Chapter 288: Academic Discussion | Letter

Tianshui City, in the northern reaches of the Heaven Dou Empire.

It was already deep winter; the world was wrapped in silver, quiet and solemn.

Thick white snow covered the cobblestone streets, with the occasional dull sound of horse hooves and rolling carriage wheels.

The thick city walls stood like guardians of time, with icicles between the bricks shimmering with a faint light.

On the battlements, the accumulated snow was like a layer of soft cotton; occasionally, snowflakes drifted down, swirling in the cold wind as if dancing in the air.

Ordinary residents kept their doors and windows tightly shut to ward off the bitter cold, while the flickering firelight in their fireplaces cast a hint of warmth.

Only the Spirit Masters walked the streets as they usually did.

Most of them were Spirit Masters with ice-attribute or water-attribute martial souls, so such cold naturally could not trouble them.

"It's been almost two years..." The graceful young woman exhaled a puff of hot air that condensed into frost in the cold, her beautiful eyes dazed as she murmured to herself.

A year and a half had already passed.

Yet, Shui Bing'er could never forget the man who had stolen her heart.

He had swept through like a blizzard, so thrilling and so unforgettable, yet he had never been seen again since.

It felt just like a dream, so beautiful that one did not want to forget it.

But both Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er knew that it was not a dream.

Because... they still remembered the Moonlight Breathing Method that Ning Feiliu had taught them, as well as those two Immortal Herbs.

And Shui Yue'er's unique second martial soul—the Moon God.

Because of the Moonlight Breathing Method, the Mysterious Water Pill, and the Immortal Herbs, the strength of Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had progressed by leaps and bounds over the past year or so.

Although they had not broken through to the Soul King realm in just over a year.

They were now at level 48 and level 45 soul power, respectively.

Shui Bing'er had already been at level 44 soul power before Ning Feiliu left, so an increase of four levels in a year and a half was definitely quite significant.

After all, the further a Spirit Master progressed in their realm, the slower the breakthroughs became.

Some high-level Spirit Masters only increased by one level of soul power in a year.

Now, such a rate of improvement for Shui Bing'er was already enough to make people marvel.

Shui Yue'er's talent was slightly inferior to Shui Bing'er's; she had only increased by three levels of soul power in a year and a half, which was an improvement of one level every six months.

But this could still be considered quite fast.

Before long, they both had the potential to break through to the Soul King realm before the Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in two years.

This... was an unprecedented opportunity!

Therefore, the dean of Tianshui Academy, Leng Hanxue, valued them highly and felt that this time, victory was certain! After all, even the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy only had those two members of the Heavenly Generation—the captain of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team, the granddaughter of Poison Douluo, and that Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master—who had broken through to the Soul King realm.

Yet they might have two Soul King-level team members in the future...

Even so, they were evenly matched! However, compared to the Heaven Dou Empire, which was widely publicizing that Ning Feiliu, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling—the three so-called members of the Heavenly Generation—had broken through to the Soul King realm.

The Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall was only famous internally and was not known to outsiders.

Tianshui Academy was still very happy, and then... Leng Hanxue specially invited the other Four Elements Academies to hold an "academic discussion" among the Four Elements Academies.

During this period, the Four Elements Academies were also about to arrive in Tianshui City.

However, Shui Bing'er still did not take this matter to heart.

She was still suffering from lovesickness, her mind entirely occupied by Ning Feiliu, who had gone to Slaughter City.

She worried about everything; not only did she wonder if something had happened to Ning Feiliu, but she also worried if Ning Feiliu had abandoned them.

Had he already come out and returned to Heaven Dou City?

Could it be that Ning Feiliu's beloved first love was unwilling to accept them? So he had no choice but to give them up?

However, Ning Feiliu had once said he might stay in Slaughter City for two years before coming out; since two years had not yet passed, they were not completely panicked.

But as the time Ning Feiliu remained out of touch grew longer, her thoughts became increasingly chaotic.

Her younger sister, Shui Yue'er, was much the same, perhaps even worse off than Shui Bing'er.

After all, her mental state was less mature than Shui Bing'er's, so her wild imaginings were more complex.

Sometimes, she would even run to Shui Bing'er in tears, asking if Ning Feiliu had abandoned them.

Shui Bing'er could only comfort her half-sister, saying it wouldn't happen, and that Ning Feiliu was not the type of man to discard someone after winning their heart.

But she had no confidence in her heart either.

