Chapter 470: Being Sulky (3k)

Huo Yutong's time to absorb the soul spirit was much longer than imagined.

Previously, she absorbed Xiaobai and Li Ya, each taking less than two hours, but this time absorbing Shuangling Bian actually took over two full days.

Tang Wulin only spent half a day to fully absorb the energy from the Fourteenth Seal, after which he spent his time waiting for Huo Yutong to finish while getting used to his new power.

Suddenly, all the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals in the underground space emitted a dazzling light, then turned into specks of blue light that drifted toward Huo Yutong hovering in midair.

At this moment, Shuangling Bian's massive body had vanished, leaving only Huo Yutong in the air, her whole body emitting a clear cold radiance; she absorbed all the light from the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals, then slowly opened her eyes.

Red-red-red-blue-red-red-red-blue, the terrifying eight-circle soul ring appeared beneath Huo Yutong's feet, symbolizing that her second martial soul had also entered the Soul Douluo realm.

In an instant, Tang Wulin seemed to see in her eyes a white ice mist similar to the Eternal Mystic Ice Marrow, but this ice mist flashed by and quickly disappeared.

A faint blue light emanated from her body, quickly spreading throughout the underground space; in an instant, the intense cold that had made Tang Wulin feel unbearable completely disappeared.

"This is……"

Tang Wulin could feel that, at the moment the blue light just spread, all the ice element in the space was instantly sucked into Huo Yutong's body.

The essence of ice control is temperature control; with the ice element that originally caused the extreme cold here completely gone, the temperature actually rose instantly.

Originally, after Huo Yutong condensed the first soul core with the fate attribute, causing her Spirit Eyes martial soul to evolve into the Eye of Fate, her Ice Snow Girl martial soul's strength had been surpassed by the Eye of Fate martial soul; but now, after absorbing this heaven-defying soul spirit Shuangling Bian, her Ice Snow Girl martial soul's strength seems to have once again reached the same level as the Eye of Fate martial soul.

Huo Yutong slowly drifted down from the air, landing before Tang Wulin, she brushed her snow-white hair and said coldly:

"Wulin, I've finished absorbing. Senior Shuangling Bian asked me to tell you that, due to sealing too much of his own power, he has fallen into a slumber in the Sea of Spirit and can't greet you for now; he feels sorry about that."

"It's fine, as long as the ceremony went without a hitch."

Looking at Tang Wulin's gentle smile, Huo Yutong's eyes flickered with an indescribable emotion; she coldly turned her gaze away and said, "All right, since everything's done, it's time for us to return to the Academy."

"Huh?"

Tang Wulin stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"Didn't we agree to relax during this pre-war period?"

Huo Yutong glanced at him, turned around, and said lightly, "That was before; I'm not in the mood now, let's go."

Having said that, she walked forward without looking back.

"……"

Something's off.

Although Huo Yutong's voice was full of coldness, if one listened closely, he seemed to hear a hint of grievance in it.

Is she angry? But why, did he do something?

Tang Wulin recalled the events before absorbing Shuangling Bian.

At least before arriving at the formation's core, Huo Yutong's mood was still good, meaning the problem arose after that.

And after recalling what had happened during that time, Tang Wulin quickly found the answer.

He couldn't help but wryly smile, then in a flash he embraced Huo Yutong from behind.

Huo Yutong stopped her steps, neither refusing nor struggling, feigning coldness as she asked, "What are you doing?"

Unexpectedly, Tang Wulin, at her ear, countered:

"What are you doing by being sulky?"

After saying that, he deliberately blew a puff of warm air into her ear.

Having been together for so long, he had long since thoroughly figured out Huo Yutong's weak points.

The ears are one of them.

As expected, Huo Yutong's body trembled slightly, a flush rose to her lovely face, she could no longer maintain her cold demeanor, she glared at him angrily and said stubbornly, "I'm not being sulky, let go of me!"

"All right, I'll let go."

Unexpectedly, Tang Wulin surprisingly released his hold on her readily.

"Huh?"

He actually let go? Huo Yutong's expression instantly became a bit lost.

But before even half a second passed, Tang Wulin pulled her back into his embrace and whispered in her ear:

"Look, you clearly don't want me to let go, stop being stubborn, just admit it."

"Ugh……"

Realizing she had been played, Huo Yutong's cheeks flushed red, she glared fiercely at Tang Wulin, yet she really didn't dare to say again to let him go.

She was like a fierce little milk kitten, utterly lacking any sense of oppression, instead making her seem adorable.

Tang Wulin raised his hand and gently rubbed her head, speaking softly:

"I know you're angry about something; it's because when facing Senior Shuangling Bian's attack, I pushed you away, right?"

"……Yeah."

Huo Yutong remained silent for a moment, then lightly nodded, acknowledging Tang Wulin's guess.

