"What's wrong with you... Did I do something?"
"Why are you so hostile toward me?"
When Wang Dong heard Li Qingming speak at first, she felt a little guilty. After all, she had pinched him for no reason.
But when she heard Li Qingming say that she was hostile toward him, the apology on Wang Dong's face immediately vanished.
She shot Li Qingming a fierce glare, tossed down her chopsticks, stood up, and stormed off in a huff.
Watching Wang Dong quickly leave, Li Qingming opened his mouth, but ultimately fell silent.
Or rather, he did not understand why Wang Dong was angry, nor why she looked so upset.
Meanwhile, Sea God's Pavilion was already in an uproar.
Yan Shaozhe did not let up at all over Qian Duoduo forcibly luring a top genius from the Martial Soul Department into the Soul Guidance Department.
Though both men were old foxes, Qian Duoduo's hot temper was no match for Yan Shaozhe. He was completely suppressed by Yan Shaozhe.
Seeing Yan Shaozhe shamelessly prepare to go back on his word, Qian Duoduo had no choice but to bring in a heavyweight figure.
The moment Xian Lin'er, the dean of the Soul Guidance Department, arrived, Yan Shaozhe's momentum weakened considerably.
Even so, despite losing all his momentum, he still refused to yield. He still would not agree to let Huo Yuhao go, so the group took the matter straight to Sea God's Pavilion.
News of this had already spread throughout the academy, and many students were discussing it.
There were two central figures in the matter: one was Huo Yuhao, and the other was Li Qingming.
Only then could the matter of Li Qingming possessing an ultimate martial soul no longer be concealed, and it was exposed.
The students might not have known, but the higher-ups certainly did—or rather, it could no longer be hidden from them.
With two ultimate martial souls, the Soul Guidance Department actually had the advantage. It was reasonable enough for each department to take one.
Yet Yan Shaozhe refused to give an inch. Moreover, Mu En himself favored Yan Shaozhe, so Li Qingming was ultimately kept behind.
Just as in the original timeline, Huo Yuhao received joint training from both departments.
As for Li Qingming—or rather, as compensation for him—Mu En agreed to let him choose a Soul Bone from Sea God's Pavilion.
Li Qingming did not yet know about this, but even if he had known everything, he would not have cared.
After all, his clone was already close to becoming a third-rank Soul Engineer, while Huo Yuhao, who had begun studying it from the start, had only barely reached the level of second-rank Soul Tools.
And one had to understand that the Soul Tool technology on the two sides was simply incomparable.
The third-rank Soul Tools of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy included Soul Power shells, Soul Power bombs, and all sorts of auxiliary Soul Tools.
But Shrek Academy only had a few basic Soul Tool shells and Soul Tool weapons. The gap between them was immense.
Thus, Li Qingming truly had no interest in the Soul Guidance Department's technology at Shrek Academy. Even if they asked him to join, he would refuse with an excuse.
At that moment, Wang Dong lay in the room beneath her blanket. The lights were off, and the curtains were drawn.
Wang Dong was the only one in the dim room, her eyes filled with grievance.
When the door opened, Wang Dong turned her head slightly. She did not look at Li Qingming, merely pulling the blanket over her head.
Then, in the next second, the blanket over her head was pulled away.
Seeing Li Qingming's face, Wang Dong's eyes brimmed with grievance. She was even on the verge of tears.
Li Qingming felt rather helpless, but he could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Then he raised his hand, revealing a cup of milk tea and a freshly repackaged meal containing Wang Dong's favorite side dishes.
Seeing that Li Qingming had brought food back for her, Wang Dong froze for a moment, then turned her head slightly again. This time, however, she did not cover her head, especially after noticing that Li Qingming had sat down on her bed.
Surprisingly, she did not feel displeased at all. There was none of her previous germophobia, nor did she feel much aversion.
"Alright, get up and eat. I might have to make a trip to Sea God's Pavilion in a while."
Li Qingming's expression was exceptionally gentle as he spoke.
Upon hearing him, Wang Dong suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at Li Qingming with surprise and suspicion.
"What are you going to Sea God's Pavilion for?"
"You performed so well this time. If they called you over, it shouldn't be anything bad, right?"
Seeing the undisguised concern and questioning in Wang Dong's eyes, Li Qingming merely shook his head calmly.
"It's not bad. It should be a good thing, actually."
"Alright, get some proper rest. I'll go to Sea God's Pavilion, then come find you when I return."
"No, no. Who wants you to come find me?"
"I'm perfectly fine. I don't need you worrying about me!"
Hearing Li Qingming say that he would come find her after returning, Wang Dong had clearly misunderstood something.
With a soft huff, she stood up and began pushing Li Qingming toward the door.
Li Qingming did not mind. After leaving the room and seeing Du Weilun standing outside with an extremely strange expression, he coughed lightly.
"Let's go, Director Du. Didn't the dean say I was to go to Sea God's Pavilion?"
"Ah, you two... Let's go."
"Mm, you're both still young. The academy does encourage free love..."
Du Weilun hesitated as he spoke. He looked at Li Qingming with an oddly complicated expression, but ultimately did not continue.
Li Qingming, however, had no idea what he was thinking.
Because of Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly martial soul, most people knew that she was a girl, though not everyone did.
Aside from the students, perhaps only Zhou Yi, Fan Yu, and a few others knew Wang Dong's true gender.
Under such circumstances, Li Qingming did not know whether Du Weilun knew, but whether he did or not, his words made things awkward for both of them.
The atmosphere stalled for a moment. Only after they reached the entrance to Sea God's Pavilion, crossed the water in a small boat, and entered Sea God's Pavilion did Li Qingming step forward to salute Yan Shaozhe, who stood there with a proud expression.
However, his gaze paused on Yan Shaozhe for only a second before he noticed the girl in the red dress standing beside him.
The girl looked at Li Qingming with a somewhat resentful expression. Ever since Li Qingming had returned, he had never taken the initiative to find her, nor had he visited the edge of Sea God Lake.
Li Qingming found this baffling. His only arrangement with Ma Xiaotao was to help resolve her evil fire problem; he had never said they needed to meet often or anything like that.
Since Ma Xiaotao had not come to find Li Qingming herself, Li Qingming naturally would not take the initiative to find her.
Both Du Weilun and Yan Shaozhe noticed the deeply resentful look in their disciple's eyes.
Du Weilun coughed awkwardly, at a complete loss for what to do.
In the end, Yan Shaozhe could only sigh helplessly. He pointed at Ma Xiaotao and introduced her after a brief silence.
"This is my disciple, Ma Xiaotao. She'll take you into Sea God's Pavilion later to choose one of your Soul Bones. This is the reward you're meant to receive."
"You should be able to fuse with a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone already. If not, choose one with a higher age first and keep it until you can fuse with it later."
Yan Shaozhe looked at Li Qingming as he spoke. His attitude toward Li Qingming was far better than it was toward Huo Yuhao.
After all, Li Qingming was helping his disciple resolve her evil fire problem.
Especially after the improvements of the past two months, more than half of the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao had already been removed, and her martial soul had begun transforming in the direction of a Holy Phoenix.
Most importantly, the sacred attribute in her flames now exceeded the evil attribute. That was what made Yan Shaozhe happiest—or rather, most excited.
Once his disciple's elemental attribute reached the level of Sacred Flame, it would mean that Ma Xiaotao's martial soul could likewise reach the ultimate level.
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