The Teacher is Angry, How to Coax?

"Stop staring, the pretty and rich teacher has already gone far away!"

Flender walked silently to Lin Feng's side, crossed his arms, and teased him with a ghostly tone.

"What, can't bear to see her go? Fair enough, I wouldn't be able to either. She's beautiful, wealthy, and drops fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins without batting an eye—where else would you find such a teacher?"

"What 'pretty and rich teacher'? Dean, am I that kind of person in your eyes? It was the teacher's astonishing talent and strength that won me over."

Lin Feng rolled his eyes speechlessly, gazing at the horizon with a flicker of reluctance in his eyes.

Now was not the time. Heaven Dou City was a chaotic mix of dragons and snakes with deeply intertwined factions. If he went to Martial Soul City, he would be spotted by Bibi Dong the moment he used a soul skill.

That woman was a love-struck lunatic; if she truly set her sights on him, he might be devoured until not even his bones remained.

He had to stay low and develop. He didn't have the capital to wander around yet. Once he was ready, the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap, and the sky high enough for birds to fly!

Zhao Wuji stood beside him, exchanged a look with Flender, and the two spat in unison, their faces full of disdain as they spoke together:

"Little Lin, if you have the guts, swear an oath. If even half a word of what you just said is false, the cost for you to unlock your Martial Soul Godly Gear will increase tenfold—no, a hundredfold!"

Lin Feng felt guilty immediately and coughed twice, forcing a change of subject.

"Dean, Uncle Zhao, we've been out for so long, I'm starting to miss Xiao Ao. Let's hurry back to Suotuo City."

That was too vicious. If that oath actually came true, he feared that even selling the entire Martial Soul Hall wouldn't be enough to unlock his Godly Gear.

Flender felt incredibly depressed.

He had intended to take Lin Feng as his personal disciple upon returning, but he hadn't expected Qian Renxue to appear halfway and snatch him away.

He sighed softly.

"In the end, we just don't have that master-disciple fate."

But on second thought, with a teacher who had both money and background, the boy's future path would be far broader than if he stayed huddled in Suotuo City with him.

Thinking of this, the bitterness in his heart eased.

Zhao Wuji saw through his thoughts clearly and slapped a heavy hand on his shoulder, suppressing a laugh as he comforted him with a straight face.

"Flender, look on the bright side. Even though the kid got a pretty and rich teacher, he didn't get a Shrek Dean who is as poor as a church mouse—that's his greatest loss!"

"Get lost!"

Flender's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He slapped his hand away in annoyance and cursed, "I think you've been hanging around that kid too long. You're spouting nonsense without a shred of decency; you're getting more abnormal by the day."

"Hey! Dean, why are you suddenly resorting to personal attacks? As if you're so normal yourself."

"I give up. From now on, we need to add a requirement for new recruits: no abnormal people allowed."

"Heh, you've got me laughing now. You call yourself normal? They call this a Monster Academy; since when were monsters ever normal? It should be renamed 'Normal People Not Allowed'."

Three months later, Suotuo City.

Gilded wings cut through the sky. Qian Renxue hovered in mid-air, lowered her eyes to check the address on the paper in her hand, and then looked down at the dilapidated cluster of buildings below, falling into a long silence.

Even though the intelligence report had described it as "extremely simple and shabby" before she arrived, she never imagined it could be this decrepit.

Crooked wooden fences surrounded a patch of shacks; there wasn't even a proper gate, and vegetables and rice were growing in the furrows. It looked nothing like a Soul Master Academy—it was clearly just a makeshift school disguised as a village.

She frowned slightly, tucked away the letter, and flew toward the courtyard.

"Where is he..."

Inside the office, Flender, who was enjoying his afternoon tea with a cup in hand, suddenly sensed that familiar, sacred aura in the air. He curled his lips in jealousy and muttered sarcastically.

"Heh, someone's pretty and rich teacher has arrived."

