"To be able to make this cold and aloof fairy show such an expression..." Ning Chen followed the gaze of Xue Ling'er on stage, suddenly froze, and swallowed hard: "It's him!!!"
Xu Cheng's portrait hung in the corridor of the teaching building—how could it not leave a deep impression?
That young man only looked a few years older than them, yet an indescribable feeling surged within him.
Was it mutual recognition between geniuses? Or perhaps admiration?
Even the foremost among them, Ye Wanwan, found her breathing growing rapid as she watched Xue Ling'er casually hold Xu Cheng's hand, the two slowly walking away together.
"I knew it! Xue Ling'er's identity is definitely not simple!" Huyan Nian exclaimed excitedly.
"No kidding," Nan Qiuqiu rolled her eyes, though she too curiously sized up Xu Cheng. Come to think of it, this was their first time seeing him in person.
"Alright, quiet down. We need to prepare for next month's assessment. After all, the Mingde Hall's test is the final and most important one, and Senior Xu Cheng will likely appear. But before that, we have our Outer Court assessment. Whether we can show our abilities and restore glory to our families depends on this!" Yu Tianlong stared at Xu Cheng's departing back, a burning light flickering in his eyes.
"Snow..."
"Xue Ling'er!" The Snow Lady held Xu Cheng's hand, tilting her head up and gazing at him intently.
"Right, Xue Ling'er." Xu Cheng's mouth twitched. What's with this new name? "Then Xue Ling'er…"
"Ever since I awakened my spirit, I found that my martial soul is still the Snow Lady. But more importantly—perhaps because of you—even in human form, I can use a bit of my original power." Xue Ling'er, delicate and elf-like, seemed to already understand Xu Cheng's purpose.
As she spoke, her soft white hand gently pointed toward him.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Cheng was pulled into a world of pure white.
Snow drifted endlessly, swept up in fierce gales. The ground was buried in bottomless snow. An ordinary person would barely see anything here, yet Xu Cheng calmly observed his surroundings.
A flicker of crimson light passed through his blood-red pupils.
Amid the darkness of the blizzard—
A figure slowly emerged.
She was like a snow fairy, stepping lightly across the frosty land. Her long silver hair flowed softly over her shoulders. Her face was exquisitely beautiful, her brows carrying an eternal frost. Her eyes—deep and distant—resembled the starry sky of a winter night.
Snowflakes swirled around her as if singing praises of her unmatched beauty, yet the beauty herself remained unmoved, her eyes filled only with endless loneliness and unfathomable calm.
"You call this... a bit?" Xu Cheng's mouth twitched again.
Honestly, he had been worried about the Snow Empress before he came.
But now…
Maybe the ones who should be worried were those who dared to think of laying a hand on her.
Based on the strength the Snow Empress just revealed, even if she didn't have her full 600,000+ years of cultivation at her peak, she likely had close to 500,000 years.
Everyone knows that for humans, 400,000–500,000 years of soul beast cultivation roughly corresponds to Rank 98, and 600,000–700,000 years corresponds to Rank 99. (Reference: Xuanzi vs. the Scarlet King—Xuanzi could suppress him but already with effort, and the Scarlet King was just over 300,000 years.)
So now, faced with a terrifying soul beast disguised as a loli, perhaps Elder Jing should be more concerned about her losing control...
At this moment, in the blizzard world, that icy and elegant older-sister figure stepped forward. Wherever her bare, pale foot touched, a faint snow-step formed.
She slowly walked to Xu Cheng, her bare feet stepping on the snow, eyes quietly fixed on him.
Then she glanced at her own clothing and asked lightly, "Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful," Xu Cheng answered honestly.
"Sigh~ You don't like it? This is my true form," Xue Ling'er said with a troubled expression. "So you actually like..."
"Hey hey hey! I can't say! It won't pass the review!" Xu Cheng quickly covered her mouth.
"Got it." Xue Ling'er smiled playfully.
Then she took another step forward and nestled herself into Xu Cheng's arms. Seeing that he still stood there dumbfounded, she unhappily grabbed his hands and wrapped them around her back. Then her jade-like arms gently wrapped around his neck.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Xu Cheng stammered.
"Isn't this how humans express affection?" Xue Ling'er tilted her head, softly biting her red lip.
In the spiritual world.
A long-dormant Tianmeng Ice Silkworm stirred awake. But the moment he saw what was happening outside, he was struck like lightning: "Wait... Huh?!"
