"Xuan Lao?"
"What brings you here?"
Qian Duoduo, still immersed in the joy of having found a treasure, saw Xuan Zi arrive.
He immediately stopped agreeing with Xian Lin'er's idea and asked warily, "Dean Qian, why are you so tense?"
"Heh—"
Seeing Qian Duoduo's hostile attitude, Xuan Zi chuckled, then took a big swig of wine and grabbed another chicken leg.
He seemed not to have noticed Qian Duoduo's hostility at all.
He treated it as an ordinary question.
"Xuan Zi, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't beat around the bush," Xian Lin'er asked directly.
Her attitude was clearly much worse than Qian Duoduo's.
Still,
that was only natural.
At the Sea God Pavilion Meeting earlier, Xuan Zi had openly suppressed their Soul Tool Department.
Now, Jiang Yang's talent in soul tools and Martial Souls was known to everyone at the elders' level.
And Xuan Zi wasn't someone who came to the Soul Tool Department without a reason.
It was hard not to think he'd come to "snatch" Jiang Yang away.
"Heh—"
"This really has nothing to do with me this time. Mu En specifically asked for him."
Seeing how serious they both were, Xuan Zi dropped his playful manner and spoke rather solemnly.
"Mu En?!"
"..."
Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, and Fan Yu all froze in astonishment.
Everyone knew Jiang Yang's talent was astonishingly incredible, but they also knew that ever since the incident last time, Mu En had practically stopped involving himself in the academy's affairs.
So why had he shown Jiang Yang such particular attention again and again?
And he'd even specifically asked for him...
Even if he was eager to nurture a talent, he could have left it to Yan Shaozhe, the current head of Shrek Academy.
"Don't look at me."
"Come to think of it, this brat Jiang Yang caused the trouble himself."
"With just one sentence, he cost the White Tiger Duke Mansion nearly twenty million Gold Soul Coins. Tsk, tsk... He's got the makings of me in my younger days! Hahahahaha..."
As Xuan Zi said this, he burst into laughter.
The next moment,
a look of disdain appeared in Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo's eyes.
He really could turn anything into something about himself... Xuan Zi had some nerve bragging like that.
Still,
although they thought that,
neither of them showed it.
They at least gave Xuan Zi some face.
"Didn't the White Tiger Duke already send all the compensation to the academy, and didn't we distribute it all? Why is there still an issue?"
"Could it be that the White Tiger Duke wants to go back on his word and even turn around and blame Jiang Yang?"
Fan Yu asked without thinking.
He wasn't sure why he'd asked that question. In fact, deep down, he seemed to hope something would happen to Jiang Yang.
But at the same time, he didn't want Jiang Yang to get into trouble.
The feeling was deeply conflicted.
"The White Tiger Duke wouldn't go that far."
"But, yes, we do have to give him an explanation."
"After donating those cultivation resources to the academy as a sponsorship, the White Tiger Duke made a new demand."
"What demand?!"
As soon as Xuan Zi finished speaking,
Fan Yu couldn't help asking in a rush.
Xuan Zi's brow furrowed slightly, and his look toward Fan Yu turned a little displeased.
"Sorry, Xuan Lao. I got a little worked up."
Fan Yu immediately apologized.
"Heh—"
"It's all right, it's all right. You're all Jiang Yang's teachers. It's only natural that you're concerned about him."
Seeing that Fan Yu had the good sense to apologize, Xuan Zi's expression softened somewhat.
"Not long ago, the White Tiger Duke finished discussing things with Mu En. He said he'd send a three-person team to compete in the finals of our Freshman Assessment."
"He wants Jiang Yang to coach a three-person team over the next month and a half, lead them into the finals, then face the White Tiger Duke's team and win the championship."
"Besides that, Jiang Yang's Soul Power has to reach at least level forty before the end of the semester, and he must absorb a fourth Soul Ring of at least thirty thousand years."
"If he can do that, the White Tiger Duke won't take back the more than twenty million worth of cultivation resources, and he'll give Jiang Yang a Ranking Engraving Knife... one ranked among the top fifty. Otherwise..."
"What?!"
"Ah?!"
"A Ranking Engraving Knife?!"
Xuan Zi hadn't even finished speaking. The moment he said the words "Ranking Engraving Knife," Xian Lin'er, Fan Yu, and Qian Duoduo all cried out in shock.
When the words "ranked among the top fifty" left his mouth, all three felt their scalps prickle.
Even Shrek Academy, as powerful as it was, owned only two Ranking Engraving Knives.
Despite being a vice dean, Qian Duoduo didn't even have one of his own.
That showed just how precious a Ranking Engraving Knife was.
"So the rumor really was true."
After calming himself a little, Qian Duoduo spoke at once.
"What rumor?" Fan Yu pressed.
"About two and a half years ago, I heard that the White Tiger Duke had somehow gotten hold of a Ranking Engraving Knife. I had people investigate from all sides, but never got any concrete information."
"Later, I went to see him in person, hoping to trade some resources for it. But he kept saying he didn't have a Ranking Engraving Knife, so the matter was dropped."
"Who would've thought that Dai Hao had been hiding it all along! The nerve of him!"
As Qian Duoduo spoke, he gritted his teeth.
He had never liked making a losing deal, and he especially loved getting the better end of a bargain. He hadn't expected the White Tiger Duke to pull a fast one on him.
How could he not be furious?
"Xuan Lao, Dai Hao isn't an easy man to deal with. Tell us his conditions."
Compared with Qian Duoduo, whose eyes were practically buried in money, Xian Lin'er was much steadier.
As the White Tiger Duke of the Star Luo Empire and commander of the Western Army Group, Dai Hao was no naïve fool.
He wouldn't have thrown a Ranking Engraving Knife into the bargain unless the conditions were steep.
"If Jiang Yang can't do it—"
"Not only will those resources be taken back, but the Shrek Inspectorate will also have to complete—"
"100 high-risk inspection missions within a year."
As soon as Xuan Zi finished,
the other three widened their eyes again.
This time, though, no one shouted.
"He's got some nerve!"
"Even if we did two a month, that'd only be twenty-four in a year! A hundred?!"
"Why doesn't he just rob us?!"
Qian Duoduo couldn't help cursing.
Then
he added, "Forget a hundred. Even if it were just one, Shrek Academy wouldn't help with this!"
"Call it helping, but he's trying to make the Shrek Inspectorate do hard labor for him!"
"I absolutely refuse!"
"Mu En agreed."
Before you continue