Under the dedicated research of Electrolux, the fundamental spirit soul technology had already undergone several minor improvements. Following the successful fusion with the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion spirit soul, Huo Yuhao now possessed two 400,000 year spirit rings and a 400,000 year spirit bone. Together, these assets granted him six incredibly potent 400,000 year ice attribute spirit abilities. Specifically, the first spirit ring of his Ice Jade Empress Scorpion spirit provided two distinct spirit abilities: Ice Empress Protection and Ice Vein Piercing Kill. While Ice Empress Protection served as a defensive spirit ability, Ice Vein Piercing Kill functioned as a purely offensive spirit ability.
Because of this, the single finger strike Huo Yuhao had used earlier was not a random or simple movement. It was the activation of the first spirit ability of his Ice Jade Empress Scorpion spirit, Ice Vein Piercing Kill. The specific effect of this spirit ability allowed the user to completely ignore physical defense. That focused streak of extreme cold would pierce directly through any external protection to begin freezing and making the target brittle from inside their body. It was a move specifically designed to counter defensive spirit abilities and defensive spirit masters.
As long as the attack connected, everything from the internal organs to the muscle fibers, and from the meridians to the skeleton, would eventually be turned into powder under the terrifyingly low temperature of the Ultimate Ice. Once a person was hit by this particular move, it was almost impossible to fix or resolve the damage. The only real way to survive it was to predict the strike in advance and dodge the attack entirely. After all, Ice Vein Piercing Kill functioned as a linear attack that moved straight back and forth, which meant it left very little room for the user to maneuver once it was launched.
Huo Yuhao blinked at that moment, looking at the pleading teacher standing before him without offering a direct answer. His gaze shifted first toward Wang Dong, who was still pouting with frustration beside him, and then he looked over at the pair of twin sisters standing not far away. Retracting his gaze, he finally spoke in a slow and measured voice: "I can undo the ice seal."
"However, I hope the teacher can provide a more appropriate resolution to this matter." Huo Yuhao kept his tone calm and steady as he looked toward the twin sisters. "Those two classmates nearly lost their lives just a moment ago. Offering merely two soul ascension pills as compensation for that is far from enough."
The teacher nodded his head repeatedly upon hearing those words, looking as if he was terrified that Huo Yuhao might change his mind. "Of course, of course!" His tone was quick and urgent as he replied: "As long as the ice seal is undone, everything is negotiable! Regarding the matter of compensation, I will definitely make sure that you are satisfied!" In a situation like this, he didn't dare say anything about the boy pushing his luck.
Huo Yuhao nodded, not at all worried about the teacher going back on his word. Sea Gods Pavilion Master Mu En had personally told him that if he ever had any problems or suggestions, he could always go to the Dean of the Spirit Hall Department, Yan Shaozhe, to report them. Huo Yuhao said nothing more. He walked a few steps over to the ice sealed Ma Xiaotao, crouched down, and lightly pressed his right hand against the thick layer of frost covering her. That extreme cold was intense enough to make anyone standing nearby shiver to their bones, yet to Huo Yuhao, it felt no different from anything else.
The ice began to melt away. Starting from the exact spot where Huo Yuhao's palm touched her, the translucent ice shell began to recede bit by bit, behaving like winter snow being brushed away by a warm spring breeze. Ma Xiaotao's face gradually started to regain a hint of color, moving away from its previous deathly pallor. Nearby, Teacher Li, who was desperately channeling his Tree of Life spirit, immediately sensed the positive change in Ma Xiaotao's vitality. The heart pulse he had been struggling to maintain with life energy was still weak, but it was no longer filled with the aura of death qi. The other teacher also let out a heavy sigh of relief, reaching up to wipe the dense beads of cold sweat from his forehead.
However, just as the two of them had finally started to relax, a voice came from behind them that caused both of their bodies to freeze simultaneously. "Just what exactly is going on here?" The voice was not particularly loud, but to the two teachers, it sounded like a sudden bolt from the blue. It made their scalps tingle and caused their backs to instantly soak with cold sweat. They were far too familiar with that voice. They knew it so well that even before they turned around to see a shadow, they already knew the newcomer was none other than Yan Shaozhe!
