The Tang Sect's Sect Master?

Just as Nezha and the two girls were about to arrive, a girl's cries rang out ahead, urgent and tinged with panic.

"Yuhao! Yuhao!"

"Are you all right?!"

Following the voice, the three pushed through the waist-high grass, and the view suddenly opened up. Three figures stood in a clearing among the trees.

Two boys and a girl.

The girl wore a pale blue outfit, its clean-cut lines accentuating her slender, athletic figure. Her long black hair was drawn into a ponytail down her back, its end tied with a blue ribbon, leaving her delicate face exposed. Her eyes were large and lively, but their rims were slightly red now. Clearly, she had been frantic with worry.

The slightly older boy was tall and straight-backed, with neatly cropped hair and handsome features touched by a refined air. He stood with one hand hovering over the girl's shoulder, as though ready to pull her behind him at any moment.

The last was a rather frail-looking boy. He was young, nearly a head shorter than the other two, and shabbily dressed. Dirt and bits of grass clung to his drab gray shirt. His looks were unremarkable; in a crowd, he would scarcely draw any attention.

His only striking feature was his pair of deep blue eyes, exceptionally bright, like two clear sapphires set into his slightly pale face. He blinked blankly, seemingly not yet fully recovered from his daze.

That must be Huo Yuhao. The two beside him should be Bei Bei and Tang Ya. Understanding dawned on Nezha, but his expression gave nothing away.

"Brother Bei Bei, Sister Tang Ya!"

Huo Yuhao recognized the newcomers. A delighted smile appeared on his face, and he hurriedly waved before approaching them with light steps.

He had not known Bei Bei and Tang Ya for long, but their brief earlier encounter had given this boy, who had grown up surrounded by indifference and ridicule, his first taste of being cared for. Seeing the two rush over now sent warmth welling through his heart, making even his voice lighter than usual.

At the same moment Nezha and the girls spotted Huo Yuhao's group, Bei Bei noticed them as well.

Three such attractive young people walking side by side were hard to overlook.

The boy in front stood tall, his long black hair streaming in the wind. The two buns atop his head stood out in the dappled forest light. His star-bright eyes shone like torches, and a keen aura that set hearts trembling faintly radiated from him. Beneath his feet was a pair of crimson Wind Fire Wheels, hovering three inches above the ground, streams of wind- and fire-colored light intertwining at their hubs.

A girl followed on either side of him. One had platinum-blond hair falling to her waist, azure eyes as pure as a lake, and a cool, noble bearing. The other wore her crimson ponytail high, dragon scales faintly visible on her arms, her vivid beauty laced with fierce wildness.

Walking together, the three seemed to draw even the surrounding light toward themselves.

Bei Bei's gaze sharpened, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Born into a distinguished family, he had seen plenty of prodigies since childhood, but these three young people gave him an entirely different feeling.

Especially the boy in front riding the Wind Fire Wheels-his Soul Power fluctuations had actually reached the Soul Elder level! The aura faintly emanating from him made even Bei Bei feel a trace of pressure.

Without betraying anything, Bei Bei took half a step forward, shielding Tang Ya behind him. His expression remained mild, but the hand resting at his waist tightened slightly.

Noticing Bei Bei's somewhat serious expression, Tang Ya naturally followed his wary gaze. The moment she looked, her eyes lit up.

"Wow, what a handsome little brother!"

Tang Ya's gaze landed squarely on Nezha, and she openly looked him up and down. His long black hair, sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, upright figure, and the shimmering Wind Fire Wheels beneath his feet grew more pleasing the longer she looked, until the words slipped right out.

Beside her, Bei Bei smiled helplessly and tugged at her arm.

"All right, Xiaoya. That's enough."

Tang Ya stuck her tongue out at Bei Bei and made a face before composing herself, though her large, lively eyes still kept darting toward Nezha.

Then Bei Bei stepped forward first and cupped his hands toward the three, neither servile nor overbearing, his manner refined and courteous.

"Hello. I'm Bei Bei from Shrek Academy. This is my girlfriend, Tang Ya, also from Shrek Academy. And this is Huo Yuhao, a younger brother I met earlier."

