Ling Luochan, Suspected Shotacon

Jing Ziyan simply could not imagine what could have happened to make a child only a few years old fall from grace and rise into the Destruction Grand Duke who destroyed his own homeland, even personally shattering the Douluo Divine Realm that had sheltered that world.

Even with its vast database on the level of a celestial computer, the Tethys System had no record of it.

That period of history seemed to have been completely concealed beneath an even deeper, thicker fog.

After a brief half-day stay at the Earth Dragon Sect, the resupplied group set off once more. At the entrance, Nan Qiuqiu reluctantly waved goodbye to her mother and her many friends until their figures vanished around the corner of the street.

Before leaving, Bai Mo looked back one final time.

Nan Shuishui was watching them gently, while the young men and women wore bright smiles as they waved. Everything looked so warm and natural.

Yet that lingering sense of unreality followed him like a shadow, once again coiling around his heart.

"What's wrong?"

A cool voice suddenly sounded by his ear.

Bai Mo turned and saw that Ling Luochan had somehow come to his side. Her ice-blue eyes were quietly watching him.

"Nothing, Senior Ling."

Bai Mo shook his head.

He could hardly say that he felt everything just now was fake—that Nan Qiuqiu's mother and friends were all some kind of nonexistent phantoms, could he? If he said something like that, people would only take it for childish nonsense, or even think he had gone mad.

Living people were right there. They had warmth and emotions. How could they possibly be fake?

Ling Luochan did not press him. She merely glanced at him and left behind a simple sentence. "If anything happens, you can come to me."

With that, she turned away, returning to her aloof, icy demeanor that kept strangers at a distance.

Bai Mo paused slightly.

He had never expected this icy senior, who had barely spoken along the way and radiated an unmistakable "don't mess with me" aura, to take the initiative to show concern for him.

So she was the cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside type?

Yet this brief exchange left Ye Guyi, standing nearby, completely stunned.

Bai Mo noticed Ye Guyi repeatedly sweeping an odd gaze between him and Ling Luochan and could not help asking, "Senior Ye, why are you looking at me like that?"

Ye Guyi first looked at Bai Mo's child-sized body, which did not even reach her chest, then at Ling Luochan's tall, cool back. She suddenly smacked her right fist into her left palm, looking as though she had reached a great realization, and loudly declared, "I get it! Senior Ling is into younger boys."

Bai Mo instinctively leaned back tactically, staring speechlessly at this senior whose mouth had no filter.

"Little Brother Bai Mo, you don't know this," Meng Hongchen said as she moved closer and softly explained by his ear. "Senior Ling is a famously icy beauty at the academy. Who knows how many senior students have wanted to pursue her? Even getting a chance to speak to her is difficult."

"Oh..."

Bai Mo stroked Fufu's soft fur in his arms and fell into deep thought.

Had his charm truly reached such an incredible level that even he had underestimated himself?

But then he lowered his head and looked at his tender little arms and legs, immediately drawing in a sharp breath.

Could Ling Luochan really... be a shotacon?

After leaving Dragon City and continuing north, the surrounding environment grew increasingly harsh.

What fell from the sky was no longer snow, but blizzards mixed with ice pellets. The howling gale lashed against the soul tool barrier, producing wails like demons crying and wolves howling.

The temperature had fallen to an extreme. Even within the barrier, Bai Mo could feel the cold, and that was with his Martial Soul possessing a fire attribute.

Fortunately, the group had soul tools that blocked the wind, snow, and chill, creating a warm force field. Otherwise, with Bai Mo's body having only just awakened its Martial Soul, he likely would not have endured such extreme weather.

Along the way, Bai Mo noticed something strange.

Several times, they entered the sensory range of powerful Soul Beasts. After those Extreme North Soul Beasts, which emitted terrifying auras, discovered them, they not only refrained from attacking, but chose to detour from far away, as if deliberately avoiding them.

Seeing Bai Mo's confusion, Jing Ziyan, who was walking ahead of him, took the initiative to explain. "That is because the academy signed a contract with the true ruler of the Extreme North. As long as they are students or teachers of Sanctuary Academy and wear the academy badge, they will not be actively attacked by the local Soul Beasts in this land."

"Right, right, right!"

Nan Qiuqiu immediately chimed in and excitedly added, "Speaking of which, the legendary ruler of the Extreme North—the Snow Emperor—even holds a nominal position as a professor at our academy. But she appears and disappears without a trace, so very few people have seen her true face. I heard she's an unbelievably gorgeous beauty."

Although they had only spent a short time together, relying on his six-year-old age and his devastatingly cute face, Bai Mo quickly became friendly with Nan Qiuqiu, Ye Guyi, Meng Hongchen, and the other girls.

Of course, there were also difficult people in the group, such as the ever-arrogant Xiao Hongchen and Ji Juechen, whose heart held only his sword and who remained indifferent to everything else.

However, when Bai Mo learned that the Snow Emperor had also joined Sanctuary Academy, the many doubts in his heart were instantly resolved.

No wonder the academy dared to establish its campus in the Extreme North Core Circle, a forbidden zone of life. It had turned the highest ruler of this land into one of its own.

Since the owner had become a colleague, then this vast Extreme North was practically Sanctuary Academy's own backyard, wasn't it?

Without Soul Beasts blocking their path, mere harsh weather could no longer truly stop a well-equipped team of soul masters.

The reason the Extreme North was known as a forbidden zone of life was largely due to the powerful Soul Beasts that roamed it without restraint.

Of course, the natural environment itself was no trifling matter either. The bone-piercing cold and gale winds that tore apart soul power required at least a Soul Sage-level expert to barely resist through cultivation alone.

Anyone below that level could only rely on external help, such as the constant-temperature soul tools they were currently wearing, which Sanctuary Academy had issued uniformly.

When they truly entered the Extreme North Core Circle, just as Jing Ziyan had said, the journey remained calm and uneventful, with not a single Soul Beast coming to disturb them.

Then, amid the endless blizzard, Bai Mo saw a wondrous sight.

The wind and snow filling the sky seemed to have been torn apart by an invisible giant hand. At the end of his vision, the outline of a city appeared faintly.

It was not as illusory as a mirage. Instead, it carried a solid and majestic sense of reality, quietly standing upon the icy plains as though it had existed there since time immemorial.

"Welcome to Sanctuary Academy, Little Brother Bai Mo!"

With her hands playfully tucked behind her back, Meng Hongchen lightly skipped in front of Bai Mo. Her blue eyes sparkled against the wind and snow, and her face overflowed with the joy of returning home.