Ever since the day he returned to the residence after hunting for his First Soul Ring with his bargain teacher, Qian Renxue, She Xian's good days had officially come to an end.
Qian Renxue had directly imposed the highest-level house arrest on him: "Top Secret."
In the words of this young master, who was disguised as the Heaven Dou Crown Prince:
A Twin Martial Souls combination paired with an utterly shocking Soul Ring ratio—
If even the slightest hint of it leaked out, there would surely be people willing to do whatever it took to make sure he never saw the sun rise the next day.
And so, the vast Crown Prince's Residence became She Xian's private "cage."
His movements were strictly limited to the two points of his bedchamber and the Crown Prince's Hall.
Only when he ran into difficulties with his cultivation was he allowed to dash off to the Crown Prince's study and get some extra tutoring from Qian Renxue.
The rest of the time, his task was as simple as it was extreme: grind, grind until he dropped!
This assembly-line life went on for nearly two years.
Aside from meditating and circulating Soul Power, She Xian hadn't been entirely idle.
After Xiao Bai absorbed the Ice Flood Dragon's Soul Ring, fragments of information from deep in her memories would occasionally surface.
From these remaining memories, Xiao Bai pieced together a simple but extremely practical set of water- and ice-manipulation spells.
And she taught them all to She Xian.
"Husband, drawing water and Ningbing—forming it into ice—requires a clear and tranquil mind. Don't force it with brute strength."
Whenever She Xian scratched his head in frustration during practice, Xiao Bai's boneless jade hand would rest atop his.
Her warm, cool body pressed against him from behind.
Her gauzy dress couldn't conceal her astonishing curves, making the young man's heart flutter.
Her sweet, orchid-scented breath brushed his ear as she patiently guided his precise control of Soul Power.
With a peerlessly beautiful snake lady guiding him hand over hand, She Xian's water- and ice-manipulation spells grew more and more refined, until he could use them in battle.
Unfortunately,
when he tried to take on the higher-level ultimate technique, "Profound Ice Dragon Soaring,"
reality slapped him hard across the face.
Every time he eagerly circulated his Soul Power, trying to conjure an ice dragon capable of sweeping through a thousand armies, the result was disastrous.
His body was too weak.
The backlash from the extreme cold nearly froze his meridians until they cracked on the spot.
His Soul Power was too low.
That pitiful little reserve of his was drained completely in an instant.
And his control over ice elements was nowhere near precise enough; the technique could easily slip out of control as soon as he began.
The most embarrassing time,
he exhausted every ounce of strength he had and finally managed to gather a crooked, misshapen lump in his palm.
No matter how he looked at it, it was just a fat lizard frozen stiff. It hit the ground with a smack and shattered into ice shards.
"Forget it, forget it. Cultivation takes one step at a time, and you eat a meal one bite at a time. I'd better cultivate properly!"
Faced with the three great mountains of physical strength, Soul Power, and control over ice elements, She Xian decisively admitted defeat.
For now, he gave up on learning this ultimate weapon of a technique.
Today, inside a luxurious, quiet room.
She Xian sat cross-legged on a thick, cushioned couch, his hands forming a strange seal in front of his lower abdomen.
A layer of deep-blue, watery light shimmered around him.
The room was several degrees colder than usual.
A thin layer of frost had formed across the surface of the porcelain teacup on the tea table.
Inside his body, Soul Power roared and surged through his meridians like a raging tide.
Again and again, it battered the sturdy barrier.
Pop!
A taut string seemed to be plucked in an instant.
Soul Power, several times greater than before, burst forth like a river breaking through its dam, sweeping freely through every limb and bone in his body.
His previously restricted meridians were forcibly widened, and a wave of comfort surged straight to his head.
She Xian breathed out a long plume of white mist and abruptly opened his eyes!
In his clear, transparent green eyes, a piercing, soul-stirring chill flashed.
Level twenty!
After nearly two years, he had finally crossed the barrier standing before the Soul Grandmaster threshold!
Hum—
The air trembled faintly.
