"I really don't get why you're so darn hardworking. Fine if you want to work hard, but you have to drag me into it too."
The Ice Empress reluctantly got out of bed and looked at Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao looked at the yawning Ice Empress and smiled. "As the saying goes, share blessings and hardships alike. Cultivating the Purple Demon Eye requires absorbing purple Qi at a set time, and that purple Qi only appears when the sun has just risen."
"So, you know."
The Ice Empress rolled her eyes at Huo Yuhao helplessly.
This guy had definitely dragged her out of bed early because he couldn't sleep in himself.
She would remember this grudge!
Huo Yuhao tossed the bedding in his hands onto the Ice Empress's bed. He walked to the door and reminded her, "Get dressed and come out for breakfast. The Snow Empress will probably be here soon."
"I know, I know," the Ice Empress replied perfunctorily.
Only after Huo Yuhao left did she slowly open the wardrobe in front of her.
Everything hanging inside belonged to her.
A few moments later.
The Ice Empress walked out of the room, the sleepiness on her face gradually fading.
The Ice Empress had tied her long, emerald-green hair into twin tails, its color flashing with an emerald sheen.
She wore a short, emerald-green JK skirt that didn't even reach her knees, revealing her fair, slender lower legs.
The Ice Empress had long been used to walking barefoot, so she hadn't chosen to wear the shoes Huo Yuhao had prepared for her. She was walking outside barefoot now.
The Ice Empress walked over to her usual place at the dining table out of habit. Just as she was about to sit down, a familiar cough reached her ears.
Only then did the Ice Empress come to her senses and realize that the Snow Empress had arrived at some point.
The Snow Empress sat in the Ice Empress's usual seat, eating freshly toasted bread in small bites.
The Ice Empress looked at the Snow Empress unhappily. "Xue'er, why are you here again? And you're sitting in my seat, eating my toast."
The Snow Empress raised her head from her toast and looked at the Ice Empress with a smile. "My, our Bing'er actually got up so early today."
"I never saw you being so lazy in the Far North. How come you've been sleeping in ever since you got to the Body Sect?"
The Snow Empress's question made the Ice Empress's little face redden slightly.
She said, "Why else? I'm not used to the climate!"
"Really?" The Snow Empress simply looked at the Ice Empress in silence, her face full of smiles.
The Ice Empress turned her head away from the Snow Empress. Just then, Huo Yuhao brought the freshly toasted bread over to the Ice Empress.
He said gently, "Have breakfast first, Bing'er."
"At least you know what's good for you." The Ice Empress snorted and began eating her toast in small bites.
Her gaze remained fixed on Huo Yuhao as he prepared breakfast.
After breakfast.
The Ice Empress and the Snow Empress washed the plates at the tap, while Huo Yuhao used the time to cultivate in his room.
The Ice Empress glanced toward Huo Yuhao's room from time to time and sighed helplessly. "This guy really is a cultivation maniac."
The Snow Empress chuckled. "There's no helping it, is there?"
As she spoke, her gaze darkened, and she used Soul Power to transmit her voice to the Ice Empress.
The Snow Empress said in a low voice, "Huo Yuhao's Innate Soul Power has slowed down his cultivation."
"He can only make up for it through hard work afterward."
"We have memories of the future, but we still don't know how long we can keep Huo Yuhao joining the Body Sect and deviating from the original outcome hidden from the Sea God."
Unhappiness filled the Ice Empress's little face when she heard the Snow Empress's words.
Sea God Tang San was their most threatening enemy.
The Sea God and the Asura God made up his Dual Godhood: one a First-Level God, the other a God King.
With their current strength, they were completely unable to stand against him.
The Snow Empress asked, "Bing'er, you said the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Electrolux have also regained their memories, right?"
The Ice Empress nodded. Because of the Snow Empress's question, her thoughts were now entirely occupied with how to ensure Huo Yuhao's safety.
"After returning to the Body Sect, Yuhao reunited with Electrolux."
"He promised Yuhao that once Yuhao grows stronger, he'll teach him Necromancy, a magic beyond the reach of this world."
Suddenly, the Ice Empress thought of a place and asked, "When are we going to the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave?"
The Snow Empress thought for a moment before replying, "Yuhao has been too tired lately. Let him rest for a while. The Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Cave isn't going to disappear into thin air, anyway."
"My goddaughter Xiao Bai is also one of Yuhao's Soul Spirits. Once Yuhao reaches level thirty, I'll have Xiao Bai sacrifice herself to him."
"All right, we'll do it your way."
Shrek Academy.
The assessment area in the north-central part of the Martial Soul Department, near the Soul Fighting Zone.
The assessment area was oval-shaped. Unlike an enclosed stadium, it was an open space surrounded by a low wall.
Inside, partitions divided the assessment area into separate sections. These partitions could be rearranged at any time to change the size of the sections.
What nobody had expected was that this freshman assessment had actually drawn Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department, and Du Weilun, the director of instruction, to watch.
Du Weilun looked at the empty grounds before him and said helplessly, "What a pity. Dai Huabin, the freshman with the greatest potential to contend for the championship, withdrew from the academy because of family matters."
"Dean, do you know anything about why? Why did Dai Huabin suddenly..."
Before Du Weilun could finish, Yan Shaozhe cut him off.
Yan Shaozhe said gravely, "There are some things that you're better off not knowing too much about."
"You only need to know that this matter is confidential between Shrek and the White Tiger Duke's Mansion."
The Body Sect, the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Ultimate Ice...
Huo Yuhao.
These three completely unrelated factions and Ultimate Attribute had actually appeared together in one person, a rare occurrence.
Huo Yuhao...
Ultimate Ice...
If he could really snatch Huo Yuhao away, then his disciple Ma Xiaotao would no longer suffer the corrosion of Evil Fire.
But...
Yan Shaozhe kept recalling the words of his teacher, Mu En.
Mu En: Don't even think about targeting Huo Yuhao. A Level 99 Limit Douluo can freeze you into ice chips with one slap.
We only need to give Huo Yuhao a tiny bit of a sweet deal.
Give Huo Yuhao a tiny bit of a sweet deal?
Yan Shaozhe thought he'd have to have water in his brain to do that.
What he wanted was for Huo Yuhao to willingly abandon the Body Sect and join their Shrek.
Then he would betroth him to Ma Xiaotao.
Just as Yan Shaozhe reached this point in his thoughts, for some reason, he suddenly felt a chilly sensation well up in his heart.
Inside the assessment area.
The proctor stepped into the center of the open grounds and said, "Both sides, enter and announce your names."
Gu Ruiqiu, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er walked onto the open grounds.
The six stood opposite one another in groups of three.
Xiao Xiao wore the freshmen's white uniform. She was petite and delicate-looking, the kind of girl whose looks grew on you.
She might have looked delicate, but she was very strong on the inside.
She was the ideal choice for a girlfriend you could watch grow.