Although the Judgment Sword was an eighth-grade close-combat Soul Tool closest to the ninth grade, it was still only eighth grade. Now that Jing Hongchen had taken out a ninth-grade Soul Tool as compensation, he could be considered quite sincere.
Mu En did not continue making things difficult for him. After discussing the exchange program between the two academies, he allowed Jing Hongchen to leave.
Not long after Jing Hongchen left, two more figures appeared in Sea God's Pavilion. They were the two deans of the Soul Guidance Department, Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo. Their appearance showed that the Soul Tools Jing Hongchen had set up outside Shrek Academy had ultimately failed to escape Shrek Academy's grasp.
Mu En told the two of them to study the newly acquired Soul Tools, as well as the ninth-grade Hongchen's Blessing. Then he had Xuan Zi take Huo Yuhao and the others to obtain their third Soul Rings. Before long, only Mu En and Dai Yunze remained in Sea God's Pavilion.
Dai Yunze watched Mu En rest with his eyes closed without saying a word, quietly waiting for something.
Sure enough, another set of footsteps soon rang out within Sea God's Pavilion.
Dai Yunze looked over. Upon seeing the owner of those footsteps, he showed no surprise at all. Instead, he seemed somewhat enlightened.
The figure was Ma Xiaotao, whom he had seen earlier. However, her complexion was rosy and she looked perfectly healthy. There was none of the earlier appearance of being plagued by evil fire and barely clinging to life.
After walking over, Ma Xiaotao first greeted Mu En before looking at Dai Yunze and nodding in acknowledgment.
Mu En opened his eyes. "How was it? Did Jing Hongchen do anything?"
Ma Xiaotao looked slightly ashamed. "Great-Grandmaster, I didn't notice anything.