Should We Make a Bet?

The two of them strolled back to the dormitory. Seeing Huo Yuhao quietly sorting out his personal belongings, clearly having come straight to find her after returning from the Northernmost Land, Wang Dong seemed to think of something and suddenly asked, "Huo Yuhao, don't you need to tell Teacher Mu Jin that you're back?"

Huo Yuhao waved a hand without looking up. "I already told Teacher Mu Jin when I got back. Don't worry."

Watching Huo Yuhao quietly organize his things, Wang Dong suddenly felt as if she and Huo Yuhao were a young couple living together. Her heart warmed.

After Huo Yuhao finished arranging his things, he looked up at Wang Dong. "Wang Dong, the Freshman Assessment teams will be assigned tomorrow. Do you have any thoughts?"

Wang Dong looked somewhat indifferent. "It's not like we have to win the championship in the Freshman Assessment. Besides, isn't being on the same team all the same...?"

Thinking of the gap between Class Nine and Class One, Wang Dong began complaining bitterly to Huo Yuhao. "Teacher Mu Jin in your Class Nine is really great to her students. You have no idea how disgusting Zhou Yi from our Class One is."

Huo Yuhao interrupted in surprise. He knew what sort of person Zhou Yi was, and as one of her proud students, he had always had a very favorable impression of her.

He had never expected Wang Dong's opinion of Zhou Yi to be so poor.

"I've heard of Teacher Zhou Yi, but she doesn't seem as bad as you say, does she?"

"According to the rumors around the academy, Teacher Zhou Yi is strict, but her promotion rate is the highest. She's also quite conscientious toward her students. She seems all right to me."

Hearing Huo Yuhao's evaluation of Zhou Yi, Wang Dong puffed out her cheeks. "You don't know anything! That old hag Zhou Yi expelled nine students on the first day of school. In our very first class, she asked whether anyone had fought. We ignored her, and she made us go run laps."

"We thought, if you didn't fight on the first day of school, did that make you trash? Then a few students refused to run and skipped a few laps, so that old hag Zhou Yi expelled them on the spot!"

"She expelled nine students on the first day of school. Who knows what kind of backing that old hag has in the academy, acting so recklessly."

"And what she teaches is stuff every other Shrek Academy teacher teaches. There's nothing new about it. Her attitude toward the students is terrible too. She loses her temper all the time and calls everyone trash."

Growing angrier the more she spoke, Wang Dong took a sip of water and continued, "If I hadn't felt sorry for that little girl Xiao Xiao, and if I didn't dislike Ning Tian so much, I would've transferred to Class Nine long ago to stay with you."

The more Huo Yuhao listened, the more confused he became. According to his memories, Zhou Yi was not that kind of person.

Then he realized that the difference between now and his memories was his own absence. Perhaps it had been his talent with Soul Tools that made Zhou Yi see him differently, and because he had been blinded by his own perspective, he had assumed Zhou Yi was a good teacher.

That thought made Huo Yuhao's heart tighten. It was a reminder that he absolutely could not judge people in reality using the memories in his mind. Everyone's life path differed from their past lives, and they could not possibly be exactly the same as the people in his memories. Their relationships would not be the same either. He must never look at the people before him with the attitude he held in those memories.

Seeing Wang Dong beside him open the floodgates and chatter endlessly, Huo Yuhao gently stroked her long pink-blue hair and said softly, "It's all right, Dong'er. Remember, we came to Shrek Academy to study for ourselves, not for anyone else."

"Even if you really can't stand Zhou Yi, you still need to perform well in her class. Otherwise, no matter how talented you are, you won't be able to avoid her making things difficult for you."

Only then did Wang Dong remember something. She suddenly fixed Huo Yuhao with an intense stare. "I'm probably on Class One's seeded team, with Xiao Xiao and another Soul Grandmaster. What about you? Who are you teamed with?"

Her gaze made her look like a little wife catching her husband in an affair. Huo Yuhao inexplicably panicked, then immediately came to his senses. There was nothing improper between him and Ning Tian now, so what was there to panic about?

"I should be on Class Nine's seeded team too. Teacher Mu Jin finally has two Soul Elders in her class after all these years. She probably wants to make a run at the Freshman Assessment championship."

"My teammates should be Wu Feng and Ning Tian."

Watching Huo Yuhao righteously say that his team would consist of Wu Feng and Ning Tian, Wang Dong could not help feeling a pang of bitterness. If she had known, she would have transferred to Class Nine. Even if Ning Tian was a Soul Elder, she might have had a chance to replace Wu Feng and team up with Huo Yuhao.

Unfortunately, the teams would be assigned tomorrow. It was too late for everything.

Seeing Wang Dong lower her little head, how could Huo Yuhao not know what she was thinking? But he understood that he could not comfort Wang Dong. He had to stir up her desire to win.

"What, are you asking about our lineup because you're afraid you'll lose too badly if you run into us in the competition? Don't worry. I'll go easy on you and won't make you look too bad."

