Has My Teacher's Generosity Reached You?

Early morning, at the main gate of the Crown Prince's Residence.

She Xian was full of energy.

He had assumed that his grandfather, She Long, would be the one taking him to hunt soul beasts today.

After all, having a Titled Douluo escort someone on a soul hunt was like using a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito. The safety factor was maxed out.

Yet the figure that emerged from within the residence gates made him freeze for a moment.

The elegant, white-clad, handsome, and gentle "Crown Prince," Xue Qinghe, had come in person.

She Xian blinked.

Not Grandpa?

Wearing Xue Qinghe's face, Qian Renxue walked up to him and said calmly, "Let's go."

She Xian asked instinctively, "Teacher, don't you need to handle state affairs?"

He tilted his head, his face full of confusion.

"You're the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. Those old ministers at court chase after you every day for approvals. Won't there be problems if you suddenly don't go today?"

The unspoken meaning was: You're a fake Crown Prince being watched by a court full of old foxes. Is it really appropriate to skip work now?

Qian Renxue's lips curved slightly at that.

It was a rare, genuine expression beneath Xue Qinghe's gentle facade.

"I postponed them."

Just two casual words.

She Xian was taken aback.

Qian Renxue added, "I can still make time to obtain my disciple's first soul ring."

Brief, certain, and utterly calm.

Silently, She Xian updated his impression of Qian Renxue.

This teacher of his might sound cold, but she acted more decisively than anyone.

She could postpone the affairs of the Heaven Dou Crown Prince—fake though he was—just like that.

He understood how much she valued him.

In his mind, Little White's voice drifted out with a trace of unease. "That golden-haired woman is rather concerned about you, Husband."

Medusa Queen snorted coldly. "The more concerned someone is, the harder they are to deal with."

She Xian nodded inwardly.

Qian Renxue's regard was a double-edged sword—both a resource and a shackle.

But for now, he would enjoy the resource.

Qian Renxue bent down, picked She Xian up, and with a tap of her toes, turned into a white streak that shot through the air.

There were too many eyes in the city, so she still maintained Xue Qinghe's disguise.

This was already the second time he had been carried while traveling.

But this time, She Xian felt absolutely nothing.

With Xue Qinghe's male face right in front of him, any sense of intimacy was about the same as hugging a utility pole.

She Xian used the travel time to handle important business.

He communicated with Little White through their minds.

"Little White, how should I choose my first soul ring?"

"What attribute and type of soul beast would suit me best?"

Even he found the question strange after asking it.

Asking his own martial soul, "How do you think I should choose my first soul ring?"

It had the absurd feeling of a client asking a contractor, "How do you think I should spend my money?"

Little White thought seriously for a moment before answering gently, "Husband, a serpent-type soul beast with water or ice attributes would be best."

"I can try to sense the soul beasts we encounter."

"If a soul beast's attributes are highly compatible with mine, I will be able to feel a resonance."

Her tone was soft but certain.

"I will tell you immediately when that happens."

She Xian nodded to himself.

It was equivalent to having a living soul-ring compatibility system.

Other soul masters could only select soul rings through experience and luck, while he had his martial soul personally helping him scan for one.

The value of this cheat was still rising.

Medusa Queen said nothing throughout, but She Xian knew she was listening.

She acted disdainful, but secretly paid attention.

Standard operating procedure for Her Majesty the Queen.

Half an hour later.

Qian Renxue landed in a dense forest dozens of miles from Heaven Dou City.

The surroundings were silent, with only the occasional birdcall drifting from deep within the canopy.

It was an exceptionally secluded area.

She set She Xian down.

Just as She Xian was about to ask why they had stopped here—

Golden light suddenly erupted around Qian Renxue.

Xue Qinghe's gentle, handsome face began to crack and peel away.

The contours of her features changed sharply.

Her broad shoulders narrowed, her waist drew in, and the curves of the body she had deliberately suppressed beneath layers of bindings gradually emerged.

Finally, a cascade of dazzling golden hair spilled free from its restraints.

Like liquid sunlight, it shimmered with brilliant radiance amid the mottled forest light.

