A Maiden's Thoughts

"I'm sorry."

"To both of you, I deeply apologize for my earlier rude behavior."

He bowed at a ninety-degree angle. Though his expression was hidden, his voice carried genuine sincerity.

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

The disheveled black-haired youth slowly walked up to An Zhen, taking three small jade bottles and a thin black card from his Soul Tool.

"I lost, so I'll honor the bet. These are the Xuan Water Pills I promised, and the black card is a savings card. Thank you for what you said earlier—please, you must accept them."

With that, the young man, whose face bore the mark of mud and a turtle-like stubbornness, bowed deeply once more, then turned and strode away.

"Alright, scatter. The rest of the milk tea is mine."

With the big shot's words, the seniors and juniors who had either wanted to buy tea or were simply curious about this sensible and skilled junior finally dispersed, chattering excitedly about the bizarre fight. Honestly, if not for the big shot's presence and their knowledge of Xu Sanshi—the most infamous simp... turtle in the outer courtyard—they'd have thought it was a fixed match.

"Not bad, An Zhen." The lively, playful girl hopped up and slapped An Zhen on the shoulder. "You not only beat that big turtle Xu Sanshi, you actually made him submit."

"..."

The next second, under everyone's astonished gaze, the boy who had just been calm and composed like a true hero suddenly turned pale. His entire aura wilted, and his figure swayed unsteadily, caught by Beibei, who moved fastest.

"Hey." Tang Ya looked at her own hand in confusion. "Are you trying to scam me, kid?"

"Thanks." An Zhen nodded lightly to the young man.

"No problem."

"Brother An Zhen."

Huo Yutong stepped forward with concern, while Wang Dong'er, holding the milk tea, nervously glanced at the big shot still lingering nearby—only to find that he had already vanished without a trace.

"I overused my martial soul. Nothing serious—I'll recover after meditating for one night."

An Zhen explained, his face deathly pale.

The standard for a martial soul to alter reality was based on a comprehensive judgment of the target's rank, energy, and the power imbued in him...

If it were Xu Sanshi in his normal state, it would have been fine. But the gap between a Soul Master with an activated martial soul and one without was huge. From that perspective, for An Zhen right now, a Soul Master without an activated martial soul was much easier to deal with than a Soul Beast.

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

Sigh. Showing off in front of others always comes at a cost.

And of all things, this state caused by the martial soul couldn't be refreshed by the martial soul itself.

"Wielding such power always demands a price."

The others nodded silently to themselves.

That scene earlier had been too shocking.

The top-tier beast martial soul, the Xuanming Turtle, a Soul Elder—his proud defense had been as if it didn't exist before a Soul Grand Master.

Anyone watching would have thought a Title Douluo was bullying a child.

"An Zhen! An Zhen!"

Tang Ya's eyes lit up as she shouted excitedly, "Want to join the Tang Sect? Join now, and I, the sect master, will make you the third-in-command!"

This was a super genius!

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

By now, Xuan Zi and Zhang Lexuan had long since vanished without a sound. The last guest had left. Given An Zhen's weakened state, though everyone wanted to get to know him better, now wasn't the right time.

Night.

"Why do I have to carry you!"

Wang Dong'er's voice rang out, tinged with displeasure.

Because she had been making milk tea all along, Wang Dong'er was treated as An Zhen's employee. As the injured party, An Zhen couldn't move easily. The petite and weak Huo Yutong clearly couldn't handle the task. As a fellow male, tall and seemingly on good terms with An Zhen, Wang Dong'er was forced to accept the job.

Wang Dong'er didn't know why she hadn't refused earlier. Was it because of his earlier actions or his frail appearance?

Whatever. That big turtle only apologized to me and Yutong because of this guy. I'll just consider this my act of kindness.

"How about I let you ride me double next time to make up for it?"

"Ten times."

The girl gritted her teeth and spat out the words, but the next second, a tempting blush crept across her cheeks. A maiden's shyness was a beautiful sight under the night sky—unfortunately, no one was there to appreciate it.

"Pervert!"

"I'm compensating you, and you still curse me."

The boy rested peacefully on Wang Dong'er's shoulder, strands of dreamlike pink-blue hair brushing against him, the faint scent of the girl lingering at his nose.

A moment later, Huo Yutong parked two carts in front of the dormitory building and carried two jars filled with Gold Soul Coins and Silver Soul Coins into An Zhen's room. Wang Dong'er laid the immobile An Zhen on the bed.

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

"I see." An Zhen took out about fifty Gold Soul Coins. "Alright, split the rest between yourselves."

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

"Brother An Zhen, this is too much." Seeing such a "fortune" presented in cash before Huo Yutong was undoubtedly quite shocking for a Loli.

Ruffling the Loli's little head, An Zhen gently pushed the two buckets over. "Take it. This is what you earned through hard work."

An Zhen turned and smiled at Wang Dong. "This should be the first money Wang Dong has ever earned on her own, right? Or is classmate Wang Dong offering to work for me for free?"

"I'm not letting you take advantage of me."

The young lady froze, then immediately changed her expression. She couldn't let this guy get the better of her again. "Huo Yutong, I'll take this back to the dorm first."

With that, she grabbed the two jars and ran off.

"Remember to wash the money."

An Zhen grabbed Huo Yutong's wrist. "Open your mouth."

A round pill dropped into the obedient Loli's mouth.

"Hm?"

The Xuan Water Pill... did it have any side effects?

Belatedly, An Zhen suddenly recalled some descriptions from the original story about this pill that could transform one's body.

The effects were gentle, raising the soul power of anyone below level twenty by at least one rank, cleansing the marrow and washing the bones, and for ordinary talent, boosting Innate Soul Power by one rank.

But cleansing the marrow and washing the bones meant expelling impurities from the body. In other words, it would be very smelly.

Uh... looks like he'd screwed Wang Dong over.

Whatever. Worst case, he'd give up his room and rough it outside for the night.

"Alright, go back and rest."

Without mentioning tonight's meditation, An Zhen saw the Loli out the door.

He planned to test whether his cultivation speed would change now that Xiao Yutong wasn't around.

Pale pink toes stepped onto the soft bedsheet, a stretch of smooth fair calf exposed to the air. The young girl in her thin pajamas was in a pretty good mood.

Wang Dong was delighted as she looked at the clean Gold Soul Coins. These were all the fruits of her hard work.

Thinking back now, that guy wasn't so bad.

He didn't hide his interest in Huo Yutong but openly admitted it, and his pursuit wasn't off-putting. He'd arranged such a nice job for her. Earlier, he'd even stepped up against that bastard in the black sixth-grade uniform. Mm, he had some backbone. And when he'd been lying on top of her, he'd behaved himself.

But this guy sure knew a lot.

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

It felt like he had a lot of relationship experience, the way he'd made that big turtle cry with just a few words.

The girl's peripheral vision caught the petite Loli.

Heh, with her around, there was no way this guy would bully Yutong.

Brother An Zhen...

In eyes as brilliant as stars, a full jar of Gold and Silver was reflected. Misty pupils seemed to replay the day's events—the silhouette of that man stepping forward echoed in the Loli's mind, as if she wanted to etch that image into her memory forever.

The story of a hero saving a beauty had indeed happened, but the hero and the beauty had swapped roles.