Sure enough, Huo Yuhao's words instantly ignited Wang Dong's competitive spirit. "You think I'll lose badly to you? You're saying you'll go easy on me? I'm telling you, during the Freshman Assessment, I'm going to stomp you beneath my feet!"

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile spreading through his eyes. He deliberately shifted half a step away, opening some distance between them, and put on a look of eager anticipation. "Oh? Stomp me beneath your feet? Wang Dong, that's quite a boast."

He lightly tapped his temple with a fingertip. His Spirit Eye Martial Soul flickered faintly as pale golden light circled his eyes. "Don't forget, my Spiritual Detection isn't so easy to deal with. The moment your Light Goddess Butterfly spreads her wings, I'll probably see right through the path of your soul skills."

"You!" Wang Dong's sore spot had been struck. Her pink-blue eyes widened further, and the knuckles of her clenched fists turned white. "Who says you'll see through them? I learned a new move. When the time comes, I'll definitely catch you off guard!"

As she spoke, Soul Power rippled faintly around her, and the tips of her hair glowed with a soft blue light, as though she would spread her butterfly wings in challenge at any moment. Sunlight fell over her tense profile, illuminating her stubborn refusal to admit defeat. She looked like a sunflower stubbornly standing against the wind.

Seeing her puffed-up appearance, the part of Huo Yuhao that had deliberately wanted to tease her softened somewhat, but his words remained merciless. "Oh? You learned a new move? Don't let it turn out to be all flash and no substance."

He paused and softened his voice. "But let me say this first: if you lose, don't go crying again."

"Who's going to cry?" Wang Dong suddenly turned around, though her eyes felt a little hot. "I won't lose!"

Sunlight streamed through the railings of the training ground, casting overlapping shadows at their feet. Wang Dong looked at the unmistakable amusement yet absolute seriousness in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and suddenly felt much less bitter about not being able to team up with him.

That was right. So what if they could not be on the same team? Being able to face him openly in battle and show him how much she had improved seemed... pretty good too.

With that thought, Wang Dong took the initiative. "Then let's make a bet! Whoever loses has to agree to one thing the other person asks, unconditionally!"

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow. A teasing gleam flashed through his blue eyes as he deliberately drew out his words. "Unconditionally? Wang Dong, those were your words."

He stepped half a pace closer. The faint glow of his Spirit Eye Martial Soul swayed in his eyes like a cunning little star hidden within. "If I ask you to... hmm, wear women's clothes in the dormitory all the time, would you agree?"

"In your dreams!" Wang Dong abruptly stepped back half a pace, her pink-blue eyes widening round as her cheeks flushed bright red. "I meant reasonable things! Nothing too excessive!"

"Oh? What counts as reasonable?" Huo Yuhao chuckled softly and reached out to pat her shoulder, his touch deliberately casual. "It's not like I'd make you fight a Titled Douluo."

"Huo Yuhao!" Wang Dong was both angry and amused by his teasing. She raised a hand to smack him, but he nimbly dodged.

"Are you really that sure you can win?"

Huo Yuhao stopped, then pounced on Wang Dong in reverse, directly pinning the unprepared girl onto the bed.

Wang Dong tried to struggle, but Huo Yuhao caught her wrist behind her back. Seeing his face so close and feeling the warmth from his body, Wang Dong instinctively closed her eyes.

The dormitory was so quiet that they could hear each other breathing.

Huo Yuhao's palm pressed against Wang Dong's wrist, its warmth seeping through the fabric along with the crisp aura unique to his circulating Soul Power. Wang Dong's wrist was slender, held in his single hand like a little beast trapped in a ring. Her struggles grew weaker and weaker until only her fingers curled unconsciously.

His breath brushed the loose strands before Wang Dong's forehead, carrying the warmth of sunlight. With her eyes closed, her long lashes trembled like butterfly wings in the wind, and even the tip of her nose had turned faintly red. She could feel that Huo Yuhao's chest was very close to hers. Though two layers of clothing separated them, it seemed as if she could feel his steady heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump. It threw her own heartbeat into disorder.

"Why are you closing your eyes?" Huo Yuhao's voice lowered, carrying deliberately suppressed amusement. His breath brushed Wang Dong's ear, making every hair on the back of her neck stand on end. "Did you think I was going to do something?"

Wang Dong abruptly opened her eyes. Her pink-blue pupils brimmed with embarrassment and anger, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Huo Yuhao, let me go! Or I won't be polite!"

As she spoke, Soul Power gathered faintly in her palm, but she did not truly release it. At such close range, if she really attacked, his chin would probably be the first thing she hit.

Seeing the moisture in her eyes, Huo Yuhao finally stopped teasing her. His grip on her wrist loosened but did not completely release her. He merely bent down, his nose nearly touching hers. "I never said I'd definitely win, but I know you definitely don't want to lose."

In the dim dormitory, Huo Yuhao's blue eyes seemed astonishingly bright as they reflected Wang Dong's flustered face. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have made this bet with me, right?"

