Transaction, Level Nine Treatment

The door closed, and the office fell into sudden silence.

Lu Fengnian and Long Yuan sized each other up, neither speaking.

Lu Fengnian looked at the man before him, who was excessively young, and the more he looked, the more alarmed he became.

It was not because of the man's handsomeness, which was only a hair's breadth away from the readers, but because he found himself completely unable to see through the other's background.

One had to remember, he was an eightieth-level Soul Douluo!

However, despite the shock in his heart, as an old fox, his face remained completely impassive.

"Heh!"

Long Yuan suddenly laughed.

What kind of trash dares to put on airs in front of me? Does he really think he's something special?

Following that, the power of his divine sense erupted directly, pressing down upon the other man like a mountain.

"Ugh—"

Lu Fengnian felt a tightness in his chest, a mouthful of blood surging upward, but he managed to force it back down his throat with all his might.

Long Yuan pulled out a chair and sat down without a hint of awkwardness, leaning back against the rest and watching the branch tower master before him with calm composure.

Lu Fengnian suddenly felt the mountain pressing down on him vanish, and his entire body relaxed.

"Hoo—hoo—"

He gasped for air, his eyes fixed on the young man before him with a mix of shock and suspicion, a sense of relief at having survived a disaster spreading through his heart.

"Was that your daughter just now?"

"Yes, that is my daughter." Lu Fengnian wiped the sweat from his brow.

Long Yuan nodded. "Reaching the thirtieth level at thirteen, she must be a rare talent even at East Sea Academy. But... I wasn't aware that the Spirit Pagoda hired child labor."

Lu Fengnian quickly replied, "Kening only comes to help out during her holidays. As for being a talent, I wouldn't dare claim that; there are plenty of people at East Sea Academy with better aptitude than her."

Long Yuan smiled and did not pursue the topic further.

Negotiation was an art of language; one had to lead the other party into their own rhythm to secure more benefits.

That was the reason he had used his divine sense to threaten the man the moment they met, and the same went for bringing up his daughter, Lu Kening, as an entry point.

"Let me be blunt: I want to be registered with your Spirit Pagoda."

"Registered?" Lu Fengnian wasn't quite sure what this little ancestor meant.

He thought for a moment and probed, "Logically speaking, to become a consultant for our Spirit Pagoda, one must report to headquarters, and one must be at least a Soul Douluo or an eighth-level mecha master..."

Well, that was reasonable, but Long Yuan was a dragon.

And as everyone knew, creatures like dragons were not known for being reasonable.

Thus.

"Bam—"

Long Yuan slapped the desk in front of him. The force was so great that the desktop, forged from sturdy alloy, sank inward.

Six golden soul rings rose from behind him, dragon might raging as sonic booms echoed continuously in the air.

Although he hadn't released his martial soul, Lu Fengnian had already begun to tremble.

It's a dragon!

Lu Fengnian felt his martial soul shivering. His martial soul was a Wind-Chasing Dragon, a type of sub-dragon, which could be considered a top-tier martial soul, yet in the face of this terrifying dragon might, he couldn't even muster a thought of resistance!

"Wait, wait! I just remembered, our Spirit Pagoda has a special cultivation program!"

"Oh? Tell me about it."

The dragon might dissipated. Long Yuan retracted his soul rings and sat back, looking as calm and breezy as if nothing had happened.

Lu Fengnian gave a bitter smile. "Inside our Spirit Pagoda, we have a genius cultivation program aimed at nurturing talents who can at least break through to become Titled Douluos. It just so happens that our Lu family has a recommendation slot, and I can recommend you for this list. Everyone on the list enjoys ninth-level status."

Perhaps fearing that Long Yuan didn't understand the status, Lu Fengnian explained, "Our Spirit Pagoda has nine levels of status, the same as side professions. Above that are the elders, the four Spirit Envoys, the two vice tower masters, and the tower master."

Long Yuan narrowed his eyes. The proposal was not bad. After all, it was unrealistic for a stranger like him to be given an elder's position right away; generally, that was a rank held by branch tower masters in high-tier cities. Thus, a ninth-level status could be equivalent to a vice tower master in those places.

"Very well, let's do that." Long Yuan nodded in satisfaction.

His thinking was simple: once he possessed the identity of a major faction, many things would be easier to handle.

After weighing his options, he chose the Spirit Pagoda.

The Federal Military and the War God Temple were essentially the private preserves of various noble families; if a commoner wanted to get in, they had to take it one step at a time.

Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were his enemies, and they were extremely exclusionary, making them even harder to enter.

The Spirit Pagoda, while called a faction, was more like a collection of various family forces led by the Qiangu Family, with the Spirit Pagoda serving as a platform for their interaction.

Qiangu Dongfeng, as the tower master, would not and could not interfere with matters decided within each individual family.

"In exchange, take this." Long Yuan stood up and took a small container out of his pocket.

It was something he had swiped from the hotel, and inside was a drop of blood emitting a golden light.

That was blood he had casually simulated using the essence of the Golden Dragon King.

"This is a secret treasure of our family. It can enhance the power of dragon-type martial souls and promote benign mutations. I see that both your and your daughter's martial souls are sub-dragons, so it should be suitable for you."

After saying this, he tossed the container to Lu Fengnian and left without looking back.

"Plant Lu, has that person left?"

After a while, Lu Kening snuck in from outside.

At this moment, Lu Fengnian had no heart to dwell on his daughter's quirky nickname. He stared at the blood inside the container; the dragon tail within it was exactly the same as the one he had just sensed on Long Yuan.

"A hidden family, a dragon-type martial soul... could it be the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? But they are clearly surnamed Yu, aren't they?"

"Dad? What are you thinking about? Are you thinking about that gentleman from just now?"

Seeing that her father didn't respond, Lu Kening suddenly asked in a loud voice.

Only then did Lu Fengnian notice his daughter, who had entered at some unknown time. He set the container aside and said softly, "Yes, I'm wondering which hidden family he belongs to."

"So, do you have any clues, Dad?"

"How would I know?" Lu Fengnian gave a wry smile. "There are so many hidden families in the world; how could I possibly know them all? However, his martial soul is a dragon, so perhaps he is from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family?"

Lu Kening was noncommittal, turning her gaze toward the container. "What is this?"

"This? It's a good thing, and it's also the result of the deal I made with him."

"A good thing?" Lu Kening was somewhat puzzled; to her, it just looked like a drop of blood.

"Heh, don't underestimate this. You'll understand once you absorb it later."

Lu Fengnian smiled. His own potential had reached its limit, so he would leave this treasure that enhanced martial souls to his daughter.

"By the way, when did you break through to level thirty?" Lu Fengnian suddenly recalled what Long Yuan had said.

"Ah? How did you know, Dad?" Lu Kening said in surprise. "I was clearly planning to give you a surprise!"