Hot-Blooded Impulse

A crisp notification sounded. Meng Xinghe opened his phone and found a message from Gu Yuena.

They lived right next door, yet she still used her phone to send messages. What a little tsundere... He smiled and tapped to view the message Gu Yuena had sent.

Gu Yuena: I also want to take in a follower. Do you have any suitable candidates? If so, recommend a few to me.

After reading the message, a suitable candidate immediately came to Meng Xinghe's mind, so he replied at once.

Meng Xinghe: There really is one suitable candidate, and he's at Eastsea Academy. I just don't know whether he'll meet your standards.

Gu Yuena: Tell me about him. How would I know whether he meets my standards if you don't?

Meng Xinghe: His name is Xie Xie. He's nine this year and, like us, a new student at Eastsea Academy. He has Innate Full Soul Power, and his Martial Souls are the same-type Twin Martial Souls, the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger. They contain dragon bloodline, and his Twin Martial Souls can be used simultaneously. He has the potential for a self-body Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and if his Martial Souls are fused into one, they can evolve into the Space-Time Sacred Dragon.

Gu Yuena: His talent is decent. I can rest easy using a Soul Master whose Martial Soul contains dragon bloodline. I just don't know what kind of person this Xie Xie is. Let me observe him first. If there are no issues with his character, I'll invite him to become my follower.

Meng Xinghe: Xie Xie's character is actually quite good. He looks a little aloof and has a bit of a tsundere streak, but he's really rather cheeky. He speaks without thinking, and because of his family background, he's also a little cynical.

Ordinary Dormitory Building, Room 205.

Xie Xie, who had arrived ahead of everyone else in a private car, finally entered his dormitory.

But the sight inside made him wonder whether he had gone to the wrong place.

A skinny, bespectacled boy with a scholarly air was cowering against the wall. A tall, powerfully built boy was sprawled on the floor, blood dripping from his mouth, several of his teeth already knocked out.

There was also the back of another child. His black hair was thick and lustrous, while the exposed skin was fair and smooth, delicate enough to seem breakable with a puff. Hearing the door open, he turned around. His long hair swept through the air in a wave, revealing exquisite features. Long eyelashes framed a pair of lively, clear eyes that gleamed like obsidian.

Xie Xie's face flushed bright red. Why is such a beautiful girl in the boys' dormitory?

Tang Wulin was visibly stunned when he saw Xie Xie standing in the doorway.

Wasn't this the young master they had met at the soul-guided train station earlier?

Wan Yunchao had said they might be classmates. He had not expected it to be true. Not only were they classmates, they even lived in the same dormitory.

He was the young master of a Soul Master family. As such a friendly person, I should greet him first.

"Hello, classmate. My name is Tang Wulin. I'll be your roommate from now on."

A dazzling smile bloomed across Tang Wulin's beautiful face, so breathtaking that Xie Xie completely overlooked the fact that Tang Wulin had spoken in a boy's voice.

A girl had just said she was his roommate. Xie Xie's face instantly turned crimson as hot blood surged into his nasal cavity, flowing out through his nostrils and dripping onto the floor.

"Classmate, are you all right? Why did you suddenly get a nosebleed?"

Kind-hearted Tang Wulin hurried forward. The instant they made physical contact, Xie Xie felt the blood inside his body burst forth like an erupting fountain. His vision immediately went dark, and he fell backward onto the ground.

In his hazy consciousness, Xie Xie felt as if someone had caught him around the waist and lifted him up.

Hehe, my life has been worth it.

"It's nothing. He just got a nosebleed from becoming overly emotional. It isn't a serious problem."

In the school infirmary, a female nurse skillfully used medicine to clean the nasal cavity of the newly awakened Xie Xie.

"But, Nurse," Tang Wulin said worriedly as he looked at Xie Xie's expression.

"Is he really fine? Why does he look so uncomfortable?"

Upon hearing this, the nurse looked at Tang Wulin, who was prettier than a girl, then at Xie Xie, who had gotten a nosebleed because he was too emotional. She had already seen through everything.

But there was no need to expose it. They were such young children; she had to leave them a little dignity.

So the nurse answered like this:

"He got a nosebleed in front of his classmates on his first day of school. Naturally, he feels embarrassed."

Tang Wulin nodded in understanding. "So that's what it is. Then I'm relieved."

After saying that, Tang Wulin found a place to sit in the infirmary. Once Xie Xie, who had only just woken up, had rested for a while, he pulled him toward the cafeteria.

Classmate Xie Xie had lost so much blood from his nose. His body must be weak, so he needed to eat more to make up for it.

Halfway there, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, who had kept his head lowered the entire time, were drawn by a burst of laughter and cheerful voices. They turned to look and happened to see three fellow students.

All three were strikingly attractive, each with a distinct temperament. One was as tranquil and steady as the sky, one as aloof as snow atop a mountain, and the last as pure and flawless as an edelweiss.

Tang Wulin did not know any of them, but since they were all classmates, he warmly greeted them anyway.

"Hello."

"Hello." ×2

Meng Xinghe responded with a smile, and Xu Xiaoyan also greeted them enthusiastically. Only Gu Yuena did not respond, her probing gaze falling upon the two of them.

Tang Wulin felt nothing under that gaze. With his appearance, he was used to such looks. But Xie Xie...

It was as though some indescribable, terrifying existence in a dark abyss had fixed its eyes on him. Xie Xie instantly broke out in a cold sweat, his legs going weak and trembling.

As the two groups passed each other, Tang Wulin turned back toward Xie Xie and found that he looked as if he had just been pulled from the water, drenched from head to toe.

He had lost a bit too much blood from his nose, but surely he wasn't weak enough to end up like this?

Seeing this, Tang Wulin immediately hoisted Xie Xie onto his back and ran toward the cafeteria.

"Xie Xie, hang in there. We'll have food soon."

"..." Xie Xie was speechless. He made a token struggle before giving up resisting.

His legs were still weak, and walking to the cafeteria by himself was unrealistic. He could only make do with this.

Gu Yuena withdrew her spiritual power and asked through telepathy, "Tang Wulin really does have a trace of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline aura. It's very faint, but I still sensed it."

"The other one should be Xie Xie, right? Same-type Twin Martial Souls containing dragon bloodline. And with cultivation below Soul Grandmaster, he really is as you described—a rather cynical person."

A genius was one percent talent and ninety-nine percent hard work.

The ninety-nine percent hard work was important because it determined a person's lower limit. The one percent talent was the most important because it determined a person's upper limit.

Xie Xie, with his Innate Full Soul Power, possessed the most important one percent talent of a genius. If he had put in the ninety-nine percent hard work, he would at least be a Soul Grandmaster by now.

"You can't blame him for that. Who told him to have such an unfortunate family background?" Meng Xinghe spoke up in his defense.

Xie Xie's parents both loved him, but his mother had passed away early. His father's love was not the kind of love children liked, nor was it the kind they could understand.