Ouyang Zixin turned toward the voice, her eyes lighting up when she saw who it was. Hastily standing up, she walked over and greeted, “Senior brother, are you here to eat?”


  Tang Wulin’s vision was obstructed by her body, so he could only make out that the person she was talking to was a tall male youth.

  “Yeah! I brought my little sister out for a nice meal. It’s only been two weeks since the last time I saw you, and you’re even prettier than before,” the youth said with a bright smile.

  Ouyang Zixin held her face as she bashfully said, “Really? Thank you for the compliment, senior brother. Ah, there aren’t any free tables right now. Do you want to eat with us?”


  “Sure!” the youth said with a laugh.

  Tang Wulin didn’t know why, but a feeling of dissatisfaction crept into his heart when he heard Ouyang Zixin speaking to the youth with such a tender voice. An inkling of hostility grew within him, but he didn’t raise his head, instead choosing to wallow in his bitterness.

  “Damn, you guys really ate a lot!” the youth exclaimed in astonishment.

  Ouyang Zixin proudly explained, “That’s right! My little brother here has quite the big appetite. Senior brother, please, I’ll treat you today.”


  The youth revealed a gentlemanly smile. “How can I let a girl pay for me? Boss, I want to order some more food. I want to order one dish of broiled cod and one dish of roasted chicken wings. Xiaoyan, is there anything else you want?”


  “I want some barbeque skewers. Lamb skewers and beef skewers. Big brother, can I have some beer too? I like it, and it’ll be refreshing.” A melodious voice attracted Tang Wulin’s attention.

  However, he could only stare in shock at the two people who sat across from him.

  Just how small is the world that I managed to run into you here! Isn’t this the arrogant and pampered ice staff guy and his little sister?

  That was right. The one Ouyang Zixin called senior brother was actually Xu Xiaoyu, and naturally, the girl at his side was Xu Xiaoyan. He had been in a bad mood these last few days, so he wanted to bring his little sister out to eat some good food to cheer up. Yet, who would have thought that he would run into Ouyang Zixin and Tang Wulin.

  Xu Xiaoyan was excitedly picking out what foods she wanted to eat while Xu Xiaoyu was turned toward the restaurant owner, so neither of them had noticed that Tang Wulin had raised his head yet.

  “Hey, little guy, slow down a bit! You’re going to frighten the others.” Ouyang Zixin took this as a chance to scooch closer to Tang Wulin and whispered this warning into his ear.

  Indignance instantly attacked his heart. Could senior sister actually think of this arrogant and pampered ice staff guy that way? Although Tang Wulin was young, he wasn’t ignorant to the affairs between men and women after all the things Xie Xie had told him.

  Tang Wulin lowered his head once more. It’s best if they don’t notice. Otherwise, there’ll be some trouble. I’ll just focus on eating then.

  Finished ordering food, Xu Xiaoyu turned back to see the sweetly smiling Ouyang Zixin and said, “Junior sister, is this your actual little brother? Or does he attend our academy?”


  Ouyang Zixin laughed. “He’s not my actual little brother, I just treat him like one. Ah, that’s right! This little brother of mine is actually a genius. He’s in the newly created class zero!”


  “Eh? Class zero?” Xu Xiaoyu’s voice was full of surprise, exchanging curious looks with his little sister.

  Ouyang Zixin said, “You know about class zero even though you’re in the advanced division?”


  Xu Xiaoyu said, “I only started hearing about them in the last few days. My little sister will be attending an intermediate soul master academy starting next year, but father said that he wants her to enroll early and transfer into class zero. I think his arrangements should be nearly finished.”


  “Transfer student?” Without thinking, Tang Wulin raised his head and asked. The ice staff girl is joining class zero?

  His sudden outburst attracted the gazes of Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan. The two siblings were immediately dumbstruck when they saw Tang Wulin.

  The gloom that hovered over Xu Xiaoyu had originated from Tang Wulin and his friends, so there was no way he wouldn’t recognize Tang Wulin. His gaze immediately sharpened. “It’s you!”


  Xu Xiaoyan covered her mouth as she cried out in surprise, “Ah! You……”


  Realizing that he had exposed himself in his excitement, Tang Wulin could only show an abashed expression.

  Ouyang Zixin directed a puzzled glance at him, before turning to ask Xu Xiaoyu, “Senior brother, do you know my little brother?”


  Xu Xiaoyu was about to say yes, but after thinking about it once more, he realized that it wouldn’t be too good for his reputation if Ouyang Zixin found out he had been beaten by a bunch of brats in the spirit ascension platform. He still wanted her to have a good opinion of him.

  “I don’t know him. It just seems like our meeting is fated,” Xu Xiaoyu coldly said.

  “Big brother, isn’t he……” The pure Xu Xiaoyan was quickly cut off with a nudge from her brother.