She no longer held a grudge, lightly leaning against Tang Wulin, her arms wrapped around his arms that were around her, her voice full of reluctance.

"I train to become stronger; besides wanting revenge and repaying Tianmeng and the others' kindness, I just want enough strength to protect you. But you always do this: when danger arises, you immediately think to push me away, unwilling to face it together—I don't like that."

Tang Wulin's gaze instantly softened considerably.

She and he think the same way.

They are both people without much ambition; the greatest motivation for gaining power is to protect the ones they love most.

He said softly, "But if I hadn't done that back then, you might have died." "I don't care!"

Huo Yutong said this fervently, turning her head to look at Tang Wulin, only to meet his amber eyes.

He smiled, saying each word distinctly:

"But I do care."

"Ugh……"

Huo Yutong's body suddenly stiffened.

This kind of direct confession made it hard for her to demand more of him for a while.

After a while, she spoke again, her tone pleading, and took Tang Wulin's hand.

"Wulin, I'm begging you—next time you encounter this situation, don't push me away, okay? I'm really scared."

She was truly terrified; at the moment she personally witnessed Tang Wulin being swallowed by the pillar of light, her heart felt as if it had instantly frozen, leaving only the thought of making Shuangling Bian pay the price.

Having experienced this once is enough; she doesn't want to go through it again.

Seeing her like that, Tang Wulin didn't answer right away; instead, he gently lowered himself and covered her lips.

?

Huo Yutong was a bit puzzled, but she didn't refuse; instead, she closed her eyes and responded to his movements.

Although it was bitterly cold underground, their body temperatures began to gradually rise with their movements.

After a while, only when Huo Yutong's body felt somewhat weak did Tang Wulin release her.

Her cheeks were flushed, she was panting, her eyes seemed veiled with mist as she gazed wistfully at Tang Wulin and whispered, "You don't think this will let the matter pass, do you?"

"Of course not." Tang Wulin chuckled, "You said you were worried I'd die and felt scared, right? I'm letting you feel my aura so you have a tangible sense that I'm still alive. How about that? If it's not enough, there are more stimulating ways."

Huo Yutong's face instantly reddened even more; she inwardly cursed her quick-witted brain while shooting him a fierce glance.

"Don't try to change the subject—you still haven't answered me!"

Tang Wulin instantly felt helpless; it seemed having a wife too clever wasn't purely a good thing, and he now found it hard to brush her off.

He sighed, finally setting aside his little thoughts, and said seriously: "I can't promise you, because if I truly encounter that situation again, I will definitely do the same; promising you would be lying to you."

This is also why he's been beating around the bush—he simply cannot fulfill Huo Yutong's request.

Huo Yutong instantly looked even more dissatisfied.

"You won't even tell me a white lie?"

Tang Wulin smiled warmly.

"But then I wouldn't be the you you like; I don't want that, and besides, if you were in my position back then, wouldn't you have done the same?"

Lies hurt the heart, making them the most deadly.

Even a well-intentioned lie is the same, because once doubt is planted, it will only grow.

Tang Wulin hopes that every word he says to Huo Yutong comes from his heart as sincere speech.

"You……"

Huo Yutong was momentarily at a loss for words.

As Tang Wulin said, if she encountered that situation, she would certainly sacrifice herself to protect him.

"All you do is bully me……"

Tang Wulin quickly raised both hands, indicating surrender.

"Not that—I can't beat you now; of course, if you're talking about in bed, that's another matter."

Huo Yutong's pretty face flushed instantly; she pressed her lips together, then punched his chest hard, and said angrily, "You're being a flirt."

Tang Wulin gave a hehe laugh.

"Flirting with my girlfriend—what's so scandalous about that? Didn't you hear what His Majesty the Light Dragon King said? You're already recognized as his Dragon Queen."

"... Hmph."

Huo Yutong gave a soft hum, fell silent for a moment, twisted her hands before her, and asked quietly:

"You're really that eager?"

He's been telling dirty jokes since just now and even getting handsy with her.

Tang Wulin laughed somewhat embarrassedly:

"Not that eager, but how to put it—when food is brought to your mouth, not taking a bite feels a bit wasteful, right?"

He's been holding it back for over a month; as a young man with vigorous qi and blood, his desire has indeed built up considerably.

Before, being busy with affairs was one thing, but now that he's free and Huo Yutong is right before him, it's hard not to have stray thoughts.

"Mm……"

Huo Yutong pondered for a moment, then extended her hand; a blast of icy-blue light shot out, instantly forming a small snow hut on the ground.

She came to the entrance of the snow hut and tilted her head slightly at the dazed Tang Wulin.

"Well…… shall we?"

By the way, the reason updates have been scarce these past two days is that I've been writing the later part of this chapter.

Every time I write this, my speed is absurdly slow—I can't squeeze out a line even after half a day.

(End of chapter)