Setting Out for the Treasure Gathering Pavilion (Please Keep Reading)

"Little one, what are you standing there stunned for? Are you still feeling unwell?"

Beside him, Cai Mei'er watched the once-composed young man's expression shift unpredictably. Her slender brows drew together, and she could not help asking.

Dongfang Hao came back to himself and quickly buried the shock in his heart. He cleared his throat and glanced around the spacious, elegant sitting room before turning a faintly teasing smile on Cai Mei'er.

"Vice Dean Cai, after we visit the Treasure Gathering Pavilion tonight, where exactly am I supposed to stay at Shrek Academy? Don't tell me... I'm spending another night on Sea God Island, sleeping in Vice Dean Cai's private chambers?"

"You... you little bastard! Nothing good ever comes out of that dog's mouth of yours!"

At Dongfang Hao's unrestrained teasing, Cai Mei'er's cheeks, still faintly flushed, blazed hot again. Mortified and annoyed, she spat at him. Her full, mature bosom rose and fell sharply, tracing a curve that set the heart racing.

Seated nearby, Ma Xiaotao's eyes brightened. Never one to pass up a spectacle, she pursed her alluring red lips and teased with a hint of regret.

"Hehe... dream on, little bastard! If you had the nerve to spend the night in here, I'd raise both hands in support. What a pity... our Vice Dean Cai says one thing and means another. She's so devoted to propriety—how could she let a little wild wolf like you ruin her reputation?"

Teased to her face, Cai Mei'er stamped her foot and glared at Ma Xiaotao. Only then did she force herself to calm down. She drew a deep breath and addressed Dongfang Hao sternly.

"Stop letting your imagination run wild! Since you keep saying you won't join Shrek, naturally you can't simply stay overnight on Sea God Island!"

"However, because you possess Ultimate Ice and need to suppress Xiaotao's Evil Fire at all times, the elders and I discussed it. We've made an exception and assigned you a detached courtyard in the western villa area by Sea God Lake, within the inner academy, to stay in for now."

"A courtyard in the villa area?" Dongfang Hao raised an eyebrow.

"Hehe, little bastard, you've struck it rich this time."

Ma Xiaotao stepped closer, her long, shapely legs swaying beneath her fitted clothes. Bringing a warm, orchid-scented breeze with her, she laughed.

"Living next door to that western courtyard is a mysterious, stunning prodigy!"

"A mysterious beauty?"

Dongfang Hao's eyes narrowed sharply. He immediately thought of the tenfold critical opportunity the system had just announced!

"Who is she?" he pressed.

Seeing a rare trace of urgency in his eyes, Ma Xiaotao and Cai Mei'er exchanged a glance. This time, an unprecedented gravity flashed through both women's eyes.

Cai Mei'er shook her head. A rare solemnity settled over her elegant face as she said in a low voice,

"Even Dean Yan and I know very little about her background."

"I can only warn you... that young woman may be beautiful enough to bring down a kingdom, but her strength and methods are terrifying beyond what even an ordinary Titled Douluo can fathom!"

"If you move there, remember to behave yourself!"

Cai Mei'er's warning did not frighten Dongfang Hao in the slightest. Instead, the corner of his mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.

Interesting... very interesting indeed...

He felt as though he had brushed against a sliver of the truth, but this was clearly not the time to uncover it.

"Since my lodging is settled, sorry to trouble you to lead the way, Dean Cai."

Dongfang Hao cupped his hands. His face returned to its usual composure as he smiled.

"Now... it's time to go to the Treasure Appraisal Fair and collect my first payment!"

Boom!

Above Sea God Island, the energy of heaven and earth surged. A streak of dark green light tore through the twilight sky and hurtled toward Shrek City.

High overhead, the wind roared like thunder, but inside the thick barrier of Titled Douluo Soul Power, all remained calm.

Dongfang Hao rested comfortably in Cai Mei'er's arms. For anyone else, treatment like this might have left them so nervous they would not know where to put their hands or feet.

Yet Dongfang Hao looked entirely at ease—practiced, even. He leaned back slightly, pressing his straight back against Cai Mei'er's warm, full figure without a hint of restraint.

