A Letter from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect

The sunlight in the classroom gradually grew brighter, illuminating the scattered chalk dust on the podium with startling clarity.

Huo Chen closed the lid of the lunch box and was about to leave with the Ice Empress when a hurried set of footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor.

A young man in the academy messenger's uniform stopped at the doorway and knocked on the already open door. "Teacher Huo, you have a letter. It's from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and marked urgent."

Huo Chen accepted the letter, which came in a pale blue envelope sealed with red wax stamped with a seven-tiered pagoda. He thanked the messenger, who bowed and turned to leave, his footsteps soon fading down the corridor.

The Ice Empress glanced at the envelope in his hand, her tone calm but carrying a hint of curiosity. "A letter from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? Did that girl Ning Tian send it?"

"Most likely." Huo Chen broke the seal as he spoke and unfolded the letter.

The stationery was high-quality green sandalwood paper, supple in texture and carrying a faint scent of ink.

The handwriting was neat and elegant, every stroke revealing refined upbringing. It was indeed Ning Tian's hand.

Huo Chen read it from beginning to end, pausing briefly over several key pieces of information before handing the letter to the Ice Empress.

The Ice Empress took it and quickly scanned its contents.

The first half mostly contained Ning Tian's report on her recent cultivation progress, along with her gratitude for Huo Chen's guidance. Her wording was respectful and proper.

A passage in the middle mentioned that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had recently adjusted the layout of its businesses in several southern cities, seemingly to counterbalance the expansion of a certain sect.

At the end of the letter, Ning Tian conveyed her father's invitation. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would hold an autumn banquet in half a month, inviting representatives from various forces across the continent. The Sect Master sincerely invited Mr. Huo Chen to attend despite his busy schedule.

After reading it, the Ice Empress folded the letter and returned it to Huo Chen. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is inviting you to a banquet. Looks like they want to thank you in person for taking care of Ning Tian."

"It's probably more than just gratitude." Huo Chen slipped the letter back into the envelope. "Ning Tian mentioned that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has recently adjusted its business layout in the south to counter the expansion of a certain sect. That sect is most likely the Xuanming Sect."

"The Xuanming Sect?" The Ice Empress frowned slightly. The name sounded familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before.

"The Xuanming Sect is a fairly sizable southern sect. It rose to prominence by recruiting commoner soul masters, and its expansion has been rapid in recent years. It has swallowed up quite a few small clans and sects. Their methods are far from clean—they have used plenty of coercion and threats during those takeovers. Their reputation has never been good."

Huo Chen tucked the envelope into his robes. "As the largest sect force in the south, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would naturally keep an eye on them. Inviting me to this banquet may also be an attempt to sound out my position."

The Ice Empress did not respond at once. She fell silent for several breaths, as though recalling something, then slowly said, "Xuanming Sect... I remember now. A few years ago, during their expansion, they once coerced a girl with a rare martial soul. Her martial soul was the Soft-Boned Rabbit, and she possessed innate full soul power. The Xuanming Sect wanted to recruit her, but she refused, so they threatened her with her family's safety."

Huo Chen's gaze sharpened slightly. "What happened to that girl afterward?"

"I heard she escaped and eventually made her way to Shrek City. She enrolled in Shrek Academy's outer courtyard and only managed to shake off the Xuanming Sect's harassment under the academy's protection."

The Ice Empress paused. "I only heard it from people chatting around the academy. That girl seemed to be called... Jiang Nannan?"

"Jiang Nannan." Huo Chen repeated the name.

He was no stranger to it. In the fate he had seen, Jiang Nannan was an outer courtyard student at Shrek Academy. Her martial soul was a mutated variant of the Soft-Boned Rabbit. She was exceptionally talented, but because she came from a poor background, life at the academy had always been difficult for her.

Later, people from the Xuanming Sect set their sights on her. They threatened her mother's safety to force her to marry the Xuanming Sect's young master. She resisted with everything she had, and only managed to escape under Shrek Academy's protection.

(PS: This is my own setting. Jiang Nannan is also one of my female leads.)

But that was something that was supposed to happen years later in the line of fate. Now, it seemed the Xuanming Sect had extended its reach earlier than he had expected.

"Are the Xuanming Sect still harassing her?" Huo Chen asked.

"Some people seemed to have been lurking near the academy again a while ago." The Ice Empress thought back. "I once heard Old Zhang, one of the gatekeepers, mention that several unfamiliar faces had been wandering around the academy entrance, asking about a female student. The guards drove them off. No one thought much of it then, but connecting it all now, they were probably from the Xuanming Sect."

Huo Chen fell silent for a moment.

He had originally planned to deal with Ning Tian's Silky Tulip matter first, then consider everything else.

But now, it seemed some priorities needed to be rearranged. He knew the Xuanming Sect's style all too well. They would not give up just because they had been driven away once. They would only switch to a more covert method and continue their harassment.

"You're planning to get involved?" The Ice Empress saw through his thoughts.

"Since I know about it, I can't pretend I don't," Huo Chen said.

"Besides, Jiang Nannan is a Shrek student. As a teacher at the academy, it is my duty to protect students from being bullied by outside forces."

The Ice Empress did not object. She merely said lightly, "Then you'd better first find out what that girl herself thinks. Some people may not necessarily want to accept help from others."

Huo Chen nodded. "I know. I'll talk to her first."

The two left the classroom and headed down the corridor. Sunlight streamed through the windows on both sides, casting bright patches across the floor.

The Ice Empress walked beside him at an unhurried pace. After a stretch of silence, she suddenly asked, "Is that girl Jiang Nannan pretty?"

Huo Chen froze for a moment, then understood what she meant and could not help laughing helplessly. "I don't even know what she looks like."

"Oh." The Ice Empress's tone was calm, betraying no emotion. "Then you'll know once you meet her."

Huo Chen gave her a helpless look. "Bing'er."

"Hmm?"

"Are you jealous of a female student you haven't even met?"

The Ice Empress paused, then quickened her pace and walked ahead of him. Without turning back, she said, "I'm not. You're overthinking it."

The tips of her ears were tinged with a faint pink beneath the morning light.

Watching her retreating figure, Huo Chen could not help smiling as he quickened his pace to catch up.

When the two stepped out of the teaching building, the morning sunlight was falling directly across the stairs, bathing the entire structure in a warm golden glow.

On the distant training field, several early-rising students were running. Their chants drifted faintly through the air, filled with the vigor unique to the morning.

Standing on the steps, Huo Chen looked toward those running figures before withdrawing his gaze and silently committing a name to memory.

Jiang Nannan.

At the right time, he would go speak with her.