Promoted to a Rich Lady's Sparring Partner

Lin Huo circled around in amazement, clicking her tongue. Then Huo Wu suddenly stopped behind him and placed her right hand on his shoulder.

"Hu... Huo Wu, what are you doing?"

Huo Wu's circling, appraising gaze was like that of some lecherous old creep. Lin Huo had already been unnerved by her behavior.

Now that Huo Wu had suddenly pressed close to him, he felt an even stronger sense that something was terribly wrong.

Leaning close to Lin Huo's ear, Huo Wu hummed. "Heh heh, you took on eight people by yourself, and you even beat up my idiot big brother without hesitation. From what I hear, you seem pretty brave."

"Not brave, Huo Wu. I'm really not brave at all. I was forced into it!"

Hearing Huo Wu start spouting such strangely familiar lines, the DNA carved deep into Lin Huo's soul was instantly triggered. He absolutely did not dare say anything like how brave he was.

Yet Huo Wu clearly had no intention of letting him off. She first patted Lin Huo's shoulders with both hands, then suddenly reached around from behind and gave his chest a couple of groping pats.

"Not bad. You're developing pretty solidly."

The hot, damp breath entering his ear made Lin Huo instinctively want to struggle, but before he could move, Huo Wu trapped his head beneath her arm.

The dangerously close distance and the fragrance constantly flooding his nose left Lin Huo flustered. "Huo Wu, what are you doing? Let me go!"

Sensing that Lin Huo wanted to struggle, Huo Wu revealed a triumphant, mischievous smile. Not only did she show no sign of loosening her hold, she even used Soul Power to lock him down tightly.

"You know how to be shy at such a young age? Looks like you understand quite a lot."

"Under... understand what, Huo Wu? What are you talking about?"

The sudden attack left Lin Huo's mind completely muddled, throwing him into a rare state of panic.

Seeing that Lin Huo still was not moving, the impatient Huo Wu simply tightened her hold around his little head even more.

"Be good! Let big sis have a proper look!"

"No! Sister Wu!"

Lin Huo exerted himself and broke free from Huo Wu's restraint, retreating to the corner with lingering fear written all over his face as he looked at Huo Wu, whose face still wore a "lecherous" smile.

"Yes! That's it! Your strength really is as extraordinary as they said!"

Huo Wu's face was now full of delighted surprise, as though she had found a treasure. She had just used every ounce of strength she had to restrain Lin Huo.

With her level eighteen Soul Power combined with a body tempered through long training, she could have firmly pinned down several oxen.

Yet Lin Huo, a mere level-six Soul Warrior, had casually struggled and effortlessly broken free of her restraint.

Huo Wu approached Lin Huo with gleaming eyes, but when she saw how frightened and alarmed he looked, she immediately said in dissatisfaction,

"Alright, alright. I was kindly giving you a little treat. Did you have to act like that?"

A treat? Disdain welled up in Lin Huo's heart. What kind of treat could a flat little girl like Huo Wu possibly offer?

The reason he had panicked was that if this kept going, some great hand of heavenly judgment might come down to punish him. That was no joke.

Lin Huo was breathing slightly hard, and the flush had yet to fade from his face. However, it had nothing to do with embarrassment; it was purely from having his head squeezed beneath Huo Wu's arm.

Huo Wu, however, seemed to have misunderstood. Seeing Lin Huo's flushed face, she had already begun basking smugly in her own charm.

After indulging in self-admiration for a while, Huo Wu finally patted Lin Huo lightly on the shoulder and said with satisfaction,

"Alright. I think you're pretty capable. From now on, you won't just be my military adviser. How about I also give you the exclusive position of my sparring partner?"

A sparring partner? Lin Huo hesitated for a moment, instinctively weighing the pros and cons in his heart.

Huo Wu knew Lin Huo was full of little schemes. Seeing that he did not answer immediately, she hurriedly added,

"Don't worry, I won't make you be my sparring partner for nothing. I'll pay you one hundred Gold Soul Coins a month, and while we train, I'll teach you a few things you can't learn at the academy. How about it?"

Now that was a real benefit! Lin Huo's mind began working, and he immediately accepted the terms Huo Wu had offered.

"Alright! What else is there to say? Huo Wu, feel free to order your little brother around as much as you like from now on."

