Na Na's Problem

Meanwhile, Xiao Hongchen, who was still fuming over his sister serving Liuxing but not him, pricked up his ears, curious as to why Liuxing had brought up the Crown Prince.

"Nothing much. I just ran into him while queuing and had a brief chat. He seems like a decent person," Liuxing replied casually.

He then looked at the pile of soul beast meat and vegetables in his bowl, his eye twitching slightly.

Both Liuying and Meng Hongchen seemed to be in a competition to see who could serve him more food.

Nana, who was watching from the sidelines, felt as if she were witnessing two lightning bolts colliding in mid-air.

She buried her head in her food, not daring to say a word.

The tension was palpable, and she felt that if she intervened, she might get caught in the crossfire.

"Brother Prince is indeed a good person. He has a sun martial soul, just like me," Xu Tianzhen replied after a moment of thought, seemingly unfazed by the invisible battle between Meng Hongchen and Liuying.

"His Highness the Crown Prince? I've heard he's quite impressive. He's the same age as us and a third-year soul guide student, though unfortunately, we're not in the same class," Meng Hongchen added, finally stopping her competition with Liuying since Liuxing's bowl was now overflowing.

"Right," Liuxing said, not pressing further.

He wasn't particularly interested in the Crown Prince; he had just mentioned him in passing after their brief encounter.

---

Life at the academy was fairly routine for Liuxing. Days were filled with classes, learning, and meditating at night.

Occasionally, he would engage in spirited battles with Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen, and along the way, he had gathered a group of younger followers.

It had been a month since Liuxing and the others enrolled at the Mingdu Junior Soul Master Academy.

In that time, they had become quite famous.

Among the five, Liuxing and Liuying maintained an undefeated record, which was no surprise.

Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen were also strong, but they had been defeated by some of the third-year seniors due to the significant gap in soul power and their still-developing bodies, which couldn't fully harness the potential of their top-tier martial souls.

Liuxing and Liuying maintained an undefeated record, while Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen experienced both victories and defeats.

Gu Yuena, however, surprised everyone by winning all the battle duels, defying expectations.

Initially, many believed she would face the same fate as Ye Guyi and Xu Tianzhen, being sanctioned by the third-grade seniors.

But Gu Yuena wielded a silver dragon spear and, with her first soul skill, water element control, decisively defeated all challengers.

While other students assumed the spear was a soul guide, only Liuxing and Liuying sensed something extraordinary.

They detected an aura akin to that of the goddess of life emanating from the spear, a divine presence.

It was an artifact. Gu Yuena's silver dragon spear was likely an artifact, a weapon surpassing even a ninth-level soul guide in power.

Liuxing privately inquired about the spear, and Gu Yuena revealed it was a family heirloom.

Considering her silver dragon martial soul, it was plausible that her family possessed such a formidable weapon.

Liuying, however, remained wary of Gu Yuena, which puzzled Liuxing.

Even Meng Hongchen hadn't elicited such caution from Liuying.

Despite her vigilance, Liuying enjoyed campus life, befriending many female classmates and occasionally shopping with Meng Hongchen.

Strangely, whenever Liuxing was present, the atmosphere between Liuying and Meng Hongchen grew tense, leaving him perplexed.

Gu Yuena, though admired by some, remained aloof.

She rarely interacted with her admirers, maintaining a cold demeanor.

Only around Liuxing did her icy aura soften slightly, sparking rumors among the students.

Liuxing understood that Gu Yuena respected strength, as evidenced by her polite but distant attitude toward Liuying, who avoided her.

Liuxing speculated that Gu Yuena, like Xiao Hongchen, valued strength above all, dismissing the weak.

Over three months, the freshmen settled into their respective circles. Liuxing's circle included Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, Gu Yuena, and Nana, who was particularly close to him.

Liuxing's amiable nature allowed him to get along with most classmates, unlike Gu Yuena, who intimidated many.

One day, at the cafeteria, Liuxing noticed Nana's haggard appearance. Her pale face, dark circles, and absent-minded demeanor concerned him. "Nana, what's wrong? You look exhausted,"

Liuying and Ye Guyi also turned their attention to Nana, having noticed her recent struggles. Though Nana had kept her troubles to herself, her friends were eager to help.

"It's nothing, just tired from training," Nana replied evasively.

Liuxing's gaze sharpened. "Nana, we're friends," he reminded her.

"Yes, you're all my best friends," Nana admitted, her voice trembling.

"Then tell us what's bothering you. Maybe we can help,"

Tianzhen chimed in, "That's right! I'm the Princess, you can rely on me if you need anything."

Ye Guyi added, "If someone's troubling you, let us know. We'll handle it."

Nana's eyes welled with tears as she listened to their words, her body trembling slightly.

"Huh! Why are you crying? It can't be that someone is really bullying you. Who is so bold and dares to bully my friend?"

Several people saw Nana crying, and they didn't calm down for a moment.

You must know that Nana is usually very strong.

No matter how badly she was beaten when she was fighting, she wouldn't cry. It must not be a trivial matter to make her cry.

Under the comfort of Liuxing, Nana stopped her tears and then told everyone what had happened during this time.

With Nana's narration, they also learned that it was not Nana who was bullied at school.

After all, everyone knew that Nana was covered by Liuxing, and no one thought so much about bullying Nana.

The reason why Nana is so haggard is because something happened at home.

Nana's father is just an ordinary baron and also an ordinary person.

Her mother was accidentally rescued by her father when he went out on an outing.

Her mother had gone to the Soul Beast Forest to hunt soul beasts but was badly injured and was finally rescued by her father.

Her mother was so badly injured that her father had to take her home and take care of her.

In the process, her mother fell in love with her father, and the two eventually came together.

After that, there was Nana. Although the family was not rich, they lived very happily.

But just some time ago, her mother's soul power reached a bottleneck, and she needed to obtain a soul ring to break through.

With her own efforts, her mother also broke through the forty-level soul power some time ago and became a Soul Sect. For civilians, this is already extremely rare.

However, after her mother successfully obtained the fourth soul ring and returned, her face was ugly.

At first, Nana and her father were only happy and did not notice the changes in her mother.

But a month ago, a group of strangers came to Nana's house.

These people told her mother something, and her mother went out with them.

Her father tried to stop them but couldn't.

Since that day, her mother has gone out more and more often, and her face is ugly when she comes back.

But her cultivation is getting stronger and stronger. In just one month, her mother has increased her soul power by two levels.

This increase in speed is something even Liuxing can't achieve, not to mention that Nana's mother is already a Soul Sect and has passed the golden cultivation age.

Nana stumbles upon the fact that some of their valuable things are missing.

Her father is getting older, and her mother rarely comes home.

This is also the reason why Nana has been so reluctant to give up during this time.