"Xue'er, don't misunderstand. Xiao Yuan and I were only cultivating."
The Ice Empress's little face was bright red as she tried to explain.
"Was it really just cultivation you had in mind with Xiao Yuan?" the Snow Empress asked irritably. "Bing'er, I'm embarrassed to expose you."
"No, it wasn't..."
The Ice Empress squirmed, unable to look the Snow Empress in the eye.
At first, she really had only wanted to cultivate with Beiming Yuan. But having tasted the marrow, she knew its flavor, and she didn't want to "resist" him either.
"You two..."
The Snow Empress shook her head helplessly.
"Xue'er, you aren't jealous, are you?"
"I'm not."
"But the way you sound..."
"I'm not!" The Snow Empress glared at the Ice Empress, her cheeks growing warm as she felt a wave of embarrassment.
The conversation felt very familiar to her.
Once upon a time, Beiming Yuan had said the same thing to her.
Jealous? What was there to be jealous of?!
She was the foremost heavenly monarch of the Far North, with a cultivation approaching seven hundred thousand years. How could she do something as childish as getting jealous?
"She's obviously jealous," the Ice Empress muttered, then thought to herself, How about letting Xiao Yuan sleep with Xue'er to comfort her?
Beiming Yuan was someone she loved, and so was the Snow Empress. Both the palm and the back of her hand were flesh; since she couldn't part with either, she would have them both.
Fortunately, the Snow Empress didn't know what the Ice Empress was thinking, or she would definitely have given her a harsh lesson.
"Hm?"
Just then, Beiming Yuan came out after his bath. Seeing the two on the sofa, he asked in puzzlement, "What's wrong with you two?"
"Xiao Yuan, Xue'er is jeal-"
The Ice Empress had just started to speak when the Snow Empress shot her a look, making her swallow the words on the tip of her tongue.
"We were saying you need to show a little restraint," the Snow Empress said, looking at Beiming Yuan. "Don't act recklessly just because you're young."
"I won't." Beiming Yuan shook his head and smiled. "If my rate of depletion is one, then my rate of recovery is a hundred million."
The two women fell silent, at a loss for words.
Come to think of it, they had something to do with it too.
After all, they had fed Beiming Yuan Whale Rubber for over ten years, and the Ice God Pearl had completely removed the impurities from its medicinal power, leaving nothing but pure nourishment.
They had overnourished Beiming Yuan!
Others received a temporary boost, but Beiming Yuan had received one for life!
"Come on. It's time to get down to business today." Seeing the two women fall silent in embarrassment, Beiming Yuan didn't pursue the subject.
"Mm." The two women nodded, composed themselves, and followed Beiming Yuan out, silently guarding him from the shadows.
Outside Heaven Dou City.
Beiming Yuan looked at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the distance, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. "The more people there are, the livelier it'll be, and the more attention it'll attract."
After gathering information for some time, he had learned that today was a rather special day for the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The Blazing Fire Academy Team, from one of the Four Elements Academy, would arrive at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy today for a friendly match against the Heaven Dou Royal Team.
Quite a few people were paying attention to the match, and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family would also send someone, though there was no knowing who.
"Hopefully it's 'Xue Qinghe.'"
Beiming Yuan murmured to himself and walked toward the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the distance.
He planned to use Xue Qinghe, whom Qian Renxue was disguised as, to plot against Chrysanthemum Douluo. To that end, he had prepared two plans: one relatively gentle, the other relatively forceful.
If the gentle approach didn't work, he would use the forceful one.
Before long, Beiming Yuan arrived at the entrance to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and saw a row of carriages bearing fiery red emblems not far away.
Clearly, the Blazing Fire Academy Team had already arrived.
"There are guards, so..."
Beiming Yuan glanced again at the guards in the distance. With a thought, he sent a voice transmission: "Xue'er, Bing'er, help me sneak in."
Almost instantly, blue-white light flickered around Beiming Yuan. His figure vanished, and his presence was concealed along with it.
Of the two gate guards in the distance, one instinctively blinked toward the spot where Beiming Yuan had vanished and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Where did the person who was just there go?"
"What person? Your eyes must be playing tricks on you."
"There really was someone. I'm sure I wasn't seeing things..."
"I've told you several times to stop going to brothels with Xue Beng, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've worn yourself out, haven't you?"
In a square inside the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The square had been temporarily requisitioned as a Soul Fighting Arena for the Blazing Fire Academy Team and the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team to hold their match.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
At that moment, the two teams were competing in the square, displaying various Martial Souls as the power of their Soul Skills poured forth.
Most of them were Soul Elders at level thirty-seven or thirty-eight, and one had reached Soul Ancestor.
Quite a few spectators had gathered around them.
They included the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's students, teachers such as Qin Ming, the three education committee members, including Meng Shenji, and the academy's dean, Prince Xue Xing.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family had also sent someone: a young man, the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe.
Beside Xue Qinghe stood three more people, finely dressed and of distinguished bearing.
At their head was a refined, amiable middle-aged man. A faint smile always rested on his face, and he seemed to wear the same expression for everyone.
An old man and a young woman stood behind him.
The old man wore a blue robe and had long silver hair, like a master beyond the mortal world, a sword immortal among men.
The young woman wore a princess dress. She had delicate features, a pretty face, and a mischievous air, and she was curiously looking around.
The three came from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects. The middle-aged man was the sect master, Ning Fengzhi; the blue-robed elder was the renowned Sword Douluo Chen Xin; and the young woman was the sect's little princess, Ning Rongrong.
"As expected of a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Although he's only a level thirty-seven Soul Elder, he isn't at a disadvantage against Huo Wushuang, who's a Soul Ancestor."
Watching the dozen or so young Soul Masters sparring in the square, Ning Fengzhi gave his measured assessment with a smile.
These young people were the Soul Master geniuses of the Blazing Fire Team and the Heaven Dou Royal Team.
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's draconic might is suppressing him."
Sword Douluo Chen Xin spoke slowly. "Huo Wushuang's One-Horned Fire Tyrant Dragon bloodline is inferior to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's, so much of his strength has been suppressed."
"Mm."
Ning Fengzhi nodded, then looked toward the young woman with the Jade Phosphorus Snake Martial Soul. "That young woman should be Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan. She's already a level thirty-six Soul Elder at such a young age. Her talent isn't bad."
Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo were watching the match, but Ning Rongrong was less interested. She looked around at the crowd with great curiosity.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Ning Rongrong's gaze settled on a man in the crowd. His appearance and bearing were unforgettable at first sight.
The man wasn't wearing the Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform, but a white robe. He had the air of a graceful young nobleman and stood apart from those around him.
Besides her, quite a few others noticed the man in white, and all were somewhat surprised.
"He's so good-looking..." Ning Rongrong murmured.
At the same time, Beiming Yuan, dressed in white, seemed to sense something and looked over. Seeing that it was the "Little Demoness" Ning Rongrong, he smiled and nodded.
"He saw me..." Ning Rongrong was startled and instinctively nodded back.