It wasn't until she finished talking about her ambitions that Li Jingzhe finally understood. This woman had actually left the First Team and joined the Second Team, and she really planned to fight her way from the qualifiers through the promotion rounds, step by step, all the way to the finals.
Well, damn...
Li Jingzhe gave her a strange look. "You're going out of your way to suffer?"
"You're the one going out of your way to suffer..."
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes. "This young lady wants to hone her Thousand Spider Poison Hand!"
"Is that so?"
Li Jingzhe raised an eyebrow. "If I remember correctly, that Yu Tianheng on your team is competing with Yu Tianxin for the position of next clan head of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, right? Would he let you go to the Second Team? Doesn't he care about the results?"
"Hmph, don't mention him!"
Dugu Yan snorted, her pretty face clouding over.
Seeing her like that, Li Jingzhe immediately understood... So Yu Tianheng hadn't wanted her to go, but this woman had insisted.
Insisted, and he let her... No, wait...
Had the two of them fallen out?
But why did she want to go to the Second Team?
Wasn't the Second Team full of useless rich kids?
How desperate did she have to be to want to join that bunch?
Li Jingzhe looked Dugu Yan up and down. He didn't believe a word of her nonsense about honing the Thousand Spider Poison Hand.
The plot of the Soul Master Tournament surfaced in his mind...
The Heaven Dou Second Team...
"Hmm? Come to think of it, wasn't the Heaven Dou Second Team's first match against Tang San and the others?"
Li Jingzhe mused.
"What Tang San? What do you mean, against them?"
Dugu Yan froze, looking at Li Jingzhe in surprise.
She did want to test herself against Tang San, but she had no idea whether she would run into him, or when.
But had this guy just said the Heaven Dou Second Team would face Tang San and the others in their first match?
No, wait...
The tournament hadn't even started. The draw hadn't been held yet. What was he talking about?
She was about to press him for an answer.
Creak—
The doors to the Scripture Depository swung gently open!
Li Jingzhe and Dugu Yan both looked over. A stunningly beautiful woman stepped inside, glancing around.
She had fair skin, delicate features, and long, wavy hair that fell to her waist. Its color was the dark red of congealed blood. Dressed in a gold-and-red uniform, she drew every eye like a living flame!
Li Jingzhe sized up the newcomer.
At this time, dressed like that... Is she from Blazing Fire Academy? Could she be...
Just as he tried to match her with the figure in his memory... swish!
A pale hand waved in front of his eyes.
"What? Can't tear your eyes away? Is she your type?"
Dugu Yan wore a teasing smile. Still, she had to admit the girl was gorgeous; even she'd been dazzled for a moment.
She nudged Li Jingzhe with her elbow and gave him a mischievous look. "Pavilion Master, how about this? Give me a Soul Skill like the Thousand Spider Poison Hand, and I'll play matchmaker for you. Deal?"
"Get lost!"
Li Jingzhe came back to himself and snapped, "You've got way too much free time. Do you have business or not? If not, don't waste my time—I'm running a business here!"
"I do have business!" Dugu Yan said, entirely unrepentant.
"Then say it!" Li Jingzhe said impatiently.
Instead, Dugu Yan held out a hand toward him.
"What?" Li Jingzhe asked.
"A Self-Created Soul Skill. One you can master quickly... I told you as soon as I came in!"
"You think I'm joking?"
Dugu Yan grew anxious again... She'd managed to get a spot on the Second Team, but its strength was nothing to look at. With the substitutes, there were sixteen members in all, and their strongest was only at level thirty-five. With a lineup like that, make it to the finals?
Give me a break!
But she had left the First Team for the Second Team to prove that even without Yu Tianheng, she could still make it to the finals!
Li Jingzhe waved her off. "A quick-to-master Self-Created Soul Skill... I don't have anything like that here!"
"What about the Thousand Spider Poison Hand..." Dugu Yan still refused to give up.
Li Jingzhe sighed. "Didn't I tell you? The Thousand Spider Poison Hand worked so quickly for you because your Innate Poison Body boosted your cultivation. If your poison hadn't been purged, you would've improved even faster."
Dugu Yan looked disappointed, but then Li Jingzhe continued, "I don't have any Soul Skills you can master quickly, but..."
"But what?"
Dugu Yan's eyes lit up... She knew this bastard had been deliberately stringing her along. But if he'd put it that way, he must have something good.
Li Jingzhe slowly held up five fingers. "Five million Gold Soul Coins for one level of Soul Power. No side effects, no draining your potential or life force, and no damage to your foundation... Pay what you can, and I can raise your Soul Power by that much. If you can afford it, even reaching Titled Douluo rank isn't impossible!"
Pfft—
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes. "Do you think I believe that?"
How could such a thing exist in this world?
If he'd said he could raise her Soul Power by one or two levels without side effects, she might have believed him, considering the Thousand Spider Poison Hand.
But... he could raise it by as much as she paid for?
What kind of nonsense was that?
Did he think she was an idiot?
Li Jingzhe leaned back in his chair. "Believe what you want."
Dugu Yan's eyelid twitched... He was doing it again!
The last time this guy had made a claim like that, she hadn't believed Innate Poison Bodies existed.
Could he be telling the truth?
As Poison Douluo's granddaughter, she knew a little about medicine. Her reason told her it was impossible; there was no such thing in this world. Any way of rapidly increasing Soul Power came at the cost of draining one's potential or life force.
But...
This guy—or the force behind him—had even managed to produce a Self-Created Soul Skill as profound as the Thousand Spider Poison Hand. Could this Soul Power booster be real too?
She hesitated, as if two little people inside her were arguing. One said it was impossible. The other said, Why not give it a try?
"Wait here. I'll be back later!"
Dugu Yan left those words behind and turned to go, arriving in a rush and leaving in a hurry.
After all the ups and downs—from joy to sorrow—she had been through since last night, she hadn't noticed the pair of eyes that had watched her the whole time: the eyes of a top prospect from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team, guaranteed a place in the finals.
Li Jingzhe watched Dugu Yan's retreating figure, the corner of his mouth lifting... This could work!
He sold everything from the System Mall at five times the price. If this deal went through and word got around, he might be eating Vermilion Fruit before long!
I really am a business genius. Tsk...
As Li Jingzhe thought this, he had no idea that behind the bookshelf, Huo Wu's heart was pounding so hard it was about to leap out of her chest!
She clutched the book Blazing Blade. On the surface, she remained composed, but her heart thudded wildly... She'd only come to see what kind of place this was—the shop that had Poison Douluo's granddaughter making trip after trip, seemingly delighted to do so. She'd never expected to overhear such a shocking secret!
In fact, she'd noticed this pavilion the night before, when it had suddenly appeared, along with Dugu Yan's repeated trips inside...
Before you continue