Shui Bing'er Compromises!

Leng Ningshuang's fury faltered at this sudden turn of events, but her brow remained tightly furrowed; clearly, she was not yet convinced.

Free to come and go? It sounded pleasant, but once you stepped through the gates of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, could you truly remain free?

Ning Fengzhi did not give her time to ponder, continuing to toss out his conditions in a tone as flat as if he were reciting a procurement list:

"As an exchange, and as a gesture of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect's sincerity: First, from this day forth, all resources required for Shui Bing'er's cultivation until she reaches the age of eighteen shall be fully covered by the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect.

"Spirit ring hunting will be handled by experts within our sect to ensure the best results. Top-tier ice-attribute meditation techniques and combat skills—if our sect possesses them or can locate them, they are hers to choose. Furthermore, we will prepare at least one top-tier ice-attribute spirit bone for her with an age of no less than fifty thousand years."

A spirit bone! And a top-tier attribute spirit bone of at least fifty thousand years!

Leng Ningshuang's breath hitched. She knew all too well how precious spirit bones were.

Since the founding of Tianshui Academy, their inventory of spirit bones had been sparse, and none could compare to this in quality or age. These conditions were enough to drive any spirit master to madness!

"Second," Ning Fengzhi extended a finger, "for the next ten years, all routine teaching and cultivation resource expenses for Tianshui Academy—including but not limited to student subsidies, instructor salaries, facility maintenance, and material procurement—will be covered by the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect. Should the academy have plans for expansion or the addition of simulated cultivation environments, our sect will also bear seventy percent of the required costs."

Leng Ningshuang's eyes widened. What did this mean? It meant that as Dean, she would never have to worry about the academy's finances for the next decade!

It meant the academy could recruit more excellent instructors, provide better conditions for students, and even expand its scale! This was a windfall of immense proportions, enough to completely transform Tianshui Academy!

"Third," Ning Fengzhi continued, as if he hadn't noticed the rapid shifts in Leng Ningshuang's expression, extending a third finger with the same flat tone, "I hear that Bing'er has a younger sister named Shui Yue'er, who also possesses impressive talent and is currently enrolled in your academy? Her cultivation resources will be provided at three times the standard of your academy's top core disciples, also covered by our sect, until she graduates or turns twenty."

Three times the resources of a core disciple! This was practically pouring all their strength into her cultivation! Although Shui Yue'er's talent was slightly inferior to her sister's, with such resources piled upon her, her future achievements would certainly not be low!

After finishing, Ning Fengzhi clasped his hands behind his back. He looked at Leng Ningshuang, who was completely stunned, her lips slightly parted as if she wanted to speak but could find no voice, and offered a faint smile, adding the final and most crucial sentence:

"In short, if Bing'er joins the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect, she will receive the continent's top-tier training, your academy will receive the resources to soar, and her sister will have a bright future. All of this requires only that she fulfills a marriage contract upon reaching adulthood. Dean Leng, is this... coercion, or is it an opportunity that neither you, nor I, nor Bing'er herself can refuse?"

An opportunity that could not be refused!

Leng Ningshuang's mind went blank. Anger? It had long since been scattered by the barrage of conditions.

Her mind was filled only with those staggering numbers and resources: a fifty-thousand-year spirit bone, ten years of fully covered academy expenses, triple the core resources... these were astronomical figures she could never hope to scrape together, no matter how much blood and sweat she poured out or how far she traveled!

With these, Tianshui Academy would no longer be the bottom-tier among the Four Elemental Academies; it might even have the potential to challenge for a higher status!

And Bing'er would have a future far broader than anything she, as Dean, had ever dreamed of!

Refuse? On what grounds? For the sake of some ethereal "free love"? But Ning Fengzhi had said that until she was eighteen, Bing'er would remain free.

The position of the primary wife of the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect's young master—how many women dreamed of such a destination? Even if the other party was only a six-year-old child, it was the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect!

The wealthiest sect on the continent! And judging by Ning Fengzhi's implication, his son's talent was "not bad"?

