Ma Xiaotao

In the inner courtyard, inside an elegantly furnished office.

A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties spoke to the subordinate before him.

"What? You're saying a freshman this year has Twin Martial Souls, and one of them is Ultimate Ice?"

The man was Yan Shaozhe, dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department.

"Yes, Dean Yan! Admissions sent us a copy of his registration form. We checked it carefully. It really does say Ultimate Ice."

As he spoke, Du Weilun, the Martial Soul Department's director of instruction, handed Huo Yuhao's registration form to Yan Shaozhe.

Yan Shaozhe took the form and swept his eyes down it, ten lines at a glance. At last, his gaze stopped on Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul.

"Four-Not-Like. An Ultimate Martial Soul! Excellent!"

Surprise and delight flashed in his eyes. After searching for Ultimate Ice for so many years, he could hardly believe it had come knocking on his door.

"Old Du, you can go."

Yan Shaozhe waved Du Weilun away, then left his office.

He went to the Golden Ancient Tree at the heart of the inner courtyard and opened a room inside it.

The moment the door opened, wisps of frigid air spilled out.

Inside, the cold was even more pronounced.

Ice Attribute objects filled the room. Several large cooling Soul Tools hung around its walls. He had swallowed his pride to get them from that damned fat man in the Soul Tool Department, who had squeezed a great many resources out of him in return.

At the center of the room sat a curvaceous young woman in red, her red hair falling to her shoulders. She was Ma Xiaotao, Yan Shaozhe's only personal disciple.

Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged on a huge bed of ice, cultivating. As she did, wisps of black vapor rose faintly from her body.

"Xiaotao!"

At the sight, Yan Shaozhe's face grew stern, and a trace of anger entered his voice.

There she went again. His disciple never gave him a moment's peace. She knew perfectly well that Evil Fire lurked inside her, yet she insisted on cultivating. If she kept this up, something terrible might happen.

Yan Shaozhe's voice startled Ma Xiaotao out of her cultivation. She opened her eyes to find him standing before her with a dark expression.

"Hehe. Teacher, what brings you here?"

"What brings me here? Have you forgotten everything I told you?"

"Ow!"

As Yan Shaozhe spoke, he reached out and pinched his disciple's ear.

"Teacher, I was wrong! Stop pulling! My ear's going to come off!"

Seeing that her teacher truly was angry, Ma Xiaotao hurriedly begged for mercy.

He had raised her himself, and he had no children of his own. He had long since come to think of her as his daughter and could not bear to be too harsh. When she began pleading, his heart softened, and he let go.

"Hehe. I knew you treated me best, Teacher."

"All right, Xiaotao. No cultivating for a while. Look at this."

Puzzled, Ma Xiaotao took the registration form Yan Shaozhe handed her.

"A freshman's registration form? What good is this? Though this little guy is pretty handsome."

"Four-Not-Like? What kind of Martial Soul is that? I've never heard of it. Wait..."

Ma Xiaotao skimmed the information until she reached the Martial Soul entry.

"Ultimate Ice!" Her hands trembled. She looked up at Yan Shaozhe, hope shining in her eyes.

"Teacher, is what it says here true?"

"Yes."

With Yan Shaozhe's confirmation, Ma Xiaotao could barely contain her excitement.

At the news that her Evil Fire might be cured, she did not even stop to put on shoes.

Her small, delicate feet bare, she rushed toward the outer courtyard.

Yan Shaozhe pressed one hand to his forehead and caught Ma Xiaotao by the back of the neck with the other. He lifted her like a kitten.

"Xiaotao, the school year's only just begun. What if you charge over there and frighten him?"

"How about this? In a few days, I'll call him to my office so you can meet. We'll talk about it then."

Dangling in his grip, Ma Xiaotao gave a disgruntled "Oh."

Then she sat back down on her ice bed.

Yan Shaozhe stood by the window, registration form in hand, lost in thought.

The first day of classes soon arrived.

In the days since Wang Dong had left, the academy had not assigned anyone else to room 108 with Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao was perfectly happy about that. Why wouldn't he enjoy having a dorm room to himself?

Now he lay on his bed, studying the class assignment sheet in his hands.

"Freshman Class One. Zhou Yi, huh?"

After getting ready, Huo Yuhao left the dormitory and headed for the teaching building.

It was not far away. In less than twenty minutes, he reached Freshman Class One's classroom.

A wave of chatter greeted him as he entered. Though there was still plenty of time before class, excited students had already filled most of the seats.

Huo Yuhao looked around. The classroom was spacious; by his rough estimate, it could hold more than a hundred students at a squeeze.

He took a seat near the window in the back row.

Before long, a familiar pink-and-blue-haired figure appeared in the doorway.

It was Wang Dong, who had lost a bet to Huo Yuhao earlier.

She had traded her boys' clothes for Shrek Academy's white girls' uniform. Evidently, she had resumed living openly as a girl.

Beside her stood a petite girl with green twin ponytails.

Wang Dong swept her haughty gaze around the classroom. At last, her eyes settled on Huo Yuhao in the back row.

She pulled the girl beside her toward him.

As soon as the two sat down, the petite girl got a clear look at Huo Yuhao. Her large eyes lit up.

"Hi! I'm Xiao Xiao. This is my roommate, Wang Dong'er. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

After returning Xiao Xiao's warm greeting, Huo Yuhao turned to Wang Dong... no, he should call her Wang Dong'er now.

"Wang Dong'er. We meet again."

"Yes, we do, Huo Yuhao," Wang Dong'er replied through gritted teeth.

Huo Yuhao had put her through hell in their sparring match a few days earlier. Now practically every freshman had heard about it.

Rumor had it that a pink-and-blue-haired boy had fought an ice man outside the dormitory early one morning to see who was more of a man.

She still remembered arriving at her new dorm room that day, dressed as a girl again.

And Xiao Xiao's reaction when she first saw her.

"Wow, Dong'er, you're gorgeous! I'm so jealous of your figure and your looks."

Xiao Xiao had gazed enviously at Wang Dong'er's figure, then looked down at her own short, flat frame. Tears of frustration had fallen from her eyes.

But when she noticed Wang Dong'er's pink-and-blue hair, the envy in her eyes gave way to curiosity.

"Hey, Dong'er, did you dye your hair? If you did, you'd better pick another color."

"What's wrong with this color?"

Xiao Xiao pulled Wang Dong'er over to her bed and whispered,

"I heard from an older student nearby that a boy with hair just like yours was outside the dormitory yesterday morning, competing with an ice man to see who was tougher."

"Now the whole dorm building is saying one of the freshmen is an idiot."

The more Wang Dong'er heard, the harder she ground her teeth. By the end, her whole face had twisted.

Noticing her expression, Xiao Xiao asked cautiously,

"Dong'er, what's wrong? Do you know that boy?"

Of course she could not admit it. Through gritted teeth, she made up a lie.

"He's my younger brother. I sent him home yesterday for disgracing the family."