Dugu Yan pushed the door open and hurried inside, but immediately came to a halt!
Her emerald eyes darted between Li Jingzhe and Huo Wu, and a mischievous smile gradually spread across her pretty face.
"Oho?"
She drew out the last syllable. "Well, look at you!"
"How long has it been? You've already won her over? Tsk, tsk... What were you talking about? Why's she blushing so hard?"
Whoosh—
Before the words had even left her mouth, Huo Wu fled the Scripture Depository. The blush had already spread down the girl's neck...
Dugu Yan, the final straw that broke the camel's back, watched her go with a mischievous grin.
Once she was done, she turned to Li Jingzhe with the same cheeky smile, gossip burning in her eyes. "Wow, a girl blushing says it all!"
Li Jingzhe's face darkened. "Oh, get lost. You're always nosing around. She just couldn't afford it herself..."
"Afford what?"
Dugu Yan froze... This wasn't quite how she'd imagined things going.
Her eyes instinctively fell on the copy of Thousand Spider Poison Hand on the counter, and she let out a surprised "Huh?" "Wait, didn't I buy that? Why do you still have a copy?"
"Of course I do. Did you think a million would buy you the rights to it?" Li Jingzhe replied matter-of-factly.
That was true...
Dugu Yan nodded without thinking. Somehow, she'd started acting just like Li Jingzhe...
In the past, she would've spat in his face.
"But now that I think about it, that girl must be from Blazing Fire Academy, right? Does she use poison too?"
She tilted her head, pretending to ponder the question.
Li Jingzhe didn't bother to hide the truth. "You're overthinking it. She came to find out about you."
"Find out about me?!"
Dugu Yan's voice rose slightly. Then she gave Li Jingzhe a strange look and asked, "You didn't tell her anything, did you?"
"I did!"
Li Jingzhe grinned. "She paid!"
Dugu Yan choked on her words. "She paid, so you sold me out?"
"Yep!"
"A whole thousand Gold Soul Coins! She wanted to know what you'd bought from me."
Li Jingzhe looked perfectly unruffled as he even raised the Purple Card.
"A thousand? Gold Soul Coins?"
Dugu Yan's expression grew even stranger. "Wait... You sold me out for just a thousand Gold Soul Coins? Didn't I just give you a million? Are you that hard up for money?"
"Hey... Don't talk like I'm living off you."
Li Jingzhe rolled his eyes. "Didn't you say you were going to find people? Where are they?"
Dugu Yan snorted, clearly still annoyed with someone. After a moment, she called coldly toward the outside, "Come on in..."
A group of young men and women in Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team uniforms filed in at her call. There were sixteen of them... seventeen, counting Ye Lingling, who brought up the rear. Once everyone was inside, she even thoughtfully shut the door for Li Jingzhe.
So this was Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team?
A strange look flickered in Li Jingzhe's eyes.
Seven of them walked at the front, six men and one woman. They were well-groomed, and their bearing was... passable. They'd probably studied at Moonlight Pavilion. Their Soul Power fluctuations had all reached level thirty-five. The young man leading them, however, sported a pair of panda eyes, and one side of his face was swollen. His gaze brimmed with wariness whenever he looked at Dugu Yan. As soon as she glanced his way, he hurriedly stood at attention and bowed slightly.
"Senior Dugu."
"Mm!"
Dugu Yan answered noncommittally.
Li Jingzhe immediately realized where the injuries on that guy's face had come from.
He vaguely remembered that, in the original timeline, Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team's lineup had consisted of five Attack-type Soul Masters, one Control-type, and one Support-type. Their Martial Souls were Lion, Bear, Tiger, Leopard, Wolf, Copper Ring, and Qin.
These seven should be the ones.
As for the others behind them... They clustered together, slinging arms over one another's shoulders, laughing and joking without a care in the world. Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team's uniforms were modeled after court attire, but somehow they managed to wear them with a distinctly roguish air. Once inside, they looked around instead of lining up or examining the cultivation methods and martial arts on the shelves. Instead, they started critiquing the Scripture Depository's interior design. This place wasn't luxurious enough; that place lacked elegance; my family's place was this or that... It was all talk like that.
The young man at the very back, however, had long, pale-gold hair and held a folding fan. A snowflake jade pendant hung from his waist, lending him an air of nobility. He stood out like a crane among chickens, unlike the people around him. Three young men who looked like little attendants clustered around him as he strolled forward at an unhurried pace.
The sixteen of them somehow split into three groups, each with a completely different style.
"Well..."
Dugu Yan gestured to the people behind her, her voice full of helplessness. "These are the Second Team members... Now do you understand why I asked you for a Self-Created Soul Skill they could learn quickly?"
Then she held out her hand to Li Jingzhe. "I've brought the people. Where's what you promised?"
Li Jingzhe remained seated. "You know the rules. Money first, goods after!"
"Hey!"
Dugu Yan leaned closer and lowered her voice. "You're making me look bad here!"
"I brought you all these customers... A million each, that's over ten million... I'm not asking you to repay me, but the least you could do is give me a smile, right?"
Li Jingzhe: "Heh..."
Dugu Yan: "..."
She shouldn't have expected anything from that bastard!
She was about to take out the money when Li Jingzhe said, "Fine, I'll do it for your sake!"
He wasn't unreasonable. Since Dugu Yan had brought him so many customers, he could at least give her that much face.
System, give me some samples to show them... Lesser Restoration Pill... Bosi Qu Snake Gallbladder... Greater Restoration Pill...
He definitely couldn't let them buy on credit.
But showing them samples was no problem.
With a wave of Li Jingzhe's hand, a row of items appeared on the table in front of him...
At the forefront was a snake gallbladder with a strong, unmistakably fishy stench. On either side sat a large and a small porcelain bottle, their coarse bodies sealed with red silk stoppers.
"Who wants to go first?"
Li Jingzhe looked at the dozen or so young men and women before him and spoke calmly.
However...
Everyone exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
When several of the female team members saw the things on the counter, they couldn't help looking disgusted. They dabbed their handkerchiefs in front of their noses and backed away repeatedly. The foul, fishy snake gallbladder in particular nearly made the pampered young ladies throw up.
"Senior Dugu... You, you said you'd help us increase our Soul Power? This... Ugh..."
A petite female team member instinctively pitched her voice high, but halfway through she couldn't stand it anymore and began gagging, her face twisting.
What a screechy little thing...
Dugu Yan rolled her eyes to herself.
She glanced at Li Jingzhe, then at the things on the table. Even though she'd grown accustomed to seeing all kinds of poisonous creatures and body parts in her grandfather's medicine room, she still felt a little uncertain.
But it had come to this. She could only choose to trust him. She steadied herself, then asked on their behalf, "Since you're doing business, at least explain what everything is!"
"What a hassle..."
Li Jingzhe grumbled, but still pointed to the items in front of him, from left to right.
"Lesser Restoration Pill... Excellent for treating injuries. It restores vitality and replenishes lost Soul Power, and may even increase it slightly. Five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins each."
"Bosi Qu Snake Gallbladder... Incredibly mysterious. Taking one refines the body, invigorates the blood, strengthens the bones, and gradually increases strength. One can raise your Soul Power by one level. Five million Gold Soul Coins each."
"Greater Restoration Pill... A sacred treasure for healing and preserving health. It can cure old injuries and raise your Soul Power by five to ten levels. Twenty-five million Gold Soul Coins each!"
A commotion broke out before he'd even finished speaking.
Before you continue