A wisp of delicate fragrance spread through the room without warning.
Xiao Bai's slender, graceful figure appeared in a flash, floating lightly down beside the couch.
Her gauzy dress was as white as snow, her body slender and graceful.
Her exquisite face, warm and smooth as jade, was filled with heartfelt joy.
Her eyes shimmered with affection as she gazed tenderly at the young man before her.
"Congratulations, husband, on breaking through to level twenty~"
"Haha! Xiao Bai, I finally broke through!"
She Xian laughed out loud, overcome with excitement.
He sprang up from the couch and wrapped an arm around Xiao Bai's slender, supple waist.
Her soft, warm body filled his hand, and her astonishingly springy figure and delicate fragrance enveloped him in an instant.
"Level twenty! I finally made it to level twenty!"
"I've been cooped up in this Crown Prince's Residence so long, I'm practically a moldy dried mushroom!"
"Second Soul Ring, here I come!"
She Xian was so swept up in emotion that he couldn't sit still for even a second.
Xiao Bai quickly straightened his slightly disheveled clothes.
Then She Xian flung open the door and raced straight for the Crown Prince's study.
He enjoyed privileges beyond anyone's imagination.
No announcement needed, no search required.
He could even come and go from the Crown Prince's private quarters whenever he pleased.
She Xian strode along with an air of utter disregard for the world, moving so fast that the wind seemed to rise beneath his feet. Before long, he reached the study.
"Teacher! I've got incredible news!"
She Xian couldn't even be bothered to knock. He shoved open the heavy, carved wooden door and charged inside, shouting at the top of his lungs.
But—
The look he'd expected to see on Qian Renxue's face, one that was both pleased and somewhat reservedly stern, didn't appear.
The atmosphere in the study was strange in the extreme.
Sunlight streamed through the exquisite carved lattice windows and fell across the purple sandalwood desk.
Sitting behind it, dressed in the Crown Prince's lavish python robe, "Xue Qinghe" froze slightly.
And not far from "Xue Qinghe" stood a girl about She Xian's age.
Her short, neat, elegant hair was a creamy white, making her delicate little face look all the sweeter and more charming.
She wore the noble gown unique to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
From head to toe, she radiated the Imperial Family's impeccable pride and refinement.
She Xian's thunderous yell and his brazen entrance left both people in the room stunned.
The girl had been chatting sweetly with her elder brother.
Now her pretty almond eyes were wide, her rosy lips slightly parted, and her gaze was filled with astonishment and curiosity.
"Xue Qinghe," disguised by Qian Renxue, was even more visibly taken aback.
The fingers clutching the book tightened instantly, and the veins at the corner of her eye twitched faintly.
Qian Renxue never imagined that She Xian would come barging in so carelessly at a moment like this!
She Xian's forward stride ground to an abrupt halt in midair.
The soles of his shoes scraped against the polished granite floor with a teeth-grating squeal.
"Uh..."
She Xian blinked his innocent green eyes.
His gaze shifted back and forth between Qian Renxue disguised as Xue Qinghe and the girl with creamy-white short hair.
A level-ten alarm went off in his mind!
Holy crap!
There's an outsider here!
Teacher didn't tell me we had a guest today!
"Crown Prince Brother, who is he...?"
The girl with creamy-white short hair was the first to break the silence.
Her beautiful eyes shifted as she scrutinized the white-haired, green-eyed young man before her from head to toe. He was handsome and graceful, but also hopelessly impulsive.
A deep curiosity stirred in her eyes.
This was the Crown Prince's study!
The private quarters of Xue Qinghe, the future emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, who was renowned for his strict military discipline and gentle manners!
Even a first-rank court official had to tread carefully in this room.
Why had this white-haired young man, who looked about her age, barged straight in without even knocking?
And why had she never heard of anyone like him in Crown Prince Brother's residence?
Even more outrageous, what had he just called Crown Prince Brother?
Teacher?!
When had Crown Prince Brother secretly taken on such a handsome disciple?
A string of questions exploded in the girl's mind, making her curiosity itch.
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