External Soul Bone Skill: Thunder Hurricane

"Or had you just learned this good news and been so happy that you went stupid and failed to react?"

Guang Ling found Chu Zhao adorable whenever he saw her and wanted to tease her a little, though perhaps there was also some affection by association?

The name Chu Zhao had actually already been cleared through Spirit Hall. To them, she was not an entirely unfamiliar presence.

Qian Renxue, who was still disguised as Xue Qinghe in Heaven Dou City, had specifically included Chu Zhao's name when passing along a message some time ago. The general meaning was that Chu Zhao was her ally, that they were working together, and that she would protect her.

So the moment Chu Zhao gave her name, Guang Ling immediately recognized who she was.

"Yes, yes, everything you say is right. I was so happy I went stupid."

Chu Zhao answered vaguely. Though she had gradually calmed down, she was still unaccustomed to Guang Ling's teasing.

She even felt that Guang Ling was getting in the way of her absorbing the Soul Ring.

"There's nothing more for me to do here. Senior, would you like to go look after the juniors from your side?"

The ungrateful Chu Zhao had already begun trying to send him away, but Guang Ling did not take the hint.

"That isn't one of my juniors, not by any stretch. I only saved her life as a favor to Spirit Hall. I've already done all that duty requires; anything beyond that is none of my concern."

Guang Ling's tone carried contempt for Hu Liena and the others. He did not take such people to heart. After all, at their level of status, there were very few people or matters worthy of their attention.

"You're all from Spirit Hall? What's that beautiful fox sister's name? And what should I call you, Senior? You look so young, so why do you keep calling yourself an old man?"

When Chu Zhao mentioned Hu Liena, her eyes practically sparkled.

If Guang Ling would not leave, then she would anger him into leaving. From the disdain in his voice, he clearly disliked Hu Liena. Hearing her sincerely praise Hu Liena would surely make him angry.

"Little girl, you really have no eye for beauty. You call that pretty? Your Crown Prince... you're far prettier than she is."

Make no mistake, what Guang Ling had wanted to say was definitely that Xue Qinghe's true appearance was countless times more beautiful than Hu Liena. He had slammed on the brakes and brought up Chu Zhao instead.

Having nearly let something slip, Guang Ling feared that the more he said, the more mistakes he would make. If he accidentally exposed Xue Qinghe's secret, that would truly be troublesome.

So after giving Chu Zhao a signal flare, he immediately disappeared.

"This old man has something to do, so I'll be leaving first. This is my personal signal flare. If you encounter any difficulty or danger, just light one."

"He sure picked a good time to leave."

Chu Zhao did not even have time to thank him before he vanished.

After finding a box for the signal flare and carefully placing it inside her Storage Soul Tool, Chu Zhao began absorbing the Thunder Twin-Winged Tiger's Soul Ring.

With the hundred-thousand-year Fifth Soul Ring of the Death God Scythe, which was comparable to a God-Given Soul Ring, as a foundation, it had tempered Chu Zhao's physical condition. As a result, absorbing the Thunder Twin-Winged Tiger's Soul Ring was not particularly difficult for her.

Moreover, Chu Zhao gained an unexpected reward: an External Soul Bone.

"Aren't these that big tiger's wings? They're pitch-black and wrapped in dark blue lightning."

Looking at the two pairs of black feathered wings extending from her back, Chu Zhao was somewhat surprised.

These Thunder Twin Wings allowed her to fly freely. They consumed very little Soul Power, yet were quite fast. The Soul Bone also came with an offensive Soul Skill called Thunder Hurricane.

Including this one, she now had three Soul Bones.

One was a mental-attribute skull bone rewarded by the Death God Cultivation System not long ago, which she had already absorbed.

Another was a right arm bone, a reward from the Farming and Wellness System. The ability of this Soul Bone was rather fantastical.

Perhaps because the system's rewards were simply too plentiful and too good, Chu Zhao had become so spoiled that she did not even think much of ten-thousand-year Soul Bones, giving them all to the reserves.

If word got out, who knew how many Soul Masters would envy her.

By the time Chu Zhao returned to Cloud Peak Academy, the hush-money gift sent by someone who had acted first and reported later had long since arrived—and it was yet another gift that deeply moved Chu Zhao.

"You two are the Crown Prince's personal guards?"

Looking at the three middle-aged men kneeling on one knee before her, who would have thought they were three Soul Saints?

"We once were, but from the moment we set out for Cloud Peak Academy, we became Miss Chu's personal guards."

The one standing slightly ahead of the other two, and also the strongest among them in Soul Power, answered respectfully.

These three were personal guards whom Xue Qinghe had secretly and painstakingly cultivated over the past decade or so. The ones sent to Chu Zhao were the finest of the elite. Not only were they powerful, they were also highly capable of handling miscellaneous affairs.

"His Highness specifically instructed us before we departed that after the three of us signed the contract Miss Chu provided, we were to immediately address Miss Chu as our master."

The three of them even took the initiative to explain everything, deliberately mentioning Chu Zhao's contract.

Chu Zhao's contract had been kindly supplied by the Death God Cultivation System. It bore the mark of the Death God, and those who betrayed it would meet no good end. It could not have been better for swearing oaths.

After making the three sign the contract, Chu Zhao, having been bought off, immediately kept quiet and willingly became Xue Qinghe's shield, cooperating with him in putting on the act.

It could not be helped. These three had arrived at exactly the right time.

"With you three included, Cloud Peak Academy's teaching staff now has five Soul Saints and six Soul Emperors. We can barely count as a normal advanced academy now."

After counting on her fingers, Chu Zhao realized that they still did not have enough students.

Her academy had only a little over forty students in total. Of them, only one-quarter had reached the Soul Elder realm or above, while the rest were Soul Grand Masters.

"You arrived at just the right time. Your first task is recruitment. Let me teach you a trick: use the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou's consort as a name to recruit students."

Chu Zhao jumped up and patted the shoulders of the three newly appointed Soul Saints, immediately assigning them their task.

As the Cultivation God, she did not keep idle people under her command. Everyone had a task. Even three-year-old children had to study diligently so that they could serve her better once they grew up.

Even Gold Douluo, who had struck it lucky and risen from Soul Douluo to Titled Douluo, had the task of cultivating diligently and striving to shed the title of weakest Titled Douluo within two years.

"I think I just heard someone call me Zhou Papi. Wang Sheng, was that you, brat? Is your skin itching again? I just realized it's been a long time since I tested the strength of you lot. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you some pointers."

Chu Zhao shot Wang Sheng a glance in the meeting room, successfully changing his expression from a snicker to bewilderment, then quickly to terror.

"Boss, that wasn't me! I didn't say anything just now!"

Wang Sheng felt terribly wronged and loudly protested.

Hadn't I only complained in my head? Did I accidentally say it out loud? I can't be that unlucky, can I?

"You could tell from that expression that you were complaining about me in your head. Did you think I wouldn't know what you wanted to say?"

Wang Sheng: ...