Report

An hour later.

Yang Xing stood in the main hall of a three-courtyard residence in the center of Soto City, looking around.

Carved redwood pillars. Silk drapes hanging from the beams. Thick animal-hide carpets beneath his feet. On the table directly opposite him sat a jade vase filled with several unknown fragrant flowers, lending the room a quiet, refined air.

It was better than his shabby little house... by about ten thousand times.

Barak personally presented him with a golden soul coin card using both hands.

"Your Excellency, this is a credit card worth ten thousand gold soul coins. It can be used at every shop in Soto City. If it is not enough later, simply tell the guard at your side, and he will withdraw however many gold soul coins you require."

Yang Xing took it and casually tucked it into his robes.

Ten thousand gold soul coins. Converted into copper soul coins, that was one hundred million coins.

His entire fortune before this had been ten copper soul coins.

Yang Xing felt the corners of his mouth twitch as he struggled to maintain the calm expression of someone who did not care about such a trifling sum.

"Also." Barak clapped his hands.

The curtains at either side of the hall were lifted. A group of young girls in matching pale gauze dresses filed in and lined up before Yang Xing, then all curtsied in unison.

Sixteen of them. All sixteen maidservants were seventeen or eighteen, with lovely faces and graceful figures.

"These are the finest maids of Horne Estate, arranged to attend to Your Excellency's daily needs." Barak bent even lower. "If there is anything Your Excellency finds unsatisfactory, Horne can replace them at any time."

Yang Xing looked at the line of sixteen beautiful young maidservants before him.

He had originally planned to go out and stroll through Soto City's night market after settling in, to experience the local customs of this other world.

Now, he no longer wanted to go.

Nor did he need to.

"City Lord Barak." Yang Xing turned to him, an exceptionally sincere smile appearing on his face.

"You're a man who knows how to get things done."

At those words, Barak's entire face blossomed into a smile. He bowed and withdrew. Only when the doors closed behind him did the cold sweat finally begin running down his back.

The room fell quiet.

The sixteen maidservants stood in a neat line with lowered eyes. Their gauze skirts gleamed softly in the candlelight. The girl at the front, her hair arranged in a low bun, raised her head and timidly asked, "Your Excellency, shall we prepare hot water for your bath?"

Yang Xing glanced at her.

She was around eighteen, with delicate features and a soft, gentle voice. The others behind her were much the same, each beautiful in her own way—some demure, some bright, some charming.

Sixteen of them.

Yang Xing silently gave Soto City's lord a perfect score for his efficiency.

"Prepare it." His tone was as calm as if he had merely said, "Pour me a cup of water."

Ten years.

A full ten years.

From the age of eight to eighteen, what kind of life had he lived on Douluo Continent?

Taking disciples, taking disciples, getting rejected, rejected, rejected. Being driven from villages, being driven from cities. Ten copper soul coins to his name. The shabby house he lived in was so cramped even rats disliked it.

And now?

A grand residence. Ten thousand gold soul coins at the snap of his fingers.

Sixteen beautiful maidservants.

Life truly was something else.

After that, Yang Xing wrapped his arms around the sixteen maidservants and headed straight into the bedroom, beginning a life of utter indulgence.

Meanwhile.

Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, three hundred miles west of the imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The atmosphere in the Sect Master's hall was as heavy as ice formed in winter. Three grand chairs stood at the central seat and on either side. The three people seated in them each had their own thoughts, yet all of them were looking toward the hall entrance.

Ning Fengzhi sat in the center.

His shoulder-length dark purple hair hung neatly around his face, his gaze as calm as still water. His violet formal robes were immaculate, without even the slightest crease. His fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest, neither too quickly nor too slowly—the particular patience of someone waiting.

He was waiting for news of his daughter.

In the grand chair to the left, Chen Xin sat with his eyes closed, resting. His silver hair was neatly combed, and his face was as smooth and tender as a baby's, forming a strange contrast with the icy aura surrounding him. He sat perfectly straight, like a sword sheathed in its scabbard—silent, yet sharp.

