A sudden knock interrupted their thoughts. Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao both looked toward the door. Xiao Xiao got up to open it, and the moment it opened, both of them froze.
A girl with delicate, lovely features stood outside, her long hair draped over her shoulders and her bearing gentle and graceful. It was Jiang Nannan.
Huo Yuhao was a little surprised. "Senior Jiang Nannan?"
Jiang Nannan looked rather odd. She glanced at Huo Yuhao, then at Xiao Xiao, before saying, "Someone asked me to call you down. He said he's waiting downstairs."
Huo Yuhao paused. "Who?"
The corner of Jiang Nannan's mouth twitched slightly. "Wang Dong."
Huo Yuhao blurted out almost immediately, "I'll be right down!"
She nearly failed to get her shoes on properly. Hastily pulling them on, she dashed out. Xiao Xiao called "Yuhao!" from behind her, but she did not even hear.
She jogged downstairs and, sure enough, saw Wang Dong standing beneath a streetlamp outside the dormitory building. Warm yellow light spilled over him, making his long pink-and-blue hair shimmer with flowing color.
He was idly kicking a pebble by his feet. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, and his eyes lit up at the sight of Huo Yuhao.
Their eyes met. Neither said anything, but they fell into step beside each other in tacit understanding and headed deeper into campus. Only after they had walked some distance did Huo Yuhao speak. "What did you want with me so late?"
Wang Dong stopped, turned toward her, and blurted out, "You smell so nice... bro... oh, no, Yuhao."
Huo Yuhao's face instantly turned red. Only then did she remember that she had just bathed and still carried the fresh scent of soap pod. She lowered her head and muttered, "Y-you called me down just to say that?"
Wang Dong also felt that his words had been a little abrupt. He gave a dry cough to hide his embarrassment. "No, I mean... there's a fragrance on you. It smells pretty nice."
Huo Yuhao blushed even harder, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Wang Dong hurriedly changed the subject. "Come on. I'll take you somewhere. There's something I need you for."
As he spoke, he suddenly took Huo Yuhao's hand and headed deeper into campus. With her hand held in his, Huo Yuhao's heartbeat abruptly quickened, and she went completely dazed.
He pulled her along a narrow path and into a small grove. Moonlight spilled through gaps in the leaves, casting shifting shadows. The atmosphere was so intimate that it made her heart flutter.
Huo Yuhao's mind went blank. Th-this was moving too fast, wasn't it? They'd only known each other for two days! Flustered and confused, she wanted to say something, but could not get a single word out.
Wang Dong, however, saw nothing wrong. He released Huo Yuhao's hand, sat cross-legged on a patch of grass, and patted the spot beside him. "Come on, sit down."
Huo Yuhao stood where she was, at a loss. "Wh-what exactly are you trying to do?"
Wang Dong looked utterly innocent. "Cultivate. Did you forget about our Martial Soul Fusion? Haodong Power doubles our cultivation speed. Didn't we say during the day that we'd study it properly?"
Only then did Huo Yuhao come to her senses. So he had brought her here to cultivate.
She breathed a sigh of relief, only to feel even more embarrassed. She had misunderstood. Blushing, she sat down beside Wang Dong. They pressed their palms together and began circulating their soul power.
After a while, however, Huo Yuhao blushed again. Wang Dong suddenly adjusted his position, turning sideways instead of facing her. He rested one hand on her shoulder and held her hand with the other, almost gathering her halfway into his arms.
She could feel his warmth through their clothes, and her heart pounded.
"I-is this really cultivation?" Huo Yuhao's voice carried a slight tremor.
Wang Dong did not seem embarrassed at all. He checked the speed of their circulating soul power and said with complete seriousness, "I'm testing whether this makes cultivation a little faster... doesn't seem to make much difference."
As he spoke, he let go and resumed sitting cross-legged opposite her. "Then let's stick to touching both hands."
Her face red and her head lowered, Huo Yuhao did not dare look at him. They entered their cultivation state again, their soul power mingling as Haodong Power flowed through their bodies. That warm sensation gradually calmed Huo Yuhao.