Each jolt through the clouds sent a startlingly soft, springy pressure against his back, leaving Dongfang Hao privately amazed.

The woman's figure was lush and ripe to the utmost, like a fully ripened peach, exuding a charm that tempted a man to sin.

Behind him, Cai Mei'er bit hard on her lower lip. Her beautiful, mature face had long since turned a burning crimson.

She knew perfectly well that the little scoundrel was using the turbulence to take liberties with her. His hot, masculine scent seeped through her thin robe, reaching deep into her breath and skin, setting her heart in turmoil and weakening her limbs. But flying at such speed, how could she possibly push him away?

Helpless, the usually lofty vice dean of the Martial Soul Department could only tense every nerve in her body and pour all her embarrassment—and a faint stirring she had not even noticed—into the Soul Power propelling them forward.

Whoosh!

But just as Cai Mei'er carried Dongfang Hao over the edge of Sea God Island, a cool, piercing gaze shot up from deep within the forest below, slicing through the clouds like a sword.

In a stone pavilion stood a woman in pale green fitted clothes, her hands clasped behind her back.

She appeared to be around thirty, with strikingly beautiful features and a sharp, commanding air rarely seen in other women. She stood tall and straight; the long legs and full curves outlined by her clothes gave her an impression of lithe strength.

Across all of Shrek Academy, that bearing could belong to only one person: Xian Lin'er, dean of the Soul Tool Department and the Martial God Douluo!

At that moment, extreme surprise and puzzlement filled the fiery dean's eyes.

"Was that... Cai Mei'er?"

Xian Lin'er frowned as she watched the dark green streak vanish across the sky. She murmured in uncertainty.

"What is it, Lin'er?"

Behind her, a short, stout middle-aged man with a round belly approached, looking rather like a Maitreya Buddha. It was Qian Duoduo, vice dean of the Soul Tool Department.

He followed Xian Lin'er's gaze and paused in surprise. "Hey... it really is Vice Dean Cai. That woman's usually so proper she hardly ever raises her voice. What's got her flying off in such a rush today?"

Xian Lin'er said nothing. Her eyes merely narrowed.

With the eyesight of a level ninety-four Titled Douluo, she had seen everything clearly in that fleeting instant—

Cai Mei'er had been holding a tall young man in black tightly in her arms!

And their posture had been far too intimate. The young man had practically been nestled against Cai Mei'er's chest. Yet Cai Mei'er, who prided herself on her propriety, had shown no sign of anger or resistance. A rare blush had even colored her exquisite profile!

"From the looks of it... could the Martial Soul Department have recruited some peerless talent, and Mei'er taken him as her final disciple?"

Qian Duoduo stroked his round chin and ventured a casual guess.

"Final disciple?"

Xian Lin'er gave a cold laugh, her lips curling in mockery. "Qian Duoduo, if you're not going to use your eyes, you might as well donate them to those blind students in the outer academy."

"What teacher would fly through the air with a strapping young man pressed to her chest, looking so lovestruck? To me... it looks more like she's sneaking off with a lover!"

At Xian Lin'er's cutting words, Qian Duoduo could only smile bitterly and sigh to himself.

He knew all too well why every mention of Cai Mei'er brought out the barbs in Xian Lin'er. In the end, it came down to the old grievance that bastard Yan Shaozhe had caused years ago.

"Lin'er... after all these years, are you still holding a grudge against Yan Shaozhe?" Qian Duoduo asked cautiously.

"Bullshit! Who still cares about that sanctimonious, faithless bastard?!"

Struck in a sore spot, Xian Lin'er's handsome face darkened. A cold glint flared in her eyes as she snapped,

"A hypocrite like him could drop dead tomorrow for all I care! Who gives a damn about his sordid affairs!"

Despite her words, once she had vented her anger, Xian Lin'er looked again in the direction Cai Mei'er had flown. The suspicion and astonishment in her eyes only deepened.

Something isn't right...

Xian Lin'er gritted her teeth and snorted inwardly.

Cai Mei'er has waited on that frigid Yan Shaozhe for decades, and now, out of nowhere, she's got a hot-blooded little wild wolf in her arms... If there's nothing going on, I'll write my name backward!

Hmph. I'm going to find out what's really going on here!