Fleece the Sheep

Qian Xunji's gender-swap had already dealt him a massive shock.

But fortunately, the Angelic Martial Soul had no ugly forms; as he watched, he grew accustomed to it, and his mind stopped feeling so unsettled.

However, if Yu Xiaogang were also gender-swapped, he simply couldn't imagine that scene.

"Uncle Yue Guan, I'm going out with my teacher for a few days. Please help me look after those treasures; don't forget to water and fertilize them."

Before leaving, Bibi Dong found Yue Guan and kept nagging him with repeated instructions.

The "treasures" he referred to were, naturally, the rare flowers and herbs he had been cultivating under Yue Guan's guidance.

Over the past year, aside from his daily lessons and cultivation intervals, he had come to Yue Guan's place whenever he had time to meticulously care for those rare plants.

At first, he had gone with a purposeful and utilitarian mindset, attempting to naturally obtain the Immortal Herb manual from Yue Guan, but as his research deepened, he had gradually come to truly love flowers and plants.

Unlike Yue Guan's pure appreciation and fondness, what he valued was the medicinal utility of the herbs themselves.

He even planned to use this as a pretext after a while to introduce the efficacy of Whale Rubber.

For his second spirit ring, he wanted to be a bit reckless and absorb a thousand-year one.

"Go on, go on, have fun. If anyone bullies you, come back and tell Uncle, and Uncle will vent your anger for you."

Yue Guan looked at Bibi Dong with a charming smile.

He was growing increasingly fond of this little fellow.

Whether it was their daily interactions or tending to the flowers together, it was all very pleasant and comforting.

With his keen eye, he could naturally tell that when the little fellow first came to find him, it wasn't out of a genuine love for plants, but rather to get on his good side. But now, he truly loved them.

It couldn't be better!

The sense of achievement from recommending things he loved to others and watching them transition from ignorance to genuine affection was something Yue Guan had never experienced before.

After repeated instructions, Bibi Dong finally bid farewell to Yue Guan and followed his teacher, under the protection of Title Douluo Thousand Jun and Falling Devil, toward the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Along the way, Qian Xunji kept asking about Bibi Dong's recent progress at school. Bibi Dong answered truthfully and, during his teacher's examinations, frequently raised many theories about martial souls that he shouldn't have been asking about at his age and level. Some questions were so tricky that even Qian Xunji couldn't provide an answer, causing Thousand Jun and Falling Devil to look back repeatedly.

In this era, although Martial Soul Hall was not the only top-tier power on the continent—after all, the rising star that was the Clear Sky Sect existed—it was still not something an ordinary person could provoke.

Therefore, the journey was smooth and unobstructed, and they soon arrived at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Yu Yuanzhen was now the Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the only Title Douluo within the sect.

In the prime of his life, he was very confident in the future development of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Furthermore, since the whole business with Yu Xiaogang hadn't happened yet, the relationship between the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Martial Soul Hall was still relatively mild.

Although Qian Xunji had only recently become the Pope of Martial Soul Hall and his strength was only at the Spirit Saint level, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan did not underestimate him in the slightest, and Yu Yuanzhen came out personally to welcome them.

"Pope, your arrival at my Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan truly makes our humble dwelling shine!"

Led by Yu Yuanzhen, the members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan came out to greet them.

Although the Angel Douluo had stepped down from the position of Pope, many of the elders still clearly remembered his prestige. No matter how arrogant the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was, they had to show enough respect when facing Martial Soul Hall.

"Sect Master Yu, I've long admired you."

"Please forgive this junior for visiting so abruptly; I hope you will excuse any lack of etiquette."

Qian Xunji was quite adept at handling such occasions.

After some pleasantries, noticing that Yu Yuanzhen had taken note of Bibi Dong, Qian Xunji smiled and introduced him: "Sect Master Yu, this is my disciple, Bibi Dong. He is young and ignorant, so I brought him to your sect to broaden his horizons."

"Junior Bibi Dong greets Sect Master Yu."

Bibi Dong also stepped out at the perfect moment, bowed respectfully to Yu Yuanzhen, and then stared at him with his bright, blinking eyes.

He activated his combo skills: youthful ignorance, naivety, and acting cute.

The target: a greeting gift.

He had already used this trick on Yue Guan and Gui Mei, and it had yielded a handsome income.

He hadn't had a chance to visit the Worship Hall yet, so he planned to save that for later.

Now that he was out and about, having finally encountered a "generous donor"... a wealthy patron, how could he not fleece them?

As for losing face or anything of the sort, he didn't care.

Making money—it's nothing to be ashamed of!

"This..."

Yu Yuanzhen was also stunned by Bibi Dong's appearance.

But he quickly reacted.

Facing the Pope's disciple, it was indeed appropriate to prepare a gift for their first meeting.

The problem was, what kind of gift should he give?

Anything too shabby certainly wouldn't do; anyone brought along by Qian Xunji was surely someone Martial Soul Hall was heavily cultivating.

In Yu Yuanzhen's view, the little boy before him was very likely the next successor to the Pope.

If this greeting gift was too light today, once he grew up and became the Pope of Martial Soul Hall, he might harbor some petty grudges.

While it wouldn't necessarily lead to a feud with their Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan over such a small matter, it was very likely he wouldn't be on good terms with them.

As the saying goes, adding sugar doesn't necessarily make things sweet, but adding vinegar will certainly make them sour.

However, if the gift offered was too precious, he would be reluctant to part with it.

After all, not every sect was as wealthy and imposing as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Your Holiness, you didn't mention you were bringing a disciple along. Everything was so rushed that I haven't prepared a proper gift; please do not disdain this thousand-year Diamond Fruit."

Yu Yuanzhen hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and retrieving a thousand-year Diamond Fruit from his storage Soul Tool.

This Diamond Fruit possessed the effect of strengthening one's physique, and when paired with the medicinal baths of their Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, it could significantly improve a person's physical constitution.

It had been quite difficult for him to find.

He had originally intended it for his son, who had just awakened his martial soul, to bolster his foundation and give him the potential to absorb a century-level spirit ring.

With no reasonable gift on hand, he had no choice but to bring it out as a present.

I will just have to find another way to look for something for Xiaogang later.

Thinking of that son of his, Yu Yuanzhen felt a wave of headache and exhaustion.

"Why haven't you thanked Sect Master Yu yet!"

Seeing her disciple act this way, Qian Xunji felt utterly embarrassed.

She didn't know if the little fellow had been scared by poverty since childhood or what, but whenever he encountered an elder with status, he would immediately activate his skill of acting cute.

In less than a year, he had already extorted every Platinum Bishop and Red Bishop in Martial Soul Hall.

This was also the reason why she had delayed taking Bibi Dong to the Worship Hall.

"Many thanks, Sect Master Yu!"

Bibi Dong put on an appearance of being extremely excited and happy, though she was actually complaining incessantly in her heart.

The dignified Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and he only gives a thousand-year Diamond Fruit? How stingy.

She did not yet know that in just one encounter, she had already intercepted a resource that belonged to Yu Xiaogang.