Deeply hidden beneath his calm words was a frenzy of suppressed rage.
Ice Emperor opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, not a single word came out.
She looked at that face, which remained perpetually composed, and felt a dull ache in her chest—her heart went out to him.
Hesitating, Ice Emperor pursed her lips slightly and made a decision in her heart.
She reached out and grasped Huo Yuhao's hand, temporarily interrupting the body-nourishing process. Then, she sat up and gently pulled Huo Yuhao into her embrace.
She didn't really know how to comfort people, but she noticed that every time Skydream was hugged by Huo Yuhao, she looked incredibly happy...
Presumably, this counted as good comfort?
Suddenly embraced, Huo Yuhao froze. The train of thought he had prepared to continue the story was cut short. For a moment, he was actually at a loss.
"Ice Emperor?"
"Don't... don't read too much into it. I just... just wanted to comfort you, that's all..."
Ice Emperor buried her head in Huo Yuhao's neck, speaking in a small voice.
Huo Yuhao's azure eyes lowered slightly. Looking at the green-haired girl holding him in her arms, clumsily trying to console him, the expression on his face softened.
In his previous life, it was precisely the companionship of Ice Emperor, Skydream, and Snow Emperor that allowed him to barely endure. Otherwise, he probably would have become completely numb, a mere dog for Tang San, right?
"Shall we continue nourishing your body then?" Huo Yuhao asked softly.
"Let's just do it like this..."
She wanted to hold Huo Yuhao a little longer.
Even though she couldn't explain it, her intuition told her that by holding him a while more, Yuhao's mood would improve.
She truly, truly... felt so sorry for him.
"Mm, as you wish."
Huo Yuhao nodded gently and wrapped his arms around Ice Emperor. Under his control, the power of the Ultimate Ice began once again to nourish Ice Emperor's body bit by bit.
Perhaps because the distance between the two had closed, the effect of this nourishment was far better than simply placing a hand on her lower abdomen earlier.
In truth, he had wanted to finish the rest of the story.
The rules of the God Realm forbade gods from killing one another. Whenever a god killed another, the God Realm would bring down a terrifying lightning punishment.
Back then, he had killed Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and even Xiao Wu, who had been pushed in front of him by Tang San. (Ma Hongjun was in a state of "emo" and hadn't shown up at all.)
Having killed four gods and Xiao Wu—who shared Tang San's Divine Position—the power of the lightning penalty accumulated by the God Realm's laws had faintly exceeded the God King level!
Yet at that moment, Ice Emperor and the others had chosen, without hesitation, to tank that strike for him. This allowed him to remain in near-peak condition for that split second, dragging Tang San with him into a self-detonation within the space-time turbulence.
As for why he chose such an extreme method as self-detonation...
It was purely because at that time, other than the obsession with killing Tang San, he didn't have the slightest desire to live.
The night remained quiet. The nourishment process allowed the body to grow stronger bit by bit, but perhaps because someone's movements were too gentle, the process became quite comfortable.
Drowsiness washed over her. For the current Ice Emperor, Huo Yuhao's embrace—saturated with Ultimate Ice—was undoubtedly the best place to sleep.
Ice Emperor unconsciously closed her eyes, shrinking further into Huo Yuhao's chest, seemingly wanting to feel even more of the Ultimate Ice power from him.
Curled up in Huo Yuhao's arms like that, Ice Emperor's breathing gradually steadied, and she soon fell asleep.
...
Meanwhile, a figure was standing stealthily outside the door, carefully pressing an ear against it, trying to hear what was happening inside...
Unfortunately, she couldn't hear a thing.
Skydream looked conflicted. If she weren't afraid that using mental power to probe would be discovered by Yuhao, she would have sensed the situation inside long ago!
Just thinking about what might happen between Ice Emperor and Yuhao—a man and a woman alone in a room—Skydream couldn't stop her... envy!
Can you add me too?
If Yuhao runs out of energy later, I can even help push! I'm very useful!
Skydream tried to send out a "party invite" in her head, but there wasn't a sound from the room, leaving her completely unable to determine what was going on.
The night grew deeper...
Inside the door, Yuhao and Ice Emperor slept in each other's arms. Outside the door, Skydream, clinging to the door crack and seeing nothing, shed tears of envy while filling in the blanks with her imagination.
...
The next morning.
At the entrance of Shrek Academy's Outer Court, Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan stood with bags of various sizes, chatting as they waited for someone's arrival.
Two vibrant young girls standing together was truly a beautiful sight, especially when their looks were paired with their inherently powerful talent and strength—it was a winning combination.
"Why isn't that guy here yet..."
Tang Ya was starting to lose her patience. After all, her favorability toward Huo Yuhao was always in a state of "Schrödinger's Cat."
On one hand, because a certain someone made her "eat grass" every day and forced her to sign what she considered a "deed of sale," Tang Ya was naturally a bit wary of Huo Yuhao, fearing she might be "eaten up" entirely one day.
On the other hand, after several months of getting along, Tang Ya found that this life of "forced labor" was actually quite nice.
She didn't have to sneak into forests every day for plant life force like before, nor did she have to work in restaurants for cultivation resources and a living. She even got soul rings for free.
She was in a state of "the boss pays a lot but works you like a donkey"—truly a love-hate relationship.
"It's alright, Xiao Ya. Maybe the Mister is busy with something; we can just wait a bit longer."
Jiang Nannan wasn't in a hurry at all. She comforted Xiao Ya with a smile. That aura of maximum approachability was so dazzling it made Tang Ya look away slightly.
"Yeah, yeah... your 'Mister is the best~'. I bet even if he sold you, you'd probably help him count the money!"
"Mister wouldn't do that," Jiang Nannan shook her head seriously.
Tang Ya instantly felt her best friend was a lost cause.
But thinking about it carefully, Jiang Nannan's current trust in that guy was reasonable. Whether it was the gratitude for recognizing her talent, the gratitude for saving her mother, or the current... well, you could call it the gratitude for being a mentor.
With those three combined, plus the fact that the age gap between them wasn't as large as imagined and that guy was handsome... it wasn't surprising that Jiang Nannan trusted him so much.
In fact, if she and Jiang Nannan swapped places, she might not be able to resist falling for him either, right?
Tang Ya couldn't help but think this in her heart. But suddenly, she recalled something Huo Yuhao had said to her when she signed that "deed of sale":
"If you wish, I can help you wipe out the Iron Blood Sect at any time."
At the time, Tang Ya just thought he was saying it to win her over—after all, anyone can say pretty words.
But after spending so much time together, Tang Ya now knew that the guy never broke his word...
If I were to ask... that guy probably really would help me, right?