The Snow Princess, Ling Luochеn

"Hey, you're juniors from Shrek's Outer Academy?" the white-haired, blue-eyed girl said.

"What a coincidence! I'm a senior from the Inner Court! My name is Ling Luochеn."

Thanks to Huo Yuhao's exceptional cooking, they quickly became acquainted, enjoying wild game beside a stream in the woods and savoring the charm of nature.

"Yes, Senior, why did you have time to come outside? Are you on a mission? I heard the Inner Court is very busy with studies," Wang Dong'er asked curiously. She found it somewhat strange. In her impression, the original Ling Luochеn did not have this kind of personality.

Ling Luochеn's pretty face reddened as she said softly, "Actually, I just kind of wanted to eat barbecue..."

"Huh? There's no barbecue in the Inner Court?" Wang Qiu'er even stopped eating. Shrek's Inner Court actually had no barbecue? Who could stand that?

"That's not it... it's just..." Ling Luochеn said while eating, "I'm the 'Snow Princess' of the Inner Court. Eating barbecue would ruin my image, so you absolutely have to keep today's matter a secret."

"Even the Inner Court has to care about this kind of thing..." Huo Yuhao was slightly surprised. In his impression, Shrek's Inner Court should have been all about fighting every day, with strength ruling above all else, perhaps with a combat power ranking thrown in. There had not been much description of the Inner Court in the original work; the only thing he remembered was Sea God's Fate.

"Of course. It's the same everywhere. Among the Shrek Seven Monsters, I'm the only one without any backing. If I didn't care about my image..." Ling Luochеn realized she had misspoken and did not continue.

Damn it, why did I say what was on my mind? The barbecue must be too delicious!

What did this brat put in it?

"I heard this batch is called the strongest group of freshmen, with several Soul Elders. Is that true?" Ling Luochеn hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes. There's one in our class, and Yu Tianhuang from Class Nine is one too." Huo Yuhao nodded. Feeling a little thirsty, he fetched some water to drink.

"Then do you know that girl from Class One who beat up her homeroom teacher?"

"Pfft! Cough, cough..." Huo Yuhao sprayed out a mouthful of water. Fortunately, Ling Luochеn was there; the sprayed water turned into icy mist and was swept aside.

What powerful control! Is this the true worth of one of the Shrek Seven Monsters?

"What's wrong? Oh~ Do you like that girl? Hehe... You can't be too fickle, you know." As she spoke, Ling Luochеn glanced at Qiu'er and Dong'er. She had expected them to blush, but instead, both were secretly laughing.

"Senior... the rumors are mistaken." Huo Yuhao wiped his mouth, the corner of his lips twitching.

"W-what is it?" Ling Luochеn felt as though she had said something wrong. "Isn't she from Class One?"

That's not right. I heard she beat up Zhou Yi...

"No, no, no, she really is a freshman from Class One," Wang Dong'er said, holding back her laughter.

"Oh... then could it be that she isn't a Soul Elder? Even if she isn't, she's still impressive. I really want to meet her." Ling Luochеn was genuinely shocked. She had beaten Zhou Yi up without even being a Soul Elder—what level of genius did that take?

"She really isn't a Soul Elder, but... hahaha!" Wang Qiu'er finally burst out laughing.

"Senior, didn't you want to meet her?"

"She's right here."

Dong'er and Qiu'er spoke one after the other, then pointed at Huo Yuhao together.

"It's him!"

"You?" Ling Luochеn was startled. "So you're a girl!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Dong'er and Qiu'er were practically rolling on the ground with laughter. The name Little Lady Huo had already spread throughout Shrek!

"Senior," Huo Yuhao said, suppressing the twitch at the corner of his mouth, "I'm a boy."

Ling Luochеn wanted to laugh, but held it in.

Sorry, I still couldn't hold it in.

Ling Luochеn let out a snort of laughter and comforted him, "It's okay. It's only because you're such a cute junior that people mistake you for a girl."

Huo Yuhao resolved that he would definitely find the brat who had been storytelling at the Spirit Battle Arena yesterday and beat him up.

What did he look like again?

"But you really helped everyone vent their anger. That perverted old hag is famously annoying." Ling Luochеn snorted. She had also been Zhou Yi's student back then and had nearly been expelled. What was more, Zhou Yi had even scared her into tears several times.

But she would not mention any of that. How could she let her juniors know that the dignified "Snow Princess" had been frightened into tears by Zhou Yi? That would be far too embarrassing!

"But how did you defeat Zhou Yi? You seem to only have one soul ring." Ling Luochеn carefully sensed the fluctuations of Soul Power around Huo Yuhao. At that intensity, he could only be at the level of one soul ring at most.

"Because my soul skill is very special. It's called Imprint, and it can imprint other people's soul skills. But I can only store one at a time. After I use it, I have to imprint another one. Back then, many classmates released their soul skills for me to copy. There were even soul skills that replenished Soul Power, so that was how I lasted so long," Huo Yuhao explained honestly.

Ling Luochеn suddenly extended her jade-like hand and flicked Huo Yuhao's forehead hard. "Don't explain your soul skill so clearly. This is a soul master's greatest secret."

Huo Yuhao winced and was about to rub it when a trace of chill soothed the pain.

"Copy one of my soul skills too. This is a ten-thousand-year soul skill." As Ling Luochеn spoke, she extended her hand. In her palm was a dark-blue ring of ice.

"That's amazing... Thank you, Senior." Huo Yuhao carefully sensed the power of the ten-thousand-year soul skill. Although he had copied a ten-thousand-year soul skill from Mu En before, he had not had time to study it closely. Today, he finally had the chance.

"But after you angered her like that, Zhou Yi will definitely make things difficult for you. Why are all these fire-attribute soul masters so awful?" Ling Luochеn was rather depressed. Zhou Yi was the wife of Fan Yu, the third most important figure in the Soul Engineering Department. Otherwise, how could she have acted so tyrannically for so long? Ling Luochеn herself had an extraordinary status in her hometown, but within the academy, that was nothing before those great aristocratic families, powerful sects, and influential clans. The status of the Shrek Seven Monsters had been fought for with their own hands.

"Probably not. A senior gave me some protection, so she probably won't be able to make things difficult for me." Huo Yuhao spoke vaguely. Mu En's secret intervention before had likely meant he also had issues with Zhou Yi, or perhaps he valued Huo Yuhao's methods. Either way, Huo Yuhao no longer had to worry about Zhou Yi's retaliation.

So he's just a little well-connected kid. I worried for nothing...

Hmph!

"Hey—Senior, you really dislike fire-attribute soul masters? Isn't there a fire-attribute soul master among the Shrek Seven Monsters? Her name was Ma Xiaotao, I think?" Wang Dong'er said pointedly. It was not that she truly wanted to speak ill of Ma Xiaotao. The original work said Ling Luochеn and Ma Xiaotao had a poor relationship because their personalities clashed, but now it seemed that personality differences were likely only superficial. There was probably another hidden reason.

Ling Luochеn's expression darkened, her face turning cold as she warned, "Don't discuss her. Remember, try to stay as far away from her as possible."

"Is it because of... the Evil Fire?"