Preparing to act

Nie Li shifted his gaze to Xiao Ning'er, who had been standing there with her arms folded across her chest and a cold expression on her face.

Though Xiao Ning'er and Ye Ziyun were only in their teens, both already showed the promise of becoming beauties. Xiao Ning'er's disposition and bearing were particularly aloof, even earning her the nickname "ice beauty."

Nie Li recalled what had happened to Xiao Ning'er. Once one of the most dazzling twin stars, she had refused her family's arrangement to marry Shen Fei and severed ties with them. She had entered the Black Devil Forest alone and never returned.

Beneath the sky screen, Xiao Ning'er's face turned pale. Had that been her original fate?

That was right. She had cultivated desperately, yet no one understood her extreme cold affliction, much less knew how to treat it. According to Nie Li, the harder she cultivated, the more certain it was that she would eventually lose all her cultivation and die when her body burst apart.

My body bursting apart... It seems I escaped that calamity, but losing all my cultivation was inevitable. Without enough cultivation, refusing to marry Shen Fei would have been nothing but a fool's dream. That must have been why I broke with the Winged Dragon Family and entered the Black Devil Forest alone.

Fortunately, she had met Nie Li in this lifetime.

Ye Ziyun looked at her friend. She truly did not want to see her end up meeting such a fate.

She wondered whether she could trouble her father to intervene.

At the Winged Dragon Family, Xiao Ning'er's father, Xiao Yunfeng, watched as his daughter's fate in her previous life was revealed. His expression could not have been uglier.

He truly had failed as both a patriarch and a father. Among the seven great noble families, the Winged Dragon Family's position hung by a thread. Even most of their assets were controlled by the Sacred Family, leaving them no choice but to depend on it.

As a father, he could not provide his daughter with a safe haven. She could not even choose whom she would marry and spend the rest of her life with. Whether as a father or a patriarch, he had utterly failed in his duties.

Meanwhile, Shen Fei, the Sacred Family's playboy, licked his lips when he saw that Xiao Ning'er would make such a choice.

This woman really is unyielding. Stubborn and cold.

Perfect. Conquering someone like that makes the conquest all the more enticing.

Meanwhile, on the sky screen.

Lu Piao noticed Nie Li looking at Xiao Ning'er again. He nudged Nie Li in the chest with his elbow and, with a gossipy look in his eyes, asked which girl he actually had his eye on.

Du Ze remarked that both Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er were geniuses who would soon reach 100.

Beside them, Zhu Xiangjun told Lu Piao that Du Ze meant girls favored by heaven like them were not people a noble family's son like Lu Piao could catch up to by daydreaming all day.

Lu Piao immediately protested. All day? He was clearly working hard at cultivation! He spent half the day dreaming, at most.

His words sent the five people beside him into peals of laughter.

Beneath the sky screen, Lu Piao's father, Lu Ning, the Lu family patriarch, could not help clenching his fists.

That little brat! Even after I sent him to the Holy Orchid Academy, he's still this hopeless!

Sure enough, his hide starts itching if he goes a day without a beating.

Still, the little brat does have a strong sense of loyalty.

On the sky screen, Shen Xiu continued her mockery, saying she looked forward to seeing whether any of the commoners could become Bronze Demon Spirit Masters at the Demon Spirit Master test in two months. Her jibes came both openly and between the lines.

Du Ze and the others were furious, but they also felt somewhat helpless. Raising soul force from 5 to 100 in two months probably really did require being Ye Mo reincarnated.

Even so, he still supported Nie Li. For no other reason than that Nie Li was worth it.

Though Lu Piao usually fooled around, he did not waver in the slightest when it came to serious matters.

But when Lu Ning heard that his son's ambition was to become a Silver Demon Spirit Master, his fists clenched again beneath the sky screen. He would wait until the academy's break in two months, then give that little brat a thorough beating.

Du Ze asked whether Nie Li was so confident because he knew a way to cultivate soul force.

Nie Li said that as long as they did not back down and had perseverance, they would have no problems if they followed his instructions.

With the cultivation experience and knowledge from my previous life, raising soul force will be as easy as turning over my hand.

Beneath the sky screen, Shen Xiu and Shen Yue gritted their teeth even harder. Could that good-for-nothing Nie Li really go from five to 100 in two months? Impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Ye Zong stroked his chin as well. He was genuinely curious. How could Nie Li possibly increase his soul force by 95 points in those two months?

Even his father had not been that heaven-defying.

Ye Xiu was different. This old man, who had watched Ye Ziyun grow up alongside Ye Zong, already felt that the boy and girl made quite a suitable pair.

On the sky screen, Nie Li said that cultivation required a great deal of money. A truly enormous amount.

Lu Piao naturally thought nothing of it. His family was quite wealthy, and he himself had saved 2,000 Demon Spirit Coins. As long as all his buddies could become Demon Spirit Masters, what did it matter if he handed over his savings?

Nie Li smiled. A single mention of "millions" nearly knocked Lu Piao over in fright.

Millions of Demon Spirit Coins? Surely only the great noble families could come up with that much?

Shen Yue and Shen Xiu were still sneering, but Nie Li answered them with a mocking smile of his own. Two months? That was far too easy.

In the blink of an eye, classes were over.

The three of them wandered along the streets. Lu Piao was very excited. After all, who wanted to stay in a classroom every day?

The roadside vendors called out to drum up business, while pedestrians streamed past without end.

The streets were bustling in the evening.

Lu Piao spotted a Fire Snake Youngling being sold for 500 Demon Spirit Coins. After considering it, he decided it was not much of a bargain.

When he saw a nearby stall surrounded by people, Lu Piao excitedly squeezed straight into the crowd.

Lu Ning had truly run out of things to say. Now all of Glory City knew just how lively and restless his son was.

The vendor was selling a newly arrived pair of Bronze Bracers engraved with a Wind and Snow Inscription.

When they asked the price, it was 60,000 Demon Spirit Coins-far beyond what Lu Piao could afford.

The vendor was determined to give these bracers a hearty sales pitch. The Bronze Bracers were engraved with a Wind and Snow Inscription made using the demon blood of a Wind and Snow Banshee in her prime. A Wind and Snow Banshee in her prime was no easy creature to catch.

There was nothing Lu Piao could do. He was already the wealthiest among them, but his monthly allowance was only 500. He could not afford them.

Just then, an overbearing shout rang out. "Move aside!"

Several attendants were roughly driving away the onlookers, clearing a path for their boss, Shen Yue.

The vendor clearly recognized him and hurried over to fawn on him.

Shen Yue merely smiled. He was waiting.

For whom? Ye Ziyun.

Ye Ziyun came over with two classmates, chatting and laughing.

As soon as Shen Yue noticed Ye Ziyun, he prepared to show off his charm.

"Hmph, I happen to need a pair of bracers. Wrap these up for me."

Once the Bronze Bracers had been wrapped, Shen Yue took six Demon Crystal Cards, each worth 10,000, straight out of the Space Ring on his finger and tossed them over without so much as a glance.