At this time of day, there were indeed very few people by the shore of Sea God Lake. But the Tree of Life spirit avatar that Teacher Li had just manifested was over ten meters tall, and its emerald green light was exceptionally prominent in the twilight; there was no way it would not attract attention. As soon as that bright light flared up, curious bystanders had begun to gather. Yan Shaozhe was a man who was narrow minded, calculating, and possessed a strong desire for power. Because of those traits, his control over the academy was naturally not weak. Thus, the report of the anomaly by the Sea God Lake shore quickly reached his ears, prompting him to come and investigate for himself.
The two teachers turned their heads stiffly and saw Yan Shaozhe standing not far away. His gaze passed over them to land on the figure with the weak aura lying on the ground. On that face that usually carried a hint of refinement, his expression was now so dark it looked like it could drip water. His precious disciple was currently lying on the ground, and her fate was unknown.
"Yan Shaozhe!" After a brief moment of panic, Teacher Li spoke up hurriedly, his voice clearly tinged with urgency. "Xiaotao's evil fire suddenly erupted. We exhausted all of our strength and only just managed to get the situation under control. Although her aura is weak right now, please do not worry, Yan Shaozhe; her life is in no danger!" Under the watchful eyes of the gathered crowd, he knew he couldn't use outright lies to cover up his negligence. But he could use his words to euphemistically frame the situation, at least by first establishing the fact that Ma Xiaotao was going to be fine.
Sure enough, hearing that his disciple was safe caused the coldness in the depths of Yan Shaozhe's eyes to dissipate slightly. But his expression remained stern as he frowned and asked, "Why is Xiaotao here? Shouldn't she be in the Inner Court?"
The other teacher standing beside Teacher Li stepped forward at this moment, bracing himself for the reaction. He swallowed hard and mustered up the courage to speak: "Yan Shaozhe, this was our negligence. We didn't discover that Xiaotao had run out in time... but fortunately, nothing has been caused..." Halfway through his sentence, his voice suddenly caught because he saw the sharp look Wang Dong was giving him. He didn't doubt for a second that if he continued like this, Wang Dong would immediately speak up in indignation. So, the phrase "nothing major has been caused" that was on the tip of his tongue was forced back down.
Cough, cough! He coughed twice and continued, bracing himself: "Just now, two students from the Outer Court were almost... by Xiaotao..." He spoke haltingly, but he eventually recounted everything that had just happened in full detail. Yan Shaozhe listened quietly, and the expression on his face did not change in the slightest. But his eyes grew colder and colder as the story went on. He gave the two teachers in front of him a cold sidelong glance, silently cursing them as useless in his heart.
If not for their negligence, how could there be all this trouble? He had a belly full of fire he wanted to vent and a belly full of curses he wanted to shout at them. But more and more students were gathering around the area. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he had to maintain his public image as a refined, easy going, just, and strict Yan Shaozhe. He took a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said tonelessly, "The matter regarding the two of you will be discussed later, but... punishment is unavoidable." These words weren't spoken heavily, yet they made both teachers shiver at the same time.
Yan Shaozhe ignored them and turned around, his gaze falling on the two blue haired girls not far away. Yan Shaozhe looked at them, and his tone softened slightly: "This matter was the academy's mistake. In addition to the soul ascension pills given to you earlier, regardless of whether you remain enrolled in the academy in the future, whenever you have a need for a spirit ring, the academy will dispatch teachers to obtain them for you. Xiaotao is my disciple; as her teacher, I also bear responsibility for the trouble she has caused."
He looked at the two blue haired girls and said word by word, "I will personally compensate you with two spirit bones. Although their age won't be very high, it is a token of my sincerity. I wonder if you are satisfied with this?"
As soon as those words were spoken, the surroundings instantly fell silent. A spirit bone. That was a spirit bone! It was a spirit bone that many spirit masters would never even see once in their entire lives! It was a spirit bone that many experts would struggle with all their might but still fail to obtain! Now, Yan Shaozhe was actually going to bring them out just to compensate these two academy freshmen? Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu looked at each other, both seeing complete disbelief in the other's eyes. They opened their mouths but didn't know what to say, as they seemingly had not reacted to the news yet. The surrounding students, however, had already begun to whisper among themselves, shocked by Yan Shaozhe's grand gesture, and some even marveled at the good luck of the two sisters, Lan Luoluo and Lan Susu!
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