As Class Nine's homeroom teacher, Mu Jin spoke to Xue Chen with a courtesy that hardly resembled a teacher's attitude toward a student.
"Since you've said so, Teacher Mu Jin, I'll let her off this time."
Xue Chen considered for a moment, then placed his right hand on the ice encasing Wu Feng.
Ice-blue light gathered in his right palm, and the ice covering Wu Feng vanished into the air.
When the ice on her body disappeared completely, Wu Feng finally blinked shakily.
By now, her Martial Soul Possession had long since been dispelled, and the two Soul Rings beneath her feet had vanished. None of her earlier arrogance remained.
She hugged her shoulders, trembling nonstop, while the lingering chill inside her left her face pale and bluish.
But when Xue Chen's gaze fell on her, she darted behind Ning Tian like a frightened little beast.
In the end, Wu Feng was only a child of ten or so, and the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had protected her far too well.
Yet today, at Xue Chen's hands, she had truly tasted death.
And twice, at that!
"Wu Feng, are you all right?"
Seeing Wu Feng hiding behind her, Ning Tian asked with some heartache.
Wu Feng said nothing. She merely shook her head at Ning Tian before hiding behind her again.
"Ning Tian, take Wu Feng to the infirmary first."
Seeing this, Mu Jin could only sigh helplessly.
"Yes, Teacher!"
Giving Mu Jin a grateful smile, Ning Tian hurriedly led Wu Feng out of the classroom.
"Now, let's begin class!"
Once Ning Tian had left, Mu Jin swept his gaze around the classroom and said:
"Everyone, give a brief introduction in seating order!"
Propping his chin on one hand, Xue Chen gazed out the window, feeling rather bored.
Whether in his previous life or this one, it seemed every school's first lesson involved the teacher having the students introduce themselves.
No, that's not right!
After thinking it over, Xue Chen shook his head.
He remembered that Zhou Yi's class in the original story seemed to have skipped this step.
Presumably, Zhou Yi expelled so many students that there was no telling how many days these freshmen would last in her class, so introductions were unnecessary.
But Huo Yuhao had been injured by his Spiritual Shock. Who knew whether the kid could continue staying in Zhou Yi's class?
Shrek Academy, infirmary.
As the continent's foremost advanced Soul Master Academy, Shrek Academy had a sizable infirmary.
"Excuse me, is there a teacher here?"
Hurriedly supporting Wu Feng into the infirmary, Ning Tian could not help calling out to the first school physician she encountered:
"My classmate seems to be injured!"
"Don't panic."
The school physician Ning Tian addressed was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his thirties or forties. After a brief start, a gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Help your classmate onto the bed. I'll examine her."
Ning Tian nodded, then rather clumsily helped Wu Feng lie down on the bed.
The man placed his hand on Wu Feng's arm, and a stream of gentle green Soul Power slowly entered her body through his fingertips.
"Hm?"
After only a brief examination of Wu Feng's internal condition, his expression turned somewhat strange, and he murmured:
"What a powerful chill!"
"T-Teacher, is my classmate all right?"
Seeing the school physician's unusual expression, Ning Tian panicked and could not help asking:
"She's fine."
Coming back to his senses, the school physician shook his head.
After a moment's consideration, seven Soul Rings appeared beneath his feet in succession: two yellow, two purple, and three black.
He raised his hands slightly, and gentle green light condensed into a miniature tree in his palms.
"The Tree of Life?"
Ning Tian paused in surprise, recognizing the Martial Soul the school physician had released at a glance.
"You've got a good eye, little girl."
The school physician smiled. An emerald-green leaf floated up from the little tree in his palm and slowly settled between Wu Feng's brows.
A cool sensation spread through her. The bluish pallor slowly faded from Wu Feng's face, and her body stopped trembling. Finally, her eyes gently closed; she actually appeared to have fallen asleep.
"Your classmate was likely injured by an ice attribute that is the complete opposite of her own attribute."
The school physician cautioned Ning Tian:
"But whoever injured her probably held back. Otherwise, even her Martial Soul Origin might have suffered severe damage!"
At this, he could not help shaking his head and muttering to himself:
"Today is clearly the freshmen's first day of school. How have two injured freshmen already come in one after another?"
With that, he walked away without waiting for Ning Tian to react.
The other person he meant was naturally Huo Yuhao, whom Zhou Yi had arranged for someone to bring here. He was currently lying on another bed a few beds away from Wu Feng.
"Brother Sky Dream, what exactly happened just now?"
Lying on the bed, Huo Yuhao was deathly pale, and his eyes had none of the luster they had gained after he awakened his Spirit Eyes Martial Soul.
The constant stabbing pain and dizziness in his head also made his expression look somewhat contorted.
Shrek Academy's infirmary could treat the students' physical injuries, but it could not heal wounds to their spiritual power.
"I underestimated that kid."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice was also somewhat weak.
"I only meant to probe him. Who knew his spiritual power would trace its way back to the source and injure your Sea of Consciousness instead?"
Ever since sacrificing himself to Huo Yuhao, their fortunes had been bound together: glory for one meant glory for both, and harm to one meant harm to both.
With Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness severely injured, he had naturally been affected as well.
"That kid is clearly about your age. Why is his spiritual power so powerful and pure?"
"By all rights, something like this should be utterly impossible!"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was hardly any less bewildered than Huo Yuhao.
He was a million-year spiritual Soul Beast. Even with only a little Spiritual Origin left, he was certainly not someone a child of ten or so could compare to.
Not to mention that Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes were themselves a spiritual-type Martial Soul.
Yet even with those two combined, they had still suffered a major loss at the hands of that youth who supposedly possessed the Ultimate Ice attribute.
"Are all the students at Shrek Academy really this strong?"
Huo Yuhao pressed his lips together, his hands clenching the bedsheet beneath him in a death grip.
The joy and pride he had felt after receiving a million-year Soul Beast's sacrifice seemed to have been smashed to pieces at this moment.
"Yuhao, don't lose heart!"
Sensing that something was wrong with Huo Yuhao's mood, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hurriedly said:
"Isn't it just an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul? Don't worry, I'll definitely help you get one too!"
"And as for Soul Rings, I'll keep it a secret for now, but I'll definitely help you obtain one far beyond anything you can imagine!"
"Brother Sky Dream..."
Huo Yuhao was deeply moved by his words.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely work hard at cultivating!"
Just as Huo Yuhao and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm were putting on their display of brotherly affection, a fiery-red figure also entered the freshman teaching building.
"Teacher said a Soul Master with Ultimate Ice appeared among this year's freshmen."
"He even told me to be patient for now and wait until he'd discussed it with Dean Xian Lin'er before making arrangements."
The woman snorted, a trace of displeasure appearing on her exquisite face.
"I'm taking him away ahead of time. Let's see who can stop me!"