Chapter 49: Xiao Xiao: Shipping a couple, but her own idol is one of them!

“Not bad,” Zhuge Lan nodded. “Although I can enhance the Deep Blue, condensing an external soul bone with 100,000 fate points to increase its duration costs ten times more.” “If you switch to an external soul bone that evolves automatically, it saves a huge amount of fate points. Even so, it’s already worth that piece of the torso bone.” Hearing this, Huo Yuhao felt quietly pleased but noticed Wang Dong hesitating to speak. “What’s wrong? There’s more?” “Uh... sort of,” Wang Dong said shyly. “You’ll have to wait until you reach level 50. Then, if you meet certain conditions, you might try learning the Great Sumeru Hammer... Even if you don’t, I’ll take you hunting a 300,000-year-old fierce beast... but you can’t go to the Starry Forest. The Extreme North looks promising.” Huo Yuhao was a bit confused. What were these “certain conditions”? Just as he was about to ask, the Dream Ice Silkworm jumped up first. “The Extreme North? A 300,000-year-old fierce beast?” “This is all for Bingbing!” “No way!” “Xiao Yuhao, take a leave quickly! I’ll take you to the Extreme North to seek your chance!” Huo Yuhao had yet to reply when Zhuge Lan grabbed the Dream Ice Silkworm and tied its spirit with mental force. “Are you crazy?” he scolded. “According to the plan, Xiao Yuhao goes to the Extreme North at level 30. Why wait for the Haotian Sect?” “Then we can head to the Sun and Moon Empire to gather resources and capture a sea soul beast.” The struggling Dream Ice Silkworm stopped moving. Right! They had all gotten so flustered they forgot the timeline! “Hey! Untie me!” “Enjoy your cocoon, I’m leaving!” Zhuge Lan kicked the Dream Ice Silkworm aside, not forgetting to advise Xiao Yuhao not to rush absorbing the soul bones. “I’ve arranged something else later. There might be a pleasant surprise.” Huo Yuhao nodded and stored the two soul bones Wang Dong offered into the “Twenty-Four Bridges, Bright Moon Night.” Then he stared at Wang Dong intently, ravenous. “It’s been a month since last time. Hurry up!” Wang Dong was speechless. What kind of wolfish words were those?! Yet his body obeyed, raising his hand to exchange soul force with Huo Yuhao, birthing the power of “Haodong.” “Hiss—” “Ah~” The joyful dual cultivation resumed! The next morning, Huo Yuhao unusually did not get up on time, savoring Wang Dong’s aura. — With dual cultivation nearly doubling their speed, who would want to wake up? Wang Dong was in a similar state, reluctant to rise. Until... “Ah!!!” A scream startled them awake. They found themselves once again entwined, face to face, exuding an undeniable intimacy. Outside the dorm, Xiao Xiao wore an expression full of ambiguous feelings and inner turmoil. Good news: she had witnessed a BL couple. Bad news: one was her male idol! That bittersweet feeling left Xiao Xiao both thrilled and troubled. Watching Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong spring apart, she still felt unsatisfied. “Xiao Xiao, don’t misunderstand, we were just dual cultivating,” Huo Yuhao explained. “Dual cultivating? Hehehe—” Xiao Xiao giggled dreamily. “What are you talking about!” Wang Dong blushed angrily. “It means merging soul force to speed up cultivation. Dual cultivation, my foot!” “Isn’t that the same thing?” Huo Yuhao scratched his head in confusion. Wang Dong rolled his eyes and pushed Huo Yuhao out the door. “I’m going to shower, scram!” Huo Yuhao was used to this. He told Xiao Xiao to keep reading and flew off to the bathhouse. Xiao Xiao was puzzled. They even showered separately? Could it be they were really just cultivating and not together? But Wang Dong’s flushed face was suspicious. This... Xiao Xiao felt her brain was about to overload and catch fire. After some fuss, the three gathered under a large tree to listen to Moon’s teachings. “Your cultivation rhythm was good before. Yuhao, continue leading their training,” Moon said casually. He had given all necessary guidance yesterday; the rest depended on personal discipline and talent. “Yes, teacher.” “Teacher, you’re really lazy.” “Got it, master ancestor.” Huo Yuhao led his team to another tree. “The new student evaluation is about to start. Let me teach you both a few rounds of Tai Chi.” This was for Wang Dong’s sake, who had only learned Tai Chi for a day. “No problem,” Xiao Xiao said briskly. “Every time the class leader teaches Tai Chi, I gain new insights. I’m happy to learn!” Huo Yuhao nodded with satisfaction; obedient team members were easy to train. Activating shared mental detection, he carefully taught them Tai Chi twice. Time passed quickly, and they headed for the Douhun Arena. At the waiting area, they met classmates from the first-year class. “Class leader, we saw yesterday’s fight. Amazing!” “Xiao Xiao is a control type but fought harder than the brute attackers!” “Two against three? She took on three alone!” “Class leader, I want to learn Tai Chi too!” Huo Yuhao smiled and responded to each. He politely declined those wanting to learn Tai Chi. The essence of Tai Chi lies in its realm, requiring higher talent than the Yi Jin Jing; they wouldn’t be able to learn it. As they neared the match, Huo Yuhao spoke up, “I don’t want to fight today. You two okay handling it?” “Great!” Xiao Xiao cheered. “I’ll take on three again!” “No way! I just got my third soul ring and I’m itching to fight,” Wang Dong said eagerly. “Then... one match each?” “I’ll go first!” “Alright.” So, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao stood back while Wang Dong faced three ready opponents. “Don’t underestimate us!” the opposing captain growled. “We’re not the three one-ring soul masters from yesterday, but two two-ring great soul masters!” They unleashed five yellow soul rings, their aura impressive. Wang Dong smirked. Wasn’t this a chance to show off? The dazzling Bright Goddess Butterfly appeared; the first yellow soul ring was ordinary, the second purple soul ring shocked the opponents, and the third black soul ring utterly shattered their understanding. “What the—?!” Black? Was it really black? Maybe just a dark purple... No, it was a genuine black millennium soul ring! The opponents’ captain’s defiant expression vanished instantly; he turned and left decisively. What was the point in fighting now? Xiao Xiao could handle three alone. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were Moon’s disciples, and the latter even had a millennium third soul ring. One soul skill could pulverize their ashes! Better to forfeit now and save strength for the next three matches. “Hey?” Wang Dong was stunned. “Don’t leave! Come back and fight! I won’t use soul skills... or even my martial soul!” But hearing this, the three opponents ran off. Want to show off? Dream on! Wang Yan timely announced, “First-year class one, Huo Yuhao’s team wins!” “Millennium third soul ring, so amazing!” Xiao Xiao grinned. “That counts as a win. Next round is mine!” Wang Dong waved his hand weakly. Forget it, no interest in crushing newbies anymore. But Xiao Xiao soon lost her smile because...