Xiaotao, You Didn't Apologize to Jiang Chen? (Please Recommend and Keep Reading)

Faced with her teacher's question, Ma Xiaotao silently lowered her head and said nothing.

She had not apologized to Jiang Chen. Too ashamed to speak, she knew she had let her teacher down.

After joining the Soul Hunting Operation, Ma Xiaotao had seen many things clearly. Jiang Chen seemed unlikely ever to forgive her, and he had quietly gotten together with Ling Luochеn.

She could not stand that. Nor would she ever share a husband with another woman.

On the way back, Ma Xiaotao had thought long and hard and reached a conclusion.

Jiang Chen was petty. He had none of a man's magnanimity, nursing a grudge over such a small matter.

Facts aside, hadn't Jiang Chen done anything wrong?

Yan Shaozhe abruptly turned, narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Xiaotao, you didn't apologize to Jiang Chen?"

"I gave him a way to back down. Jiang Chen wouldn't take it," Ma Xiaotao argued.

When she had asked Jiang Chen for a padded coat in the Far North, she had already given him a way to back down. Yet he had handed the coat to Ling Luochеn right in front of her. No woman could have stood that.

Yan Shaozhe's face twisted with anger. "Foolish!"

"Xiaotao, you're being foolish. Where did your old courage go? For your own future, can't you swallow your pride and apologize? Even if Jiang Chen doesn't forgive you, you'll have shown him where you stand."

"For your sake, I personally swallowed my pride and went to Jiang Chen. Why can't you do the same?"

"Do you know how much effort I've poured into you? I had such high hopes for you. Is this how you repay me?"

"I could understand why you couldn't swallow your pride before. But now Jiang Chen has firmly established himself as a genius. He possesses both Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Ice, has the top-tier Ice Phoenix Martial Soul, and has received the Ice Empress's Sacrifice. His talent alone puts him far beyond everyone in the Inner Court. Why can't you swallow your pride even now? Answer me!"

After that scolding, Ma Xiaotao felt a flood of grievances rise inside her. Her eyes reddened at once. Wiping away her tears, she said, "I can't stand seeing Jiang Chen and Ling Luochеn making eyes at each other. I don't want to be the other woman. I want to marry the most dazzling genius of this era, not Jiang Chen, who has only the name of a genius."

"Without an Ultimate Attribute to suppress it, can't I become a Titled Douluo?"

"Jiang Chen is outstanding, but he doesn't like me anymore. I won't throw myself at someone who wants nothing to do with me. I have my dignity. I'm the most dazzling female genius of this generation. Why should I bend over backward for him?"

"Teacher, you were the one who urged me to break up with him, and now you're the one scolding me. I've swallowed every grievance. Can't you let me decide for myself? I want to be an independent Soul Master. What's wrong with that?"

"You've always put the academy's burdens on my shoulders without ever considering how I feel."

Ma Xiaotao spoke with ringing conviction, making her position clear.

No matter how outstanding Jiang Chen became, they would never be together.

Yan Shaozhe was nearly driven mad by his own disciple.

So shortsighted. So shortsighted!

She wanted to marry the strongest genius, not Jiang Chen, who supposedly had only the name of one. How could Xiaotao say such a thing?

Judging by Jiang Chen's character and conduct, barring an accident, he would become someone like Mu En in the future. He might even surpass him.

If Xiaotao stayed by his side now, she would enjoy a good life later.

Alas... A child who couldn't be taught.

Yan Shaozhe was deeply disappointed in Ma Xiaotao.

Xiaotao had even mocked the upright, honorable Dean of the Martial Soul Department with barbed sarcasm.

Only after teacher and disciple had stood in the sea breeze for several hours did Yan Shaozhe let go of everything weighing on him. He said quietly, "Xiaotao, you made today's choice yourself. Don't hate me for it later."

"If this era produces a genius more dazzling than Jiang Chen, perhaps we'll witness that sight again."

"Heaven and earth changing color as someone becomes a god in an instant."

With that, Yan Shaozhe transformed into a dazzling Bright Phoenix and vanished from the lakeshore.

Ma Xiaotao was left standing there alone, dazed, wiping the tears from her eyes again and again.

Her eyes were red from crying, and she could not hold back her emotions.

Just then, a graceful figure approached from behind. It was their senior sister, Zhang Lexuan.

Zhang Lexuan had heard their conversation, and her heart ached too.

Xiaotao was suffering as well.

The dean truly had not considered Xiaotao's feelings when he demanded this of her.

Ma Xiaotao threw her arms around Zhang Lexuan and burst into tears. Between sobs, she said, "Senior Sister, I just want to live my own life. What's wrong with that? What right does my teacher have to blame me? If he hadn't urged me to break up with Jiang Chen, none of this would have happened."

"Senior Sister, I... I feel so wronged."

She broke down crying again.

Zhang Lexuan silently patted Ma Xiaotao's back, comforting her junior sister.

She had been that age herself. She understood Xiaotao all too well.

Her own situation was much the same as Xiaotao's.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya were affectionate with each other every day. It hurt Zhang Lexuan more than she could say.

Alas... They were two souls cast adrift at the ends of the earth.

Zhang Lexuan held Ma Xiaotao tighter and comforted her. "Xiaotao, you did nothing wrong! I'm on your side. The dean was too harsh."

Tears spilled from Ma Xiaotao's eyes. Clinging to Zhang Lexuan, she said, "Senior Sister..."

Several more days passed in the blink of an eye. Classes at Shrek Academy continued steadily, and the Freshman Assessment in the Outer Court was less than a week away.

Because of Jiang Chen's unusual circumstances, Mu En had opened the Inner Court's training ground to him alone, hoping to nurture this genius as quickly as possible.

That day, inside the Inner Court's Mimicry Training Ground...

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged in a Mimicry Cultivation Environment modeled on the Far North and cultivated to his heart's content.

After some time consolidating his progress, his Soul Power had settled at level thirty-four and a half. Before long, he would reach level thirty-five. The Ice Empress had also fully awakened and could possess him if a threat arose.

At the same time, Jiang Chen had discovered a problem.

With two Ultimate Attributes and the Ice Empress, his cultivation speed had slowed to a crawl, like a snail.

It was not simply that he cultivated more slowly. His body could now hold more Soul Power.

If his body had once been a bucket, it was now a great river, requiring boundless energy from heaven and earth to deepen its foundations and prepare for the future.

Jiang Chen had no objections to that.

Since things were this way, he would work toward his ultimate goal.

The Freshman Assessment was approaching. It was time to defeat Huo Yuhao, the legendary child of destiny, and forge his own path.

Just then, Ling Luochеn, who was cultivating in the same Mimicry Cultivation Environment, spoke gently. "The Freshman Assessment is almost here. Are you confident you can win? I hear this year's freshmen include many formidable students. Some even inherited the Evil-Eyed White Tiger and Hell Spirit Cat Martial Souls of the original Shrek Seven Devils."

"I've also heard there's a genius with Twin Martial Souls."

"But I'll support you unconditionally, no matter what!!"

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There's another chapter coming in twenty minutes. I'm checking it for typos.