Living With Xiao Yu, Snowy Xue Ni

Hearing Xiao Yan's invitation and catching sight of the way he was trying so hard to look nonchalant and serious, Xiao Yu somehow nodded without thinking.

Ruo Lin didn't say much at the sight. She only curled her lips into a knowing smile, then turned and led the two of them onward, her supple waist swaying as she walked.

It didn't take long for Ruo Lin to lead them to a secluded residential area deep inside the academy.

The surroundings were entirely different from elsewhere: trees stood in lush profusion, and courtyards were scattered here and there. This was the area the academy had set aside for its teachers, Elders, and students with the finest talents.

Ruo Lin led them straight to a small, detached courtyard. She took out a key and opened the gate, then ushered them inside, smiling as she introduced each feature one by one.

It was indeed a residence prepared especially for top geniuses. Not only was it astonishingly spacious, but the courtyard also had flowers and trees, a quiet cultivation room, an alchemy room, a reception hall, and every other facility one could need. Careful upkeep was evident everywhere.

After they had looked around, Xiao Yu was quietly astonished, and even Xiao Yan nodded in satisfaction.

The courtyard was enormous, with more rooms than anyone could count. It could easily fit not only Xiao Yu, but an entire class.

"How do you like it, Student Xiao Yan? Are you satisfied with the residence?" Ruo Lin asked with a smile, tilting her head.

"I'm satisfied, but..." Xiao Yan scratched his head, deliberately putting on a hesitant look as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Ruo Lin's heart tightened. Afraid that the little ancestor had some complaint about the accommodations, she hurriedly asked, "But what?"

"But, Mentor Ruo Lin, could you stop calling me 'little student' every time? I'm not little at all." Xiao Yan grinned, showing a row of white teeth. His smile was utterly innocent.

Pfft!

Xiao Yu, standing to the side, couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

Ruo Lin froze for a moment. Her eyes instinctively darted down, then a gentle smile bloomed across her warm face again. "Then... then I'll just call you Student Xiao Yan from now on."

After confirming that Xiao Yan had no other complaints about the residence, Ruo Lin handed him the key, reminded him of a few things about the academy, and took her leave.

At Xiao Yan's invitation, Xiao Yu moved in as well.

She had only just arrived and wasn't familiar with the academy yet, so naturally she felt much more at ease staying near Xiao Yan.

Although her room was a long way from Xiao Yan's, for some reason, living under the same roof still stirred an indescribable feeling of "living together" in her heart.

Whenever she thought of it, her face would involuntarily grow warm.

The residence had a kitchen, and to repay Xiao Yan for taking care of her along the way, Xiao Yu volunteered to handle the cooking.

Her cooking skills couldn't compare with Xiao Yi Xian's, but she put her heart into every dish, and Xiao Yan always ate with relish.

Meanwhile, after Ruo Lin reported Xiao Yan's information, it immediately stirred quite a commotion among the instructors and Elders of the Outer Academy.

"Good heavens, a thirteen-year-old Five-Star Dou Ling! He's a monster among monsters!"

"With talent like that, even the so-called top geniuses of Central Plains probably can't hold a candle to him!"

"Our Jia Nan Academy has really struck gold this time!"

The instructors gathered in groups of three or five to discuss him, their words full of praise and anticipation for Xiao Yan.

And it wasn't only the instructors. Tales about Xiao Yan began circulating among the students too, growing stranger and more miraculous with each telling.

On a tree-lined path in the academy, Xiao Yu was walking beside a young woman.

The young woman's looks were slightly inferior to Xiao Yu's, but the pair of heavy, snowy-white breasts before her chest were particularly eye-catching.

They swayed gently with every step, drawing sidelong glances from passing male students, whose eyes seemed glued to them.

The young woman was named Xue Ni. She had become a good friend of Xiao Yu's over the past few days. She was lively and cheerful, and Xiao Yu found her very easy to get along with.

"Yu'er, your surname is Xiao, and that Xiao Yan's surname is Xiao too. Could you be from the same family?" Xue Ni asked curiously, hearing the chatter rising and falling around them.

"He's my clan younger brother. We're both from the Jia Ma Empire," Xiao Yu replied.

She never brought up her relationship with Xiao Yan on her own, but since Xue Ni had asked, she had no intention of hiding it.

"Really?" Xue Ni exclaimed in surprise, her eyes lighting up. She grabbed Xiao Yu's arm and pressed her with another question. "Is he really as amazing as everyone says?"

The basic courses in the Outer Academy were of little use to Xiao Yan, so he spent almost all his time tucked away in the residence, refining pills and cultivating. He rarely showed himself in public.

For that reason, very few people at Jia Nan Academy had actually seen Xiao Yan with their own eyes, but the rumors about him grew more outrageous by the day.

Xue Ni had long been terribly curious about this mysterious young genius.

"He really is outstanding—a genius among geniuses," Xiao Yu praised him sincerely.

She admired Xiao Yan's talent from the bottom of her heart.

"Yu'er, when will you let me meet him?" Xue Ni clung to Xiao Yu's arm and shook it playfully, as if pleading.

She had always been lively and cheerful, with an insatiable curiosity about anything new.

"Xiao Yan is busy. Aside from mealtimes, I hardly ever see him," Xiao Yu said, a hint of resentment creeping onto her face as she mentioned it.

Although she and Xiao Yan lived under the same roof and were, in name, "living together," she could count the times they actually met on her fingers.

Aside from occasionally seeing him at mealtimes, Xiao Yan spent nearly all his time in secluded cultivation. Lately, she couldn't even find him at the dining table.

Hearing this, Xue Ni's lively eyes rolled, quickly catching the key information in Xiao Yu's words.

She leaned close to Xiao Yu and fired off a string of questions with a mischievous grin. "You even eat together? You live together? Alone, a man and a woman?"

With Xue Ni's questions coming one after another, Xiao Yu's face instantly flushed to the tips of her ears. She stammered out a defense. "Xue Ni, it's not what you think. Xiao Yan and I are just..."

Xue Ni wasn't about to let her off the hook. She put her little hand to the soft flesh at Xiao Yu's waist and started tickling her, mischievously declaring that confession would be rewarded with leniency, while resistance would be punished harshly.

The two young women laughed and played around on the path, their clear laughter carrying far.

At that moment, the young man who had become the stuff of legends throughout the academy had already left Jia Nan Academy alone and entered the perilous Black-Corner Region.

A chaotic place like the Black-Corner Region, where there were no rules to speak of, was precisely the perfect place to temper one's character and hone one's combat skills.

There was still some time before the Inner Academy selection. Rather than waste it at the academy, he might as well come here for some bloody training, tempering his strength through real bloodshed and battle.

"Teacher, what do you say? How about we go kill that bastard Han Feng right now?"