"Ah Cheng, you're a human!! And you've won over the Snow Empress?!" Tianmeng screamed in impotent rage.
He had loved Ice Empress for hundreds of thousands of years and hadn't even held hands, yet Xu Cheng…
Ah Cheng, you damn bastard!
"Charisma," came a calm voice. "Snow Empress making this choice... it was within my expectations." A petite green scorpion appeared in the spiritual sea.
She quietly gazed at the projection in the sky—everything Xu Cheng was experiencing.
Her eyes showed a hint of complexity.
"This era's protagonist is humanity. And so will the next era be. Humans are greedy, ignorant, and evil—evil by nature. But there will always be chosen ones like Xu Cheng, who suppress the evil, and show the world the incredible unity and creativity of those pure-hearted ones blessed by heaven."
"It is precisely because humans continue to produce individuals like Xu Cheng that they've endured from the Stone Age to the soul device era."
"We help him become a god, but the blessings he'll return to us in the future will be as boundless and endless as a river." Ice Empress sighed.
Perhaps she had once loathed humans.
But now… under Xu Cheng's influence, she found a bit of peace.
"They're about to kiss!" Tianmeng was pacing around the spiritual sea like an anxious bug on a hot pan.
"Damn it, they kissed! And it was the Snow Empress who made the move, can you believe that?!"
"The Snow Empress's first kiss, gone—AAARGH!"
Tianmeng howled in agony.
He started blowing frantically on his tail.
"Shut up," Ice Empress said coldly.
-------------------------------------------------
"You're saying Zhang Lexuan and Xu Cheng have something... going on?" Fan Yu slammed the table and stared at Mo Xuan in disbelief.
"Yes. Recently in class, I keep seeing senior sister looking at Xu Cheng with eyes full of affection, just like a girl in love gazing at her beloved," Mo Xuan said with a troubled expression.
He didn't want to be a snitch.
But Zhang Lexuan was too important—Shrek's real future, the next Sea God Pavilion Master.
If Xu Cheng won her over, wouldn't Shrek fall into the hands of the Sun Moon Empire without a fight?
But why would Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan get involved with Xu Cheng?
He couldn't understand it.
If Mo Xuan hadn't been so sure, even the Sea God Pavilion Elders would have treated it like a joke.
"You're sure you're not mistaken?" Fan Yu raised his eyebrows.
"If it were anyone else, I might report it casually. But this is Senior Sister Lexuan. Do you think I'd bring it up without being sure?" Mo Xuan smiled bitterly.
"Ning Tian, Wang Dong, even Xiao Xiao—we've all been classmates for years. I don't believe they're unaware. But considering recent events, you know what's been happening."
"Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect publicly joined the Sun Moon Empire, Wang Dong'er left the Clear Sky Sect to become Xu Cheng's disciple, and Xiao Xiao… I don't know her well, but judging by her attitude, I doubt she plans to return in three years either. So..."
"You mean... they're all hiding this!" Fan Yu's scalp tingled.
It suddenly hit him—everyone in Xu Cheng's class, except for the diehard Shrek supporter Mo Xuan, had long been pulled into Xu Cheng's orbit!
First Ning Tian, then Wang Dong, and next...
No! Fan Yu asked anxiously: "How long has this been going on?"
"It started showing signs last month. I didn't speak up because I didn't want to misjudge Senior Sister. So I observed for another month," Mo Xuan said with a bitter smile.
Mostly because Zhang Lexuan had vanished for half a month. She just returned to class yesterday...
"Why are you only saying this now?!" Fan Yu shouted.
"I…" Mo Xuan drooped his head.
Took time to be sure, and now you're mad…
"Damn it, Zhang Lexuan can't fall! She's the future of the Martial Soul Department, the future of Shrek. If something happens to her, we'll lose an entire generation!" Fan Yu began pacing.
Ma Xiaotao had just been kidnapped. Among the younger generation, only Zhang Lexuan remained as a true leader!
She was miles ahead of her peers.
An undisputed next-generation Sea God Pavilion heir.
If she and Ma Xiaotao both disappeared, Shrek would collapse!
"Teacher!"
A voice came from outside.
The teacher dormitory door opened. He Caitou walked in, patting his bald head, surprised to see the lights on and the two looking so gloomy.
"Teacher, Senior Mo," he greeted respectfully.
