The instant those words fell, the figure froze, and the fiery aura weakened somewhat.
Then an extremely faint, muffled voice rang out in the silent space.
"Hurry, I can't suppress my evil fire much longer..."
The Soul Emperor teacher's pupils contracted. It really is her! He dared not waste another moment and hurriedly picked up his Communicator to contact Du Weilun.
"Hello, is this Director Du?"
"Yes. Teacher Xu, has something happened?"
"I found the student Ma Xiaotao at the academy gates. There seems to be something very wrong with her condition... come... ah!"
The call had barely connected when, before he could finish speaking, it abruptly cut off.
Meanwhile, inside the academy, Du Weilun had been arranging assignments for the teachers when the Soul Emperor teacher's call interrupted his thoughts.
Everything had seemed fine at first after he answered, but the call suddenly cut off, with fragmented sounds coming through just before it ended.
Du Weilun knitted his brows and rushed out the door, picking up his Communicator to dial another number.
"Hello, Dean Yan?
"It's me... Ma Xiaotao is back..."
Elsewhere, Gu Qingnian was racing toward Shrek Academy using Sword Riding. He crossed the Star Dou Great Forest and arrived above a familiar hillside. (The spot where Bei Bei and his companion brought Huo Yuhao out of the Star Dou Great Forest at the very beginning of the original story.)
He gazed into the distance. Although there was still some way to go, he could already make out Shrek Academy's hazy outline straight ahead.
"Shrek Academy, I'm back again..."
The instant his words fell, Gu Qingnian used Body Flicker to cover an enormous distance. When he looked ahead again, he was already several hundred meters away, and as his soul power continued to surge, he flashed onward faster