The plane landed.
Yes, they had come by plane.
Lu Ling would not get carried away and bring out the Heavenly Star White Dragon to show off before everyone. Long Zhanye was his partner, not some casual means of transportation.
Before arriving at the Imperial Capital Academy, there was the customary sightseeing segment. Every year's exchange students had this opportunity to experience the local culture. Lu Ling had already experienced it once, so he found it a little dull.
"Netherworld, want some cake?" Mu Nujiao came over with a basket of little cakes.
Netherworld's eyes blazed with light, and she looked as though she was about to drool.
Without the slightest ceremony, she gathered the basket of little cakes into her arms and started eating them, one per bite!
"Fank you, you're sho nice."
The beauty in red, whose air had been elegant just a moment ago, instantly acquired a faint touch of comedy.
"Eat slowly." Mu Nujiao smiled.
Her practiced manner made it clear that she often did this for Netherworld!
"Trying to buy off my Netherworld? You spoil her every day," Lu Ling said mildly.
"I'm not!" Mu Nujiao shot him a glare.
She was genuinely good to Netherworld, getting her whatever she wanted to eat.
Netherworld, who had been sealed for who knew how many years, had arrived in the mysterious East, the land of fine food, on the very day her seal was broken. As such, she turned away practically nothing, so long as it was edible and did not taste bad.
"Um... Lu Ling, my name is Bai Tingting." Bai Tingting came over, sounding somewhat shy. "Thank you for saving me at the stadium back then. I never knew before..."
Hmm?
Bai Tingting? To think I'd actually saved her. Thinking back carefully, she seemed to be that girl with the super-big, super-white assets in the corridor where I met Mu Nujiao. I certainly took a good look at everything while I was at it.
Lu Ling gave her a serious look.
Definitely big.
If I remember correctly, she's also a little white tiger.
"You're welcome."
Seeing Lu Ling surrounded by Pearl's goddess and the Healing Element's angel, the other men felt a wave of sour jealousy rise within them!
What gave him the right?
Why?
"If you were as handsome as Lu Ling, you wouldn't have to worry about not having women around you either." Smelling the sour stench of jealousy, Zhao Manyan spread his hands and spoke with considerable flair.
When it came to matters between men and women, Zhao Manyan had plenty of experience. Although he could not compare to Lu Ling's absurd good looks, his own were enough to capture the hearts of the vast majority of girls.
"Tch, I don't see any women surrounding you either?" Shen Mingxiao immediately mocked him.
"No shit, isn't that because there's someone even more handsome here?" Zhao Manyan said.
"..."
Imperial Capital Academy.
As soon as everyone arrived, they were sent straight to the apartments provided for exchange students.
"Professor Qiu Yuhua, and... Lu Ling?!!" Lu Yiming rubbed his eyes, thinking he must have mistaken him for someone else.
Once he finally confirmed that the person standing before him was indeed Lu Ling, who had single-handedly swept through the Imperial Capital Academy two years earlier, Lu Yiming's face instantly fell!
"Why are you here again!"
"Actually, my real age is the same as this year's freshmen, so here I am again," Lu Ling said with a smile.
"Are you kidding me?!" Lu Yiming's jaw dropped.
He had thought he could regain the face he had lost to the Pearl Academy two years ago, only for Lu Ling to... have no martial virtue! Beating them down once was not enough; he had to come back for a second round!
"Joking aside, Professor Lu, how could I possibly come here to bully anyone?" Lu Yiming's crestfallen expression was so funny that Lu Ling could barely hold back his laughter. He continued, "I'm not here as an exchange student this time. I'm the teacher leading the team."
"The teacher leading the team?" Lu Yiming wore exactly the same expression Shen Mingxiao and the others had earlier. Shock hardly began to describe it.
Two years ago, he had still been an unknown student. Now, two years later, he was actually standing in the same position as Lu Yiming. It was another thing he would never have believed without seeing it with his own eyes.
"I hope this exchange competition goes smoothly." Lu Ling held out his hand.
"All right..."
The two exchanged a brief handshake.
Lu Yiming swallowed and slunk out of the reception apartments.
He kept feeling that this exchange competition would be a bitter battle.
In truth, Lu Yiming was overthinking things. Lu Ling was the only variable; everything else was still following its original course without the slightest change.
Lu Ling did not rush to seek out Pang Lai. Instead, he went to the most beautiful scenic area in the Imperial Capital Academy.
With a thought, the temperature of the air dropped at an unbelievable speed. A thin layer of frost began covering the warm lakeside, while a layer of ice crystals slowly spread across the lake.
After his breakthrough to the Advanced Level, the abilities of each of his magic elements had also undergone earth-shaking changes.
Domains themselves were abilities exclusive to the Advanced Level. Even with a Soul Seed domain, it was difficult to unleash a domain's full capabilities with only an Intermediate Level cultivation base.
Now, Lu Ling felt that the ice elements in the void obeyed him as naturally as his own limbs. Once he activated his domain, even magic seemed to come at a beckon, allowing him to dispense entirely with the established Star Maps and Star Constellations.
The Ice Domain, pure and holy. I'll call it... Ice Glass.
At that thought, Lu Ling raised his hand and loosely closed it around empty air. The next instant, countless motes of ice swirled into a vortex, shifting within his palm.
Sure enough, as long as he was near Mu Ningxue, he could summon the Ice Crystal Bow from a distance. He did not summon the Ice Bow, however, merely sensing its presence.
Not only that, he could also sense the direction in which the Ice Bow was housed.
Lu Ling looked in one direction. He could sense that the person was approaching him.
A moment later, a silver-haired figure in a white dress appeared before Lu Ling.
The joy in Mu Ningxue's heart at seeing Lu Ling was beyond words. Even so, she still tried her best to remain calm.
"You came without even telling me beforehand!" Mu Ningxue puffed out her cheeks, as though complaining.
"Can't you 'sense' where I am?" Lu Ling asked in return.
"Well, that's true..." At a loss for words, Mu Ningxue lowered her head.
"It's been a long time. Walk around with me." Lu Ling stepped forward and gently gathered the ice beauty into his arms.
"Mm..." Perhaps because they were out in public, Mu Ningxue was a little shy. After a token struggle, she surrendered herself wholeheartedly to this long-awaited embrace.
Some time later.
News that the ice beauty already had a sweetheart had spread through almost the entire Imperial Capital Academy.
Mu Ningxue's beauty was indeed beyond anyone else's reach at the Imperial Capital Academy, and her strength ranked among the best as well. With those two halos combined, she had become the Imperial Capital's uncrowned goddess, with countless admirers.
Now, however, a strange man was accompanying her around the Imperial Capital Academy, talking and laughing with her. How could that not send all her admirers into an uproar?
"So you're the teacher leading the Pearl Academy's team? That's amazing," Mu Ningxue said.
"How could I get by without being at least a little amazing?"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Mu Ningxue gave him a light pat. The two were like a young couple deeply in love, reunited after a long separation, utterly intimate.
"Lu Ling, why does that girl in the red dress keep following us?"
"Her..."