A Maiden's Thoughts

"I'm sorry!"

"I sincerely apologize to you two for my earlier rude behavior."

He bowed at a ninety-degree angle. Though his expression could not be seen, his voice was remarkably sincere.

The battle between the new students and the sixth-year senior had come to an end.

The bedraggled black-haired youth slowly walked up to An Zhen and took three exquisite little jade bottles and a thin black card from his Soul Tool.

"A bet is a bet. These are the Xuan Water Pills I promised you earlier. The black card is a savings card. Thank you for what you said before. Please, you must accept it."

After saying that, the young man whose face looked like a turtle smeared with mud bowed deeply again, then turned and strode away.

"That's enough, that's enough. The rest of the milk tea belongs to this old man."

With the big shot speaking up, the senior students who had either wanted to buy milk tea or were simply curious about this junior who understood both reason and fists left. They eagerly discussed the strange battle they had just witnessed. Honestly, if not for the big shot keeping watch and their understanding of Xu Sanshi—the most famous bootli... turtle-licker in the outer courtyard—they might really have thought it was a rigged match.

"Not bad, An Zhen." The lively girl jumped up and slapped An Zhen on the shoulder. "Not only did you beat that big turtle Xu Sanshi, you even made him submit."

"..."

The next second, to everyone's astonishment, the young man who had just looked calm and heroic suddenly went pale. His aura immediately weakened, and his body swayed until Beibei, the quickest to react, caught him.

"Wait." Tang Ya looked suspiciously at her hand. "Are you faking an injury, kid?"

"Thank you." An Zhen gave the young man a slight nod.

"Don't mention it."

"Big Brother An Zhen."

Huo Yutong hurried forward with a worried expression. Wang Dong, who had handed over the milk tea, nervously looked toward the big shot still standing there, only to discover that he had vanished at some point.

"I overused my martial soul a little. It's nothing serious. I'll recover after meditating for one night."

An Zhen explained with a pale face.

The standards by which his martial soul altered reality were a comprehensive judgment based on an object's status, energy, and the power bestowed upon it...

Xu Sanshi in his normal state would have been fine. The difference between a soul master with her martial soul activated and one without it was enormous. From that perspective, soul masters without activated martial souls were much easier for An Zhen to handle than Soul Beasts.

But earlier, he had wanted to show off a little and make an example of him.

Sigh, showing off before others always came at a price.

And unfortunately, this condition caused by his martial soul was the one thing his martial soul could not reset.

"Using such power always comes at a cost."

Everyone silently nodded in agreement.

That scene from earlier had been too shocking.

A top-tier beast martial soul, the Xuanming Turtle. A Soul Elder. Yet the defense he had been so proud of had seemed nonexistent before a Soul Grandmaster.

Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought a Title Douluo was bullying children.

"An Zhen, An Zhen."

Tang Ya's eyes lit up as she called excitedly, "Do you want to join the Tang Sect? If you join now, this sect master will make you the third-in-command."

He was a super genius!

"Xiao Ya." Beibei helplessly pulled his girlfriend back. "He's still injured. Shouldn't we let him rest properly first?"

At this point, Xuan Zi and Zhang Lexuan had already silently disappeared. The last customer had left as well. Given An Zhen's weakened state, although they all wished to get to know him better, this was clearly not the right time.

Night had fallen.

"Why am I the one carrying you?!"

Wang Dong'er's somewhat disgruntled voice rang out.

Because Wang Dong had been making milk tea the entire time, she had been treated as An Zhen's employee. As the injured party, An Zhen had difficulty moving. Huo Yutong, small and weak, obviously could not shoulder such a task. Wang Dong, who was also male, tall, and appeared to have a good relationship with An Zhen, was naturally forced to take on the job.

Wang Dong did not even know why she had not refused earlier. Was it because of what this guy had done before, or because he looked so weak?

