In the end, Ryan walked out of Sally's room with a broad grin on his face, while his storage pouch felt heavy in his hand, now filled with countless magic crystals and rare magical potions.

  Meanwhile, Sally remained inside the room, staring blankly at the empty hall, her mind racing. Something was not right.

  I am the Divine Maiden of Glacial Arcana Academy, my status second only to the Headmistress and the three grand elders.

  All the other apprentices bow respectfully whenever they see me, so how did I end up being coaxed into handing over more than half my savings to a junior who just enrolled?

  Realizing this, Sally hurried outside, but Ryan had already used his movement technique, his figure vanishing at the end of the snow covered stone path.

  She stood at the doorway, her face flushed with anger, fists clenched so tightly that they crackled, yet there was nothing she could do. She could only treat it as buying herself an extra layer of protection in this cruel magic world.

  Sally tried to comfort herself like this, but her heart still ached, feeling as though she had suffered an enormous loss.

  Over forty years, aside from those few years when she was tormented by the elders using regression magic, the rest of the time she had shamelessly sought guidance from them.

  Relying on the original body's talent, she had advanced step by step from Journeyman Mage to Ninth tier Arcane Mage.

  If not for the original body's outstanding magical talent, she would never have been able to hold onto the position of Divine Maiden.

  Fortunately, that talent was still there. Otherwise, her life in the academy would have been truly miserable.

  【Host, you even swindle an ignorant girl who has never seen the world. If you really manage to advance to Grand Magus one day, the title you deserve most would be Grand Magus of Swindlers. It would be well deserved.】

  On his way back to Holy Ice Hall, Ryan listened to Grimoire's mockery in his mind and felt utterly speechless.

  "To hell with you. Whether she is deliberately pretending to be innocent to fool me is still uncertain. Why should I care so much? Hurry up and convert all this into Origin Value!" Ryan ordered Grimoire.

  The resources Sally provided gave him more than one million Origin Value in total. Added to what he had accumulated before, his current total Origin Value reached 5857523.

  He had to admit that Sally was truly generous. If something happens in the future, I will cover for you, Ryan muttered silently to himself.

  Although he said this every time he accepted someone else's resources, sounding more like self consolation, when trouble really came, he would indeed lend a hand.

  The premise was that it would not require him to risk his life and that he happened to be there. If he was not, then it could only be blamed on bad luck.

  It was precisely because of this that during his eighth lifetime traveling the magic continent, countless people tried to actively offer him resources to curry favor, yet none of them could ever find him.

  Unknowingly, while trading barbs with Grimoire in his mind, Ryan returned to the courtyard of Holy Ice Hall.

  Before he could push the door open, the hall doors opened automatically.

  When Evelyn was inside Holy Ice Hall, she never liked to wear her veil. No one knew the reason. Perhaps she felt there was no need to hide anything on her own territory.

  At this moment, there was no expression on her exquisitely beautiful face, yet it carried an innate cold pressure.

  "Where did you go?"

  The moment Evelyn spoke, her words carried a hint of interrogation. The chill on her cold and beautiful face instantly froze the smile on Ryan's face, leaving him standing there in a daze.

  "I just went out to take a look around the academy. What's wrong?" Ryan said, his tone carrying a hint of confusion.

  Grimoire, in his mind, wisely shut up and stopped making any sarcastic remarks.

  Evelyn's cold eyes narrowed slightly. Faint magical energy began to swirl around her as she slowly stepped toward Ryan.

  Ryan pretended to be frightened, retreating two steps in quick succession, his gaze darting away.

  "Mentor, your look is really scary." Even his speech became a little stuttered, his acting flawless.

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  Evelyn still said nothing. Her figure suddenly flashed, and in an instant she appeared right in front of Ryan, the chill around her nearly freezing the air itself.

  She keenly sensed a trace of unfamiliar aura lingering on Ryan, exactly the same as the aura of the intruder who had last sneaked into Holy Ice Hall.

  "Where did you go?" Evelyn asked.

  "I was just walking around inside the academy." Ryan's eyes were flustered, his stammering even worse.

  At that, Evelyn reached out, grabbed Ryan by the front of his clothes, and forcibly dragged him into the room. She casually shut the door behind her, cutting off all sound from the outside.

  Inside the room, Evelyn leaned forward slightly. Her exquisitely beautiful face was extremely close to Ryan, her long eyelashes almost brushing against his skin.

  "Mentor, what are you thinking?" Ryan was forced into a corner, his body curling slightly, looking as if he were trembling with fear.

  In truth, all of this was deliberate. He had intentionally brought back a trace of Sally's aura to see how Evelyn would react. To put it plainly, he was asking for trouble.

  What he did not expect was for Evelyn's reaction to be this intense. This stirred a strange sense of delight in Ryan's heart, mixed with faint fear, worried that he might truly anger her and end up frozen into an ice sculpture by a single ice spell.

  "I'll ask you one last time. Where did you go?" Evelyn's voice carried anger.

