Ma Xiaotao's Tears

Yan Shaozhe brought Ling Tianchen to a quiet room within Sea God's Pavilion and raised a hand to signal for him to enter.

"You'll stay here for the time being. Don't worry, this isn't house arrest; it's simply for your protection. The Soul Tool Department may take some extreme measures."

Ling Tianchen raised an eyebrow.

"Oh."

He did not care in the slightest.

"Dean Yan, there's no need to worry. A place like Sea God's Pavilion isn't somewhere one can usually enter whenever they want. I was planning to take this opportunity to cultivate for a few more days."

"Of course. Cultivate in peace. No one will come here for the time being."

Yet Yan Shaozhe rubbed his hands together and revealed a teasing, meaningful smile.

Seeing that expression, Ling Tianchen immediately had a bad feeling, but he could not be bothered to think too much about it and simply pushed the door open.

Before him was a room of roughly thirty square meters. Against one wall stood a jade bed, pure white throughout and radiating a soft glow.

At that moment, a red-haired woman sat cross-legged on the bed, her body wrapped in a black dress as she cultivated with her eyes closed.

Isn't that Ma Xiaotao? What's she doing here?

"Dean, why isn't this a single room?"

Ling Tianchen turned to question him, only to be met with a closed door. The entrance had already been shut.

"Rooms in Sea God's Pavilion have indeed been rather tight lately. You two can make do together for now."

Then came the sound of footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Ling Tianchen fell silent.

Good grief. So that was why Yan Shaozhe had smiled so meaningfully. He had been waiting for this all along.

Did he think that a lone man and woman sharing a room would spark some romantic flame? How could that be possible? Even if something did happen, it would need to be built on a certain emotional foundation. Did he really think they could get together upon meeting for the first time?

Ling Tianchen shook his head, lamenting Yan Shaozhe's impatience for quick results.

"Who are you? Judging by your uniform, you're a first-year freshman from the outer academy, right? How did you get into Sea God's Pavilion?"

Ma Xiaotao ended her cultivation and slowly rose from the bed.

In truth, she had noticed the disturbance the instant the door opened.

She had originally intended to remain in seclusion here for a while, not only to ease her guilt over accidentally killing Zhou Yi through cultivation, but also to cultivate properly for once. After all, her cultivation speed had fallen considerably under the disturbance of her evil fire.

Yet she had never expected her master to find her a companion.

At first, she had been extremely resistant. How could she possibly be willing to share a room with an unfamiliar man?

Just as she was about to complain to her master and have Ling Tianchen thrown out, she got a clear look at his face, and the words at her lips were temporarily swallowed back down.

For some reason, the young man before her carried an aura that instinctively made her feel close to him and drawn to him.

Just one glance at him made her evil fire seem as though it were about to lose control. She had clearly managed to suppress it temporarily with the stimulation of ultimate ice just moments ago.

Ma Xiaotao wore a black dress, her red hair cascading down her back. Combined with her exquisite features, which carried a hint of heroic spirit, she seemed like a blazing flame.

The black fabric outlined her slender yet voluptuous figure, while the skirt featured daring slits on both sides, revealing her fair, soft thighs.

Her chest stretched the fabric taut. Black lace-like straps circled her collarbones, and a metal pendant hung conspicuously within her deep cleavage. As she breathed, her chest rose and fell, making the pendant sway gently as well.

Ling Tianchen struggled to pull his gaze away. "Didn't you hear what Yan Shaozhe just said?"

As he spoke, he walked straight toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Bed.

He had to admit, it really was an excellent treasure.

The ultimate chill it emitted year-round could not only suppress the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao, but also produce twice the result with half the effort for ice-attributed soul masters cultivating upon it.

It would be a waste not to use such a fine cultivation spot.

"Hey, you still haven't answered my question. And that bed is where I cultivate."

Seeing him ignore her and head straight for the ice bed, Ma Xiaotao immediately became somewhat displeased and reached out to grab him.

"What does it matter? Wouldn't it be strange if there were only one person on a bed?"

"You..."

Ma Xiaotao's pretty face reddened slightly, and she shot him an irritated glare.

"I'm doing this for your own good. When I cultivate, my evil fire leaks out uncontrollably. Even with the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Bed suppressing it, it could still hurt you."

"Are you worried about me?"

Ling Tianchen raised a brow and teased her.

Ma Xiaotao froze. Once she realized what he meant, she seemed like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her cheeks flushing faintly.

"You little brat... you're not even fully grown yet, so don't, don't spout nonsense."

She turned her head away unnaturally.

"I just... I just don't want to hurt anyone else."

By the end, her voice had noticeably lowered, and a rare trace of gloom appeared in those proud, spirited eyes.

Ling Tianchen looked at her and fell silent for a moment. He did not doubt the sincerity of those words.

At least at this moment, Ma Xiaotao truly felt guilty over Zhou Yi's death.

But...

"What I hate most is regretting something only after it has happened."

Ling Tianchen spoke coolly.

"You say you don't want to hurt anyone, but what about before? This wasn't the first time your evil fire had gone out of control, was it? Over the past few years, aside from feeling guilty, did you ever truly try to take action and change the situation?"

Ma Xiaotao opened her mouth, her voice noticeably weaker.

"I... I did do some things..."

Ling Tianchen frowned slightly.

"Don't tell me your so-called change was continuing to find other people to help suppress your evil fire."

"My sister has complained about you plenty. Even after she clearly rejected you, you kept clinging to her like a leech. Is that the change you made?"

Ma Xiaotao was stunned.

"Your sister? Ling Luochan is your sister?"

She seemed to suddenly recall something.

"Could you be that Ling Tianchen? Teacher Li told me after he returned... If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have accidentally killed Teacher Zhou and caused such a huge mess."

Hearing that, Ling Tianchen could only marvel at her train of thought.

Her nutrition must have all gone to those two lumps on her chest. Her brain clearly hadn't kept up. So it was true that big breasts meant no brains.

His tone turned stiff as well.

"Isn't the key issue that your own evil fire went out of control? Even without my interference, you would have hurt other passersby! Or do you feel no guilt at all if the people you hurt are unimportant nobodies? After all, someone will clean up your mess, right?"

"How could that be? I... I don't want this either. It's just that the evil fire made me lose my mind..."

Ma Xiaotao staggered back onto the ice bed, her movements becoming clumsy.

"Right. Others only lose their lives, while you have so much more to consider."

"Yes, I can understand that you don't want to solve your evil fire through that kind of promiscuous method."

"But since the problem with your evil fire hasn't been completely solved, then stay obediently in a secret chamber! But no, you just have to go out because you love having fun, and then harm other people."

"Ling Tianchen, I'm begging you, stop!"

Ma Xiaotao's voice trembled.

Her emotions had actually spiraled out of control, and she began to cry bitterly under his rebuke.

Ordinarily, if anyone other than her master had lectured her like this, she would have slapped them and beaten them senseless long ago.

But Ling Tianchen was different. He possessed ultimate ice, and he also had the Ice Phoenix martial soul, which shared the same origin as hers.

Ma Xiaotao now understood why she had felt such closeness upon first seeing Ling Tianchen. It was likely the instinctive yearning of the Evil Fire Phoenix within her for the higher-tier Ice Phoenix bloodline.

But as Ling Tianchen's tone grew increasingly severe, that sense of closeness gradually transformed into an awe she could not resist.

Thus, no matter how proud or hot-tempered she was, Ma Xiaotao could not muster the slightest thought of resistance at that moment and could only obediently accept his reprimand.

Even if Ling Tianchen told her to kneel at his feet, she would probably only be able to obey.