A sparring partner was a sparring partner. A monthly salary of one hundred Gold Soul Coins was on the same level as the allowance of a Soul Elder.

Add to that some exclusive techniques unavailable at the academy, and Lin Huo truly could not think of any reason to refuse Huo Wu.

Women would only affect the speed at which you swung your sword, but rich ladies would not. Rich ladies would only get you a better sword. The ancients truly had not deceived him.

Huo Wu was extremely excited to receive Lin Huo's answer. She slapped her chest and said happily,

"Alright, then it's settled. Whenever I need a sparring partner, I'll call you to the training grounds. You're not allowed to refuse when that happens!"

"Of course."

Lin Huo thought that aside from spending time in the library, he would not have many other activities at the academy anyway. Being available whenever called would not be much of a problem.

Besides, he still remembered how Huo Wu had helped him obtain a Storage Soul Tool as an academy reward, so he agreed readily.

With the matter settled, Huo Wu planned to return upstairs to sleep. At that moment, Lin Huo remembered something else and hurriedly stopped her.

"Oh, right, Huo Wu. Does the academy have any way to mail valuable items?"

Huo Wu, who had been about to go upstairs to sleep, stopped and looked at Lin Huo with a puzzled expression. "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"

Scratching the back of his head, Lin Huo said awkwardly, "Didn't I just make a small fortune? I don't really have anywhere to spend money at the academy, so I was thinking of sending two thousand Gold Soul Coins back to the town."

"..." Huo Wu stared blankly at Lin Huo's sincere face for a moment. Sympathy surged through her heart as she remembered Lin Huo's miserable background.

An orphan who had grown up on the town mayor's aid and meals from every household, yet the first thing Lin Huo thought of after earning money was repaying the benefactors in his town.

No matter when it was, someone who knew gratitude and repaid kindness was hard to dislike. Huo Wu's sympathy and appreciation for Lin Huo rose to another level.

As though she had thought of something, Huo Wu said with a sly smile, "The academy doesn't have a mailing service. If you want to send Gold Soul Coins back home, you can only find professional escorts in Blazing Fire City."

"Professional escorts? Those people probably aren't very reliable, are they?" Lin Huo hesitated.

"As they say, wealth moves the heart. What I want to send is a large amount of Gold Soul Coins in cash. Who can guarantee that the escorts I hire won't get greedy halfway through and run off with the money?

"If I encountered especially vicious people, they could take note of the location after delivering the Gold Soul Coins to New Town, then come back later disguised as bandits. The townsfolk back home wouldn't have the ability to resist.

"If unreliable escorts are the only option, then I'd rather think of another way."

Lin Huo shook his head and rejected Huo Wu's suggestion of hiring escorts. Without a reliable method, he would be better off not sending the Gold Soul Coins at all.

"Hehe, worthy of being the military adviser I personally chose. You really are thorough in everything you do." The smile on Huo Wu's face deepened as she praised Lin Huo's caution.

As the eldest young lady of the Fire Clan, how could she not know what escort agencies were really like?

Guards stealing from the very things they were meant to protect, even turning on their clients, were common occurrences among escort agencies across the continent.

If Lin Huo went to hire them himself, then even if he was a student of Blazing Fire Academy, those people would still dare find an opportunity to harm him for profit.

The reason she had brought up escort agencies in the first place was simply to see whether Lin Huo was sharp enough.

Naturally, she was very satisfied with the result.

Huo Wu waved her hand. "Alright, I'm done teasing you. Just give me the Gold Soul Coins, Little Huo. I'll have the servants at home handle this for you. Aren't you going to thank Huo Wu already?"

"Thank you, Huo Wu."

Lin Huo readily thanked Huo Wu, while paying no mind at all to her teasing.

Since Huo Wu was willing to help him with this, being teased a little was no big deal.

A moment later, Lin Huo watched Huo Wu carry the Gold Soul Coins upstairs, a trace of confusion flashing through his mind.

Come to think of it, had he forgotten something today?

Inside the academy office, the teacher who taught Imperial History stared blankly at the missing names on the attendance sheet.

Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang, and Lin Huo—the Junior Division's three Special-Class Students—had all missed his class. Could his teaching really be that bad?