  "I really was just in the academy." Ryan gritted his teeth, still refusing to tell the truth.

  After a brief pause, he added,"I was invited by a senior sister along the way and went to her residence to sit for a while. What's wrong?"

  Evelyn's gaze sharpened instantly."Which senior sister?"

  "Mentor, I don't know her. I just ran into her on the road. When I see her again next time, I'll point her out to you."

  Ryan could only keep playing dumb and pretend not to know Sally. But Evelyn's next words instantly left him unable to cope.

  "Take me there now." Evelyn's voice was cold and merciless, like an order that could not be defied.

  Her tone carried firm resolve, as if she were determined to find the woman who had left that unfamiliar aura on Ryan.

  "Can we go next time?" Ryan's voice weakened, tinged with a hint of pleading.

  "No." Evelyn's answer was sharp and decisive, leaving Ryan no room to refuse.

  "All right." Ryan lowered his head slightly, looking extremely guilty, not daring to meet her eyes.

  Seeing him like this, Evelyn felt an inexplicable surge of anger in her heart, though she forcibly suppressed it, keeping it from erupting.

  "Lead the way." Evelyn grabbed the back of Ryan's collar, turned toward the door, and put on her veil.

  She yanked the door open with such force that it let out a harsh screech, as if it might be torn off its hinges the next moment.

  Ryan's heart trembled involuntarily. This time, he was genuinely scared.

  On the surface, Evelyn did not seem overwhelmingly furious, but these violent, hostile movements had already exposed her true emotions.

  He could not help but recall the scenes of Evelyn's rage in his past eight lives. At the lightest, entire regions were frozen solid. At the worst, sword energy swept across the land, leaving countless dead and wounded.

  Ryan sucked in a cold breath inwardly, silently praying that this time he could get through safely and not truly provoke this Evelyn.

  The two of them flew through the air above Glacial Arcana Academy. Magical wings of light surrounded Evelyn, yet her mind was racing.

  Who was the person who had been able to slip into Holy Ice Hall without making a sound or being detected?

  In fact, this was the real reason she had insisted on bringing Ryan to find that woman.

  This should be the true reason, right? Evelyn repeatedly confirmed it in her heart, as if comforting herself, trying to suppress that trace of irritation she herself could not clearly name.

  At this moment, Sally was sitting in her room, leaning back in her chair and leisurely sipping fruit tea.

  Anyway, over the past forty years, aside from methodically studying magic, she had spent most of her time drifting along like this. With the identity of Divine Maiden as her safety net, life had been relatively comfortable.

  With a loud bang, the door to the room was kicked open, wood splinters flying everywhere.

  Sally jolted violently. With a flip of her hand, a long spear radiating biting cold appeared in her grip. It was her weapon, the Frost Spirit Ice Lance.

  "Who is it!" Sally shouted angrily, gripping the spear tightly, her eyes locked on the doorway.

  Anyone who would act with such violence inside the academy could not possibly be one of the three Grand Elders, nor any other mentor.

  "Routine inspection, do not move!" Ryan leapt in after them, jumping into the room first.

  Sally was left completely dumbfounded by his words. Even the hand holding the spear froze, leaving her standing there at a loss.

  Right after that, Evelyn's figure appeared at the entrance of the hall. Although Sally could not see Evelyn's face beneath the veil, she could clearly feel the extreme chill that surged toward her.

  "Headmistress." Sally hurriedly put away the Frost Spirit Ice Lance and bowed respectfully to Evelyn.

  Her heart was filled with confusion. Why would the Headmistress suddenly come to her room, and with that man she had only just met?

  "You have repeatedly sought out my apprentice. For what purpose?" Evelyn stood at Ryan's side.

  She looked at Sally with icy eyes, her tone carrying undisguised questioning. Back then, it had been she herself who recommended Sally for the position of Divine Maiden.

  No wonder she could enter Holy Ice Hall without a sound. With the status of Divine Maiden, coupled with her exclusive concealment techniques, slipping past unnoticed was indeed not difficult.

  She only needed to claim that she was going to see a Grand Elder, or present her Divine Maiden token, and the guards would let her pass. This was a privilege unique to the Divine Maiden.

  Sally froze for a moment, assuming Evelyn was questioning her about inviting Ryan to her room, and quickly explained,

  "Headmistress, I was simply curious about the magical talent of the academy's first male apprentice in many years, so I invited him to my room as a guest. I had no other intentions. Has something happened?"

  As she spoke, she stepped forward and raised her hand, gesturing for the two of them to enter and take seats."Please, come in and sit. It is not appropriate to keep standing like this."

  Evelyn, however, remained where she was. Her gaze stayed fixed on Sally. After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke.

  "Some time ago, your magical aura was detected inside Holy Ice Hall. How do you intend to explain this?"

  Sally felt her mind go completely blank. Her heart tightened abruptly, and she shuddered in fear.

  It is over, she thought. Are the elders going to use retrospection magic to search my soul again? That soul tearing agony was something she never wanted to experience again.