Hearing that, Tang Ya shrank her neck.
"Senior Beibei, what's the Sea God's Pavilion Elder? Is it very powerful?"
Wang Dong's eyes widened with curiosity.
"Heh, powerful is putting it lightly."
Beibei chuckled softly.
"The Sea God's Pavilion is the heart of the entire Shrek Academy. Every Elder there is a Super Douluo or stronger. Elder Xuan, in particular, is a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, with a top-tier martial soul — the Taotie Divine Ox. His only hobby is good food."
"With your strength, you'll most likely join the Inner Court in the future. By then, you'll be able to see him in person."
"Oh, I see…"
Wang Dong's beautiful eyes glittered, her understanding of this teacher — the one who had given her a dorm and was always so gentle — shifting once more.
Gentle and refined, easy-going most of the time… yet when it came to his bottom line, he had his unshakable convictions.
To dare to judge someone of that caliber, that was truly having the word justice carved into one's very bones.
A senior like that, was someone truly worth admiring.
"Senior Beibei, do you think… His Highness the Holy Son will ever pay attention to me again?" The girl lifted her delicate face, tears glistening at the corners of her eyes.
"Hm?"
Beibei was stunned for a moment, then smiled lightly.
"Don't worry, Little Rain Tong. Neuvillette has always been like that. Judging you doesn't mean he hates you — it's simply in his nature."
"Even if Elder Xuan himself were here today and cheated to help me win, he'd judge him all the same."
"But… I did drag you into this today…"
Looking at the young girl who had nearly had her Dao heart shattered along the way, Beibei couldn't help but feel guilty.
After all, he knew very well —
This little junior sister's only goal in coming to Shrek Academy was to follow Neuvillette. She worked so hard it made one's heart ache.
In class, she trained like her life depended on it. After class, without caring about fatigue, she would immediately push a little cart to a stall in Shrek City to sell grilled fish.
The money from selling fish went toward paying tuition and improving her strength.
Because Huo Yutong knew that Neuvillette had already helped her far too much — if she couldn't even remain in the academy without troubling the Holy Son, then she wasn't worthy of the care he had shown to her and her mother.
"I see…"
Huo Yutong gently pressed her lips together and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
Her beautiful eyes grew even more determined.
Then I'll work even harder!
One day, His Highness the Holy Son will notice me!
"That human is… rather interesting."
A voice rose from within her spiritual sea.
The Tianmeng Iceworm yawned, waking from its slumber.
"At the very least, among the humans I've seen, he's an extremely rare one — someone who can truly take justice as a creed. That's indeed quite precious…"
"Sister Tianmeng, you think so too?" Huo Yutong asked happily.
"Mhm…"
The Tianmeng Iceworm pondered for a moment.
"Work hard, girl. One day, your light will shine. If you want that human to notice you, strength is essential."
"Mhm! I'll work hard, Sister Tianmeng!"
The Tianmeng Iceworm yawned again. After delivering her daily dose of encouragement, drowsiness struck once more.
It sank back into silence within the sea of spirit.
What it didn't tell Huo Yutong was that it harbored a little thought of its own toward this just human.
Far in the Extreme North, the "Bing Bing" it loved was, by its reckoning, nearing her limit — with four hundred seventy thousand years of cultivation, it would be hard for her to break through the next great barrier.
It hoped she could, like itself, find a human to whom she could sacrifice herself.
But Huo Yutong's body was far too fragile.
This matter was far too important. It couldn't trust that human lightly — it would have to keep watching for now.
Tang Ya puffed her cheeks.
She couldn't do anything to Neuvillette, but she couldn't swallow her anger either — so she took it out on a stone by the roadside.
"Kick you to death! Kick you to death! Hmph!"
The stone skittered forward, flying ahead.
Bang!
It seemed to hit something.
Everyone looked up.
A tall, slender figure was standing in the path ahead.
Neuvillette rested one hand on his staff, the other lightly holding the stone that had just flown up, his gaze sweeping over them.
"Who were you trying to kick to death?"
"Cough, cough — kick to death Xu Sanshi! That guy's awful!"
Tang Ya guiltily hid behind Beibei.
Neuvillette's expression was unreadable.
His fingers pinched lightly — the stone crumbled into powder and scattered in the wind.
Tang Ya instinctively shrank her neck, losing her usual big-sister swagger.
"All right, Huo Yutong, come with me."
Neuvillette's eyes moved to the girl standing at the back of the group, head lowered, his voice calm.
"M-me?"
Huo Yutong raised her head blankly to look at Neuvillette ahead.
In her heart, His Highness the Holy Son surely despised her…
"Neuvillette, this has nothing to do with Yutong — it was… it was me who asked her to help me cheat…"
Beibei quickly stepped forward, bracing himself to speak in a low, humble voice.
"Don't blame her."
"Heh."
Neuvillette gave Beibei a curious glance, then smiled faintly.
"When did I ever say I blamed her?"
"Huh?"
Beibei opened his mouth.
"Being able to admit her mistake despite great pressure at least means this kid still has hope. Not like you — lying through your teeth."
Neuvillette spoke lazily.
"You brat!" Beibei was secretly relieved when he heard that.
He had grown up with Neuvillette and knew his temperament well — in this situation, it meant the matter was over.
"What are you still standing there for?"
Beibei grinned at the girl, who seemed to be in a dream after hearing Neuvillette praise her.
"O-oh."
Huo Yutong stepped forward with light steps, coming to Neuvillette's side. Smelling the faint fragrance from him, a blush crept over her delicate face.
So this is… His Highness the Holy Son's scent…
No, no, no — this is just the smell of laundry detergent. Huo Yutong, what nonsense are you thinking?
Neuvillette, unaware of the girl's thoughts, simply smiled slightly and gently brushed her hair aside.
"Stay away from Beibei and Tang Ya. Don't let them lead you astray."
Beibei gave a bitter smile, holding back the indignant Tang Ya.
"All right, all right — stop mocking me."
The girl, however, turned into a steaming kettle, blushing all the way to her ears, her pale hands clutching the hem of her skirt tightly.
Her mind went completely blank — she didn't even hear what Neuvillette had just said.
"Heh."
Neuvillette smiled faintly, turning away.
With the silly-smiling girl in tow, he slowly walked off.
"Oh, right — Elder Mu misses you. Go see him when you have time…"
The voice drifted back on the wind, falling into Beibei's ears.
The bitter smile on his face slowly froze. Staring at the deep-blue figure disappearing from sight, his expression turned dazed.
"Beibei, are you all right?"
Tang Ya hugged Beibei's arm with concern.
"I'm fine. But Neuvillette is right — those childish thoughts from the past… I should let them go."
Beibei smiled wryly, gently putting an arm around Tang Ya's slender waist.
As he grew older, he was starting to understand Mu En.
From that position, what he saw most was Shrek Academy's burden — and that inevitably meant neglecting his family.
Elder Mu loved him, but he loved the Academy more.
"Um, Your Highness the Holy Son, where are we going?"
The girl finally snapped out of her daze and looked at the tall figure ahead.
Looking around, this seemed to be the Soul Tool Department's part of the campus.
Before, because of Zhou Yi, she had come into contact with Fan Yu, and had her first encounter with soul tools.
"I'm taking you… to change teachers."
Neuvillette turned around, looking at the gradually dumbfounded girl, and smiled faintly.
(End of chapter)