Hugging Xue Ningbing

Under Huo Yuhao's lead, Xue Ningbing had lunch with him at a highly rated restaurant. Afterward, they wandered around some other places together for a while.

Xue Ningbing's earlier little bout of anger had also disappeared.

Seeing how happy Xue Ningbing was made Huo Yuhao happy as well. After playing around Shrek City with her for a little longer, they returned to the dorms once they were tired.

Huo Yuhao could easily reach his own dormitory on the first floor, but the sight of the stairs before her drained all the strength from Xue Ningbing.

She then looked at Huo Yuhao with pleading eyes.

Huo Yuhao felt helpless under Xue Ningbing's gaze.

It was not that Xue Ningbing lacked the strength to climb the stairs. She simply did not want to climb them whenever she saw them, and since there was no one around, she wanted Huo Yuhao to carry her up to the fourth floor.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do with you." Huo Yuhao looked helplessly at Xue Ningbing, who was acting like a child.

If he announced that Xue Ningbing was the Ice Empress right now, probably no one would believe him. The contrast between her and the Ice Empress was simply too great.

Was Xue Ningbing's acting just that good, or was this her true nature?

Huo Yuhao walked over to Xue Ningbing and lifted her onto his back.

Xue Ningbing did not resist and pressed herself against Huo Yuhao's back.

Huo Yuhao kept his hands on Xue Ningbing's legs, clad in white stockings, to keep her from accidentally slipping off his back.

After successfully carrying Xue Ningbing to the fourth floor, Huo Yuhao set her down and said, "You'll have to walk the rest of the way yourself. I wouldn't dare enter the girls' dormitory."

Once Xue Ningbing had steadied herself, she said happily, "All right, I know."

"Then I'll head back first."

"Wait."

Before Huo Yuhao could turn around, Xue Ningbing grabbed both of his hands and hugged him.

"Hold me tight." Huo Yuhao had been stunned for a moment, but he snapped out of it when he heard Xue Ningbing's words.

Huo Yuhao gently wrapped his arms around Xue Ningbing's waist, and the two embraced tightly in the stairwell.

Not long after, sensing someone approaching, Huo Yuhao and Xue Ningbing blushed and released each other.

Huo Yuhao looked at the slightly shy Xue Ningbing and said, "I'll head back first."

Xue Ningbing nodded. "Mm, be careful on your way back."

Under Xue Ningbing's gaze, Huo Yuhao left the fourth floor and continued downstairs.

After Huo Yuhao had disappeared from sight, Xue Ningbing also let out a sigh of relief and returned to her dormitory.

After returning to her dormitory, Xue Ningbing saw that Xiao Xiao was not inside, so she went straight to her bed.

Xue Ningbing placed her left hand against her face as her mind kept replaying what had happened earlier.

Had she revealed too much of her true nature?

She had promised to keep disguising herself through acting, yet somehow her act had become far too convincing. Instead, it seemed more like her real self.

Could it be that leaving the Far North had loosened some restraint within her?

But she clearly liked Xue'er. Why had her feelings for Huo Yuhao become so amplified? She still remembered that Huo Yuhao had the Emperor Beast as his fiancée.

Forget it. She would take things one step at a time.

Dorm 108.

Huo Yuhao opened the door and saw Wang Dong lying idly on his bed.

Huo Yuhao felt helpless seeing Wang Dong being so lazy.

Looking at Wang Dong lying on the bed, Huo Yuhao said, "Say, do you really have that much free time?"

Wang Dong said disdainfully in response to Huo Yuhao's reminder, "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can order me around?"

Wang Dong then asked, "Who were those two girls looking for you this morning?"

Huo Yuhao answered simply, "People I know."

Wang Dong looked at Huo Yuhao unhappily. "It looks like you're pretty close to that girl with turquoise hair."

Huo Yuhao said, "Mm. Why do you look like some resentful wife? Can't you stand seeing your roommate doing well?"

"Besides, who I'm close to isn't any of your concern. We've only known each other for half a day."

A vein immediately bulged on Wang Dong's forehead as he said angrily, "Who are you calling a resentful wife? Let me stress this again: I'm a man! A man!"

Huo Yuhao only found Wang Dong's reaction amusing. "All right, all right, I won't tease you anymore. Why are you getting so worked up?"

"If you don't want to work hard, it doesn't make any difference to me. Whether you can enter the Inner Court depends entirely on you. From what I can see, with that attitude, you won't even have a chance to graduate from the Outer Court."

"Also, according to reliable information, several Soul Elder-level freshmen have entered Shrek as specially recruited students this time. This year's Freshman Tournament is considered the most promising one yet. If you don't want to lose even your status as a core disciple, then work hard to improve your strength."

Wang Dong did not refute Huo Yuhao's words. With his soul power only at rank twenty-two, he had virtually no chance against Soul Elder-level opponents.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao considered the direction of his future cultivation. With his current three soul skills, he was indeed suited for the assault system, but he also had the Spirit Eye, the spiritual martial soul that had accompanied him through two lifetimes.

In his previous life, his Spirit Eye had helped him far more, especially in the field of soul tools.

However, when he thought of soul tools, Huo Yuhao thought of his homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi. For some reason, whenever he thought of soul tools, Zhou Yi came to mind.

Without Zhou Yi's guidance, he would not have come into contact with soul tools so quickly in his previous life.

Come to think of it, another reason he had started working with soul tools seemed to have been the Tang Sect.

But in this life, he would not choose to cultivate soul tools for anyone else. He possessed enough strength to change himself through the path of a soul master.

Now, he would walk the path of an ultimate soul master.

But at the mention of Zhou Yi, Huo Yuhao recalled everything related to her.

All the way up to the last time he had seen Zhou Yi.

Only then did Huo Yuhao realize that Zhou Yi had been a spy sent by the Soul Tool Department.

First, he noticed that later on, Zhou Yi would casually find excuses to expel weaker students, thereby reducing the numbers on the Martial Soul Department's side.

Then, Zhou Yi would deliberately expel freshmen until only one student remained without teammates, before putting on the guise of a good person and sending that student to the Soul Tool Department.

He clearly remembered a rule stating that Martial Soul Department students could not choose to enter the Soul Tool Department before their second or third year.

Moreover, since the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department were rivals, it was even more impossible for them to grant freshmen places in the Soul Tool Department.

Besides, there were always several extra students in every cohort. The academy could not possibly have had no way to deal with that.

Huo Yuhao also discovered that a large part of the reason Zhou Yi had become the teacher with the highest advancement rate was that she expelled those poor students.