"Good. I need to ask you something. Mo Xuan, tell him exactly what you just told me," Fan Yu said quickly, pulling He Caitou over.
"Yes. Junior Caitou, it's like this…"
A few minutes later—
He Caitou's mouth twitched.
He knew Xu Cheng had no shortage of admirers—plenty of records mentioned his close female acquaintances.
But to win over Shrek's inner court senior sister in just a few months? That was beyond belief.
Ridiculous!
That was the inner court's Senior Sister Lexuan!
Even from the Soul Tool Department, he had heard of her.
Beautiful, gentle, incredibly powerful.
All he could say was—his cousin truly lived up to his title of "charm demon."
"I just want to ask—since you're of the Xu bloodline, do you know any secrets that could explain what exactly Xu Cheng did to win Lexuan's heart? So we can counter it!" Fan Yu asked anxiously.
He Caitou looked at his teacher and sighed inwardly.
He knew Xu Cheng too well. If he had let things be discovered, that meant… he no longer cared.
Or rather, he wanted to be discovered.
The reason was unclear, but everything was probably within his control.
Yet Fan Yu still thought discovering it now gave them an advantage.
Still, since his teacher asked, he couldn't refuse. He frowned and pondered deeply, then slowly shook his head.
"If you say it's his looks, Lexuan isn't that shallow. If it's strength, she wouldn't fall just for that. His charisma is terrifying, but…"
"Wait, maybe that's it." A flicker of realization crossed He Caitou's face. Could it really be that coincidence?
"The only explanation… might be her surname. Maybe she's not Zhang Lexuan, but… Xu Lexuan."
Fan Yu: "..."
Mo Xuan: "..."
"Teacher, Senior Mo, do you know why the Sun Moon Empire is named that way?" He Caitou suddenly stood up, a solemn look on his face.
"This… I've never heard," Fan Yu admitted after some thought, shaking his head.
Mo Xuan was the same.
"It's because, in the early days of the Sun Moon Empire's founding, the royal bloodline was split into two types—Sun and Moon…"
"What!"
Both of them exclaimed at the same time.
This was quite a secret. If one wasn't a member of the Sun Moon Empire's royal family, even citizens of the empire themselves often wouldn't know.
"For example, I am a twin martial soul wielder—Cigar and Sun. And within the royal family of the Sun Moon Empire, there are quite a few who possess the Moon martial soul, the purest form of moon-related martial souls in this world," He Caitou said with emotion.
"Even if it's not pure Sun or Moon, most are martial souls derived from them. If not… then it's a martial soul mutation—or the man's got a green hat on…"
"So what you're saying is…" The two of them widened their eyes simultaneously.
"Though this speculation is absurd—almost like picking a fight—for now, with no other suspects, what seems the most outrageous might actually be the correct answer!" He Caitou said solemnly.
"Alright, alright, I'll write to the Academy right away!" Fan Yu said in a panic. "Let's hope we're not too late! Let's hope we're not too late!"
"The best option now is to ask the Academy to urgently summon Senior Sister back. Only then can we get to the bottom of this," He Caitou said gravely.
"Because on this land, with our strength, we're not yet qualified to uncover the truth."
"There's no other way…"
…
Duke White Tiger's main tent.
It was filled with laughter and cheer.
The soldiers clinked their cups and drank heartily.
After all, this was a rare occasion. The marshal had long enforced a strict prohibition on alcohol, but today, with the arrival of the two deputy generals, the ban was surprisingly lifted, allowing everyone to enjoy fine wine freely.
Many soldiers looked toward the two generals seated beside the head table with a bit of admiration in their eyes.
These two deputy generals had just arrived from the imperial capital and had been feeling quite uneasy. After all, everyone understood the emperor's intentions—sending them here had an obvious motive.
They feared that if they displeased Duke White Tiger, he'd toss them onto the front lines as cannon fodder, and they'd be "deceased" within days.
But upon meeting, this General Dai Hao showed no trace of displeasure—instead, he was incredibly welcoming.
He even waited for the two outside the tent in person, then held such a grand banquet.
After several rounds of drinks, the two were feeling a bit tipsy.
At the same time, their guard toward Dai Hao lowered quickly. In fact, deep down, they even began to look down on him. His family tomb had been desecrated, and he was acting as if nothing had happened…
Outside the tent, many of their personal guards—around a hundred soul masters—were also drunk to the point of intoxication.
A crisis… seemed to be brewing.
(End of Chapter)