The Wager

Dugu Lu slung an arm around Huo Yuhao's neck. "Yuhao's still the best—he knows how to save Brother Lu some money." Then he looked up at Xu Jie.

"Fine, fine. Our young master of the Dugu Family is rolling in wealth, yet he can't even afford to treat us once?" Xu Jie shook his head helplessly.

"Ahem, money's a little tight lately." Dugu Lu looked somewhat embarrassed, but then seemed to think of something and straightened up self-righteously.

After telling Xiao Xiao, the three left the classroom. From afar, they saw their homeroom teacher walking with a pretty female teacher with short blue hair. That beautiful teacher seemed to be Class Nine's homeroom teacher.

The three paid it no mind. They hurried back to their dormitory, packed up briefly, and headed for the riverbank in Shrek City.

The setting sun reflected off the river's surface. A gentle breeze stirred, sending rippling waves shimmering across the water.

Seeing Dugu Lu about to enter the river to catch fish, Xu Jie hurriedly said, "Big Brother, you should go gather firewood instead. If you use your Martial Soul, those fish won't be edible anymore."

Dugu Lu also remembered the special nature of his Martial Soul. Without saying anything else, he turned toward the woods to gather firewood.

As for Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao, the two worked together with perfect understanding. Xu Jie took the White Tiger Dagger and, without minding the dirt, plopped down on the riverbank.

Huo Yuhao rolled up his trouser legs and took out a fish spear he had specially made during the spare time he had set aside while practicing Soul Tool crafting. He waded into the river and began spearing fish.

Time passed, and twenty minutes went by. Xu Jie once again caught the black carp Huo Yuhao tossed over and casually began cleaning it.

Huo Yuhao put away his fish spear, climbed onto the bank, took out the seasonings, and began marinating the black carp Xu Jie had cleaned earlier.

Before long, Dugu Lu returned with the firewood. The three busied themselves for a while longer, and thin wisps of smoke rose into the air. They set the fish over the fire, and soon a distinctive aroma drifted out. Huo Yuhao worked away by himself while Xu Jie and Dugu Lu lazily sat off to the side.

As Xu Jie sat there blankly staring into space, he suddenly felt something hard poke him. Turning his head, he saw Dugu Lu holding a dark red saber a meter long.

The blade was straight and thin, with a fiery red gemstone the size of a jujube embedded between the blade and the hilt.

"What's this?" Xu Jie looked questioningly at the saber in Dugu Lu's hand.

"Didn't I lose the bet? This is the wager," Dugu Lu said.

"Hm? Let me see." Xu Jie reached out and took the saber. He said nothing further, and as his Soul Power circulated, the saber began to glow.

Bang!

An explosion rang out, startling Huo Yuhao, who had been intently grilling the fish. He quickly turned to look.

"A Class Two close-combat Soul Tool?" Huo Yuhao did not notice the soot blackening Xu Jie and Dugu Lu's faces. Instead, he stared at the saber in Xu Jie's hand. "Brother Jie, where did you get that?"

"Cough, cough, cough!" Xu Jie coughed repeatedly, set the saber aside, and said to Huo Yuhao, "This is the wager Brother Lu lost to me."

It had to be said that Dugu Lu had truly inherited the Dugu Family's age-old tradition of keeping their word. Back then, they had merely made a small bet over whether he could win the championship. If Dugu Lu had not mentioned it just now, Xu Jie would have forgotten all about it.

"Damn it, can't you be more careful?" Dugu Lu had also been caught in the blast. The moment he recovered, he snapped at Xu Jie.

"A wager?" Huo Yuhao clearly had no idea about the bet between Xu Jie and Dugu Lu. Looking at the saber in Xu Jie's hand, he was obviously a little envious.

"Here, your reward for winning the championship." Seeing the envy in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Dugu Lu immediately stood up, took a pale blue short-handled knife only twenty centimeters long from his Storage Soul Guidance Device, and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

"A Class... Class Two engraving knife?" Upon seeing the object in Dugu Lu's hand, Huo Yuhao immediately waved his hands. "No, no, this is too precious."

