Huo Yuhao Was No Good Man

Class Nine was in chaos. Almost everyone was speculating about when the freshmen assessment would take place and how Teacher Mu Jin would arrange the groups. Wu Feng held Ning Tian's hand as she complained.

"Young Mistress, I know you think highly of Huo Yuhao, but he really isn't a decent man!"

"You saw what happened at that little shop yesterday. He was pulling and tugging with Wang Dong, another man. It was simply... simply..."

"And yesterday, he even brought a girl back to his dormitory. I heard she never came out all night. It was unbearable to watch."

Focused on condemning Huo Yuhao, Wu Feng completely failed to notice Ning Tian's increasingly pale face and the hands clutching tightly at her skirt.

"Enough."

Ning Tian's voice was soft, yet it pierced through Wu Feng's chatter like an ice pick. She finally raised her head, her face as white as though she had just been pulled from an ice cellar. A mist clouded her once-bright eyes. Her lashes trembled as she looked at Wu Feng. "The groups haven't even been decided yet. What's the point of saying this?"

Wu Feng was taken aback by her sudden coldness and scratched her head. "Young Mistress, aren't I just worried about you? You always said Huo Yuhao had potential and was living up to it, but the way he conducts himself..."

"Potential and character are two different things." Ning Tian interrupted her, her fingers tightening around her skirt until deep wrinkles formed in the silk. "The academy assessment looks at strength, not whether someone has good character before letting them advance."

Even so, the scene from yesterday afternoon flashed through her mind uncontrollably—Huo Yuhao had helped her out when Wang Dong was needling her, but he had never said a single bad word about Wang Dong.

And bringing a girl back to his dormitory... Ning Tian's throat tightened as the soul power of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda stirred faintly within her. She knew Huo Yuhao's dormitory was around the corner on the first floor. She had secretly gone out to look last night and had indeed seen that window lit until the latter half of the night. Which girl was it? Was she really Wang Dong's sister, as Huo Yuhao claimed? But Wang Dong was clearly still...

"Young Mistress?" Seeing her drift off, Wu Feng waved a hand before her eyes. "You look terrible. Why don't you go back to the dorm and rest first?"

Ning Tian suddenly came back to herself. She pushed away Wu Feng's hand and stood. "No need." She smoothed her skirt, trying to flatten those wrinkles, but no matter what she did, they would not smooth out. "When is Teacher Mu Jin coming? Have we received any news?"

Wu Feng had just stood and was about to leave the classroom to find Teacher Mu Jin when a voice came from behind her. "Little Wu Feng, do you know that talking about people behind their backs can get you beaten up?"

The sudden voice made Wu Feng collapse back into her chair. Once she saw Huo Yuhao's face clearly, she shouted furiously, "Huo Yuhao!"

"I'll fight you!"

Ning Tian grabbed Wu Feng almost instantly. "Sister Feng, quiet!"

Huo Yuhao leaned against the doorframe, a faintly amused curve on his lips. His gaze swept over Wu Feng, slumped in her chair, before finally settling on Ning Tian. He spun a small trinket formed from an ice crystal around his fingertips. The crystal whirled in his palm, and the refracted light happened to flash across Wu Feng's face.

"Fight me?" He raised a brow. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly drowned out the classroom's noise. "Wu Feng, this is a Shrek Academy classroom, not your family's training ground. If you really want to fight, you'll have to ask whether Teacher Mu Jin's cane agrees first."

Wu Feng's face turned bright red from his retort. She struggled to shake off Ning Tian's hand. "Young Mistress, don't stop me! This brat definitely did no good yesterday! He brought a girl back to his dormitory for an entire night. If word gets out, we'll be the ones losing face!"

"Oh?" Huo Yuhao took two steps forward, his footsteps making faint sounds against the bluestone floor. "Who I bring back to my dormitory seems to have nothing to do with you, Wu Feng. But when you were spreading rumors about someone behind their back, did you forget that you are also part of Class Nine?" He paused, his gaze suddenly sharpening. "Or do you think being assigned to the same group as me is beneath you?"

The words were like a needle, striking directly at Wu Feng's sore spot. She opened her mouth, but found herself speechless for a moment. She had been quite happy when she heard Huo Yuhao had returned from the Northernmost Land yesterday. But Huo Yuhao had first indulged Wang Dong's rude attitude toward her young mistress, and then these rumors had surfaced. Wu Feng really did feel that being on the same team as Huo Yuhao was humiliating.

Ning Tian tightened her grip on Wu Feng's hand, her fingertips turning white from the force. She looked up at Huo Yuhao, her eyes calm and still, yet carrying unquestionable authority. "Huo Yuhao, Wu Feng misspoke. I apologize to you on her behalf. But the assessment is imminent. We are teammates now, and we should not argue over irrelevant matters."

Looking into Huo Yuhao's blue eyes, Ning Tian was somewhat dazed. Although Huo Yuhao had received some support from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, he had immediately demonstrated his own worth.

She had also seen Huo Yuhao help others more than once. At the time, she had thought that this young man at least possessed a pure heart.

"Irrelevant matters?" Huo Yuhao smiled, and the ice crystal in his palm shattered with a crack into fine snow. "Ning Tian, if teammates do not even have basic trust between them, what is there to discuss about the assessment?" His gaze swept over the students peeking from the back of the classroom, and his voice suddenly rose. "The one I brought back yesterday was indeed Wang Dong's sister. She came to deliver some Soul Tool parts to Wang Dong, and the two of them checked them over in the dormitory until late at night. If you don't believe me, you can ask Wang Dong."

At the mention of Wang Dong, Wu Feng's arrogance diminished by half. Although she disliked Huo Yuhao, she knew Wang Dong's temperament—she might be sharp-tongued, but she never lied.

Ning Tian's lashes trembled, and the inexplicable tension in her heart suddenly eased somewhat. Yet a new doubt arose: she had never heard that Wang Dong had a sister. But when Huo Yuhao said this, the spiritual fluctuations in his Spirit Eye were extremely steady. He did not seem to be lying.

"Not having heard of it doesn't mean she doesn't exist." Another thin sheet of ice formed at Huo Yuhao's fingertips, its surface reflecting the shadows of clouds drifting past the window. "Wang Dong is stubborn and doesn't like talking about family matters. But Ning Tian," his tone shifted as the ice shard gently turned between his fingers, meeting Ning Tian's gaze directly, "rather than dwelling on this, you should think about how we will work together in this afternoon's assessment."

Ning Tian met his gaze. The icy blue in his eyes was deeper than usual, like unfrozen permafrost on the Far North Icefield, concealing depths she could not understand. She took a deep breath and released her whitened fingers, slowly smoothing the wrinkles in her skirt. "My Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda will prioritize supporting the assault fighters. Wu Feng's Flame Dragon Martial Soul excels at frontal breakthroughs, while your Spirit Eye is responsible for scouting and control. That is the safest arrangement."

"Safe? No. I will reveal my second assault-type martial soul. We should end battles as quickly as possible, and we won't hesitate to seriously injure our opponents."

"Once we show them how strong we are, the weaker teams afterward won't require us to waste any more energy. We can focus exclusively on studying teams with Soul Elders, or those with powerful martial souls and a chance at winning the championship."

Wu Feng abruptly raised her head. "Seriously injure them? That will affect their later assessments!" Although Shrek Academy's assessments were all combat-based, they rarely resorted to such ruthless measures.

Huo Yuhao smiled. "Ruthless? If they get hurt, shouldn't they blame the referee?"

"Besides, we're not trying to kill them. The academy won't interfere."