Wang Dong's breath caught. The embarrassment of having her thoughts exposed surged over her like a tide. She turned her face away to avoid his gaze, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Who... who wants to lose? I just think it's fun."

"Oh? Fun?" Huo Yuhao chuckled, suddenly released her wrist, and rolled over to lie beside her. Propping his head up with one hand, he looked at her. "Then if I lose, what do you want me to do?"

Wang Dong froze for a moment as she stared at his face so close to hers. His white hair was scattered across the mattress like a handful of fallen snow. She instinctively shifted to the side until her back pressed against the wall, only then realizing belatedly that her face was burning. How had he ended up pinning her here just now?

"I haven't thought of it yet." She gathered her rumpled collar, her voice stiff. "Why do you want me to wear women's clothes in the dormitory?"

Huo Yuhao laughed softly beside her ear. "Of course it's because my Dong'er is so beautiful that I want to see her every day. And in the dormitory, it's because I'm afraid my Dong'er is too charming and will attract other people, so I want to hide you away."

Wang Dong's ears turned even redder. Her fingers tightened sharply around her collar, creasing the fabric deeply until even her fingertips turned pale. She suddenly turned onto her side, giving Huo Yuhao her back. Her long hair fell down to cover half her face, leaving only her scarlet ears exposed, as though someone had splashed them with hot rouge.

"Y-you're talking nonsense!" Her muffled voice emerged from between her hair, shaking with indignant anger. "Who... who needs you to hide me? Narcissist!"

Her words were tough, but her shoulders trembled faintly. Even she did not notice that the hand clutching her collar had quietly loosened. The dormitory was silent. Outside, the evening wind rustled through the leaves, while Huo Yuhao's low, smiling breaths sounded before her, brushing against her heart like feathers.

After fooling around with Wang Dong for a while, Huo Yuhao began considering what path he should take from here on.

The benefits Snow Empress brought Huo Yuhao were incomparable. Not only did Snow Empress's immense origin energy nourish his body every moment, but the ice element of that Ultimate Ice attribute also gave Huo Yuhao complete control over the Ice Martial Soul within him.

Huo Yuhao sat in a chair by the dormitory window, his fingertips lightly brushing through the moonlight on the sill. The cool sensation cleared his muddled thoughts somewhat.

The ice element within his body still circulated slowly with his breathing, like an undercurrent beneath the Far North's eternally frozen layers, steady and immense. The power of Snow Empress's origin was more overbearing than he had imagined, yet also gentler. It was the pride of Ultimate Ice, but under Tian Meng's harmonization, it obediently merged into his meridians. Every circulation tempered his bones and Soul Power, as though it intended to completely transform his body into a vessel capable of containing ultimate power.

He raised a hand and condensed a small cluster of ice crystals in his palm. Their hexagonal facets reflected scattered light beneath the moon, yet they did not feel painfully cold to the touch. Instead, they carried a gentle chill. Was this what complete control felt like? It was no longer the awkwardness he had felt when first learning Ice Empress's Scorpion Pincers. It was as natural as raising a hand or blinking, and even the Soul Power fluctuations when he released his soul rings had become increasingly restrained.

"Phew..." He exhaled a breath of white mist. It condensed into an ice flower in his palm before silently dispersing.

The artificial soul ring Tian Meng had condensed still rested quietly among his soul rings. It had no dazzling display of soul skills, yet it wrapped around his soul like a gentle halo. Earlier at the training ground, even a junior student who was usually somewhat distant toward him had taken the initiative to hand him a bottle of water. That invisible affinity was even subtler than the Spirit Eye's spiritual soothing. Huo Yuhao lightly tapped his temple, and a pale golden glow flashed from his Spirit Eye. He could clearly sense that this affinity could even faintly influence the emotions of low-level soul beasts.

"It's quite a good support ability," he murmured, a faint smile rising at the corner of his lips.

However, the greater his strength, the heavier the burden on his shoulders. Shrek Academy's Freshman Assessment might look like child's play, and Ning Tian's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda offered both support and offense, while Wu Feng's aggressive attacks were utterly fearless. But what he wanted had never been the championship, nor had it ever been the status of a Core Disciple.

He did not want to fall out completely with the academy yet, but his hatred for the White Tiger Duke's Mansion made him wish he could kill Dai Huabin immediately.

This had nothing to do with whether the Huo Yuhao of the future would forgive him. Though the current Huo Yuhao possessed memories of the future, he was still that youth filled with hatred for the White Tiger Duke.

He had to find a way to kill Dai Huabin beneath the academy's watchful eyes without being discovered by the academy.

Therefore, Huo Yuhao needed to quickly fuse Snow Empress's origin power with his Martial Soul and condense a third soul skill before the assessment—a fusion skill of ice and spiritual power. The power of Soul Freezing might not directly kill Dai Huabin, but it would certainly inflict enormous damage on his soul. At the very least, it would turn him into an idiot.