Qian Renxue was revealing her true face!

Her golden hair flowed down to her waist, her golden phoenix eyes were cold and radiant, and her features were exquisite to an almost unreal degree.

Her aura shifted from that of a gentle Crown Prince to one of sharp, lofty majesty. She looked like a goddess of war who had stepped out of a painting.

Morning sunlight streamed through gaps in the canopy and fell over her, bathing her golden hair in a warm halo.

She Xian stood two steps away and witnessed the entire process.

The last time he had seen Qian Renxue's true appearance had been long ago.

She Long and Ci Xue had been present then, leaving him no time to look closely.

This time,

Only he and she were in the forest.

Sunlight, golden hair, phoenix eyes.

She Xian's gaze traveled from Qian Renxue's hair tips to her chin, then from her chin to those golden eyes.

Qian Renxue noticed his stare and tilted her head slightly.

"What is it?"

She Xian's mouth was point three seconds faster than his brain.

"Teacher, you're so beautiful."

There was a beat of silence.

His brain finally caught up, and just as he was about to slam on the brakes, his mouth dealt another blow.

"It would be great if I could marry you and bring you home."

She Xian's rationality finally caught up with his vocal cords.

His entire body froze.

I'm done for!

Little White's voice shot up an octave. "Husband! What did you say?!"

Medusa Queen gave a cold laugh. "Heh heh."

All the blood in She Xian's body rushed wildly to his cheeks.

He rapidly organized his words, an apology already at the tip of his tongue.

Yet Qian Renxue's reaction was beyond his expectations.

She froze for a moment.

A flicker of surprise crossed those ever-cold golden eyes.

Then she smiled.

A faint smile, carrying a trace of amused helplessness.

Her brows relaxed, her phoenix eyes curved slightly, and a fleeting softness bloomed across her icy, snowlike face.

"Children speak without restraint."

Her tone softened considerably, and rare warmth rippled through her golden eyes.

She had not taken it seriously at all.

In Qian Renxue's eyes, this was merely a boy blurting out his honest thoughts after being stunned by an "older sister's" beauty.

Innocent, adorable, harmless.

How much of that sentence had been a slip of the tongue, and how much had been sincere, only he himself knew.

Seeing Qian Renxue smile, She Xian finally let out the breath he had been holding.

In his mind, he pasted three layers of seals over his mouth.

The next time Teacher returns to her true form, I need to mute my vocal cords.

Little White said faintly in his mind, "Will Husband marry me first?"

Medusa Queen said, "Enough, stupid snake."

Qian Renxue's smile faded, and she returned to her cold, aloof demeanor.

"Let's go. The Soul Hunting Forest we're heading to is far from Heaven Dou City."

She bent down and picked She Xian up again.

She Xian instinctively leaned his face against her. Then his entire body stiffened.

Xue Qinghe's disguise was gone.

This time, the one holding him was Qian Renxue in her true form.

The male chest, tightly flattened beneath bindings, had vanished.

She Xian's brain crashed again.

Qian Renxue's distinctive cool, faint fragrance seeped into his nose from her collar.

The sheer fullness of it was astonishing—enough to rival Little White's.

Teacher... just how many secrets have you been hiding beneath that disguise?

He tried to turn his face slightly away.

But Qian Renxue was moving too fast.

The fierce wind pressure forced him to bury his face back in her chest to reduce the resistance.

So his face pressed back against her again.

She Xian clenched his back teeth and desperately tried to make his gaze appear upright and open, staring straight ahead.

Little White said gently, "So Husband likes this sort of thing? Then this is what I will do every night from now on."

Medusa Queen chimed in again, "Disgusting."

She Xian selectively went deaf.

Now was not the time to handle internal conflicts.

His top priority was controlling his eyes.

While speeding along, Qian Renxue glanced down at him.

She Xian's gaze... why did it feel a little strange?

Where was he looking?

Qian Renxue narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly.

Maybe it was just an illusion.

A child could not possibly harbor such thoughts.

It couldn't be that her disciple was a little pervert, could it?