Xiao Wu's Suggestion Was Vetoed by Tang San

Jiang Yunzhou took the gold coins and weighed them in his hand. There were probably around a hundred.

He curled his lip. "Hmph, at least you know what's good for you. If you dare come looking for trouble again, I'll fleece you dry!"

Hulande's mouth twitched as he ranted inwardly, How can someone extort money so righteously in public?

But the situation was stronger than the man. He couldn't beat them, so whatever they said went. He could only admit defeat.

His heart ached terribly. The funds he had painstakingly scraped together by swindling—ah, no, by diligently recruiting students—had all been extorted away!

Like he was encouraging a junior, Jiang Yunzhou patted Hulande on the shoulder. "Earn money properly and work hard on developing. I'll come fleece you again next time."

With that, he tucked nearly a thousand gold coins away in satisfaction, turned around, and ignored the disheveled Hulande where he stood.

He called toward Zhu Zhuqing, "Zhuqing, stop playing! You've vented enough. Come back already—we need to clean up and get dinner ready!"

Glancing at Dai Mubai, who had been beaten black and blue, Jiang Yunzhou figured that being a sparring partner really did hurt.

"I'm starving too... and I still need to buy ingredients."

He muttered to himself. He had not even bought the ingredients yet, and precious time could not all be wasted on fighting.

Zhu Zhuqing was very obedient.

Especially since she thought the way her teacher had slapped people and extorted money earlier was simply unbelievably cool!

So, she decided to follow his example.

Her teacher had said: if there was a grudge, settle it. Do not bottle it up. As long as they did not die, beat them to death.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Crisp slaps rang out, accompanied by her icy curses. "Idiot! Dog of a man! Coward! Pay up..."

After several sharp cracks, Dai Mubai's formerly handsome cheeks swelled red at a visible rate.

Zhu Zhuqing disliked the blood on his face dirtying her hands, so she finished with a clean flying kick, accurately kicking Dai Mubai back into the grounds of Shilaike Academy.

After doing all that, Zhu Zhuqing felt the pent-up gloom in her heart vanish completely, leaving her incomparably refreshed.

Beating up a scumbag really could improve her mood by quite a bit!

She no longer wanted to advance hand in hand with that man. She only felt that she must have been out of her mind before.

Otherwise, why would she have wanted to come find him?

What a pathetic man. Disgusting. Pah.

During this battle, she had truly experienced the power of those cultivation techniques. Fighting above her level felt incredible.

Her teacher had given her all of this.

Mutually supporting Dai Mubai?

No, no, no. Right now, she only wanted to support Jiang Yunzhou.

She patted off dust that did not exist on her hands and quickly returned to Jiang Yunzhou's side.

The cold, fierce aura she had displayed while beating Dai Mubai disappeared the instant she saw Jiang Yunzhou, and she became that slightly well-behaved girl again.

"Teacher, the cultivation techniques you taught me are really amazing."

She leaned close to Jiang Yunzhou's ear and spoke excitedly in a low voice, unable to hide the joy and admiration on her face.

Jiang Yunzhou affectionately ruffled her hair. He could sense the change in her mindset.

It seemed that the bond between them had been mostly severed.

"You did well, but you still need to practice diligently in the future. Your potential goes far beyond this."

"Still, you only made him compensate you, yet didn't get a single gold coin back. You didn't do well on that point."

Zhu Zhuqing thought about it. She had merely talked big, then kicked him away.

She really had forgotten to search him.

"Ah, next time. I'll remember next time."

She seemed to thoroughly enjoy this intimate approval from Jiang Yunzhou as he patted her head. Like a kitten being stroked the right way, she nodded heavily.

Before leaving, Jiang Yunzhou turned his gaze toward Xiao Wu, who had been watching from the side, and gave her a meaningful smile.

Xiao Wu instinctively looked away, her heartbeat inexplicably quickening.

From beginning to end, her gaze had never left Jiang Yunzhou.

Whether it was his overwhelming strength in crushing a Soul Saint or his carefree rogue-like manner of extorting money, he carried himself with effortless calm the entire time.

He really... did look handsome to her.

Comparing the two, a trace of annoyance rose in her heart. Why can't Third Brother give me that same feeling of being powerful, dependable, and a little bad?

He acted like a stuffy blockhead all day.

All he knew was playing with grass, or fiddling with those hidden weapons meant for sneak attacks...

She had also seen Jiang Yunzhou's martial soul. It was grass too, so why could someone else's grass be so domineering?

While Third Brother's only knew how to bind people. Did he really like bondage that much?

To be honest, Jiang Yunzhou's earlier words had already moved her somewhat.

She had also witnessed Zhu Zhuqing's battle firsthand. It had been far too impressive. A Soul Grandmaster had actually suppressed a Soul Elder throughout the entire fight!

That was enough to prove that Jiang Yunzhou truly had something special!

Although Dai Mubai had indeed underestimated his opponent at first and lost the initiative, causing his subsequent defeat to collapse like a landslide, a loss was still a loss.

When Tang San saw the meaningful look Jiang Yunzhou had cast toward Xiao Wu, an inexplicable anger surged in his heart, along with a stifling sense of humiliation.

From the moment that man appeared until now, he had not even given Tang San a proper glance!

His gaze had passed right over him and landed precisely on Xiao Wu. Such complete disregard was, in itself, an enormous slight to the proud Tang San.

He roared silently in his heart, Aaaah! Just you wait! One day, I'll stomp you beneath my feet!

He suddenly recalled a crucial detail and turned to ask Xiao Wu, "Xiao Wu, did you notice just now? That man's first soul ring was a purple thousand-year soul ring!"

Xiao Wu froze at his words. She had been too busy looking at Jiang Yunzhou's face and bearing to spare attention for the color of his soul rings.

But on second thought, it did not seem strange for something like that to happen to that man.

She answered hesitantly, "I-I think so..."

After answering, an idea came to her. She felt this was the perfect chance to test Tang San's attitude, so she asked, "Third Brother, everyone at this Shilaike Academy combined couldn't even beat one Jiang Yunzhou. It doesn't seem all that impressive. Do you still insist on joining this place?"

She carefully watched Tang San's expression. "I think that Supreme Academy is pretty amazing. How about we..."

Tang San's expression instantly darkened, and he cut her off directly.

So that man was called Jiang Yunzhou? Xiao Wu actually knew that man's name? He was so angry.

Although he too was quite disappointed by Shilaike Academy's performance, his teacher Yu Xiaogang had solemnly instructed him to come here.

Besides, it would not be long before his teacher came here to meet up with him.

"Xiao Wu, listen to me!"

Tang San's tone was resolute. "Teacher told us to join Shilaike, so he must have his reasons. We just need to follow the arrangements."

"But, Third Brother..."

Xiao Wu tried to struggle a little, bringing up what she had seen. "That Supreme Academy is really different! Didn't you see how strong his disciple was? That golden-haired white tiger fought you at the hotel last time. Do you think you could definitely beat him? But that sister in black could suppress him the whole time!"

Her words were like a thorn stabbing into Tang San's heart.

He had to admit that Xiao Wu was telling the truth.

If he faced Zhu Zhuqing, then without using external means such as hidden weapons, and relying solely on their martial souls, the outcome would probably not look very good...

However, deep in his heart, his trust and reverence for Yu Xiaogang prevailed.

It was his teacher's theories that had guided his cultivation. Without his teacher, there would be no Tang San of today.

Tang San was a man who respected his teacher, valued righteousness, and kept his promises. Since he had promised his teacher, he absolutely could not change his mind over a temporary difference in strength.

Therefore, he vetoed Xiao Wu's suggestion without the slightest hesitation.