What they did not know was that, in an unassuming loft deep within campus, a white-haired old man was quietly watching the small grove through a window.
Mu En! The sea-calming pillar of Shrek Academy, a powerhouse who stood at the pinnacle of the Soul Master World.
Ever since he had noticed the aura of a supreme dragon bloodline on Wang Dong, he had been secretly keeping an eye on the boy.
Now, as he watched the two children in the grove, his brows furrowed slightly. This child was far too outrageous. How old was he, to already be coaxing a young girl into a secluded grove?
Fortunately, he did nothing out of line and simply cultivated in earnest. Only then did Mu En's expression soften a little.
Immediately afterward, however, he sensed the strange soul power fluctuations coming from the pair, and a gleam suddenly flashed through his cloudy old eyes.
Martial Soul Fusion? And with an extremely high degree of compatibility?
Mu En narrowed his eyes as he watched the grove, a meaningful smile slowly curling his lips. These two children were rather interesting.
He had originally been hesitating over whether to give them special attention ahead of time. Now, it seemed he could keep a closer eye on them.
In the grove, the two cultivated until midnight. As the moon slanted westward, Wang Dong opened his eyes first. Sensing the soul power fluctuations within him, he showed a look of delighted surprise. "My soul power... it's reached rank twenty-five!"
Huo Yuhao opened her eyes too, looking equally shocked. She felt that these few hours of cultivation had matched an entire day of arduous cultivation before. The effects of Haodong Power were actually this terrifying!
But it really was getting too late. If they did not return, the dormitory buildings would close. They stood, brushed the grass clippings off themselves, and agreed to cultivate together every evening before reluctantly parting.
Only after watching Huo Yuhao disappear through the dormitory entrance did Wang Dong turn and walk back. As he walked, he thought with some regret.
If only we shared a dorm room. Cultivating at night would be so convenient.
He returned to his room, pushed open the door, and saw Dai Huabin sitting cross-legged on his bed, meditating in cultivation. Wang Dong had been in quite a good mood, but the moment he saw Dai Huabin's face, anger welled up inside him.
It suddenly occurred to him that, if not for this fellow, Huo Yuhao might have been sharing his room.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. His eyes shifted, and he strode straight to Dai Huabin's bedside and yanked away his quilt. "Damn it, did you mess with my bed?"
Utterly bewildered by this, Dai Huabin opened his eyes and stared at him in confusion. "When did I ever mess with your bed?"
"And you tried to screw me over during the day, didn't you?" Wang Dong gave him no chance to explain. He grabbed his collar. "I think you're just begging for a beating!"
Dai Huabin's gaze flickered. "Are you fucking sick in the head? When did I ever screw you over?"
"If I say you did, you did!"
Within a few exchanges, they were arguing, and then they came to blows. Although Dai Huabin was also a favored son of heaven, Wang Dong had beaten him just yesterday, and his injuries had yet to heal fully. On top of that, Wang Dong had just broken through to rank twenty-five today, raising his strength another notch.
Within a few rounds, Wang Dong had pinned Dai Huabin to the bed and given him another beating.
Fuck! Dai Huabin lay facedown beneath his quilt, his eyes reddening as tears of humiliation swam in them. He was the Dai Family's favored son of heaven. Since childhood, he had enjoyed fine clothes and rich food, surrounded like the moon amid a host of stars. When had he ever suffered such indignity?
Yet ever since meeting Wang Dong, he had first been sent flying by a hammer blow, and now he had been pinned to his bed and beaten. He had practically become the room's punching bag.
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. At last, he could no longer hold back his tears, and they slid down his cheeks. Biting his quilt, he began to cry silently.
After beating him, Wang Dong lay back on his own bed in a pleasant mood, his hands behind his head, feeling comfortable all over. He glanced at Dai Huabin, curled beneath his quilt with his shoulders trembling slightly, and a smile curved his lips.
Consider that beating revenge for Huo Yuhao. Who told you to bully her back then?
Before you continue