Tianshui Academy, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er

Three days later, Tianshui City.

After three days of travel, master and disciple finally returned to Tianshui City.

Upon returning, Shui Qinghan did not pause for even a moment before taking Jiang Lan and flying straight toward the island at the center of Tianshui Lake.

Tianshui Lake stretched roughly 7.1 kilometers from north to south and 8.3 kilometers from east to west. The entirety of Tianshui City had been built around it.

Tianshui Academy, renowned throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, was situated on the island in the center of Tianshui Lake, covering an area of roughly five thousand mu.

The island was beautiful and rich in water vapor, making it the ideal environment for water- and ice-element Soul Masters to live and cultivate in.

Furthermore, Tianshui Academy had constructed all manner of simulated cultivation environments for water and ice attributes.

Waterfalls, streams, pools, swamps, snow mountains, and many other such simulated cultivation environments occupied most of Tianshui Academy's grounds.

Meanwhile, facilities for daily life, such as teaching buildings, dining halls, dormitories, and spirit arenas, took up comparatively little space.

Incidentally, Tianshui Academy was a comprehensive academy encompassing elementary, intermediate, and advanced Soul Master education. Not only did it recruit from intermediate Soul Master academies throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, it also accepted female Soul Masters from Tianshui City and nearby villages who had awakened ice- or water-attributed Martial Souls, nurturing them from a young age.

After landing on the central island, the towering gate of Tianshui Academy, over twenty meters high, came into view. Many lovely women in aqua-blue uniforms entered and exited through the gates in groups of three or five, chatting and laughing together.

Each possessed her own beauty, as radiant as autumn chrysanthemums and as luxuriant as spring pines.

On either side of the gates stood high walls that stretched endlessly, enclosing the entire island.

These walls were only slightly shorter than Tianshui Academy's gate, standing nearly twenty meters tall.

"This wall was built to stop lecherous men from sneaking into the academy through deserted places," Shui Qinghan explained when she noticed Jiang Lan's gaze.

Jiang Lan: "..."

In the vast Soul Master world, there was no shortage of shameless scoundrels like Bu Le.

And those people really were capable of sneaking into Tianshui Academy to peep on others.

This wall was indeed necessary.

"Dean!"

"Hello, Dean!"

When the female students gathered outside the gates spotted Shui Qinghan, they eagerly came forward to greet her.

However, upon seeing Jiang Lan holding Shui Qinghan's hand, their eyes immediately lit up. With absolutely no sense of personal boundaries, they reached out to pinch his cheeks and pat his head, occasionally letting out soft cries of surprise as though Jiang Lan were a toy.

If I don't work hard, I'll become a woman's plaything! (Sorrow)

As they played with Jiang Lan, they curiously asked, "Dean, who is this adorable little brother?"

"Could he be the dean's illegitimate son?!"

"I bet he's the dean's old flame's child, entrusted to her by that old flame on her deathbed."

"You little brats still have time to read such worthless storybooks? Looks like your training is still far too light," Shui Qinghan said coldly, her lovely face darkening.

"Oh no! The dean is angry, run!"

"Hehe~"

Giggling, they fled in disarray.

"These crazy girls..." Shui Qinghan could not help but laugh as she scolded them while watching their cheerful, laughing figures disappear.

With that, Shui Qinghan took Jiang Lan by the hand and entered Tianshui Academy.

The instant they passed through the gates, dense water and ice elements rushed toward them, making Jiang Lan's Martial Soul stir with activity.

Jiang Lan took a soft breath and could not help looking around at Tianshui Academy's surroundings.

The first thing he saw was a main road paved with white marble. Along both sides grew rows of peach trees in full bloom, along with exotic flowers and grasses that gave off a refreshing fragrance.

A clear stream flowed beneath the peach trees, with a few peach blossoms drifting across its surface.

In the distance stood a mountain several hundred meters tall, its peak blanketed in pure white snow.

After following the main road for the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Lan saw waterfalls, lakes, swamps, and other artificially created simulated cultivation environments. He also saw quite a few female students cultivating within them.

After leaving the area of simulated cultivation environments, Shui Qinghan brought Jiang Lan to her residence.

Shui Qinghan's residence was not extravagant, merely a three-story villa with a courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, a beautiful woman who bore a strong resemblance to Shui Qinghan was teaching two little girls.

However, her temperament and appearance were gentler and softer, unlike Shui Qinghan's icy aloofness.

Likewise, the two little girls looked quite alike. Both had identical aqua-blue, lightly curled long hair and dresses, with exquisitely cute features.

"Bing'er, Yue'er," Shui Qinghan softly called to the two little girls attending their lesson.

Upon hearing Shui Qinghan's call, both girls instinctively turned their heads. When the slightly older one saw Shui Qinghan standing outside the courtyard, she decisively abandoned her younger sister and ran over on her little legs, her pretty face full of smiles.

"Mom!"

"Auntie!"

The younger little girl ran over as well, calling out sweetly.

"Mom, who is he?" Shui Bing'er asked curiously upon noticing Jiang Lan at Shui Qinghan's side.

"Ah~ What a cute little brother!" Shui Yue'er's eyes immediately brightened at the sight of Jiang Lan, whose red lips, white teeth, and refined, handsome features made her gaze keep drifting toward him.

"His name is Jiang Lan. He is Mother's disciple, and also your junior brother. As his senior sisters, you two must take good care of him," Shui Qinghan said with a smile as she crouched down and patted Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er's little heads.

"I understand. I'll take good care of Junior Brother," Shui Bing'er nodded and promised.

She was already often taking care of Shui Yue'er, so taking care of one more junior brother would be no trouble.

"Junior Brother? That's great, I have a little brother now!" Shui Yue'er immediately cheered, her face full of excitement.

She was finally no longer the youngest. She was going to be a big sister!

Afterward, Shui Qinghan introduced the sisters, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er, to Jiang Lan.

Shui Bing'er possessed a top-tier beast Martial Soul—Water-Congealing Flying Luan. Her innate soul power was rank nine. She was seven and a half years old, with soul power at rank fifteen.

Shui Yue'er possessed a high-tier beast Martial Soul—Lustrous Jade Dolphin. Her innate soul power was rank eight. She was a little over a year younger than Shui Bing'er and had awakened her Martial Soul only a few months ago. At present, her soul power was only rank nine.

"Senior Sister Bing'er, Senior Sister Yue'er," Jiang Lan called out shamelessly as he looked at the two adorable little girls before him.

"Junior Brother Jiang Lan," Shui Bing'er greeted softly.

"Hehe~" Hearing Jiang Lan call her Senior Sister made Shui Yue'er incredibly happy. She blinked her large, watery eyes, gazing at Jiang Lan with anticipation as she asked, "Little Junior Brother, can you call me big sister one more time?"

It was her first time being called big sister. Hearing it just once was nowhere near enough.

Jiang Lan: "..."