Lin Mo took a step back and shook his head. "Senior Sister, I'm fine."
Zhang Lexuan clearly realized she had lost her composure, too.
As though she had been burned, she swiftly withdrew her hand, turned her face aside, and coughed softly. By the time she turned back, her face had regained the composure befitting the inner court's eldest senior sister.
"My deepest apologies," she explained. "The person who attacked you is actually a junior sister of mine from the inner court, Ma Xiaotao."
"Her Martial Soul is the Evil Fire Phoenix. Her evil fire suddenly went out of control, causing her to lose her reason and attack you. It wasn't intentional. Rest assured, the academy will give you an explanation, and you won't be shortchanged on any compensation you're owed."
"All right, Senior Sister. I understand." Lin Mo's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he rolled his eyes.
As if he didn't know what Ma Xiaotao was like!
"The evil fire inside her can't wait. I must take her back to the inner court for treatment as soon as possible, so I'll be leaving first." As Zhang Lexuan spoke, she turned her wrist, and the silver chain brought Ma Xiaotao to her side.
She said nothing more, merely giving Lin Mo a long look before turning and taking Ma Xiaotao away, vanishing across the lake in a few bounds.
Lin Mo surveyed the wreckage around him, then looked down at Huo Yuhao, who had long since passed out in his grasp.
...Sigh. What even was all this?
Inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit.
After hearing Skydream Iceworm finish describing the situation outside, Huo Yuhao suddenly changed the subject and asked curiously, "Sister Skydream, what exactly was that Mystic Bird you mentioned earlier?"
At his question, Skydream Iceworm snapped her fingers. A small blackboard fell out of thin air, and a teaching pointer appeared in her hand.
Skydream's little classroom was now in session~
Skydream Iceworm pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses she had conjured from who knew where with a convincing air, then smacked her pointer against the large words "Mystic Bird" on the blackboard.
"Little Yuhan~"
She cleared her throat. "On this continent, there are three special forces-fortune, fate, and the Heavenly Mandate."
The pointer swung around to point at Huo Yuhao.
"And the child of fortune who represents fortune is you, Little Yuhan."
Huo Yuhao looked puzzled. "Why me?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Skydream Iceworm immediately puffed out her chest and lifted her chin high, looking as proud as could be. "With me around, the continent's geniuses, however numerous, are merely crucian carp crossing a river. You are the strongest!"
"So you're definitely the child of fortune!"
The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched, but he ultimately refrained from arguing. Better not deal a blow to Sister Skydream's fragile glass heart.
"As for the one that represents fate," Skydream Iceworm shifted the topic, her expression growing somewhat more serious, "that would be the Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, of which only one is born in the Great Star Dou Forest every ten thousand years."
"It is the auspicious beast of the soul beast race and also bears the fate of the soul beast race, making it the treasure of their entire race. Wherever it is, all soul beasts cultivate at twice their usual speed, and it is revered by all beasts."
"As for the Mystic Bird-"
Skydream Iceworm's tone suddenly grew solemn.
"What it represents is the last of the three, the Heavenly Mandate."
"Little Yuhan, did you know? In ancient times, the true masters of this continent were soul beasts."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes immediately widened. "Then why have humans become the masters of the continent now?" he asked incredulously.
Skydream Iceworm sighed helplessly.
"Because the progenitor of the soul beast race, the Dragon God, lost the war."
"To keep the continent's soul beast race in check, the gods bestowed Martial Souls upon humans. And this Mystic Bird was the very first innate Martial Soul, born from the fusion of the divine power bestowed by the gods and the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth."
"To exaggerate a little, you could even say the Mystic Bird represents the continent's Heavenly Mandate!"
"Favored by the Heavenly Dao, the Mystic Bird is called the Heavenly Mandate's Auspicious Omen. It possesses innate Auspicious Qi and can stir the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth."
"At the same time, it also has the ability to communicate with the God Realm. In ancient times, people respectfully called it-"
"The Divine Messenger."
After listening, however, Huo Yuhao gradually knitted his brows. "Sister Skydream, since the Mystic Bird possesses innate Auspicious Qi, then according to what you said, all living beings should feel close to it."
"But when Lin Mo and I first met, why didn't I feel any closeness at all?"
"Dummy!"
The pointer tapped Huo Yuhao on the head, neither hard nor softly.
Skydream Iceworm explained, "Because the person who awakened the Mystic Bird Martial Soul in ancient times later became the Human Emperor."
"So the Mystic Bird is also a symbol of the Human Emperor. That's where the saying came from: 'When the Mystic Bird is born, the Human Emperor emerges.'"
"When faced with the Mystic Bird, the first thing others sense is its solemn, majestic, supreme heavenly might. Only those acknowledged by the Mystic Bird can feel the closeness brought by its Auspicious Qi."
"Auspicious Qi could be called the most precious spiritual medicine on the entire continent. Did you think just anyone could be nourished by it?" Skydream Iceworm said irritably.
At her words, Huo Yuhao's shoulders slowly slumped, and an unmistakable layer of disappointment surfaced in his eyes.
He hung his head and murmured quietly:
"So Lin Mo hasn't acknowledged me yet..."
The sight of him looking so downcast only made Skydream Iceworm burst out laughing.
"All right, all right, my Little Yuhan. Put away that bitter-melon face."
Skydream Iceworm leaned toward Huo Yuhao, grinning as she unceremoniously cupped his cheeks in both hands and squeezed them toward the middle, her voice full of smug delight:
"Set your mind completely at ease. Remember how I told you to hug him last time?"
Huo Yuhao froze. With his cheeks squeezed slightly out of shape, even his voice became muffled. "Y-yes, I remember..."
Skydream Iceworm leaned a little closer and said mysteriously, "To tell you the truth, when I told you to hug him back then, I only wanted you to rub off a little of his Heavenly Mandate power onto yourself. But who would've thought..."
She drew out the last syllable, her eyes astonishingly bright.
"Your power of fortune resonated with his Heavenly Mandate power, allowing your Martial Souls to fuse!"
"So don't worry. Heaven has destined you two to be bound together for this lifetime."
Yet when Skydream Iceworm's words reached Huo Yuhao's ears, this was what he heard:
...you...hug him.
...fortune...Heavenly Mandate...resonance.
...Martial Souls...fusion, this lifetime...destined by heaven.
Huo Yuhao's eyes visibly grew brighter and brighter, and a rosy flush rose to his face. Wonderful! He and Lin Mo were destined by heaven to be together for this lifetime!
Reading comprehension: MAX. Even humanities students would bow their heads in shame.
If Lin Mo ever found out about this...
Lin Mo: "Fuck, the sky's falling! Huo Yuhao, you really deserve to die!!"
(ps: The explanation of the Mystic Bird in this chapter is an original fanfic setting. Please don't apply it to the original work, dear readers~)