Faced with Nan Shuishui's flattery, Cao Xin only smiled.
He turned to look at Lin Yuan, who stood nearby looking a little lost, and couldn't help sighing. Sometimes, his disciple really was an idiot.
Ning Tian stood with her arms crossed, her back to Lin Yuan as she sulked. That silly boy just stood there, staring at her in bewilderment.
"What are you standing there for? Go make it up to her. Even the most easygoing girl needs her feelings considered. She's obviously giving you a chance."
Lin Yuan nodded in understanding, then awkwardly started trying to coax Ning Tian.
After he briefly explained what had happened, Ning Tian's anger faded.
Lin Yuan couldn't help wondering: Did I really have some talent for flirting with girls?
Nan Shuishui had naturally noticed the little exchange between Lin Yuan and Cao Xin.
It was their family business, and she couldn't interfere.
More importantly, she could give some thought to her own daughter's future.
"Senior Duoqing, would you allow me to be a little selfish as well?" Nan Shuishui asked Cao Xin.
"What is it?"
"I feel it's a little too frivolous to make the Earth Dragon Sect pay such a price over a child's bet," Nan Shuishui said solemnly.
"Then what do you have in mind?" Cao Xin's smile vanished, and his gaze sharpened.
He wasn't worried that Nan Shuishui would try to renege. He wanted to see what additional condition she would propose.
The circle of high-level Soul Masters was small, and their reputations mattered. If Nan Shuishui went back on her word, her name would be ruined in the Douluo circles of the Heaven Dou Empire.
For a long time to come, everyone would know that the Earth Dragon Sect had a sect master who didn't keep her word. It would take at least a thousand years to regain their trust.
"I'd like to have Qiuqiu stay temporarily at the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect and learn from your sect's experts. Of course, the Earth Dragon Sect will cover all her expenses during that time."
Lin Yuan immediately understood Nan Shuishui's intentions. Wasn't this just like what had happened back then—no, rather, a preview of the future Soul Master Tournament?
She wanted to borrow another's chicken to lay her eggs, using a better platform to help Nan Qiuqiu grow.
Then, once Nan Qiuqiu's level had risen, she would return to the Earth Dragon Sect.
The Earth Dragon Sect had no Titled Douluo, so the cultivation experience of one was invaluable to them.
Besides, it was said that the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had a Titled Douluo whose Martial Soul was a Bone Dragon.
A Bone Dragon was a dragon, too. Nothing wrong with that.
"Of course, that can be arranged." Cao Xin looked as if he'd thought she was going to ask for something much more troublesome.
He already had two children in his care, and it was plain that Wu Feng would be joining them before long.
So one more wouldn't make any difference.
Besides, the Rouge Dragon was one of the top Martial Souls in the Heaven Dou Empire. If Nan Shuishui wanted to borrow another's chicken to lay her eggs, why wouldn't the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect want to bring the Earth Dragon Sect into its fold?
The history of the Douluo Continent was measured in millennia, even tens of millennia. Even if Nan Qiuqiu's generation didn't join the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, what about the next? Or the one after that?
It was bound to happen one day. Building a friendly relationship between the two sects was an excellent start.
To make up for Nan Qiuqiu's loss, Cao Xin's group didn't leave the Star Dou Great Forest right away.
Using the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's intelligence network, they tracked down a four-hundred-year-old Rouge Python.
After Nan Qiuqiu obtained her First Soul Ring, she got cocky again.
"Come on. Let's fight." Nan Qiuqiu grinned fiercely at Lin Yuan, who could only look helpless.
She thought she was strong again and could crush Lin Yuan into the ground, then rip out his Soul Master's pride and a man's dignity, intact, and tear them to shreds.
"Qiuqiu, why don't we just let it go? You already fought Lin Yuan yesterday, and he hasn't recovered from the wounds caused by your Annihilation Attribute." Ning Tian stepped between them.
"I don't care. Let's fight. Otherwise, I just can't accept it." Nan Qiuqiu clenched her fist.
Lin Yuan turned to Cao Xin and pointed at Nan Qiuqiu. "Master, if she's really under that big a restriction, I won't be able to beat her."
Cao Xin nodded. "Fine."
He broke off a branch, used Soul Power to whittle it into a wooden sword, and tossed it to Lin Yuan.
"Then let's begin." Lin Yuan immediately took up a stance against Nan Qiuqiu.
Once Lin Yuan had a sword, he completely dominated Nan Qiuqiu.
Since he didn't need to touch her, Lin Yuan relied on the techniques and speed he'd honed over the past few days to keep her at a distance.
Even though Nan Qiuqiu's Annihilation Light Soul Skill was a ranged attack, she hadn't mastered it well enough to so much as touch the hem of Lin Yuan's clothes.
With one final strike, Lin Yuan knocked the sword from her hand, and Nan Qiuqiu once again fell to the ground in defeat.
"Are you convinced now?" Lin Yuan walked over and held out his hand to Nan Qiuqiu.
Nan Qiuqiu stared at the hand he offered. Her little mouth pursed, but she didn't take the opportunity to bite him.
"You let your guard down." Nan Qiuqiu grabbed Lin Yuan's hand and grinned wickedly as Annihilation Light began gathering again.
Lin Yuan had known Nan Qiuqiu was up to no good. He didn't instinctively wrench free of her grasp. Instead, he pushed in the direction she was pulling.
"Huh?!" Nan Qiuqiu lost her balance, and her Annihilation Light shot into the sky.
"After watching you use that move so many times, I figured out its weakness. It has a long windup, and you have to stay planted in one spot!"
Lin Yuan pulled Nan Qiuqiu forward as she lost her balance, then sidestepped and let her roll past him.
But he didn't use much force, and he restrained himself from smacking her butt with the wooden sword.
She staggered two steps, then dropped to her knees, bracing herself with both hands. Lin Yuan keenly noticed her fists clench...
Sure enough, she whipped around and flung a handful of sand at him.
Lin Yuan immediately raised his sword to block. The move had little effect.
"Ah, I quit! I quit! I can't beat you!" Nan Qiuqiu protested petulantly.
"Qiuqiu, you need to understand something." Nan Shuishui couldn't bear to watch.
"You can't call a halt when you're about to lose. Auntie Lin Yuan gave you a chance. Now fight."
Lin Yuan nodded to Nan Shuishui, then relentlessly pressed his attack against Nan Qiuqiu, who had already lost the will to fight.
Nan Shuishui's stance was clear: she wanted to teach the girl a lesson.
On the way back to the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, Ning Tian suggested that she, too, wanted to spar with Nan Qiuqiu.
After all, she was the one who had absorbed the Soul Ring Nan Qiuqiu had planned to claim. It made sense for her to be Nan Qiuqiu's first opponent.
At first, Nan Qiuqiu didn't want to bully Ning Tian by taking advantage of the difference between a Battle Soul Master and a support-type Soul Master.
But Ning Tian pulled out her Chainsword.
Faced with an inorganic Soul Tool that Annihilation Attribute couldn't affect, Nan Qiuqiu could only surrender.
After three crushing defeats in a row, Nan Shuishui gave Nan Qiuqiu a private "lesson in etiquette" before they returned to the Earth Dragon Sect.
After that, Nan Qiuqiu finally behaved herself.
Back in his long-missed residence at the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, Lin Yuan immediately began to sense the fire attribute God of Destruction had separated from him.
It was sealed in his heart, so faint it seemed liable to go out at any moment.
"Does it feel weak?" The sudden voice of the God of Destruction made Lin Yuan jump.
"Teacher, you haven't gone back to sleep yet?"