Several figures stood atop the tall buildings surrounding Skywater Academy, their gazes locked firmly on Cao De, Huo Wu, and the Little Beggar beside them.
"Go tell Shui Bing'er that her little sister has been found." The man in the lead waved to the people behind him, his eyes cold.
"Yes, boss." One of them bowed in acknowledgment, then hurried downstairs.
"Yang Fang, why do I get the feeling those two haven't taken Shui Yue'er hostage?" Another man draped an arm over Yang Fang's shoulder.
"They captured Shui Yue'er, and I rescued her. That's all I need to accomplish." Yang Fang brushed the hand off his shoulder, his eyes growing colder.
"You really would do anything to show off in front of Shui Yue'er." The man gave a noncommittal smile.
Yang Fang said nothing more, watching as Cao De and the others reached a less crowded area.
Soul Rings appeared around him, and he charged toward Cao De.
The instant Yang Fang leaped, Cao De detected the faint killing intent he gave off.
Cao De spun around, the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword already appearing in his hand.
"First Soul Skill: Piercing!" Cao De growled.
The Thousand-Blade Demon Sword broke into countless shards and blasted toward the man in midair.
Cao De held nothing back. His opponent had already revealed his killing intent and was preparing a sneak attack. That was enough to mark him as an enemy, and Cao De never showed enemies mercy.
Still airborne, Yang Fang was dumbstruck as countless purple shards hurtled toward him.
But he froze for only an instant before reacting.
"Third Soul Skill: Water Thorn!"
Yang Fang growled, and thousands of water thorns appeared around him, even more numerous than the densely packed Demon Blade Shards. They shot toward the purple fragments.
A Nike-swoosh smile curved Yang Fang's lips. He had nearly three thousand water thorns, more than enough to deal with this handful of purple shards.
A second later, the water thorns he had been so confident in turned to mist, doing nothing to slow the purple shards.
"Impossible!" Yang Fang cried, his eyes widening.
But he had little time left to think. The purple shards were drawing closer.
Yang Fang panicked. All his aloof composure from the rooftop vanished as he frantically unleashed his remaining two Soul Skills.
"Second Soul Skill: Water Shield!" "First Soul Skill: Dazzling Water!"
As his panicked cries fell, his body froze in midair, and an aqua-blue water shield appeared before him.
This is bad!!!
Yang Fang inwardly cursed. His first Soul Skill, Dazzling Water, was a control skill. Anyone it struck would become immobilized, along with him.
His first Soul Skill had failed to hit the enemy, so he had only immobilized himself.
Yang Fang watched helplessly as thousands of purple shards struck the water shield, which instantly shattered like flimsy paper.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Frozen in midair, Yang Fang had become a living target. Thousands of Demon Blade Shards pierced straight through his entire body.
Blood sprayed across the sky. Yang Fang's pupils shrank to pinpoints as he fell into eternal sleep in midair!
As his Soul Power dissipated, the effect of his first Soul Skill vanished too, and Yang Fang dropped wetly to the ground.
Cao De was baffled. Why had the man stayed motionless in the air, just hanging there to be skewered? He had even been ready to steer the shards.
Huo Wu hurriedly covered Shui Yue'er's eyes.
"Yang Fang!!" The man on the rooftop roared, preparing to leap down and check on him.
But when he saw Cao De look his way, he instantly clapped a hand over his mouth and collapsed onto the rooftop, not daring to show his head.
He was terrified that exposing himself would get him killed in an instant.
Just then, a group hurried toward Cao De. At their head was a woman in an aqua-blue singing gown, looking graceful and dignified, though her eyes were cold.
Many men and women followed behind her, all wearing aqua-blue clothes prominently bearing the name-Skywater Academy.
Cao De frowned at the sight of this procession. The Thousand-Blade Demon Sword in his hand trembled slightly.
Shui Yue'er immediately spotted Shui Bing'er behind the dignified woman and called with a smile, "Big Sister!"
She promptly let go of Huo Wu's hand and ran toward Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er strode forward, scooped Shui Yue'er into her arms, and carefully checked her body.
The tense, swords-drawn atmosphere eased somewhat.
"Fang'er!" the middle-aged man beside the woman suddenly shouted.
He threw himself toward the wet mess on the ground.
"Fang'er! Fang'er!!" the middle-aged man howled.
"Who was it?! Who?! Who killed my Fang'er?!" he roared, glaring around him.
"Elder Yang Pang." The woman's voice was cold, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Yang Pang lowered his voice slightly. "Dean."
"Elder Yang Pang!" the woman spoke again.
Yang Pang immediately felt tremendous pressure sweep over him. He could only suppress his grief and fury, saying nothing more.
The woman strolled toward Cao De, her voice sounding in his ear. "You really are cautious, sending only a little fellow like you. Wait here for me."
Her lips never moved as she slowly approached Cao De.
Cao De's expression remained unchanged.
"Thank you for bringing Shui Yue'er back. Thank you very much!" The woman even bowed slightly as she spoke.
The Skywater Academy students behind her grew teary-eyed at the sight of their dean behaving this way. They were blessed to have such a good dean.
At that moment, the Skywater Academy students felt a stronger sense of belonging to their academy than ever before.
"Oh, and please accept these Gold Soul Coins as a reward for rescuing Shui Yue'er."
As she spoke, the dignified woman took a gold card from her Storage Soul Tool and offered it to Cao De.
Cao De accepted it with a smile. "Thank you, Dean."
The dignified woman said nothing more, turning to head back the way she had come.
Crouching on the ground, Yang Pang stared viciously at Cao De, ready to attack at any moment.
But an invisible pressure descended on him, preventing him from moving.
"Elder Yang Pang, we're going back," the dignified woman said.
The Skywater Academy group departed in a grand procession.
Cao De raised the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword and gently drew it out at the hilt. The evil spirit on it flickered with blue light.
Cao De looked up at the distant Skywater Academy group, silently pondering who among them might possess the so-called Blood Pearl. Or were there members of the Nuomi Church inside Skywater Academy?!
What had their dean meant by her words?
Countless thoughts flashed through Cao De's mind.
"Master, what are you thinking about?" Huo Wu waved a hand in front of Cao De's face.
"Nothing. Let's have some tea at the teahouse next door," Cao De said.
"Okay!"
Time passed.
Toward evening, Skywater Academy's dean came walking at the front, with Shui Bing'er following behind her. The two approached slowly, one behind the other.
"Stay here and behave. I'll go outside and take a look." Cao De stroked Huo Wu's head.
"Master, be careful." Huo Wu's face was full of concern.
"All right." Cao De stroked Huo Wu's head again, then walked out of the teahouse.
He returned to the place where Yang Fang had fallen into eternal sleep earlier.
Skywater Academy's dean approached slowly. "All right, this spot will do."
"Ahem." A cough suddenly rang out.
A man dressed like a scholar descended from the sky, waving a fan in his hand.
"Dean Shui Yiyi, you've mistaken him for someone else! Hahahaha!" he said teasingly.
Shui Yiyi's expression remained unchanged as tremendous Soul Power instantly enveloped Cao De's entire body.
Cao De fainted on the spot.
"All right, Scholar. Now he won't interfere with anything," Shui Yiyi said with a smile.
"Shui Yiyi, you really are decisive and ruthless," Scholar teased.
Standing behind Shui Yiyi, Shui Bing'er carefully studied Scholar's appearance before speaking. "Teacher, he's the one who kidnapped my little sister."
"Hahaha, little girl, your master has already sold you to me!" Scholar covered his mouth and laughed.
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