Earth-Shaking Desolate Bear's Right Arm Bone, Money-Seeking Lay Buddhist Re-emerges!

Returning to the freshman dormitory area, the sun had already slanted toward the west.

Xiao Xiao followed behind Xiao Yan, stepping into that clean and tidy single room.

She sat on the edge of the hardwood bed, her two lower legs swinging leisurely in mid-air, showing no intention of returning to her own room.

"Brother, I'll just stay here and wait for Dean Yan's compensation with you. Besides, I can use the lingering energy from earlier to cultivate a bit more." She propped her hands on the bed frame, tilted her head up, and her pair of emerald eyes shone brightly, revealing an obvious attempt to curry favor.

Xiao Yan looked at her shameless behavior and shook his head helplessly.

This girl was usually eccentric and clever in front of others, but in front of him, she only had this one tactic of pestering him.

Considering that they had indeed gone through a disturbance that afternoon, he did not drive her away. He pulled over a chair to sit by the desk, closed his eyes, and allowed her to stay in the room to regulate her breathing and cultivate together.

Time passed quietly in cultivation.

When Xiao Yan opened his eyes again, the sky outside the window was filled with twinkling stars, and the night was deep.

The bustle of Shrek Academy had long since faded, leaving only the chirping of insects from the distant Sea God Lake.

He turned his head to look at Xiao Xiao, who was sitting on the bed.

The little girl had her eyes closed, her breathing steady, and her green hair hung on both sides of her cheeks; she was clearly still in a state of meditation.

Xiao Yan stood up.

In the dead of night, for a man and a woman to be alone in one room was already against propriety.

Furthermore, he knew very well in his heart that he and Xiao Xiao had absolutely no blood relationship.

Although this layer of window paper had not yet been pierced and Xiao Xiao had always regarded him as her own brother, he still had to avoid suspicion to prevent any unnecessary karmic entanglements in the future.

He walked to the bedside and reached out to pat Xiao Xiao on the shoulder twice.

"Wake up, go back to your own room."

Xiao Xiao opened her eyes in a daze, her face full of reluctance at having her cultivation interrupted.

She rubbed her eyes, looked at the night outside, and muttered, "It's so late, Dean Yan will definitely only come tomorrow. I'll just make do here for the night; this bed is quite big."

"No. Men and women should keep their distance. Go back to your own room."

Without any room for negotiation, Xiao Yan grabbed Xiao Xiao's wrist directly, ignored her protests, pulled her off the bed, and pushed her out of the room.

"Bang."

The door closed mercilessly.

Locked outside, Xiao Xiao looked at the tightly shut wooden door and ground her teeth in anger.

She stomped her feet hard, the soles of her shoes making a dull thud against the corridor floor.

"Stinky brother! You blockhead!"

She waved her small fist indignantly, pulled out her key with great reluctance, and turned back to her own dormitory.

Having sent away the little clingy spirit, the room finally quieted down.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on the bed again and began to circulate the Art of the Fuxi Emperor.

His spirit power flowed endlessly through his meridians, and his consciousness gradually sank into the starry sea of his mind.

He shook his head inwardly, evaluating Yan Shaozhe's efficiency.

As the dignified Dean of the Spirit Soul Department at Shrek Academy, he had dragged out the compensation until late at night without a sign; he would likely only fulfill it tomorrow during the day.

However, no sooner had this thought crossed his mind than the slowly rotating Fuxi Bagua Formation Map in his sea of consciousness suddenly captured two clear auras.

These two auras were currently lingering in the open space outside the freshman dormitory building.

One was as vast as an abyss, restrained yet revealing an unfathomable foundation; the other was hot and restless, but at this moment, it was being suppressed by a powerful force, barely maintaining stability.

Xiao Yan's eyes snapped open, a sharp light flashing in his black pupils.

He rolled off the bed, threw on his moon-white robe, and pushed the door open to walk out of the dormitory.

Outside the dormitory building, under a century-old tree with lush foliage, two figures stood quietly in the shadows, aided by the sparse starlight.

It was Yan Shaozhe and the red-clad woman who had lost her mind and launched a violent attack that afternoon, Ma Xiaotao.

Xiao Yan walked forward with steady steps.

Seeing Xiao Yan walk out of the dormitory building, a trace of imperceptible surprise flashed in Yan Shaozhe's eyes.

The master and disciple had deliberately restrained their auras when they arrived, yet this boy had been able to accurately perceive their arrival from inside his room. This level of spiritual attainment caused Yan Shaozhe to once again revise his assessment of the boy's limits.

"Dean Yan, visiting in the dead of night—it seems the compensation is ready."

Xiao Yan stopped three steps away from the two, his gaze sweeping over Yan Shaozhe's empty hands as he went straight to the point.

Yan Shaozhe coughed twice to cover up the awkwardness of being dunned for a debt so directly.

His right hand brushed over his storage spirit tool, and a pitch-black brocade box that emitted a faint, deep fragrance appeared in his palm.

His fingers rubbed over the lid of the box, his eyes showing undisguised heartache, and his movements appeared somewhat reluctant.

But in the end, he handed the brocade box forward.

Xiao Yan took it without ceremony and, right in front of Yan Shaozhe, clicked the lock of the box open with a "snap."

As the lid was lifted, a thick, overbearing wave of spirit power, carrying a hint of primal aura, surged out from the box.