  With her cleverness, Ouyang Zixin could immediately tell that something was off, but since Xu Xiaoyu didn’t want to speak about it, she wouldn’t pry. Instead, she cheerfully said, “I’ll introduce the two of you then. This little guy is from the first grade’s class zero, Tang Wulin. Wulin, this senior brother is our academy’s most outstanding genius. He’s in the advanced division’s second grade’s class one; our senior brother, Xu Xiaoyu. He’s already a three-ringed Soul Elder, and he might even make a breakthrough to four rings by the time he graduates. And then he’ll be a Soul Ancestor! Pretty girl beside him is his little sister, Xu Xiaoyan.”


  Upon hearing Ouyang Zixin’s introductions, Xu Xiaoyu felt his face grow hot, as if he had been slapped in the face. If not for the presence of Ouyang Zixin and his junior brother, he wouldn’t have been able to restrain himself from making a scene.

  “Hello, senior brother,” Tang Wulin said as he forced himself to offer a handshake.

  Xu Xiaoyu snorted. “This junior brother sure is capable! Could your class zero be the ones I ran into the other day? Or was it someone else?”


  Tang Wulin’s scalp numbed. Is this guy out for revenge? Gu Yue might have defeated him that day, but that was only because he was acting so despicably! The terrifying memory of the Fury of Ice skill was still fresh in his mind, so he didn’t dare utter a word to contradict him.

  Ouyang Zixin quietly prodded Tang Wulin. “Senior brother asked you a question.”


  Shifting his gaze toward her, Tang Wulin realized that Ouyang Zixin’s gaze had never left Xu Xiaoyu even when she was speaking to him. A repressed tenderness exuded from her eyes.

  “Senior sister, I’m full now. Let’s go.” Tang Wulin took a napkin and wiped his fingers, then got up to leave.

  “Wulin, what’s going on with you?” Ouyang Zixin hastily scolded him before quickly turning back toward Xu Xiaoyu. “Sorry, senior brother! I’ll take him back first. You two go ahead to eat, I’ll be back in a bit.”


  Xu Xiaoyan watched with curiosity as Ouyang Zixin chased after Tang Wulin. “So he’s actually from class zero. It seems class zero is really powerful! That big sister can even defeat you, big brother!”


  A dark frown instantly settled on Xu Xiaoyu’s face as he lightly smacked Xu Xiaoyan’s head. “Can’t you keep quiet about that?”


  Feeling wronged, Xu Xiaoyan cried out, “You hit me! I’m going to go tell dad!”


  “How can that be considered hitting? It was just patting, okay, patting!” Xu Xiaoyu helplessly denied.

  ☀

  “Wulin, what’s going on with you?” Ouyang Zixin finally caught up to Tang Wulin to ask him.

  Tang Wulin had already regained his senses from the chilling winds. He realized that he had acted inappropriately. His senior sister had been so kind to treat him to a meal yet he had actually run out like a little kid.

  “I’m sorry, senior sister,” Tang Wulin apologized. “I haven’t been in my right mind these last few days. Let’s go back.”


  Ouyang Zixin shook her head. “Forget it. I’m already full from watching you eat. Why don’t you just head back first? I’ll go keep them company for a bit longer.”


  “Huh?” He finally understood when he saw the look in Ouyang Zixin’s eyes as she gazed back toward the restaurant. Xu Xiaoyu occupied a larger place in her heart than he did.

  “Okay. Thank you, senior sister, for treating me today. I’ll return the favor some day,” Tang Wulin said with the utmost courtesy.

  “Eh, forget about it. It’s fine. We can talk about it next time. I’ll be going back to the restaurant now. You be careful on the road back.” With these parting words lingering in the air, Ouyang Zixin quickly rushed back toward the restaurant.

  Tang Wulin laughed in self-ridicule. He still liked Ouyang Zixin, but there was still the gap in their ages.

  Huh, but is there really going to be another student joining class zero? Xu Xiaoyan doesn’t seem that strong though! She didn’t even have the courage to attack that day. All she did was hide behind that arrogant and pampered ice staff guy.

  I’ll just go back and ask Teacher Wu. If we don’t get another classmate, then we’ll really be a small class with just me, Gu Yue and Xie Xie……

  ☀

  Once he got back to the academy, instead of returning to his room, he went over to Wu Zhangkong’s room and knocked.

  “Come in.” Wu Zhangkong’s cold voice penetrated through the door.

  Knowing that the door was unlocked, Tang Wulin opened it and walked in to see Wu Zhangkong clad in white, as per usual, sitting cross-legged on his bed as if he had been meditating.

  “What’s the matter?” Wu Zhangkong dully said.

  Tang Wulin asked, “Teacher Wu, I met someone today who said that they’re going to join class zero. Are we really getting another classmate?”


  Wu Zhangkong suddenly opened his eyes, a purple light flashing through them for a split second. “This isn’t something you should be concerned about right now. Instead, you should be thinking about how you will pass the second part of your final exams. Let me remind you, the exam was originally prepared for the five of you to take together, but now you’re down to two people. That means the three of you will be taking a test meant for five.”


  “Huh?” How can this be called reminding? I found out just now!?