"Ultimate... Ultimate Ice!"
Xian Lin'er practically leaped out of her chair, certain parts of her body bouncing hard from inertia and gravity.
Though the old saying went: look not upon what is improper.
Xue Chen still found it hard to tear his eyes away. Amitabha, they were simply so big they broke the rules!
"This child's Martial Soul actually possesses the Ultimate Ice attribute?"
As an elder of the Sea God Pavilion and one of Shrek Academy's absolute upper echelon, Xian Lin'er knew all too well how powerful and rare Ultimate Martial Souls were.
To say nothing else, in the past ten thousand years, Shrek Academy had produced only three Soul Masters with Ultimate Martial Souls.
And all three had played crucial roles in Shrek Academy's development.
Even Ma Xiaotao's half-baked, flawed Martial Soul that merely approached the ultimate was enough for Shrek Academy to pour all its resources into nurturing her.
"My Martial Soul is Ice Element. It could be considered in the first tier below Ultimate Martial Souls."
Ling Luochen shook her head, her tone not entirely certain.
"But little brother Chen's... Xue Chen's Martial Soul can suppress mine the way a higher-order Martial Soul suppresses a lower-order one."
She paused, and whether because she had recalled the intimate moments of the past few days or not, a faint blush rose on Ling Luochen's face.
"And... and cultivating with him can speed up my Martial Soul cultivation."
In a flash, Xian Lin'er appeared in front of Xue Chen.
That fiery-eyed gaze, as though she wanted to devour him, was something Xue Chen had seen from Ling Luochen almost every day lately.
To be honest, he was starting to have a stress response to it.
It was still a little too dangerous to be a boy in this world.
"Your name is Xue Chen?"
Seemingly noticing that Xue Chen was a little frightened, Xian Lin'er tried to soften her tone and did her best to put a friendly smile on her face, so full of mature charm.
"Yes."
Xue Chen nodded.
"Child, could you release your Martial Soul for me to see?"
"Sure."
The next moment, the enormous phantom of an Auspicious Beast appeared behind Xue Chen.
It had a dragon's head, deer antlers, a lion's tail, and ox hooves. Five-colored light shimmered over the scales covering its body, and even beneath its feet, five-colored flames of light churned.
With Martial Soul Possession, a qilin marking shimmering with five-colored light appeared on Xue Chen's forehead, while tiny dragon scales suffused with rosy light crept up both his cheeks.
"Mm!"
Xian Lin'er's body trembled slightly, and she could not help clutching her chest.
From his Martial Soul alone, she could actually feel an inexplicable suppression.
Almost simultaneously, a biting chill spread rapidly outward from the Yellow Soul Ring beneath Xue Chen's feet.
In mere moments, a thin layer of icy mist blanketed Xian Lin'er's office!
"Good child, withdraw your Martial Soul!"
Forcing down the wild joy in her heart, Xian Lin'er curved her lips into an alluring smile.
"It can suppress Luochen's Ice Element Martial Soul, and it carries a chill that makes even a Titled Douluo like me feel a little cold. It seems there should be no doubt that it is an Ultimate Martial Soul."
After a pause, Xian Lin'er suddenly took Xue Chen's hand.
"Child, your Martial Soul talent is excellent. Would you like to become my student?"
The moment she said this, Ling Luochen's expression changed.
She was an inner court disciple, true, but she was also a student of the Martial Soul Department.
After all the trouble she had taken to bring back a child with an exceptionally high-quality Martial Soul and an Ultimate Attribute, he was going to be taken as a disciple by the dean of the Soul Tool Department. What was that supposed to be?
If Xue Chen really became a disciple of the Soul Tool Department, how would she cultivate with him in the future?
After only a moment's hesitation, Ling Luochen could not help speaking up:
"Dean Lin'er... isn't this a little inappropriate?"
"What's inappropriate about it?"
Xian Lin'er glanced at Ling Luochen and said with a half-smile:
"Do I need your permission to take a disciple?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Ling Luochen immediately stood up and shook her head, her face a little pale.
She was merely an inner court student. How could she stop Xian Lin'er, the dean of the Soul Tool Department and an elder of the Sea God Pavilion?
"Child, I am the dean of Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department, as well as a Level 8 Soul Engineer, a Titled Douluo, and an elder of the Sea God Pavilion."
Ignoring Ling Luochen, Xian Lin'er kept her burning gaze fixed on Xue Chen.
"Do you have any family? Would you need their permission to take a master?"
With those words, Xian Lin'er had practically settled the matter of Xue Chen taking her as his master.
Why had she brought Ling Luochen and Xue Chen to her office in the Soul Tool Department?
Wasn't it because hearing Ling Luochen say that Xue Chen's Martial Soul was special, along with sensing something unusual about him herself, had given her a few little ideas?
Here in her office in the Soul Tool Department, could either Ling Luochen or Xue Chen really resist her?
As long as she cooked the raw rice into a finished meal, she would have nothing to fear even if the dispute went all the way to Mu En in the Sea God Pavilion.
"I'm an orphan. I don't have any family."
Xue Chen shook his head.
"An orphan is good... no, I mean, how pitiful!"
Hearing that Xue Chen was an orphan, Xian Lin'er had almost instinctively blurted out her true thoughts.
Only after catching the strange looks on Xue Chen's and Ling Luochen's faces out of the corner of her eye did she hastily correct herself.
An orphan was wonderful. His background was clean and unblemished, with none of those tangled relationships and factions behind him.
If Xue Chen really did have some complicated faction behind him, then she... she would still take this disciple!
"Good child, as long as you are willing to take me as your master, you can immediately enjoy the full support of Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department in your training!"
Xue Chen could feel Xian Lin'er's soft hands gripping his ever more tightly.
Actually, Xian Lin'er could hardly be blamed for acting this way. The Soul Tool Department had simply been suppressed far too harshly by the Martial Soul Department over the years.
Nearly all the promising students were picked away by the Martial Soul Department, which also took the lion's share of all kinds of cultivation resources.
It left Xian Lin'er's Soul Tool Department like a child raised by a stepmother, without even a single outstanding disciple.
"Um... big sister, we've only just met. Shouldn't you give me some time to think about something like taking a master?"
Xue Chen gave a wry laugh, actually feeling as though he were a piece of Tang Monk's flesh.
"Big sister?"
"Big sister?"
Ling Luochen opened her mouth, looking at Xue Chen with a complicated gaze.
Did he know who this person in front of him was?
Big sister? She's old enough to be your mother!
And do you call every older woman you meet big sister, you brat?
Xian Lin'er, on the other hand, blushed faintly and could not help casting Xue Chen a mildly reproachful glance, though inwardly she felt a little secret delight.
She could no longer remember the last time anyone had called her big sister.
"Of course you can think it over."
Xian Lin'er tightened her grip on both of Xue Chen's hands, the smile never leaving her face.
"But since you aren't a student of Shrek Academy yet, for your safety and to maintain order in the academy, you should stay here with me for now!"