There were still two or three theory classes to attend before the Talent Awakening began.
Sitting in the classroom and bored to death, Su Aoxue yawned repeatedly. Already mentally exhausted, the quiet environment only made him more desperate for sleep.
After all, as one of the top three in both theory and practical combat, he had long since memorized this knowledge by heart. If not for today’s Awakening Ceremony, he might not have shown up at all.
This was the freedom offered by the Martial Arts Academy. As long as your theoretical knowledge was up to par, you didn’t have to attend.
You could go anywhere to hone your martial arts, and if you encountered something you didn’t understand, you could return to the school to find an on-duty martial arts teacher.
It wasn’t like the Literature Academy next door, where classes started and ended strictly on time every day.
As his drowsiness became more pronounced, Su Aoxue gradually felt his consciousness blurring. He couldn’t help but pull down the brim of his hat and slumped onto the desk.
During this time, a cold aura uncontrollably began to radiate from Su Aoxue’s body, causing the temperature around him to drop. This caught the attention of Shen Yan, his desk-mate.
Shen Yan subconsciously looked at the slumped Su Aoxue. After sensing the air carefully, he wondered inwardly, ‘A cold aura?’
To ensure accuracy, Shen Yan took a deliberate look around the room. After confirming that the cold aura was indeed coming from Su Aoxue, Shen Yan grew even more puzzled. ‘A cold aura coming from Little Xue? Why is it appearing now?’
‘Isn’t the Talent Awakening supposed to happen later? Did he awaken early?’
‘How come I didn’t know about this in my past life?’
Other than having awakened a Talent, Shen Yan couldn’t imagine any other situation where a person’s body would emit a cold aura.
He couldn’t help but fall into his memories. However, because those memories were so distant, he couldn’t recall anything for the moment.
Or perhaps, in his past life, he had been so thick-headed and caught up in his late-stage eighth-grade syndrome fantasies of being a powerful master that he had simply never noticed Su Aoxue’s body starting to emit a cold aura at this time.
While Shen Yan was lost in thought, Su Aoxue, completely unaware that his body was emitting a chill, was currently imagining himself soaking in a hot spring.
‘It would be great if I could soak in a hot spring. Why does my body suddenly feel so icy?’
‘Is it a side effect of possessing the Power of Glacial Calamity?’
‘I guess that makes sense. My heart is only still beating because it’s encased in that Power of Glacial Calamity. It seems normal for my body to be cold and not produce heat. After all, it’s a Glacial Calamity…’
‘Forget it, who cares? As long as it doesn’t freeze me to death.’
Even though Su Aoxue thought this, his mind couldn’t help but recall warm things. Until… the image of Shen Yan from yesterday suddenly flashed in his mind—shirtless, with steam rising from his body. He had looked full of blood and qi, appearing incredibly warm!
‘Oh, right! I should ask Shen Yan how to use that Blood and Qi Circulation Technique. If I can make myself generate some heat, won’t I warm up?’
Thinking this, Su Aoxue reached out and poked Shen Yan, asking indirectly, “Hey, let me ask you, do you have any way to make the body warm up?”
“Warm up?” Shen Yan was taken aback, but he didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he asked, “Since you brought it up, I wanted to ask why it feels like you’ve been emitting a cold aura this whole time?”
Because Su Aoxue had nudged Shen Yan with his elbow, the cold aura coming at him became even more apparent.
Even for those with an Ice-type Ability, their bodies wouldn’t emit a cold aura unless they were actively using it. This was likely a minor issue regarding the control of the ability. Once he mastered it in the future, he would be able to control it at will.
As for Su Aoxue, he was stumped by the question. While he was still trying to come up with an excuse, Shen Yan added, “Your condition only happens after a Talent has been awakened. Did you awaken early?”
“Did you awaken on your own?”
“I…” Feeling it would be hard to keep hiding it, Su Aoxue thought for a moment and gave a half-truth. “Yeah, I did awaken my talent early. Um… you could say I did it on my own. It’s an Ice-type, but I don’t know what rank it is.”
“Don’t tell anyone! I don’t want to draw attention to myself!”
