The simplest way to conquer a woman is naturally to conquer her stomach—or a certain place down below.
The latter was out of the question for now, but after tasting a delicious roasted fish, the relationship between Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao naturally drew much closer.
Learning that Huo Yuhao was a freshman of this year's batch, Ma Xiaotao volunteered to show him around the academy. Currently, the two were strolling through Shrek Academy, chatting and laughing.
Truth be told, the environment of Shrek Academy was indeed beautiful, with a rich and lush variety of vegetation. Walking along the wide avenues, no matter where one looked, one could see at least ten different types of plants, all clearly meticulously pruned.
However, the most eye-catching feature wasn't the greenery, but a cluster of statues. There were ten statues in total, each ten meters tall, carved from the hardest granite by master craftsmen. They were incredibly lifelike.
In the very center of this group stood the statue of the Tang Buddha. Spirals of blue vines coiled around his hand, and his face wore a "pure and noble" smile as if he were looking at Xiao Wu, who stood not far to his right.
Huo Yuhao indifferently scanned the most famous Shrek Seven Monsters of the Douluo Continent. His gaze lingered on Tang San for a few extra seconds before he looked away with unconcern.
Of course, many students passing by the statues of the original Shrek Seven Monsters bowed respectfully to pay their tributes.
Along the way, Ma Xiaotao performed her role as a guide perfectly, introducing every detail and precaution of the Shrek Outer Court to Huo Yuhao.
"Senior Ma, so you're actually an Inner Court disciple? That's amazing."
Seeing the "little puppy" look at her with such adoration, Ma Xiaotao gave a slightly proud yet calm smile. "You can just call me Sister Xiaotao. As for the Inner Court, I believe you can get in too, Yuhao. Just a tip: the Inner Court is the true Shrek Academy; that's where you learn the real stuff."
"Haha... I wouldn't dare. Who knows, I might get expelled one day for failing an exam."
"Haha! I've never heard of the academy expelling a genius who reached the Soul Elder rank at age 11. Even that crazy old hag Zhou Yi wouldn't do that... By the way, Yuhao, I haven't asked yet—what is your martial soul?"
There was no need to hide it, so Huo Yuhao answered openly, "My martial soul is my eyes. I call it the Spirit Eye."
"Eyes? No wonder they're so beautiful..." Ma Xiaotao nearly slipped up and quickly corrected herself: "Er, I mean, it's a very good martial soul. A body martial soul has great potential."
Is it just my imagination?
Ma Xiaotao was wondering to herself. Huo Yuhao gave off a gentle, water-like feeling, and she felt a refreshing coolness whenever she was near him. Wasn't he a water-attribute martial soul?
But looking at Huo Yuhao's incredibly handsome profile, Ma Xiaotao swallowed her questions.
Whatever. Just looking at Yuhao's face made her feel like she could eat three extra bowls of rice. What more could she ask for?
They chatted until they reached the freshman teaching building. After collecting his dormitory keys, two school uniforms, and a white freshman badge, Huo Yuhao followed Ma Xiaotao back out.
Upon seeing a notice on a nearby bulletin board, Ma Xiaotao's eyebrows furrowed in surprise.
"Freshman Class 10 Teacher: Zhang Lexuan. Sister Lexuan, she's..."
Freshman Class 10?
Huo Yuhao looked at Ma Xiaotao in confusion. Because he had registered late, he had been assigned to Class 10. From Ma Xiaotao's tone, she seemed to know this Zhang Lexuan?
"What's wrong, Sister Xiaotao? Do you know this teacher named Zhang Lexuan?"
Ma Xiaotao gave a bitter laugh. "Little Yuhao, you're very lucky. Sister Lexuan is the eldest senior sister of our Inner Court disciples—and a great beauty, too."
Huo Yuhao's lips twitched helplessly. What does that have to do with anything?
"Eldest Senior Sister of the Inner Court... so she's the head disciple of Shrek? Then why is she coming to the Outer Court to be a class teacher?"
"..."
Ma Xiaotao fell silent for a moment before speaking with some difficulty. "This stems from a tragedy involving the Inner Court disciples nearly two years ago. The specific details are strictly classified by the academy's upper management. I don't know much, only snippets I heard from my teacher."
"It was the heaviest loss since the founding of the Shrek Inner Court. Out of twelve elite Inner Court disciples, the only survivor was the Eldest Senior Sister, who had just advanced to Soul Douluo at the time."
Huo Yuhao was startled. Out of twelve people, only one survived?!
Inner Court disciples were at least at the Soul Emperor rank, weren't they? What kind of disaster could wipe out twelve experts above the Soul Emperor level all at once? Isn't Shrek Academy supposed to be the "Holy Land of Soul Masters"? What power could wound them so severely?
Huo Yuhao thought it over and figured there must have been a traitor. Otherwise, even twelve pigs would know how to run.
Ma Xiaotao sighed. "The dead are gone, and the living must move forward... but the heavy weight of that event has been crushing Sister Lexuan. This top genius of Shrek Academy has been depressed for the past two years. Perhaps the higher-ups couldn't bear to see her like this and sent her to the Outer Court as a teacher to relieve her stress."
Remembering how she had recently seen Sister Lexuan looking hollow-eyed and like a walking corpse, Ma Xiaotao felt a pang of heartache.
Bearing the weight of eleven companions' deaths alone—that pressure was suffocating.
She admired Zhang Lexuan immensely; she had received plenty of guidance from her in the Inner Court and truly viewed her as an older sister.
She subconsciously looked at Huo Yuhao beside her, her gaze meeting his sky-blue eyes.
I hope Sister Lexuan can pull herself together...
After dropping Huo Yuhao off at his dormitory, Ma Xiaotao headed back to the Inner Court, making plans to meet again in a few days.
The Outer Court dormitory building occupied a vast area. Although it was just one building, it featured four colors—white, yellow, purple, and black—representing the living areas for different grade levels. It stood six stories high.
At the entrance of the dormitory sat an elderly man who looked very old indeed. He wore grey cloth clothes, his face was covered in wrinkles, his eyes were murky, and his eyelids drooped, giving him the appearance of someone in the twilight of his life.
The sunlight between the buildings happened to spill onto him, and his semi-reclined chair looked quite comfortable.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward to bow and greet him. "Hello, Grandpa. Here is my room number and key."
The old man's closed eyes squinted open just a crack. After a glance, a hoarse, low voice sounded: "Go on. From the fourth floor up is the girls' dormitory. You cannot go up there. If you're caught, you'll be expelled."
"Understood."
Huo Yuhao glanced at the old man once and then made his way into the dormitory.
"Rank 36 soul power at age eleven, and a very polite child. Truly rare..."