Chapter 31

"Yutong, are you okay?" Ye Tianming stood beside her, at a loss for how to comfort her.

Wang Dong spoke up too.

"They have no idea how important you are. Without your Spiritual Detection, we wouldn't even have made it to the semifinals!"

Ye Tianming: "?"

Forget it. Comforting Yutong came first.

Huo Yutong raised her head and managed a faint smile.

"I'm fine, Brother Tianming. You too, Wang Dong."

"Didn't Director Du say I'd still receive the benefits of a Core Disciple? That's already more than enough."

After the meeting, Du Weilun asked Huo Yutong to stay behind.

He looked at her and spoke gently.

"Huo Yutong, don't let this weigh on you."

"You still need to improve your individual abilities. Once you have two Soul Rings, you can ask your homeroom teacher or me to help you hunt for a suitable one."

"If you perform well in the assessment for promotion to the second year, the academy will make you an official Core Disciple."

"Thank you, Director Du. I'll work hard!"

When she left the office, Ye Tianming was at the foot of the steps, gloomily drawing circles on the ground.

He'd read so many lines for comforting people from those smooth talkers in his previous life. Why couldn't he remember a single one now?

"Sigh..."

The moment he saw Huo Yutong come out, he got to his feet—only to notice her red-rimmed eyes.

He racked his brain, but still couldn't get a word out.

Instead, he reached over and ruffled her hair.

"Feeling wronged?"

Huo Yutong turned her face away, her voice muffled.

"No."

"I just feel... like I'm still not good enough."

At that, Ye Tianming crouched down to meet her eyes and spoke slowly.

"Who said that?"

"All they can see is the color of a Soul Ring. They can't see what's inside your eyes."

"Your Spirit Eyes will become the most extraordinary eyes on this continent."

"Even the Million-Year Sky Dream chose you. What does one little Core Disciple list matter?"

Huo Yutong looked at him. Tears finally spilled down her cheeks, but she couldn't help smiling too.

"Brother Tianming, I'll make everyone see!"

"Yeah. You will!"

After the Freshman Assessment, the first-year students were reassigned to classes. Class One housed Battle Spirit Masters of the Power Attack System and Control-Type Battle Spirit Masters, with Zhou Yi as their homeroom teacher.

Wang Yan had also transferred over from the upper years to teach them.

Word was that Wang Yan had volunteered to teach the first years precisely because of Yutong's Spiritual Martial Soul.

Huo Yutong, Wang Dong, Ye Tianming, and Xiao Xiao were all assigned to Class One.

That evening, Bei Bei and Tang Ya showed up with several fish to celebrate with them.

The campfire crackled as Huo Yutong carefully grilled the fish.

Beside her, Tang Ya munched on a grilled fish and asked with a smile,

"Wang Dong, would you like to join our Tang Sect?"

Wang Dong's eyes lit up. She had long heard of the famous Tang Sect Hidden Weapons.

"Of course!"

"Then, since you're a champion, this sect master grants you special permission to join the Tang Sect!"

"What about you, Xiao Xiao?"

Xiao Xiao blinked, glanced at Wang Dong, then at Huo Yutong, before smiling and nodding.

"Sure! I'll join too!"

"Done!"

Tang Ya waved a hand grandly, then turned to Huo Yutong and Ye Tianming.

"And you two? Want to join us?"

Huo Yutong glanced at Ye Tianming, then slowly shook her head.

"Sister Tang Ya, I don't want to divide my attention right now. I want to raise my Soul Power first."

"I'll come find you when I'm stronger."

Ye Tianming declined with a smile as well.

"We've agreed to follow our own paths for now."

Tang Ya wasn't upset. She nodded.

"All right. If you ever want to join, the Tang Sect's doors will always be open to you."

Late that night, Huo Yutong sat by her dormitory window, gazing at the moonlight outside. Suddenly, she asked,

"Sky Dream, when do you think I'll get my second Soul Ring?"

Deep within her Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm rolled over lazily.

"What's the rush? Once you reach level twenty, I'll take you somewhere good and find you the Second Soul Ring that suits you better than any other in the world!"

More than half a month passed before Huo Yutong's Soul Power finally broke through the level-twenty bottleneck under Sky Dream's guidance, day and night.

"Finally!"

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was so excited that he rolled around inside her Sea of Consciousness.

"Come on, come on! Let's go to the Far North. My sweetheart Bingbing is there!"

Huo Yutong blinked.

"The Far North? Isn't that a long way away?"

"So what if it is? I'll be there. Besides, didn't that Tianming kid say he had to come along whenever you hunted for a Soul Ring?"

Early the next morning, Huo Yutong went to find Ye Tianming.

He slowly lowered the book in his hands and glanced at her.

"Level twenty?"

"Mm!"

Huo Yutong nodded vigorously, her eyes shining.

"Sky Dream says my Second Soul Ring is in the Far North."

"Then let's go."

Ye Tianming stood at once and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

The two asked Zhou Yi for leave to hunt Huo Yutong's Second Soul Ring, then left Shrek City and headed north.

The Far North was a world of ice and snow, an endless expanse of white. It was so cold that even the breath they exhaled froze.

Huo Yutong was bundled in thick clothes, her teeth chattering. Ye Tianming walked ahead to shield her from the wind, then took off his cloak and wrapped it around her.

"Cold?"

"Yes... but Brother Tianming, you're so warm."

Huo Yutong huddled inside the cloak and tipped up her face, her eyes curving as she smiled.

They spent three full days crossing the snowy plain. At dusk on the third day, a roar that shook the heavens suddenly sounded from deep within the snowfield.

An enormous beast, snow-white from head to toe, came charging through the wind and snow. It was as big as a small mountain, and every step made the earth tremble.

A Titan Snow Demon—one of the Three Great Heavenly Kings of the Far North, a legendary top-tier Soul Beast.

Ye Tianming's pupils contracted. His Azure Dragon Martial Soul possessed him in an instant, and the three Soul Rings beneath his feet lit up together.

"Yutong, get back!"

The Titan Snow Demon lashed out with a casual swipe. The snowy gale it raised could nearly send a person flying.

Ye Tianming flashed aside with Azure Dragon Cloud Soar and barely dodged, but the force of the wind still drove him back several steps.

Against a colossal creature at the hundred-thousand-year level, even if he were level forty, meeting it head-on would mean certain death.

"Sky Dream!"

Huo Yutong cried out in panic.

Deep within her Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gave a cold snort.

"A mere Titan Snow Demon dares bully the person I chose?"

Then an indescribably vast pressure of Spiritual Power spread from Huo Yutong's body without warning.

It was the aura of a Million-Year Soul Beast. Even a trace of it was enough to strike fear into the Titan Snow Demon.

"Whoosh..."

Huo Yutong's legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed into the snow. Ye Tianming caught her.