Forget it. That big turtle had apologized to her and Yutong because of this guy. She would consider it an act of charity from this young lady.

"How about I let you ride me back twice as much in the future?"

"Ten times."

The girl said through gritted teeth, glaring fiercely. Yet the next moment, an enticing blush flashed across her cheeks. A maiden's bashfulness was an exquisite sight in the night, but sadly, no one could appreciate it.

"You lecher!"

"I'm compensating you, and you're still insulting me."

The young man lay peacefully on Wang Dong's shoulder. Her dreamlike pink-blue hair cascaded down, while her faint fragrance lingered at An Zhen's nose.

After a while, Huo Yutong parked the two carts in front of the dormitory building and carried the two jars filled with Gold Soul Coins and Silver Soul Coins into An Zhen's room. Wang Dong placed the mobility-impaired An Zhen onto the bed.

"We sold 226 cups today." The thrifty loli remembered clearly.

"I see." An Zhen took out a little over fifty Gold Soul Coins. "All right, divide the rest between yourselves."

"I don't need it." The young lady disdainfully turned her head away.

"Big Brother An Zhen, this is too much." Such a huge sum of money displayed in cash before Huo Yutong was undoubtedly quite shocking to the loli.

Ruffling the loli's little head, An Zhen gently pushed the two jars toward them. "Take it. You earned this through your hard work."

An Zhen turned and smiled at Wang Dong. "This should be the first money Wang Dong has earned entirely by herself, right? Or does Student Wang Dong want to work for me for free?"

"I won't let you take advantage of me again."

The young lady froze, then immediately changed her expression. She could not let this guy take advantage of her again. "Huo Yutong, I'll take it back to the dormitory first."

With that, she grabbed both jars and ran off.

"Remember to wash the money."

An Zhen caught Huo Yutong by the wrist. "Open your mouth."

A round pill fell into the obedient loli's mouth.

"Hmm?"

As for the Xuan Water Pill, did it have some sort of side effect?

Only then did An Zhen suddenly recall some descriptions from the original work about this pill, which could completely transform one's body.

Its effects were mild. For soul masters below level twenty, it could raise Soul Power by at least one level, cleanse the marrow and reshape the bones, and increase Innate Soul Power by one level for soul masters with ordinary talent.

But cleansing the marrow and reshaping the bones required expelling impurities from the body. In other words, it would smell terrible.

Uh, it seemed he had set Wang Dong up.

Forget it. At worst, he would give up his room and spend the night outside.

"All right, go back and rest."

Without mentioning meditation tonight, An Zhen sent the loli out the door.

An Zhen intended to test whether his cultivation speed would change without Xiao Yutong around.

Soft, rosy-white feet stepped on the fluffy bedsheet, and a smooth, fair calf was exposed to the air. The girl, dressed in thin sleepwear, was in quite a good mood.

Wang Dong felt delighted as she looked at the clean Gold Soul Coins one by one. They were all the result of her hard work.

Thinking about it now, that guy was actually quite decent.

He did not hide his feelings for Huo Yutong, instead admitting them openly. His methods of pursuing her were not off-putting either, and he had arranged such a good job for Huo Yutong. Earlier, he had even stepped forward against that sixth-year turtle in the black school uniform. Mm, he had the bearing of a man. And when he had been lying on her, he had behaved himself.

Still, it felt like this guy knew so much.

Wang Dong recalled what An Zhen had said during the battle.

He seemed to have a lot of romantic experience. He had made that big turtle cry in just a few words.

The girl's peripheral vision glanced at the petite loli.

Hehe, with her around, she would never let this guy bully Yutong.

Big Brother An Zhen...

Her eyes, brilliant as stars, reflected the jar full of gold and silver. Through the mist in her eyes, scenes from the day seemed to flash past. That figure who had stepped forward lingered in the loli's mind, as though she wanted to carve the image into her memories forever.

A hero saving a beauty had indeed happened, but the hero and beauty had switched places.