As the weapon of a Soul Tool craftsman, a Class Two engraving knife was clearly far more valuable than the Class Two Soul Tool in Xu Jie's hand. The value of one Class Two engraving knife was equivalent to five Class Two Soul Tools.

"Take it." Seeing Huo Yuhao refuse, Dugu Lu placed the engraving knife in Huo Yuhao's hand.

"No... I still..." Seeing Huo Yuhao about to refuse again, Dugu Lu abruptly stood up and said, "I'm going to gather some more firewood." With that, he dashed off in a flash.

"Brother Jie, I..." Holding the engraving knife, Huo Yuhao looked at Xu Jie, at a loss for what to do.

"Take it. It's his goodwill, after all." Xu Jie spoke, and Huo Yuhao said nothing more. He put away the engraving knife and returned his full attention to grilling the fish.

Xu Jie turned to look at Dugu Lu. As the sunlight faded, Dugu Lu's hair seemed to have darkened another shade. The cultivation method passed down by the Dugu Family for ten thousand years had still not been fully perfected. Otherwise, Dugu Lu's hair would not have continued growing darker.

As early as a thousand years ago, aside from exceptionally gifted descendants, the Dugu Family's other members had rarely cultivated their Martial Souls anymore. The flaw of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul was simply too severe. While toxins could be forced into soul bones, that solution only treated the symptoms, not the root cause, and was far too extravagant.

After all, soul bones filled with toxins were basically ruined. Other families could pass their soul bones down through generations, while the Dugu Family's soul bones could only be used for one generation.

By the time Dugu Lu returned, the fish had finally finished roasting. After Huo Yuhao thanked him, the three dug in heartily. Once they had eaten and drunk their fill and cleaned up all traces, they headed back toward the dormitory.

"Oh, right, Lu, lend me your Poison Scripture." When they reached the dormitory building, Xu Jie suddenly said to Dugu Lu.

"What do you want with that? Anyone whose Martial Soul has nothing to do with the Jade Phosphorous Serpent can't cultivate it anyway." Dugu Lu was puzzled.

"I..." Xu Jie had just begun to explain when a stern voice suddenly came from inside the dormitory building.

"Xu Jie, come to my office." Zhou Yi, with wrinkled skin and crane-white hair, walked out of the dormitory building and spoke to Xu Jie.

"Hello, Teacher Zhou." At the sight of Zhou Yi, all three greeted her.

"Mm." Zhou Yi nodded and said to Xu Jie, "Let's go."

Xu Jie bade the other two farewell and followed Zhou Yi toward the teachers' office building. Zhou Yi did not speak along the way, merely walking quietly. Xu Jie did not say anything either. He could roughly guess what was about to happen.

"What's going on?" Dugu Lu and Huo Yuhao, left behind where they stood, were somewhat baffled. But with no one to explain it to them, they could not say much.

"Come on, Yuhao. I'll take you around Shrek City." Dugu Lu recovered quickly. He grabbed Huo Yuhao, seemingly afraid he would refuse, and dragged him toward the academy gates.

Zhou Yi's office,

A clean-shaven man with a dark complexion, around fifty years old, sat opposite Xu Jie. He was Du Weilun, the dean of the Martial Soul Department. Beside him squatted a disheveled old man gnawing on a chicken leg, while Zhou Yi stood to one side.

Du Weilun looked at Xu Jie and said, "Xu Jie, before the competition even began, the academy had already decided that the reward for this championship would be a soul bone. Although Huo Yuhao is your team's captain, the academy understands that you are the true backbone of the team.

Therefore, the academy hopes that you and Huo Yuhao will yield the soul bone to Xiao Xiao."

"Mm." Xu Jie nodded without speaking. He understood the academy's decision. He had now become a "waste" incapable of increasing his Soul Power, while Huo Yuhao's talent was truly too poor. To the academy, Xiao Xiao, who possessed Twin Martial Souls, had far greater potential than the two of them.