vncnus 55. "Trouble"
55. "Trouble"
After washing up properly in the Ling family's bathroom, Ling Bingtian walked out while drying his wet hair with a towel.
"A shower with water heated by the Soul Guiding Water Heater is still the most comfortable."
Ling Bingtian thought to himself that ever since he told the Ling family about developing soul tools two years ago, the Ling family's higher-ups had acted very quickly.
At Ling Bingtian's suggestion, the Ling family sent several spirit attribute soul masters, some of whom they had trained themselves and others they had recruited, to study at the Soul Guidance Department of Shrek Academy.
Meanwhile, the Ling family also secretly sent several spirit-attribute soul masters to the Sun Moon Empire for training.
Ultimately, they also brought some of the advanced technologies they learned back to the Ling family, and the Soul Guide Water Heater was one of them.
Steam rose from Ling Bingtian's skin, and droplets of water still clung to her skin, but Ling Bingtian didn't pay any attention to them.
Ling Bingtian used his soul power to shudder, and the water membrane turned into an ice membrane that fell to the ground.
Wearing a black, form-fitting outfit, the slightly tight clothes made Ling Bingtian frown.
"Has it grown again? Looks like I'll have to change clothes again," Ling Bingtian thought to himself.
In the past two years, I have also experienced a period of rapid physical growth, growing a little bit every month and undergoing a major change every six months.
The tight-fitting clothes incompletely outlined Ling Bingtian's increasingly robust physique, yet gave off a hazy sense of athletic beauty. Ling Bingtian sighed and walked directly out of the bathroom; there was likely still some "trouble" waiting for him ahead.
Sure enough, when Ling Bingtian came out of the bathroom, a familiar red figure came into his view.
"Hey, little Tian, you're out after your bath?" A familiar voice rang out from in front of Ling Bingtian, carrying a strong teasing tone.
Ling Bingtian stared expressionlessly at the slender figure in front of him, and slowly uttered, "Rogue."
"Heh heh, so what if you're a rogue? It's not like I haven't seen that before." A hearty laugh suddenly rang out. "You didn't say you were taking advantage of me when you were treating me, did you?"
These words also confirm the identity of the source of the laughter.
A stunningly beautiful woman stood before Ling Bingtian, appearing from a distance like a burning flame.
Her bright red hair was tied into a ponytail and hung down her back. She was dressed in a red Shrek Academy uniform. She looked Ling Bingtian up and down with a half-smile, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.
'I didn't expect this little guy to get so fit.' Ma Xiaotao thought to herself.
That's right, the stunning woman was Ma Xiaotao from Shrek Academy. Since receiving treatment from Ling Bingtian two years ago, Ma Xiaotao no longer had to worry about the problem of her internal fire.
This allowed Ma Xiaotao to cultivate even faster than before. In less than half a year, she reached the bottleneck of level 40 and, with the help of Shrek Academy, obtained a soul ring and broke through to the Soul Master realm.
Once she broke through to the Soul Master level, Ma Xiaotao participated in the Shrek Academy's assessment to advance from the outer academy to the inner academy. After successfully passing the assessment, she became a member of the Shrek Academy's inner academy.
After becoming a member of the inner court and undergoing six months of training, Ma Xiaotao began her inner court inspection duties.
Shrek Academy's inner academy differs from its outer academy. The outer academy is dedicated to teaching and training students, but the inner academy has an additional function: supervision.
The students of Shrek Academy's inner courtyard, along with their teachers and the elders of the Sea God Pavilion, are collectively known as the Shrek Inspection Corps.
Anyone who wants to enter the Inner Academy must become a member of the Shrek Inspection Team and undertake thirty inspection missions, facing all sorts of risks that may arise in various parts of the continent during these missions.
The first task is usually led by a senior member. After completing two tasks with the help of a senior member, Ma Xiaotao began her solo journey.
Her first choice was the area belonging to the Northern Ice City of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Firstly, with the Ling family and General Jibing in charge, the area around Jibing City is safer than other areas; secondly, it's the best option for those with connections. With the help of the Ling family, the local rulers, doing anything will be much easier.