His introduction was brief. His gaze then swept across their faces, carrying a barely perceptible hint of inquiry.

"Are you here in the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for Soul Rings as well? What a fortunate meeting."

"Oh? You're from Shrek Academy? What a coincidence!"

Wu Feng tilted her head as she studied Bei Bei and his companions.

"Feng!"

Ning Tian gently tugged Wu Feng's clothes to remind her to be polite, then stepped forward, her white skirt stirring as she responded courteously.

"Hello, Senior Bei Bei, Senior Xiaoya."

Her voice was clear and crisp, neither servile nor overbearing, and her azure eyes rested calmly on them.

"We're new students enrolling this year, from the Heaven Dou Empire. I'm Ning Tian, and these are my companions, Li Nezha and Wu Feng. That makes you our seniors."

At this, the wariness in Bei Bei's eyes eased somewhat. New students at Shrek Academy, and from the Heaven Dou Empire at that-they were practically on the same side. He nodded slightly, his smile becoming more genuine.

Tang Ya's eyes brightened even more, and she perked right up.

"So you're our juniors! I'm from the Heaven Dou Empire too. We're all compatriots."

Her eyes curved with her smile, and her tone was as warm as though she had met family. Yet that warmth lasted less than two breaths before she leaned closer, lowered her voice, and quietly spoke.

"Since we've met in the Star Dou Great Forest, it must be fate. Would any of you be interested in joining what was once the continent's greatest sect-the Tang Sect?"

As the current sect master of the Tang Sect, Tang Ya had certainly invited other Shrek Academy students to join before.

But the results... at present, the entire Tang Sect consisted of only her and Bei Bei. Their circumstances were so dismal they could not even afford to rent a place, and she had only secured Bei Bei's membership through relentless persuasion and a beauty trap.

Just now, however, she had persuaded little brother Yuhao, and he was willing to join the Tang Sect.

Seeing that these newcomers were all new Shrek students, and clearly possessed extraordinary talent, the little flame in her heart flared up again.

Ning Tian paused briefly upon hearing this.

The Tang Sect?

She frowned slightly, quickly searching her memories for anything relevant.

If I remember correctly... the Tang Sect's old grounds in Heaven Dou City are long gone. Some third-rate little sect called the Iron Blood Sect seems to have seized them. Once the continent's greatest sect, now unable even to hold on to its ancestral home, reduced to having its sect master recruit people wherever she goes. What a lamentable decline.

Out of courtesy, however, she did not voice that thought. She merely shook her head gently, her tone calm and polite.

"I'm sorry. The Tang Sect was once a great sect, but we can't join."

Before Tang Ya could ask why, she raised her right hand, palm facing upward.

With a thought, a magnificent pagoda slowly materialized in her palm.

The pagoda had seven stories and was made entirely of glazed crystal. Fine pendants of light hung from the eaves of every tier, layer upon layer refracting a seven-colored radiance. Three Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-rose slowly from beneath her feet, pulsing up and down. Their intermingling light made her flawless, fair face look even more ethereally beautiful.

"We're from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. We came to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain my third Soul Ring, which I've now successfully acquired."

Her voice was not loud, but every word was clear, carrying an innate composure.

Bei Bei's and Tang Ya's gazes were instantly riveted to the seven-story, seven-colored pagoda in the girl's palm.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

She really is from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. And she's already a three-ring Soul Elder.

Bei Bei's pupils contracted slightly as his thoughts raced. Ten thousand years ago, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had been the continent's greatest support sect. Even though the Heaven Dou Empire had now revoked its status as the empire's guardian sect, its foundations remained unfathomably deep.

The girl before him was only around twelve, yet she was already a three-ring Soul Elder. Even at Shrek Academy, such talent would place her among the very best. And that was without mentioning the boy beside her riding the Wind Fire Wheels, who was certainly a Soul Elder as well.

New students about to enroll, three-ring Soul Elders around twelve years old.

And two of them had appeared at once.

Bei Bei's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was already churning. This year's incoming class would likely be livelier than any before it.