"Oh? What kind of deal do you want to make?" Li Jingzhe asked in return.
"All your stuff is too low-level. I mastered it after one glance. I want to meet the real Pavilion Master behind you and discuss a big deal!" Huo Wu arched a brow, the corners of her mouth lifting despite herself.
"You mastered it after one glance?"
Li Jingzhe froze. Then he checked the system for a moment before giving Huo Wu a strange look up and down.
He couldn't rule out the possibility that some martial arts prodigies really could master certain techniques at a glance, but Huo Wu here definitely wasn't one. The system hadn't given him any notification.
What does this woman want, anyway?
Just as Li Jingzhe was pondering this...
Whoosh—
Flames sprang up, and Soul Power surged.
The girl raised a hand, and her Soul Power transformed into flames. Their light illuminated the entire first floor of the Scripture Depository. The flames drew together, and a lifelike Blazing Blade appeared in Huo Wu's palm.
"This is..."
Li Jingzhe's expression grew even stranger.
"Hehe, isn't this a Blazing Blade!?"
The girl looked smug. "Well? Now can I meet the real Pavilion Master behind you?"
Li Jingzhe looked at her oddly. "No... you call that thing a Blazing Blade?"
"What else would I call it?"
She toyed with the Blazing Blade, flipping it between her fingers like a coin. "You tell me, is it fire? Is it a blade?"
"Well, I suppose it is..."
Li Jingzhe nodded, trying not to laugh.
"Then that settles it! Hurry up and get the real Pavilion Master! I really do have a big deal!"
The girl raised her chin, her whole bearing bold and spirited.
Li Jingzhe couldn't help laughing. He was even tempted to buy some sunflower seeds for this silly girl. "Hehe, you've got the wrong idea. I'm the only one here! Of course... if you want to interview for a shop assistant position, that's not out of the question."
A shop assistant?
An interview?
Heh—
Huo Wu was so angry she laughed. "Have you got that straight? I'm a dignified level-forty-three Soul Ancestor, and you want me to work as a shop assistant in this lousy shop?"
Li Jingzhe waved a hand, signaling her to hold on. "So, what exactly did you come here for?"
Huo Wu's expression stiffened. "No... why is it so hard to communicate with you?"
"I told you, I've got a big deal! What, don't believe me?"
Smack—
As she spoke, she slapped a Purple Card onto the table. It was an anonymous Purple Card, worth a thousand Gold Soul Coins!
"A thousand Gold Soul Coins! Tell me what Dugu Yan bought here. How about it? Can a little shop assistant like you make that decision?"
Huo Wu leaned against the table, propping her head up with one hand as she stared straight at Li Jingzhe, her face full of mischief.
Li Jingzhe's expression turned strange... A thousand Gold Soul Coins?
He nearly burst out laughing, then looked at Huo Wu with amusement. "Is this all the sincerity the young lady of the Fire Clan can offer?"
"You know who I am?"
Huo Wu furrowed her brows.
Li Jingzhe gestured toward her uniform. "Isn't it obvious? The only female member of the Blazing Fire Academy team."
Huo Wu looked down at her outfit... It did seem pretty obvious, huh?
No, wait!
"What do you mean, 'is this all'?"
Huo Wu came back to her senses, annoyed. "This is a thousand Gold Soul Coins! Listen carefully: Gold Soul Coins!"
Li Jingzhe picked at his ear, thoroughly disliking her lion's roar. Honestly, she was acting as if he'd never seen a thousand Gold Soul Coins before...
But then again, even a mosquito's leg was still meat, right?
"Fine, fine, I get it!"
"Here, take this!"
Li Jingzhe beckoned, and a book flew out of the bookshelf: Thousand Spider Poison Hand. He tossed it to Huo Wu, smoothly snatched the Purple Card, and smiled. "Miss Huo Wu is certainly generous! I'll gladly accept these thousand Gold Soul Coins!"
Huo Wu: ???
No...
You...
She looked at the Purple Card in Li Jingzhe's hand, then at the copy of Thousand Spider Poison Hand he'd pushed toward her. Her mind blanked for a moment.
You just revealed a customer's private information? Without even discussing it or hesitating?
My thousand Gold Soul Coins are already gone?
Don't say you'll gladly accept it. Maybe try being a little reluctant?
She'd come to pry for information, but losing a thousand Gold Soul Coins just like that still made her heart ache.
Too fast...
There hadn't been the slightest room to bargain...
But what was done was done. The money had been spent, and the Fire Clan's dignity had to be upheld!
She drew a deep breath, forcing down the pain of losing a thousand Gold Soul Coins, and looked at the copy of Thousand Spider Poison Hand...
"You... are you sure?"
She frowned at Li Jingzhe, feeling that something was off!
"You're not just handing me some random thing to fool me, are you?"
There was no other reason. It had come far too easily, so easily she couldn't believe it.
"Tsk, women are such a hassle..."
Li Jingzhe pursed his lips. "If you don't believe me, why ask?"
As he spoke, he started to take Thousand Spider Poison Hand back.
Huo Wu was quick to react. She snatched the book and hugged it to her chest. "Fine, I'll trust you this once! How much? I'll buy it!"
"One million Gold Soul Coins!"
Li Jingzhe named his price languidly.
"W-what?"
Huo Wu's expression visibly stiffened, and her voice shot up. "How much? One million? Are you crazy?"
"What? No money?"
Li Jingzhe clicked his tongue twice. "Tsk, tsk. You're the dignified young lady of the Fire Clan. Don't tell me you can't even come up with a million?"
"Oh, right. Gold Soul Coins!"
He deliberately drew out the final syllables of "Gold Soul Coins."
Huo Wu's face flushed red. "W-who says I can't afford it?"
"Your total is one million Gold Soul Coins! Cash or card?"
Li Jingzhe leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and looked at Huo Wu with undisguised amusement.
"I, I..." Huo Wu's face turned even redder.
"Tch, you don't have the money, yet you still come prying for information! Tsk, I thought the young lady of the Fire Clan, who could casually throw around a thousand Gold Soul Coins, was loaded, but it turns out..." He clicked his tongue.
His words cut like knives, like the icy wind of the Far North, shredding the scrap of dignity she'd propped up with all her bluster!
"N-no, wait... You're asking a million Gold Soul Coins for this lousy thing? Are you crazy for money?"
Her embarrassed expression suddenly froze. Realizing what was wrong, she instantly did a complete one-eighty.
What was this?!
A million Gold Soul Coins for one lousy book?
Honestly... she'd almost let him lead her down the wrong path!
Huo Wu glared at Li Jingzhe with anger glimmering in her beautiful eyes, but the panic, embarrassment, and helplessness she'd expected to see from him after his lie was exposed never appeared.
"Heh..."
Li Jingzhe said nothing, merely looking at her with a peculiar expression.
His gaze was calm, yet intensely probing. It was scrutinizing, and tinged with disdain...
It made her deeply uncomfortable...
Just like the way she used to look at those poor guys who pretended to be rich...
"You... I..."
Her face turned crimson. She wished she could dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
The awkwardness was unbearable!
Just as Huo Wu was about to die of embarrassment...
"Pavilion Master, I'm back again!"
Before you continue