As she spoke, Hu Liena's pretty face burned red, and she quickly turned toward the academy, terrified Su Linfeng might notice something unusual.
But the instant she turned, Su Linfeng still caught sight of it—
Right where Hu Liena's tight shorts met the tops of her thighs were two faint, reddish imprints of small fingers.
That was from Zhang Ping's slap?
Su Linfeng glanced suspiciously at Zhang Ping. Are kids nowadays really this bold? They play at everything…
"Heehee~"
Zhang Ping stuck her tongue out mischievously at Su Linfeng, then urged,
"Nana's acting strange today. Let's go too, Brother Linfeng."
Uh…
Su Linfeng gave a speechless smile. You're asking why she's acting strange? Don't you know yourself?
Helpless, he could only follow Zhang Ping into the academy.
As for the "green-haired Elder Sister" Hu Liena had mentioned earlier, that was naturally Dugu Bo's treasured granddaughter, Dugu Yan.
Did she come to Spirit Academy?
No.
She was still enrolled at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Back when Bibi Dong and Dugu Bo struck their deal at the Icefire Yin-Yang Well, she hadn't drawn him into Spirit Hall outright. Instead, she gave him a Pope's Token, allowing him to remain within the Heaven Dou Empire while concealing his true identity.
Su Linfeng could guess the reasoning behind this arrangement.
Every month, Dugu Bo would secretly bring Dugu Yan to Spirit Hall. First, for help suppressing the Jade Phosphor Serpent Venom. Second, for guidance on her martial spirit.
In Bibi Dong's words, "If your serpent venom is so useless that it can poison you to death, how could it possibly be considered strong?"
As a Title Douluo, Dugu Bo's martial spirit was already fixed. But Dugu Yan's future could still be altered. If her cultivation path were redirected, she wouldn't have to follow her grandfather's footsteps, and the venom's backlash could be resolved at the root.
At first, Dugu Bo refused to accept this. Changing a martial spirit's development path carried great risk. After all, soul masters believed they had to absorb spirit rings matching their martial spirit's innate attributes. There had never been a precedent for altering that direction.
If they failed, it could ruin Dugu Yan's future completely.
But after witnessing Bibi Dong's twin spider spirits, he fell silent.
Her Death Spider Emperor and Soul-Eating Spider Emperor both possessed venom stronger than his own—but one specialized in darkness, the other in spirit power. Their venom was only secondary.
Bibi Dong's insights into martial spirit development were unique. She was the first to dare such an experiment.
Otherwise, Yu Xiaogang wouldn't later plagiarize Spirit Hall's theories, test them on Tang San, and shamelessly claim the results as his own—turning them into the so-called "Ten Core Theories of Spirit Master Cultivation."
Not to mention, he even coveted Bibi Dong's secret of twin martial spirits. Later, he'd even have the gall to bring Tang San to her, essentially delivering her a powerful enemy.
Yu Xiaogang was Yu Xiaogang indeed.
From a distance, Su Linfeng spotted a solitary figure in a corner of Spirit Plaza—Dugu Yan.
Eight years old, dressed in a light-blue gauze dress patterned with silver snake scales and lined with embroidered edges, she revealed her white, lotus-like calves beneath the hem.
Meanwhile, Xie Yue, Yan, Sun Chuantao, Li Kai, and Xu Yu lingered nearby, whispering among themselves while watching her.
"Hey, Xu Yu!"
Li Kai, eyeing Dugu Yan, nudged him.
"Why do you think that Dugu-sis, like Zhang Ping, always wears short skirts? Aren't they worried about accidentally flashing people during duels?"
"How should I know?"
Xu Yu grimaced awkwardly.
"No wonder your martial spirit's a pig. Even your thoughts are crooked!"
"You perverted pighead!"
Sun Chuantao added a jab.
"This guy not only thinks dirty, he even tried to make me guess what color Dugu-sis's underwear is!"
"Wha—what?" Xu Yu's face froze in shock.
With both pairs of eyes now on him, Li Kai didn't seem the least embarrassed. In fact, he even puffed up, defiant.
"Sun Chuantao, weren't you the one who first asked me to guess Zhang Ping's color? Weren't you the one who wanted to know?"
Xu Yu: "…"
Sun Chuantao flushed crimson, stammering.
"I—I… I never wanted to know!"
He darted desperate glances at Li Kai.
But Li Kai completely missed the hint, stubbornly continuing:
"Don't look at me like that! Wasn't it you who told me Zhang Ping was white?"
"What's white?"
Suddenly, a cold, all-too-familiar voice spoke up right behind Li Kai.
Dead meat!
Li Kai froze on the spot, his face burning red. He didn't dare to move.
It felt like a chill was crawling up his spine from the base of his tailbone to the back of his neck.
"H-ha, Sun Chuantao, what nonsense were you just spouting?"
Li Kai's voice shook as he scrambled to explain.
"I… I don't like that sort of thing at all! And really, talking behind a teammate's back—that's not good, right?"
Smack!
Even though he tried to cover it up, he couldn't escape Zhang Ping's punishment.
Beside him, Sun Chuantao's heart pounded wildly.
"Uh… if I say I've never looked, would you believe me?"
Believe your damn ghost!
Zhang Ping exploded on the spot, laying into the two of them with a storm of blows.
"Su-ge, save me!"
"Aaah, not the face!"
…
Uh…
Watching from the side, Su Linfeng could only sigh helplessly.
Seven-year-old kids with hobbies like this? No wonder someone like Ma Hongjun ends up seeking "relief" before he's even twelve. These brats are really impossible to manage.
Ignoring their antics, he finally turned toward Dugu Yan.
"Linfeng."
Seeing him approach, Dugu Yan spoke.
"My spirit power's already reached level ten. Grandpa said I should come find you."
"Why aren't you with the others?"
Su Linfeng nodded, then glanced at the Golden Generation.
"Are they isolating you because your spirit power's still low?"
"N-no."
Dugu Yan quickly shook her head.
"I just… I just don't know how to get along with them."
"They're actually good people."
Su Linfeng smiled.
"You can treat them as companions. In fact, they're going to help you get your spirit ring today."
That's right—
The past two times Dugu Yan came to Spirit Hall had been for treatment. This time, it was to acquire her first spirit ring.
And the responsibility of reshaping her cultivation path had been tossed to Su Linfeng by Bibi Dong.
After all, even she didn't know spirit beasts as well as he did. No one was more suited to pick a soul beast for Dugu Yan's ring than Su Linfeng.
"Maybe… It's just because they're all too outstanding," Dugu Yan murmured.
Too outstanding?
Su Linfeng blinked. Ah—so she'd lost confidence.
Her talent wasn't bad. With innate spirit power at level seven, she had already broken through to level ten in less than two years. At Heaven Dou Academy, which had made her quite proud and a little arrogant.
But here, facing the Golden Generation's monstrous gifts, her pride had crumbled.
Her arrogance had vanished—
And even her confidence was wavering.
But really, they were outstanding.
Su Linfeng couldn't help shaking his head in exasperation.
After all, Li Kai and Sun Chuantao were so outstanding that they were already guessing what color underwear their classmates wore!