The person sitting in the chair on the right was far more exaggerated.

Gu Rong's nearly two-and-a-half-meter body made the gold-inlaid chair creak beneath him. With his withered face, sunken eye sockets, and the few sparse white hairs atop his head, he looked exactly like a dried corpse someone had dragged out of a coffin. His posture was utterly indecent. He leaned crookedly against the chair back, his two abnormally long, skeletal legs stretched far out in front of him.

None of the three spoke.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.

"Report!"

A young soul master wearing the standard fitted uniform of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect hurried to the entrance, dropped to one knee, and pressed his forehead against the ground.

Ning Fengzhi's fingers stopped.

"Rise and speak."

The young soul master stood, not daring to let his gaze wander. Three gazes in the hall fell upon him almost at once. Under the pressure of being watched by two Titled Douluo and a rank seventy-nine Soul Sage, sweat instantly seeped from his back.

"Tell us about Rongrong's enrollment." Ning Fengzhi's voice was gentle, even carrying a hint of casualness.

But everyone knew what lay hidden beneath that casualness.

"Reporting to the Sect Master." The young soul master took a deep breath. "The young lady arrived safely in Soto City today and successfully passed Shrek Academy's entrance examination."

The moment those words fell.

The atmosphere in the hall eased.

Chen Xin's closed eyelids lifted by a sliver before lowering again. Gu Rong's crooked body finally straightened a little, and he grinned, revealing a mouthful of rather unattractive teeth.

Ning Fengzhi's gaze softened somewhat. His fingers resumed tapping the armrest, the rhythm lighter than before.

"Mm."

He nodded and was about to say something.

"However..."

The young soul master's voice suddenly caught.

As though a bone had lodged in his throat.

The atmosphere that had just relaxed froze once more the instant that "however" left his mouth.

Ning Fengzhi's fingers stopped.

Chen Xin opened his eyes.

With a creak, Gu Rong abruptly sat upright.

"However what?" Ning Fengzhi's tone remained steady, but the furrow between his brows had already betrayed his feelings. "Did something happen to Rongrong?"

The young soul master's lips moved.

No sound came out.

Bang!

Gu Rong's two-and-a-half-meter body shot out of his chair. His utterly unrestrained, savage aura crashed toward the young soul master like a wall.

"Speak plainly! Why are you hemming and hawing?"

Gu Rong's hoarse voice, like wind rustling through fallen leaves, echoed through the hall, filled with impatience and irritation.

"Do you know the consequences of making this old man worry about Rongrong?"

The young soul master's knees went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees again.

"Old Bones." Chen Xin's voice came from beside him, light as a breeze.

He remained seated, unmoving, his silver hair gleaming coldly beneath the candlelight. His tone was neither warm nor cold, as if discussing something exceptionally boring.

"Control your temper. You're frightening the youngster."

He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Gu Rong. There was a faint, barely perceptible sense of superiority in his eyes.

Gu Rong turned and glared at him. Chen Xin had already withdrawn his gaze, his expression calm as he looked at the young soul master.

"Since he came to report and said Rongrong enrolled safely, it cannot be anything serious." Chen Xin's tone was even, his reasoning clear. "If something had truly happened, he would not be acting like this. At most, that girl Rongrong caused some commotion with her mischief again on the way."

He gave the young soul master a slight nod.

"Speak without worry. With us here, even if Rongrong turned the heavens upside down, what problem could we not settle?"

Ning Fengzhi spoke at the right moment as well, his voice returning to its gentle warmth. "Do not be afraid. Go ahead and tell us."

The young soul master swallowed. Under the gazes of the three great figures, his voice trembled slightly, but he finally forced the words out.

"It... it was not that the young lady caused any trouble."

He paused.

"After entering Soto City, the young lady took a master."