil fire again."

As he spoke, Yan Shaozhe's gaze fell upon Ling Feng.

"After all, your little brother has Ultimate Ice! Suppressing Ma Xiaotao's evil fire would be as easy as pie."

"What did you say? You still want my little brother to help that woman suppress her evil fire?"

At that, Ling Luocheng bristled like a cat and grabbed Ling Feng, preparing to leave.

"Then there's even less chance I'll unseal her."

Seeing that Ling Luocheng would not yield no matter what, Yan Shaozhe could not help but get a headache.

In his younger days, he had been quite the playboy among the ladies, and he had always been skilled at coaxing girls into being happy.

But when facing Ling Luocheng, he felt utterly at a loss.

Was this still the Princess of Snow from the inner courtyard, the one he knew to be so obedient?

It was not that he could not undo Ling Luocheng's ice seal.

But his martial soul was the Radiant Phoenix.

If he used his light flames to break the ice seal, there was no guarantee it would not trigger the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao and cause some unforeseen mutation.

And as the dignified dean of the Martial Soul Department, he could hardly run off to ask someone else to unseal her, could he?

After Yan Shaozhe repeatedly persuaded her, Ling Luocheng finally agreed to help Ma Xiaotao break the seal.

Holding Ling Feng's hand, Ling Luocheng experienced the sensation of Ultimate Ice once more.

"Brr... cold..."

Ma Xiaotao staggered and fell, wrapping her arms around herself as she shivered uncontrollably.

Yan Shaozhe came to Ma Xiaotao's side and placed his right hand on her shoulder. Dense white soul power poured into her body at an astonishing speed.

A moment later, Yan Shaozhe's face was filled with delight.

"It suppressed it so thoroughly!"

"With the evil fire suppressed to this extent, Ma Xiaotao can cultivate at full strength for three months without being affected!"

"Ultimate Ice truly lives up to its reputation!"

Yan Shaozhe was already growing impatient.

He glanced at Ling Feng and Ling Luocheng, fell silent for a moment, then said, "I'll take Xiaotao back first for an examination and see how to arrange the subsequent treatment."

"...Luocheng, I understand that you want to protect your younger brother, but Xiaotao's condition truly cannot be delayed."

"Don't worry. I guarantee that we will come up with a plan to help Xiaotao suppress her evil fire without affecting Ling Feng's cultivation."

"And I can responsibly tell you that for the next three to five years, perhaps even the next ten, Ling Feng will be one of Shrek Academy's key students for cultivation."

"We want to solve Xiaotao's problem, but we certainly will not make a joke of Ling Feng's future!"

With that, Yan Shaozhe left with Ma Xiaotao.

Before leaving, Ma Xiaotao gave the two of them a deep look, especially Ling Feng.

Only after watching Yan Shaozhe and Ma Xiaotao leave did Ling Luocheng finally let out a breath, her gaze toward Ling Feng carrying some helplessness.

"There was no helping it. Ma Xiaotao's talent truly is very high. Other than Eldest Senior Sister, she should be the best."

"If she were not held back by her evil fire, she might really have had a chance to reach Rank 70 before turning twenty."

"But her talent is a double-edged sword. Try to have as little contact with her as possible..."

"Oh, right. You probably haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll take you to get something to eat."

Ling Luocheng took Ling Feng's hand and headed off campus.

Along the way, Ling Luocheng also asked about Ling Feng's martial soul.

As for his explanation, Ling Feng had already thought one up during Ling Luocheng's confrontation with Yan Shaozhe.

"...You're saying that after arriving at the academy, you discovered that your martial soul had changed?"

Ling Luocheng found Ling Feng's explanation somewhat hard to believe.

"Yes. Ever since we left the Ling Family, I gradually began to feel as though my martial soul was reaching out to connect with something."

"Not until after I finished registering and returned to the dormitory did I suddenly sense a powerful spiritual fluctuation."

"That spiritual fluctuation kept enticing me, as though it wanted me to use my martial soul ability."

"I tried using my Ice Scorpion martial soul to communicate with that spiritual fluctuation, and then I felt an extreme cold!"

Ling Feng paused. "Ultimate Ice!"