But Huo Yuhao clearly hadn't thought too much about it. He was simply a little more pleasantly surprised to learn that he had met his future classmates.
"I still have a journey ahead of me. Until we meet again, everyone."
Huo Yuhao waved and continued toward the Far North.
Xiao Xiao watched Huo Yuhao's retreating figure, brimming with delight. A boy so gentle and handsome-would she get to see him every day once school started?
Then I could follow beside him and call him... wait!
Xiao Xiao suddenly froze.
She narrowed her eyes, wanting to cry but finding no tears. She seemed to have forgotten to ask his name! Come back, handsome! I haven't asked your name yet!
Watching Xiao Xiao stiffen, Xiao Shan sighed inwardly and patted her shoulder.
"It's all right, Xiao Xiao. There'll be plenty of time to meet again, won't there?"
"..."
"Mm, what a coincidence. I look forward to getting along with you all~ Hahaha~"
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was pitching his voice higher, mimicking Huo Yuhao's tone just before he left. It was both sickeningly sweet and comical.
Huo Yuhao had finally managed to learn a few lines from novels that he thought sounded very cool, but hearing them from Tian Meng's mouth gave them an entirely different flavor.
Seeing Tian Meng waggle his brows with that obnoxious expression, a wave of burning shame welled up in his heart.
Unable to bear Tian Meng's mockery any longer, Huo Yuhao protested, "Sister Tian Meng, stop copying me!"
Tian Meng couldn't hold back his smile, but still said, "All right, all right. What a shame, though. You're still not nearly concentrated enough. If you want to reach the next level, you could learn how that little gray ball talks."
"..."
"Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore!"
"Hey, Yuhao, that's cheating! You can't play like that!"
Huo Yuhao turned his face away sulkily and didn't answer.
"Yuhao, little Yuhao, I was wrong..."
"..."
Huo Yuhao still kept his face rigidly set. He deliberately emptied his mind, refusing to acknowledge Tian Meng.
Tian Meng's eyes shifted, and he sighed softly. "What a shame. I was going to teach you how to improve your spiritual power. I suppose I'll have to wait until you forgive me."
The moment Tian Meng finished speaking, Huo Yuhao's head gave a slight twitch, and he unconsciously leaned a little closer to Tian Meng. But a moment later, he drew his head back again.
Clearly, he still couldn't quite swallow his pride.
Noticing Huo Yuhao's little movements only made Tian Meng find it even more amusing.
"Oh dear, once your spiritual power improves, your Spiritual Detection's range will increase too. It'll help your cultivation as well. What a shame..."
"Your Sea of Consciousness could expand a little more then, too..."
Huo Yuhao couldn't hold out any longer. His gaze wandered, deliberately avoiding the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's eyes as he yielded with a trace of awkwardness.
"Then... then, Sister Tian Meng, you can't tease me whenever you like anymore, or copy the way I talk. Please... teach me the cultivation method."
Just as planned!
Tian Meng felt rather pleased, but he also knew to quit while he was ahead. Putting on a very serious expression, he began his lesson.
"Sister Tian Meng, is this method of yours really legitimate?"
"Guaranteed, guaranteed. I'm a mighty spiritual expert. Would I teach you some trash cultivation method?"
Huo Yuhao sat down in meditation, gathered his energy, and focused his mind. His consciousness entered the Sea of Consciousness.
The entire Sea of Consciousness floated in an empty, pure-white void, a pale-blue ocean as clear as a mirror.
It was already several times larger than when Huo Yuhao had first encountered it.
His master and his master's wife hadn't appeared, and the little gray ball remained dormant in the same spot.
Sensing Huo Yuhao's location, Tian Meng floated straight over.
"Come on, I'll teach you. First, close your eyes and spread your arms."
Huo Yuhao obediently did as told. While he was waiting for Tian Meng's next instruction, the faint, delicate fragrance unique to Tian Meng wafted around his nose.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm raised his hands, wrapped them around Huo Yuhao's waist, and pressed his entire silkworm body against him.
Huo Yuhao instantly stiffened. The Sea of Consciousness was where the mind was most sensitive to begin with, and every emotion would be magnified without limit.
With such close contact, Tian Meng's touch, warm yet cool, and his soft breathing-every detail was incomparably clear.
Boom-
A scorching heat instantly exploded from the depths of Huo Yuhao's heart, spreading along his consciousness into every part of his body.
A burning crimson instantly stained Huo Yuhao's face, spreading from his cheeks to the roots of his ears. His tightly closed eyes trembled slightly. Utterly at a loss, he was as stiff as stone and didn't dare move in the slightest.
"Sister Tian Meng, please, stop joking around."
"What joke? The quality of my spiritual body is unmatched across the entire continent. Cultivating while we're pressed together gives twice the results for half the effort!"
Hearing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's perfectly serious explanation, Huo Yuhao could hardly argue. He could only force himself to empty his mind and cultivate under Tian Meng's guidance.
Feeling Huo Yuhao's tense body, Tian Meng laughed inwardly, but didn't point it out, continuing to help Huo Yuhao hone his foundations.
"Phew-"
Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, the blue glow within them gradually fading.
He could feel that his spiritual power really was improving a little faster than before. It was just that this position...
Forget it. Never mind that. Any method that makes me stronger is a good method.
Suppressing his embarrassment, Huo Yuhao couldn't help asking curiously, "Sister Tian Meng, about that Ice Empress you mentioned-why did you choose her?"
"Well, that-"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm narrowed his eyes and looked up toward the space above the Sea of Consciousness, putting on an air of profundity. "I chose Bingbing not just because it's almost impossible for her to survive her four-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation.
"Between her and me lies a love story that shook heaven and earth and moved ghosts and gods to tears. It all began-"
Love?!
Huo Yuhao hadn't expected Sister Tian Meng to have a romantic history. But even such shocking news didn't make him interrupt the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's recollections. Instead, he sat obediently, ready to listen.
"...And that was how Bingbing and I parted~"
After finishing, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm even remembered to wipe the lingering tears from his cheeks.
"Tch, how boring. I thought it'd be something juicy. You're quite something yourself, ending up like this."
After tossing out that remark, the little gray ball flew straight away.
"...You little gray ball! Don't let me catch sight of you again! Aaargh, I'm furious!"
Huo Yuhao was speechless too. At this point, the only word he could use to describe Sister Tian Meng's experiences was inconceivable.
So Sister Tian Meng and the Ice Empress had barely met a few times, and every single time, it had been a performance of one fleeing, the other chasing, and the first unable to escape even with wings?
"Whatever the case, when the time comes, I'll lure Bingbing over and restrain her. Then everyone can talk it over, and all will be well!"
Watching Huo Yuhao still bowing his head in thought, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm assumed that, given his personality, he was probably considering his future cultivation.
That wasn't the case. For once, Huo Yuhao wasn't thinking about anything of the sort. His brain was still processing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's melodramatic past.
The next day.
Lying flat on his back, Huo Yuhao first opened his eyes inside the Sea of Consciousness. Yesterday, Sister Tian Meng had told him this also helped with cultivation, so he had done just that.
He gently turned his head to the right and discovered that Tian Meng's body was facing him, curled up against one of his arms.
The girl was still fast asleep, her breathing steady and peaceful.
Before you continue