Skywater Academy.
As the bustling crowd gradually poured out of the classrooms, the entire campus once again brimmed with the youthful vitality brought by beautiful young girls.
The tender buds on the small trees along the road had grown quite long, and flowers of all colors bloomed in splendid competition, truly breathtaking.
Shen Liuyu hopped and skipped out of the classroom alongside Gu Qingbo. When she spotted the Shui sisters already waiting not far away, she flashed a sweet smile and said,
"Qingbo, you go eat first. Bing'er, Yue'er, and I have something to do. See you tonight~."
Gu Qingbo didn't suspect anything, nodded, and slowly walked toward the cafeteria.
Shen Liuyu came over to the Shui sisters, smiling as she ruffled Shui Yue'er's hair, then looked at Shui Bing'er and asked,
"Bing'er, are you ready?"
Shui Bing'er paused for a moment before nodding.
"I'm ready…"
At this point, Shui Yue'er chimed in,
"Big sister barely slept at all last night, and she was listless all day in class today. Hehe, Liuyu-jie, look how excited my sister is…"
Shui Bing'er gave a wry smile, reached out and lightly tapped Shui Yue'er's forehead, saying,
"It's not just excitement—it's more like an obsession. The things from when we were little have only become clearer and more profound as time passes. This feels more like a kind of release. Anyone who went through something like that would remember it clearly. I don't know why… I'm usually pretty calm…"
Shui Yue'er pouted and muttered under her breath,
"I really want to see just how handsome he is to leave such a deep impression on my sister. Hmph! If he dares bully my sister again, I'll beat him up good…"
As she spoke, Shui Yue'er waved her little fist, putting on a fierce look.
Both Shui Bing'er and Shen Liuyu couldn't help smiling. Among them, Shui Yue'er was the youngest—well, aside from Shen Liuyu herself—and also the liveliest and most playful. Her only flaw might be that she was a total fangirl; the moment she saw a handsome guy, her legs turned to jelly…
It was precisely she who had dragged Shen Liuyu around to check out the handsome guys from every academy: Haotian, the simp from Godwind Academy, Huo Wushuang from Blazing Academy, and several strikingly good-looking guys from Thunderclap Academy—all of whom Shui Yue'er had mercilessly reviewed, and her judgments were scarily accurate.
Shen Liuyu secretly found it hilarious. If this little girl ever saw her brother, she'd probably faint on the spot. Her stinky brother's looks were something few on the continent could rival—he had perfectly inherited all the best traits from their parents, which made her extremely jealous.
Shui Bing'er glanced at the sun, tugged on Shui Yue'er's hand, and said to Shen Liuyu,
"Liuyu, lead the way. It's getting late—if we don't hurry, we might miss dinner."
Shen Liuyu let out an "oh" and also looked up at the time.
What? There was still plenty of time before dinner. Her stomach wasn't even hungry yet—how could they be late…
Skywater Academy's schedule worked like this: classes one day, rest the next. Classes started precisely at 8 a.m., there was a break at 10:30, classes ended at 12:10, with fifty minutes for lunch and rest in between. Afternoon classes ended punctually at 2 p.m., and the rest of the day was free for students to arrange as they wished.
Almost all other soul master academies had morning classes and left the rest of the day for free activities, but Skywater Academy was structured differently, so its schedule was like this. Still, it was quite humane—students could freely choose courses they were weak in, which was one of its advantages.
......
The three of them left Skywater Academy and headed toward the small courtyard that Shen Hanyu had bought on the outskirts.
Passersby on the road stopped to stare at the three beautiful girls; many even revealed lecherous, greedy looks in their eyes. But once they noticed the distinctive uniforms of Skywater Academy, they hurriedly dismissed any improper thoughts.
In Element City, the reputation of the four elemental academies carried even more weight than the emperor himself.
After all, the four elemental academies had governed this city for thousands of years. Not only had they developed four renowned soul master academies, but the deans of the four academies were all famous powerhouses on the continent.
Provoking someone from one of the academies here meant you could disappear without anyone ever knowing how…
Shui Yue'er, noticing all the stares, huffed and hooked her arm through Shui Bing'er's, saying,
"Sis, their eyes are so disgusting… ugh, look at that stall vendor—his eyeballs are practically falling out…"
Shui Bing'er smiled helplessly and said,
"You'll get used to it. You're not that young anymore—at eighteen, you should be a bit more mature. In the future, we'll stand on even bigger stages, and not every gaze will be kind. There's no need to care about all of them—just focus on doing what we need to do."
Shui Yue'er let out a muffled "mm" and obediently followed her sister.
Shen Liuyu, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. Unlike Shen Hanyu, her personality was very changeable—she acted according to her mood.
The three gradually left the bustling streets, exited the city, and followed a small path toward the little courtyard.
As they drew closer, the nervousness in Shui Bing'er's heart nearly overflowed.
As she had grown older and her mind matured, the memory of that incident from years ago had only become clearer.
For some people, one meeting is enough for a lifetime. There's a lot of truth in that saying.
A young girl's feelings are hazy and hard to fathom—better left unsaid.
......
Meanwhile, Shen Hanyu was sitting somewhat irritably on a tree branch, lost in thought. A trace of weariness showed on his breathtakingly handsome face.
Tianmeng asked with some concern,
"Hanyu, are you sure you're okay? You don't look too good. Want your bro to give you a proper check-up?"
Shen Hanyu was silent for a moment, scratched his head, and said,
"No need. It's just that these past couple of days I've been feeling restless, like something bad is coming."
Tianmeng didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only quietly look for topics to distract Shen Hanyu.
His partner was perfect in every way except when it came to handling emotions and everyday matters—and his emotional intelligence seemed to fluctuate wildly.
But it wasn't a big deal; it just meant things might not go perfectly smoothly in romance later on and could easily lead to some trouble.
As Tianmeng thought this, he seemed to have forgotten how he himself had acted in front of the Ice Emperor—his own emotional intelligence hadn't exactly been stellar either.
After a brief silence between them, Tianmeng suddenly sensed something, and an odd grin unconsciously crept onto his face. He immediately spoke up:
"Hanyu, remember that little girl you tricked back then?"
Shen Hanyu was stunned for a moment, then nodded, his expression strange as he said,
"Sometimes when I think about it, I really was awful—tricking a five-year-old girl like that. There goes my lifetime reputation—"
Tianmeng chuckled twice and said,
"No big deal, no big deal. Bro knows exactly what kind of person you are. Tell me—how did you end up falling for a little girl who was only five at the time?"
Shen Hanyu didn't take it seriously and replied,
"Fate, I guess. Truth is, I'm pretty shallow—I'm way too much of a face-con. Don't make me sound like a creep. On the continent, plenty of people get married and have kids at eleven or twelve. After all, soul masters with soul power mature physically and mentally faster than their age would suggest. My original intention was just to tease her a bit, but I slipped up and ended up saying a bunch of stuff that even now I don't know how I'm going to face her about. Super awkward."
(Author's note: In the Douluo Continent, age, mental maturity, and physical development are not proportional—don't call me out, I'm really not a creep… Eight or nine years old is already equivalent to fifteen or sixteen in normal society psychologically, right? Early maturity is normal in a fantasy world; consider it the first stirrings of love, okay (doge save me). Just treat it like a long-term raising sim. Casual daily chapter—these past couple days have been busy, my mind's a mess, lots going on. Should be back to normal around the 25th or 26th… Writing isn't great, hope it doesn't ruin anyone's mood, please understand!)