Awakening a Talent early was a one-in-10,000,000 occurrence. In short, people of this era rarely managed to awaken through their own efforts.
Su Aoxue didn’t want to be high-profile, especially since the power he possessed didn’t allow for it.
Of course, he hadn’t exactly awakened early in the traditional sense, but given his current family circumstances, only the excuse of an early awakening would make sense.
“So you really did awaken early…” Shen Yan mused, rubbing his chin with a frown.
However, seeing Shen Yan only slightly frown, Su Aoxue was secretly startled.
‘He isn’t surprised at all? I’m a one-in-10,000,000 case of early awakening! Why is Old Shen so excessively calm today? No, since that day, it’s like Old Shen has become a different person. He’s become so steady!’
‘He’s even started looking for a Hunting Team to go into the Grey Mist World…’
After his brief internal shock, Su Aoxue said with dissatisfaction, “Hey, don’t just space out. Tell me if there’s a way to make my body heat up. I feel icy all over right now…”
However, Shen Yan shook his head. “Since your body is cold because of an Ice-type Ability, my Blood and Qi Circulation Technique is useless. It might even make your body colder!”
“Hiss… fine, forget it then.”
Just as Su Aoxue was about to go back to slouching on the desk, Shen Yan spoke again. “Give me one of your hands.”
“Huh?”
“Just give it to me.”
“Oh…”
Once Su Aoxue reached out, Shen Yan grasped his hand directly. However, the moment he took it, Shen Yan’s brow furrowed imperceptibly.
‘Why is it so soft? Where are the calluses on Little Xue’s hand? Did they disappear during the Talent Awakening?’
Shen Yan didn’t think too much of it and simply closed his eyes.
“What are you doing? Are you performing a Transmission of Power on me?”
Seeing Shen Yan’s posture, Su Aoxue was inexplicably reminded of plots from certain wuxia novels of the previous era.
In this era, due to extreme mental stress and a lack of entertainment facilities, people had begun excavating things left over from the previous era.
Novels were one such thing. Some were even bestsellers, to the point that in this absurd world, the profession of “novelist”—something that offered little substance but was too good to throw away—was born!
A moment later, Su Aoxue suddenly felt a warm current transfer from Shen Yan’s palm to his own, even beginning to circulate throughout his entire body. The warmth was so intense that Su Aoxue felt his whole body go numb with a pleasant sensation.
Su Aoxue couldn’t help but lower his voice and gasp in surprise, “Holy crap, brother, what kind of skill is this?”
“Are you really giving me a Transmission of Power? You actually know how! Is this a novel coming to life?”
If they weren’t still in class, Su Aoxue felt like he would have shouted out loud!
“Don’t talk. I’m helping you deal with the cold in your body.”
“Oh… okay. Carry on. This is actually pretty warm…”
With one hand in Shen Yan’s and the other cushioning his head, Su Aoxue squinted his eyes comfortably. His drowsiness reached its peak at that moment.
Yet just then, a look of astonishment suddenly flashed across Shen Yan’s face. ‘Strange. Why does the power inside Little Xue feel so familiar?’
‘How can it be so similar to… the Power of Glacial Calamity?!’
‘No, that’s not right. Although it’s like a Glacial Calamity, the power level is too weak. It’s not on the same magnitude at all. Is it some kind of special mutated Ice-type Ability?’
Shen Yan couldn’t help but speculate.
As for why he immediately dismissed the Power of Glacial Calamity, it was naturally because holders of such special disaster-type abilities had always been female throughout history.
Moreover, they were all Witches. How could a big guy like Su Aoxue possess such power? He wasn’t a girl!
Furthermore, Shen Yan had lived for over thirty years in his past life, and he had never seen anyone turn from a man into a woman or vice versa.
For a Martial Artist, a complete body was the strongest; even the slightest modification would cause their strength to weaken in the later stages.
Thus, changing from a male body to a female body was completely impossible!
Most importantly, it wasn’t as if he had never seen the Frost Calamity Witch before. How could she possibly be Su Aoxue!
Not long after Shen Yan took Su Aoxue’s hand, Ye Yao, who had been secretly observing them, couldn’t help but pout.
……
Bros before hoes