After all, although Ning Feiliu was not that kind of man, if Dugu Yan did not agree, then he would have no choice but to do so.

Just as Shui Bing'er was lost in such wild thoughts once again...

She received an unexpected letter at this very moment.

"Bing'er! There's a letter for you!" Gu Qingbo suddenly appeared before her, then handed her an envelope with a grin.

"My... letter?" Shui Bing'er was stunned for a moment, then asked curiously, "Who... sent this letter?"

"Of course it's... Feiliu!" Gu Qingbo said with a giggle, "Look at the signature on it!"

Shui Bing'er took a look, and sure enough, the name "Ning Feiliu" was written on the envelope.

She immediately became excited, and just at this moment...

"Sister!" Shui Yue'er's voice suddenly appeared.

She was seen arriving in front of Shui Bing'er, also very excited, and said, "Is it... a letter from Feiliu, right?"

She had also been notified by someone Gu Qingbo had sent, and she had run over in such a state of excitement.

"I suppose... it is." Shui Bing'er was also very excited, but still said with some uncertainty.

"Go ahead and open it, I'll be going now, bye." Gu Qingbo was very tactful; after delivering the letter, she left with a cheerful smile.

Because she knew that this letter was for Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er to read.

After Gu Qingbo left, Shui Yue'er hurriedly and excitedly said to Shui Bing'er, "Sister... hurry and tear it open to see... what Feiliu said."

Shui Bing'er also took a deep breath. Amidst a mix of joy and worry, she opened the envelope and took out the letter inside.

Together, they looked at the contents of the letter—

"Bing'er, Yue'er, long time no see.

Forgive me for not replying for over a year; ever since we parted last time, I have missed you dearly.

As I write this letter, I have actually already finished my training in Slaughter City. However, I appeared in the southwest of the Empire, so I was unable to go to Tianshui City to meet you again.

So, I followed the direction back to Heaven Dou City first. After speaking about this matter to my beloved Dugu Yan, whom I have mentioned to you before... she agreed to us being together.

However, after that, I was busy researching new types of Soul Guidance Devices, so I somewhat forgot to write to you.

As I write to you now, we have already decided to continue our training.

This journey is intended to continue traveling through the Bei Jing, and then we will find you so that we can explore an ancient ruin in the southeast of the Empire together.

Perhaps in two months, we will be able to reach Tianshui City. I look forward to... the time when we meet again."

With that, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er finished reading the entire contents of the letter.

Then, their uneasy hearts finally settled down...

Ning Feiliu... had not met with misfortune, nor had he abandoned them! Instead, that beloved original partner of Ning Feiliu had agreed to accept them! To them, this was truly the best thing that could have happened!

After all, they had long since stopped daring to hope for too much; being able to be with Ning Feiliu was already the greatest stroke of luck in their lives.

So, upon seeing the contents of the letter, they were so happy they didn't know how to describe it.

"Feiliu... has finally come out, and he will come to find us," Shui Bing'er said with a sweet feeling in her heart.

"But... that Miss Dugu will also be coming along. When the time comes, will she have a bad attitude toward us? After all, we are..." Shui Yue'er thought of this matter, however, and said with a worried heart.

After all, they had knowingly intended to forcibly share Ning Feiliu with Dugu Yan, despite knowing he already had someone he loved.

Would Dugu Yan harbor resentment? Putting themselves in her shoes, they really couldn't be sure.

But...

"Then... we can only use our attitude to strive for her forgiveness," Shui Bing'er said softly but firmly.

They began to grow serious now, starting to plan how to properly host Dugu Yan when the time came, to show their sincerity and apologies.

However, at this time, outside Tianshui City.

Three groups of people had already arrived here.

One group was entirely dressed in fiery red uniforms, most of whom looked like young people around twenty years old.

Among that group of young people, the person walking at the very front had a medium build and a very ordinary appearance, but his eyes flashed with a scorching brilliance. His shoulders were broad, and his golden-red uniform set off his not-so-handsome face with an imposing aura.

Behind him was an ordinary-looking young man, and behind him walked two people—two young men with cold expressions whose appearances were exactly the same; they were actually a pair of twins.

The last three people were two men and one woman. The two male Spirit Masters were extremely tall and had fierce-looking faces.

Behind them was a girl of extreme beauty. The golden-red uniform looked perfect on her, and paired with her long dark red hair, she herself was as eye-catching as a flame capable of melting any man.