On the other side, Qian Renxue landed on the roof of a small, two-story wooden house.

Through the open window, she saw Lin Feng hunched over the table, writing and drawing. Her tightly furrowed brows relaxed involuntarily, and a faint smile tugged at her lips.

"Little Lin, I've finally found you."

She touched her toes to the ground, landing as silently as a falling leaf, and pushed the door open to walk inside.

Lin Feng in the room didn't notice a thing. He was still slumped over the table, spinning his pen and sighing to himself.

"Sigh, it's a pity I forgot to ask when my cheap teacher's birthday is. I must remember to ask next time we meet."

"It's been three months, why hasn't she sent me the funding? My angel investor didn't actually run off, did she?"

As he muttered, his nose twitched, and he caught a whiff of a familiar, faint fragrance. It smelled quite nice.

He scratched his head, looking puzzled as he whispered.

"Strange, why does this scent smell exactly like the one on my cheap teacher? It smells so good; I must ask her where she bought this perfume next time."

Behind him, a faint crimson flush instantly bloomed across Qian Renxue's beautiful cheeks. Her originally soft gaze turned cold in an instant, and she gritted her teeth as she spat out two words.

"Unfilial disciple!"

So, in this brat's heart, she, his teacher, possessed not a shred of dignity, did she? Very well, very well...

Lin Feng shuddered, whipping his head around to see Qian Renxue standing behind him, radiating an icy aura. He looked at her, wanting to cry but having no tears.

"T-Teacher? You, when did you arrive?"

"Wasn't it 'cheap teacher'?"

Qian Renxue let out a cold snort, her phoenix eyes narrowing slightly. She repeated his earlier address word by word, the chill in her tone intensifying.

"A cheap teacher? Little Lin, you really are something else."

"Teacher, listen to my sophis... no, wait, listen to my explanation!"

Lin Feng was so flustered he tripped over his own words. He looked at her with a face ashen with despair, his mind racing frantically.

It's over, it's all over. My beloved teacher seems truly angry. How do I coax her?

Qian Renxue didn't bother listening to his nonsense. She turned and walked toward the door, saying indifferently:

"Follow me."

Lin Feng hung his head and hurriedly quickened his pace to catch up, responding with a guilty conscience:

"C-coming!"

The two walked along the dirt paths of Shrek, stopping and starting. Looking at the adobe houses and the crooked wooden fences along the way, the furrow in Qian Renxue's brow never once smoothed out.

Finally, she stopped in her tracks and asked with a puzzled expression:

"Where are your academy's training grounds or Soul Fighting arenas?"

Lin Feng felt a bit awkward. He scratched the back of his head and gave a dry laugh.

"Uh... Teacher, as you can see, with Shrek's poverty-stricken appearance, how could we afford high-end things like Soul Fighting arenas or training grounds?"

Lacking even the most basic standard equipment for a Soul Master Academy, Qian Renxue fell into a momentary silence, a dull ache beginning to throb at her temples.

She finally understood completely. This was no proper Soul Master Academy; it was clearly just a makeshift operation thrown together by Flender and his old cronies after they retired, where they took in a few students on a whim. To put it bluntly, it was no different from a nursing home.

"Forget it. Find me an open space."

"Right away, Teacher, follow me."

Lin Feng hurried to lead the way, not forgetting to put in a few words to defend the academy.

"Teacher, although Shrek's training facilities are a bit lacking, the Dean has never skimped on our cultivation resources. We don't even need to worry about our Spirit Rings. For me, that is enough."

Looking at the original work, one could tell that even with his innate defects, Oscar's cultivation didn't lag far behind. Flender had absolutely done everything in his power to help Oscar grow; what more could one ask for?

Hearing this, the tightly furrowed brow of Qian Renxue finally relaxed a little. She stopped dwelling on these issues and asked:

"In the past, have you ever practiced the sword?"

Lin Feng shook his head honestly.

"Never practiced it."