In the center of the brocade box lay a bone, resting in silence.

The spirit bone was a deep, dark gold throughout, resembling a piece of premium amber that had been tempered by countless years.

It was shaped as a right arm bone, its surface covered in naturally formed, mysterious earthy-yellow patterns.

These patterns resembled the veins of mountains and rivers; merely looking at them allowed one to feel the terrifying power contained within, a force capable of shaking mountains.

"This is a sixty-thousand-year-level Earth-Shaking Desolate Bear right arm bone."

Yan Shaozhe spoke from the side, his tone carrying a touch of pride mixed with the pain of a bleeding heart.

"The Earth-Shaking Desolate Bear is a power-type spirit beast, and its explosive force is unparalleled among the beasts of the Star Dou Forest. The skill attached to this spirit bone is called 'Desolate Bear Earth-Splitting Strike.' It not only provides the spirit master with an incredibly terrifying power boost in an instant, but it also carries a high-frequency vibration force that can directly penetrate armor and defensive spirit skills to destroy the enemy's body from within."

Xiao Yan looked at the spirit bone in the box, feeling a sense of wonder in his heart.

Sixty thousand years, pure power attribute, plus that vibration force.

If this bone were absorbed by Xiao Xiao, combined with the gravity control and smashing power of her Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, it would be like adding wings to a tiger, allowing her actual combat destructive power to take a qualitative leap.

Xiao Yan raised his head and gave Yan Shaozhe a deep look.

He had expected the man to try and fob him off with a mediocre spirit bone that had just crossed the ten-thousand-year threshold; he hadn't expected this Dean Yan to be so willing to bleed for this.

He had no way of knowing that Yan Shaozhe had indeed intended to give a low-year ten-thousand-year spirit bone.

But after returning that afternoon, Du Weilun had reported to him that the Sea God Pavilion Master, Mu En, had personally handed a token to Xiao Yan.

Upon learning how highly his teacher regarded this youth, Yan Shaozhe immediately overturned his previous plan and gritted his teeth to pick this premium spirit bone from the Spirit Soul Department's treasury.

To build a good relationship with these two monstrous siblings and foster their sense of belonging to Shrek, this price had to be paid.

"Many thanks for your generosity, Dean Yan. We are very satisfied with this compensation." Xiao Yan closed the brocade box and flipped his hand to store it in his storage ring.

Having received the goods, he had no intention of standing in the cold wind with this old fox in the middle of the night. After a slight nod, he prepared to turn and head back to the building.

"Wait a moment."

Seeing him about to leave, Yan Shaozhe hurriedly called out to stop him.

Xiao Yan paused, turned around, and looked at him with a questioning gaze.

Yan Shaozhe sighed, stepped aside, and revealed Ma Xiaotao, who had been standing silently behind him with a complex expression.

At this moment, Ma Xiaotao had changed into a clean red school uniform.

Her long red hair hung neatly over her shoulders, and on that bright, moving face, the madness and violence of the afternoon were nowhere to be found.

Her eyes were clear, even carrying a tranquility like someone just waking from a long dream, though a blush of shame involuntarily rose to her cheeks when she met Xiao Yan's gaze.

"Regarding this afternoon, Xiaotao is in the wrong." Yan Shaozhe dropped his official tone, his voice becoming that of an elder worried sick about a junior.

"But I have come this time not only to deliver compensation, but also to ask a favor."

He gestured toward Ma Xiaotao and began to explain.

"Xiaotao's spirit is the Evil Fire Phoenix, and she has always been tormented by the backlash of the evil fire. Over the years, I have exhausted all kinds of ice-attribute treasures, but they only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. However, this afternoon, after your zither music cut into her Sea of Consciousness, it not only instantly extinguished her rampaging consciousness, but until now, the evil fire in her body has been as quiet as if frozen by some rule. It is unbelievable."

Ma Xiaotao also raised her head, looking at the youth who was much younger than her, her eyes filled with hope.

Only she knew what a relief it was to have the torment that had been burning her meridians day and night suddenly cease.

"So, I brought her here in the middle of the night to ask you." Yan Shaozhe's Adam's apple bobbed, his tone tinged with urgency.

"How long can the freezing effect of your zither music last? Do you... have any way to eradicate the hidden danger of the evil fire in her body?"

Both of their gazes were like searchlights in the dark night, pinned firmly on Xiao Yan, their breathing held for fear of missing a single word from his lips.

Xiao Yan looked at this pair of expectant master and disciple, his fingers gently rubbing the cuffs of his moon-white robe.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward, revealing a confident smile.

"I certainly have a way, and I can guarantee that she will be completely rid of the evil fire's torment, and I can even purify her Phoenix spirit to the level of Ultimate Fire."

Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe and Ma Xiaotao became instantly ecstatic.

There was a way! And it could even purify her spirit! This was nothing short of incredible news!

But then, Xiao Yan changed his tone, drawing out his words.

"However..."

The excitement that had just surged in the master and disciple was instantly suspended in mid-air, their hearts leaping into their throats.

The two stared at Xiao Yan nervously, worried that the method would have extremely harsh requirements.

Xiao Yan looked at their tense expressions and calmly spat out three words.

"It's going to cost extra!"

Yan Shaozhe and Ma Xiaotao slipped, nearly falling over together on the empty grass.