Although she was the only girl among this group of young people, her height was the tallest of the seven, and her figure was extremely well-proportioned. Standing in the center of the seven, she always carried a faint smile on her face, and a layer of faint red light vaguely flowed around her body.

That's right, they were the group from Chihuo Academy among the Five Elements Academies.

It should be said the Four Elements Academies, after all, the Elephant Armor Academy among the Five Elements Academies had actually somewhat broken away from them to follow the Elephant Armored Sect behind them and defect to the Spirit Hall.

Therefore, the past name of Five Elements Academies was basically dead in all but name.

Nowadays, the academic discussions issued by Tianshui Academy did not invite Elephant Armor Academy either.

"Tianshui Academy here... is really cold!" that ordinary young man said while breathing out some hot air.

"After all, this is the Bei Jing of the Empire; compared to our academy in the southeast, it is naturally a bit colder," the middle-aged man leading them said helplessly.

"So why did we have to come here?" the twins said in unison.

"It's because of... the academic discussion, you idiots," the extremely beautiful woman in red snorted coldly, her temper somewhat fiery, and said, "Tianshui Academy invited us here for an academic discussion this time! Did you not hear what the teacher said before?"

"Forget it, Xiao Wu," the lead teacher of Chihuo Academy said with a chuckle, stopping the conflict.

"This Tianshui Academy... is truly remarkable," Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu's older brother, who was the young man in the lead, sighed and said, "To actually have Spirit Masters who broke through to the Soul Ancestor realm before the age of twenty?"

"What? Broke through to the Soul Ancestor realm before twenty?" The other members of Chihuo Academy couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Don't look at how in various fan-fiction, transmigration novels, and the words of some book friends, it's always portrayed as if being a Soul Ancestor only in one's teens is incredibly weak.

As if not breaking through to Soul Ancestor by fourteen meant one was a total piece of trash.

In reality, on the Douluo Continent, being able to break through to Soul Ancestor by twenty—like Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu, and the Shui Bing'er from the original plot—already makes them top-tier genius Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent.

Of course, this is under normal cultivation circumstances.

It is indeed very impressive to break through to Soul Ancestor at twenty.

If one is cheating and also has very good innate talent... unlike Dai Mubai and the Shrek Seven Devils in the original plot, who basically broke through to the Soul Ancestor realm at fifteen or sixteen, then that is indeed a bit absurd.

In the eyes of Huo Wushuang and the others, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er breaking through to the Soul Ancestor realm before twenty, and not just having just broken through, but having soul power levels of forty-eight and forty-five respectively, could indeed be considered monstrous.

"Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er... how did such top-tier genius Spirit Masters suddenly pop up in Tianshui Academy?" the lead teacher of Chihuo Academy also said with great emotion.

He had thought that Feng Xiaotian of Shenfeng Academy could already be considered the leading figure of the Five Elements Academies in the last twenty years.

But he hadn't expected Tianshui Academy to suddenly produce two peerless geniuses.

This talent of breaking through to the Soul Ancestor realm before twenty, even compared to those peerless geniuses in the imperial capital, Heaven Dou City, is not inferior, right?

At most, they are just not as good as that so-called Heavenly Generation.

That Heavenly Generation is indeed absurd; ordinary genius Spirit Masters only seek to break through to the Soul Ancestor realm before twenty to be called top-tier genius Spirit Masters.

If one can break through to over level forty-five soul power before twenty, that is enough to be considered a top-tier genius Spirit Master.

But those three of the Heavenly Generation are far more absurd than this, directly... breaking through to the Soul King realm before twenty!

This is equivalent to everyone being eighteen and still in the middle of the college entrance exam, only to find that a genius next door has already finished their master's and doctoral studies and obtained a PhD.

It belongs to the category of being absurd to the point of being indescribable.

"Very impressive? Then let us go meet them." Huo Wu, however, was somewhat unconvinced and gave a delicate huff as she spoke.

"Alright, let us first go inside and pay a visit to Tianshui Academy," the teacher leading the Chihuo Academy team also said with a smile.

"Very well, teacher."

The group from Chihuo Academy then stepped into Tianshui City together.

And at different times, the members of Thunder Academy and Shenfeng Academy also arrived in Tianshui City separately, preparing to pay a visit to Tianshui Academy.

Watched the match too late, awesome, and ended up losing in the end, not enough time, just putting this together for now, will revise it immediately in a moment, just refresh later.

(End of this chapter)