For Ning Fengzhi to go to such lengths, personally bringing two Titled Douluo to "propose," that talent was likely far more than just "not bad"!

Reason told her this was a transaction—a massive fortune that could change the fate of many, bought with the price of Bing'er's future marriage.

Emotionally, she felt a shred of shame for being tempted, but as Dean, she had to consider the entire academy, the students and instructors who trusted her.

Ning Fengzhi watched the violent shifts in Leng Ningshuang's expression, knowing she was wavering, and gently added the final spark:

"Dean Leng need not answer immediately, nor should you feel troubled. This concerns Bing'er's lifelong happiness; why not... go and ask for her own opinion? What if, perhaps, Bing'er... agrees?"

Leng Ningshuang finally fell silent.

Deep within the academy, in the simulated cultivation area beneath the frozen waterfall.

Shui Bing'er sat cross-legged on a massive ice rock. Her long, water-blue hair was tied into a neat, thick braid hanging down her back. Her ice-blue eyes were tightly shut, and a biting chill swirled around her. A phantom image of an Ice Phoenix flickered behind her, exuding an aura of nobility and coldness.

At only eleven years old, she already possessed a composure and coldness far beyond her years.

"Bing'er."

Leng Ningshuang's voice rang out nearby, carrying a trace of imperceptible exhaustion and... guilt?

Shui Bing'er slowly ceased her cultivation, drawing the cold air inward as the Ice Phoenix phantom dissipated. She opened her eyes and, seeing her master's complex and unreadable expression, felt her heart sink slightly.

"Master, you were looking for me? Your expression doesn't look well—has the academy encountered some difficulty again?" Her voice was cold, yet tinged with concern.

Leng Ningshuang walked up to her, opened her mouth, and hesitated several times, eventually letting out a long, heavy sigh.

She recounted the arrival of Ning Fengzhi and his companions, as well as the "proposal" and the suffocating conditions, exactly as they were. She held nothing back and offered no embellishments.

As Leng Ningshuang spoke, the ice-blue eyes of Shui Bing'er, usually as calm as a frozen pool, finally stirred with turbulent waves.

First came astonishment, as if she had heard the most absurd joke in the world, followed by anger. Her fair cheeks flushed with indignation, and the cold air around her leaked out uncontrollably, freezing the ice rock beneath her into an even thicker layer of frost. Finally, all her emotions gradually settled into a chilling, deathly silence.

"A child bride... heh." Shui Bing'er repeated the words in a low voice, her tone devoid of joy or anger, only icy coldness. "You want me, Shui Bing'er, to be a child bride for a six-year-old child I have never met? Master, do you think that is even possible?"

She was proud and aloof. Because of her Ice Phoenix martial soul, she was naturally cold by nature, indifferent to romantic feelings, and even vaguely repulsed by them.

Her life's goal was to climb to the peak of the spirit master world, to lead Tianshui Academy to glory, and to protect her sister Yue'er so she could grow up safe and happy.

Marriage? A partner? That had never appeared in her plans, let alone something as absurd as a "child bride," steeped in such heavy transaction and humiliation!

Leng Ningshuang looked at the deep-seated anger and stubbornness in her disciple's eyes, her heart aching.

How could she not understand Bing'er's pride? This was her most prized and beloved disciple, whom she treated as her own flesh and blood. But...

Watching the undisguised guilt and helplessness in her master's eyes, along with a trace of... anticipation that even her master had not realized, Shui Bing'er suddenly understood.

From the moment her master came to ask for her opinion, she had already been left with no room to choose.

Tianshui Academy had taken in her and Yue'er when they were helpless and alone; her master's kindness toward her was as heavy as a mountain, and the academy had provided her with a place to settle down and a platform to grow.

Her younger sister, Yue'er, was her only kin and the entirety of what she wished to protect.

Could she refuse? Could she trade the future of the entire academy, her sister's prospects, and her master's expectations just to preserve her own pathetic self-esteem and pride?