Hearing Ying Chengfeng's words, Shui Bing'er thought it over very seriously.
After a short while, she said, "I can't meet that condition right now."
Ying Chengfeng nodded. "I understand."
He looked at Shui Bing'er with a faintly amused expression.
The latter grew a little embarrassed under his gaze.
"What do you understand?" Shui Bing'er's voice sounded a little unnatural.
Ying Chengfeng gave a helpless laugh. "So I can name any condition I want, and if you agree, you lose?"
"No." Shui Bing'er panicked a little and waved her hands. "You can try asking for something more outrageous. What if I agree?"
Ying Chengfeng looked at her oddly. "The condition I propose is obviously going to be a little outrageous, but why do I feel like you keep encouraging me to make outrageous demands?"
"Are ordinary conditions not worth proposing?"
Ying Chengfeng thought it over, then said, "How about this? I want the Soul Bones today. That'll be our exchange. You can also name a condition you think is outrageous."
However, Shui Bing'er was clearly not very satisfied with his proposal.
"Other than the Soul Bones, is there nothing else you want?" Shui Bing'er said, sounding slightly annoyed. "Besides, am I someone who can't afford to lose?"
Shui Bing'er continued, "As long as it doesn't harm Skywater Academy, I can agree to anything."
Ying Chengfeng sighed softly.
It seemed there was no way to get the Soul Bones ahead of time.
Seeing him fall silent, Shui Bing'er thought for a moment before saying, "What you said earlier about joining your side—that can only happen after I take power. At the earliest, it'll take about ten years."
"Ten years?" Ying Chengfeng considered this quietly.
Shui Bing'er asked, "Can I ask whether you mean joining your side or joining Spirit Hall?"
Ying Chengfeng didn't answer directly. He only said, "Spirit Hall isn't a monolith."
After saying that, Ying Chengfeng said no more, and Shui Bing'er didn't ask anything further.
After a while, Shui Bing'er turned her head aside and spoke softly. "If you want to become the dean of Skywater Academy, you'll have to marry into the Shui Family."
She spoke as if it were nothing, but the tips of her ears were practically smoking red.
She continued, "Right now, the only direct descendants of the Shui Family are me and my younger sister, Shui Yue'er."
"But you probably wouldn't marry into the family, would you?"
Shui Bing'er bit her lip and looked up at Ying Chengfeng.
Ying Chengfeng regarded her calmly and sighed. "Forget it. This is making it seem like I'm bullying you."
He didn't make any more demands, simply turning and walking toward his own courtyard.
Behind him, Shui Bing'er quietly watched his departing figure.
She watched until Ying Chengfeng disappeared from sight.
After a long while, Shui Bing'er finally murmured, "Have I really not made it obvious enough?"
Xuewu came to stand beside her and said softly, "You can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep."
Xuewu understood Shui Bing'er's feelings very well.
Someone who had grown up in Skywater Academy, surrounded only by women, could easily become curious upon meeting an exceptional man.
And that curiosity could easily change into a special kind of feeling.
Ying Chengfeng was like a seed planted somewhere in Shui Bing'er's heart, its whereabouts impossible to find.
If that seed didn't sprout, it would never be found.
Yet it still made Shui Bing'er feel restless inside.
Shui Bing'er was silent for a long while before speaking. "Xuewu, help me with something."
"What?" Xuewu asked.
"Help me take those two Soul Bones."
"Are you sure?"
Shui Bing'er tilted her chin up slightly. "It doesn't matter. As long as nobody can defeat our team three days from now, I can decide what happens to those two Soul Bones."
Seeing Shui Bing'er's determined expression, Xuewu shook her head helplessly.
"One team in this Soul Master Challenge is very strong. Every member is a Soul Ancestor. Are you confident?"
Shui Bing'er shook her head. "I'm not."
"Then why..." Xuewu furrowed her brows slightly.
"But I believe in him."
Xuewu knew exactly who Shui Bing'er meant by "him."
"But even if he gets the Soul Bones, will he still obediently compete?"
Shui Bing'er said, "We'll know once he gets them."
"You really..." Xuewu shook her head helplessly.
Perhaps Xuewu was the only person in all of Skywater Academy who understood Shui Bing'er best.
Otherwise, the two of them couldn't have mastered a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Night fell.
The temperature at Skywater Academy dropped even lower after dark.
In the small courtyard on the eastern side, Ying Chengfeng sat in a chair and gazed at the cold moon above.
At that moment, he couldn't help thinking of Shui Bing'er and what had happened during the day.
He didn't know Shui Bing'er very well.
His impression of her was that she was composed, and seemed rather mature for her age.
Of course, he could also see some of the feelings Shui Bing'er had for him.
Those feelings had begun to show the first signs three years ago.
They simply hadn't been so obvious back then.
It wasn't that Ying Chengfeng had no interest in women.
He just couldn't return Shui Bing'er's feelings. He already had a pile of romantic debts to deal with.
Well, maybe not a pile.
Qian Renxue was one.
And over the past year, Yu Feiyan had also begun showing signs that something was amiss.
Just as Ying Chengfeng's thoughts were in a jumble, Shui Bing'er, dressed in white, slowly entered the courtyard.
She walked toward him.
She was holding a box, too.
Ying Chengfeng recognized it. It was the very box that held the Soul Bones.
Shui Bing'er set it on the stone table in front of him.
Then she turned and left.
She stopped at the entrance to the courtyard without looking back and asked softly,
"You'll take part in the Soul Master Challenge three days from now, right?"
Ying Chengfeng looked straight at Shui Bing'er's back and replied, "I will."
"Good." Shui Bing'er answered, then left without turning around.
After a long while, Ying Chengfeng finally stood up and picked up the box from the stone table.
He left the courtyard and headed for Yu Feiyan's residence.
About ten minutes later, Ying Chengfeng arrived at the place where Yu Feiyan was staying.
Ji Qingyi and Qian Renxue were there as well.
Ying Chengfeng walked up to Yu Feiyan with the box and took out the Soul Bones.
"Try and see if you can absorb these two Soul Bones."
As soon as Ying Chengfeng finished speaking, the two Soul Bones seemed to sense something.
As if they possessed a will of their own, they flew straight toward Yu Feiyan's arms.
In the blink of an eye, the Soul Bones merged into her arms.
Yu Feiyan immediately sat down cross-legged.
A great deal of blood suddenly welled from her fingertips, and she cried out in pain.
The flesh on her fingers began to peel away, revealing stark white bones.
Her fingernails seemed to be ripped off by force.
Yu Feiyan bit down hard on her lip, forcing herself to cling to the last thread of consciousness.
Even crying out felt like a struggle. The pain was so intense that she couldn't make a sound.
Even breathing became difficult.
The flesh on her fingers kept falling away, then growing back.
The new flesh was very pale—unnaturally so.
Her long fingernails had vanished, and a strange pattern appeared on the back of her left hand.
It was a dragon, with a blade thrust into its body.
At the same time, an unsheathed blade appeared in Yu Feiyan's hand, seemingly out of nowhere.
The blade was blue-white all over, transparent as if it had been carved from ice crystals.
At that moment, a figure appeared in the courtyard.
It was Shui Qinghan.
Her voice betrayed no emotion. "You took the two Soul Bones that belonged to our academy. Give me an explanation."
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