In addition, the most important reason is that the one-year period has come to an end, and Ma Xiaotao, led by Yan Shaozhe, once again came to the Ling family to find Ling Bingtian for a new round of treatment.
The Ling family was also willing to sponsor Ma Xiaotao. On one hand, with her help, they could reduce their manpower losses, and on the other hand, they could cultivate a good relationship with someone who was almost certain to become a Title Douluo in the future. What reason did the Ling family have not to be happy? As for whether there were any other ulterior motives, only the Ling family's higher-ups knew.
In short, Ma Xiaotao came to the Ling family nearly a year ago and has practically settled down there ever since. Except for a few missions, Ma Xiaotao has been staying at the Ling family to cultivate and do some things that she finds interesting.
For example, she was teasing Ling Bingtian right now, which she thought was the most interesting thing to do in the Ling family. The second most interesting thing was to "spar" with Ling Bingtian.
Ling Bingtian felt utterly helpless about the Ling family's higher-ups and their cooperation in allowing Ma Xiaotao to stay at his home, but since he had no suitable reason, he had no room to refute them.
You can't just kick someone out because Ma Xiaotao keeps harassing him, can you? If their genders were reversed, it would be different. But the truth is, even when Ling Bingtian and his wife Ling Anling mentioned it, they would only give him a mocking look and laugh at themselves.
Over time, Ling Bingtian could only passively accept this helpless outcome.
Ignoring Ma Xiaotao's teasing, Ling Bingtian asked, "You didn't come to see me just to make fun of me, did you? What's the matter, Sister Xiaotao?"
That's right, under Ma Xiaotao's insistence (and punches), Ling Bingtian couldn't call her by her full name and was forced to call her Sister Xiaotao. To this, Ling Bingtian could only say, "When my cultivation level is equal to hers, hmph~"
"Of course not! I heard you're going to your training camp tomorrow. I came here today specifically to have one last spar with you, a final training session," Ma Xiaotao said with a smile.
"A friendly spar? I think you just want to beat me up one last time before I go in!" a little voice in Ling Bingtian's mind raged. But there was nothing he could do; the Ling family's higher-ups all wanted him to get closer to Ma Xiaotao, and he couldn't escape it anyway.
Moreover, as a man, running away is not Ling Bingtian's style. Since they're going to spar, then let's face it head-on! He can also use his sparring with Ma Xiaotao to summarize the results of his training over a period of time.
"Alright, same place, let's go." Ling Bingtian waved his hand, agreeing to Ma Xiaotao's request for a sparring match. Thinking about his training over the past few days, he realized that the outcome today was not certain!
"Hehe." Seeing this, Ma Xiaotao didn't mind and left with Ling Bingtian. She had indeed come today to have some more fun with Ling Bingtian. Once Ling Bingtian started his training, she wouldn't dare to interrupt his cultivation.
Ma Xiaotao didn't know why, but whenever she stayed by Ling Bingtian's side, she felt a strange sense of comfort, and the evil fire suppressed in her martial soul would completely cease its attempts to escape. Ma Xiaotao could only attribute all of this to Ling Bingtian's ultimate ice martial soul.
Therefore, Ma Xiaotao was quite happy to be with Ling Bingtian. Whether it was sparring or teasing, it was all just an excuse. Of course, occasionally bullying the kid also brought a unique kind of joy.
"Today is the last day, should we let them pass?" the girl thought to herself as she followed the boy's steps.
Unbeknownst to either of them, two heads slowly emerged from the bathroom after they left, watching their departing figures and covering their mouths with snickers.
"Young Master, may you rest in peace." *2
Yuan Chao and Fan Xiang silently prayed for Ling Bingtian. As fellow team members, they had both been soundly beaten by Ma Xiaotao under the guise of sparring.
Now, watching the two figures disappear into the distance, a poem that Ling Bingtian had once unintentionally uttered inexplicably appeared in the minds of Yuan Chao and Fan Xiang.
The wind howls, the Yi River is cold, the hero departs, never to return.