Deal Reached, Evil Fire Suppressed

The arrival of Huo Yuhao naturally startled Fan Yu. He remembered that child's heaven-defying soul skill clearly, but why would Zhou Yi bring him here at this time?

"Fan Yu, I want to let this child join the Soul Tool department ahead of schedule."

Zhou Yi's words were like a thunderclap, leaving Fan Yu stunned for a long time. If he remembered correctly, regulations stated that one could only begin learning about Soul Tool usage in the third year, right?

Seeing Fan Yu's confusion, Zhou Yi began to recount the injustices she had suffered. What was originally a standard class assignment based on registration time had, in her words, become a calculated scheme to target the Soul Tool department—a conspiracy that prevented her, a homeroom teacher with deep ties to the department, from even obtaining a single Soul Elder level student.

"What you say makes some sense, but why is it a calculated scheme?"

Hearing Zhou Yi's words, Fan Yu nodded thoughtfully, yet he still didn't understand why she called it a scheme.

"Think about it. I have held the title of high-level teacher for many years and have always had the ability to train ordinary students into geniuses. Given that, it seemed logical to assign the overall weaker students to my class."

"And based on my teaching philosophy, no matter how weak the students are, I can cultivate a championship team. To suppress me, they specifically assigned two Soul Elders to Mu Jin's class. Then, they had Mu Jin—who has never beaten me—use a provocation tactic to goad me into a bet. Not only could they swindle a soul bone from me, but they could also suppress me! And through that, suppress the Soul Tool department!"

Seeing Zhou Yi speak with such conviction, Fan Yu hesitated. While it might sound like a coincidence, there were simply too many of them. The fact that a team with one Soul Elder and two deadweights was arranged just in time to make Zhou Yi lower her guard and take the bet looked, from any angle, like a trap set for her.

He was faintly moved, but he couldn't make the decision to move a Martial Soul department student to the Soul Tool department on his own. He would have to consult Qian Duoduo and the others. As long as he let them experience Huo Yuhao's soul skill, this matter could be handled without wasting any breath...

In the time that followed, Zhou Yi and Fan Yu brought Huo Yuhao before Qian Duoduo. After personally experiencing Huo Yuhao's soul skill, Qian Duoduo was awestruck. He secretly swore to himself that even if he had to get into a fight with Yan Shaozhe, he would drag this child into the Soul Tool department...

He could even pull in Xian Lin'er; when it came to the rise and fall of the Soul Tool department, she would definitely stand on his side.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Qing, who was in the midst of an internal struggle, was resting his head on Zhang Lexuan's lap while chatting with her. Just as they were halfway through a kiss, Su Qing's body went limp, and he slumped onto the bed. Zhang Lexuan was confused, even thinking the other party was trying to seduce her. Just as she was about to unbutton his clothes, she heard him say that he had exhausted his soul power on that last strike and was feeling weak.

Looking at the limp Su Qing, she naturally couldn't let the opportunity pass. After bullying him quite a bit, whether out of a sudden pang of conscience or something else, she gently rested his head on her lap. It had to be said that Zhang Lexuan's face was impeccable from every angle. That feeling of waking from a dream only to see one's beloved right before one's eyes made Su Qing feel incredibly pampered. This was the benefit of an older partner; sisters really knew how to take care of people.

"Sister Lexuan, I've given you my first kiss, you have to take responsibility for me!"

Su Qing's voice was soft and languid, every word seemingly scratching at Zhang Lexuan's heart, making her itch with desire.

Hearing Su Qing's words, Zhang Lexuan smiled, her captivating eyes slightly narrowing. So he was still a pure-hearted boy; no wonder he was so easy to bully. She had previously assumed he was playing hard to get.

"Oh? And at this moment, should I be sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking a cigarette, and telling you that I'll take responsibility?"

The tone Su Qing had just used, paired with his beautiful, androgynous face, looked exactly like a gorgeous wife who had been bullied by her husband's boss, saying: 'I'm already like this, please, you must not fire my husband!'

"Sister Lexuan knows so much, even about the post-coital cigarette. You haven't..."

"Knock, knock, knock—"

Just then, the door was knocked on again. The two looked at each other, both feeling a bit bewildered. Who would come to disturb their mood at this time?

"Come in!"

This time it was Zhang Lexuan who spoke. After all, her relationship with Su Qing wasn't something that couldn't be seen; there was nothing to hide.

"Creak—"

The door was pushed open, and a red-haired woman stepped in timidly. Although she was a bit surprised by their strange posture, she didn't ask any questions, instead closing the door obediently and standing by the entrance with her head lowered.

"Ma Xiaotao? Did Yan Shaozhe send you here?"

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Zhang Lexuan didn't believe for a second that Ma Xiaotao had come here without someone pulling the strings behind the scenes. She was even secretly rejoicing that she was here today; otherwise, if someone had taken advantage of the weakened Su Qing to seal the deal, she wouldn't have known where to go to argue her case.

"No... no, I came on my own. I don't want to make Teacher worry about my evil fire anymore."

Ma Xiaotao's voice was a bit hoarse. Clearly, the evil fire had been torturing her quite severely during this period. Seeing Yan Shaozhe's daily worried expression, she truly didn't want to trouble the teacher who had cared for her like his own daughter any longer. Thus, thinking that one should ask for help personally, she had inquired about Su Qing's dormitory number and rushed over. Who would have known that Zhang Lexuan would be here today? It made things a bit awkward.

Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan's gaze returned to Su Qing. Facing her questioning look, Su Qing nodded slightly and said softly, "Thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins per session."

"Deal!!"

Seeing him agree, Ma Xiaotao's face lit up with joy. Thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins wasn't much to her. Over the years, she had saved up quite a bit from her inspection missions. Moreover, once the evil fire was stabilized, she could continue to take on inspection missions to earn money. This way, even if she came every week to suppress the fire, it wouldn't bankrupt her.

As for why neither of them tacitly mentioned a permanent cure, the reason was simple: just like with Tang Ya, the evil attribute of the martial soul was tied to the origin of the soul itself. Forcibly clearing it would, at best, reduce a genius soul master to an ordinary person, and at worst, cause significant damage to their origin, drastically shortening their lifespan or even killing them on the spot.

Yan Shaozhe naturally knew this as well, which was why, for so many years, the methods he had been seeking were always ones that could both eradicate the evil fire and replenish the origin.

Having received this good news, Ma Xiaotao thanked them and immediately flew toward the Sea God Pavilion. She had to tell her teacher about this; it would surely make him happy.

"Why did you only ask for so little? I thought you would open your mouth like a lion and demand a soul bone from Yan Shaozhe. As the Dean of the Martial Soul department, he's not short on those."