Chapter 165: Begins with Appearance, Ends with Character_1

"Xue Wu," Xu Ran said with a smile, looking at the girl in front of him and walking directly up to sit beside her.

A faint, refreshing fragrance wafted from Xue Wu's body, making Xu Ran feel utterly content and comfortable.

"Teacher Xu Ran?" Xue Wu was startled by Xu Ran's voice and seemed even more panicked at his presence. After all, she had just been thinking about him when he suddenly appeared before her. This prompted her to quickly regain her composure, not daring to let Xu Ran discover those embarrassing thoughts.

"Why are you sitting here all by yourself looking so glum? Who has bullied you?" Xu Ran asked with a gentle smile, his deep eyes staring straight at Xue Wu.

"Ah? No one. No one bullied me. I'm just tired from training and wanted to sit here alone and enjoy the scenery," Xue Wu said, becoming even more flustered under Xu Ran's gaze, her pretty face flushing slightly.

She bit her lip, thinking to herself.

Who could possibly bully her? As the vice-captain of the Tian Shui Battle Team and one of Heaven's Proud Daughters from Tianshui College, everyone treated her with the utmost respect—aside from Xu Ran, who else could bully her?

Of course, she would never say such things out loud.

In that regard, girls tend to be shy. If she had to say it herself, she simply couldn't.

"Tired from training?" Xu Ran looked at Xue Wu amusedly. He wasn't a fool; he could clearly see that Xue Wu's words did not match her true feelings. Women, always saying the opposite of what they mean.

"Then let me give you a massage." Xu Ran looked at Xue Wu's tender small feet hovering over the water, extended his hands, and directly grasped her delicate feet.

A sensation of smooth and soft skin spread through Xu Ran's body as he carefully examined Xue Wu's silky feet. As an Ice Attribute Auxiliary Soul Master, even her feet were exceptionally soft.

They were snowy white with a hint of pinkish glow, like fine art.

"Teacher Xu Ran, please don't…"

With her feet cradled in Xu Ran's hands and his gaze resembling that of an admirer, Xue Wu felt unbearably shy, her body going limp.

Even though she wanted to pull her feet back because of her body's reaction, part of her hesitated to let go.

"They look very nice." Xu Ran said with a smile, his thumb pressing acupoints in the center of Xue Wu's feet. Since many of these points correspond to human organs, foot therapy, as a method of health maintenance, naturally has its benefits.

"Oh." Xue Wu murmured, her cheeks glowing red as she kept her head down, not daring to look at Xu Ran. However, she felt a touch of joy in her heart at his words.

Her eyes inadvertently followed her long, straight legs to where Xu Ran was earnestly massaging the acupoints on her feet, and she felt a faint sense of happiness.

Could Xu Ran, such a figure, also have this tender side?

If it were other strong individuals, they would certainly never do such a thing for a girl, but Xu Ran was somewhat different.

To be precise, as a visitor from Earth with different values, Xu Ran's attitudes and methods in dealing with matters were quite distinct compared to the native inhabitants of the Soul Land Continent.

And these differences formed Xu Ran's unique character, making him stand out from the crowd at all times. Even if Xu Ran did nothing, just by standing there, no one could overlook his presence.

"Do you feel more comfortable now?" Xu Ran asked, lifting his head to look at Xue Wu.

At that moment, Xue Wu's slender, straight legs lay across his knees, with her tight black skirt hugging her curves just above the knee.

Xue Wu's legs were on par with Xiaowu's, and in a pencil skirt, she even looked sexier overall. After all, compared to them, Xiaowu was still much more naive.

"Much better now, thank you, Teacher Xu Ran," Xue Wu murmured, her head down.

"That's good. Don't push yourself too hard in training in the future. Moderate training is beneficial for the body. If you keep training for extended periods, you might become a muscle woman," Xu Ran chuckled, picking up Xue Wu's socks that were set aside, and slipping them onto her feet.

"How could that be? I will always stay pretty," Xue Wu was startled internally, knowing that Xu Ran was joking, but she couldn't resist responding.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Did you practice the Soul Fusion Skill with Bing'er today?" Xu Ran asked. Shui Bing'er was now the Ultimate Ice, so they must have already attempted their Soul Fusion Skill.

"Bing'er and I did practice the Soul Fusion Skill today. It's just..." Xue Wu furrowed her brow.

"What's the problem?"

"The power of the Soul Fusion Skill is indeed potent. I feel its strength has even reached the Soul Emperor level. However, since Bing'er's Martial Soul has become Ultimate Ice, it's become much more difficult for us to execute the Soul Fusion Skill. We practiced five times, and only managed to successfully activate the Soul Fusion Skill once," Xue Wu said, a hint of disappointment on her face.

Previously, her attributes were similar to Shui Bing'er's, and they could freely use the Soul Fusion Skill. But now that Shui Bing'er's attribute had turned into the pure Ultimate Ice, and hers was still ordinary Ice Attribute Soul Power, the two Soul Powers simply didn't match, making it naturally difficult to use the Soul Fusion Skill.

"Is that so?" Xu Ran clicked his tongue, reminded of the conditions for Soul Fusion, which required similar Soul Power attributes.

If Xue Wu were to perform Soul Fusion with Shui Bing'er now, Bing'er's Ultimate Ice would naturally suppress or even reject Xue Wu's ice-based Soul Power, making it difficult for them to execute the Soul Fusion Skill.

This was still when Shui Bing'er had just transformed into Ultimate Ice, and the two were barely able to perform the Soul Fusion Skill.

Once Shui Bing'er's strength improved, they might not be able to use the Soul Fusion Skill at all, unless Xue Wu could also transform into an Ultimate Ice Soul Master.

"This is all my fault. I didn't think of this," Xu Ran said.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he looked at Xue Wu. When she and Shui Bing'er failed to perform the Soul Fusion Skill, she must have felt quite downhearted. After all, to see a peer who was no different from oneself suddenly becoming much stronger and leaving her far behind must not have been easy to bear.

"Teacher Xu Ran, it's not your fault. Now Bing'er's strength alone has reached the level we could achieve together using the Soul Fusion Skill..." Xue Wu said seriously, her own sense of loss notwithstanding.

She and Shui Bing'er could use the Soul Fusion Skill because they were as close as sisters, their hearts in harmony. Naturally, she was happy for Shui Bing'er's transformation.

"Silly girl," Xu Ran fondly ruffled Xue Wu's smooth hair, sighing inwardly.

These girls, glossed over in the original work, were each more kind-hearted than the last, making it difficult for Xu Ran, who aspired to have a grand "Harem", to be untroubled in heart.

But he couldn't bear to miss them even more.

Xu Ran couldn't help recalling an adage from Earth that was widely circulated: Love starts with looks but is loyal to character.

In the past, he was just trying to get close to them with the intention of flirting, but now he truly had feelings for them. He could no longer remain indifferent to these sensible and demure girls.