Making a Contract with Zhang Lexuan

Mingdu, Prince Yan's Palace.

After giving it long and careful thought, Zhang Lexuan silently apologized to Elder Mu in her heart:

"I'm sorry, Elder Mu. I'm afraid I won't be able to fulfill our previous agreement. For Shrek Academy's honor, this is a sacrifice I have to make... I believe that once you learn the full story, you'll understand my decision..."

With that thought, Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath. When she looked at Xu Tianming again, determination had already filled her eyes.

"I don't know what exactly you want, but as long as you can promise not to use this matter to denounce Shrek Academy, no matter what you want me to do, I'll do my best to satisfy you... The only condition is that I cannot oppose Shrek Academy!"

Xu Tianming nodded thoughtfully.

"That shows some sincerity... Since you've come to this realization, I'll be direct and give you two choices:

Either you remain by my side forever from this day forward and obey my every order. Of course, I won't make you deal with Shrek; or I let you leave. You can return to Shrek Academy freely, but in exchange, I'll personally demand compensation from Shrek Academy equal to your value."

The moment he said that, Zhang Lexuan immediately rejected it.

"Impossible! Asking me to stay by your side forever and obey your every command would be worse than making me die right now!"

Xu Tianming had long expected that she would never accept those terms. He had only said it to make bargaining easier.

"So? You want to return to Shrek Academy?"

"No... I can stay by your side and obey your arrangements, but I can follow you for no more than one year. Once the time is up, you must let me go, and you must promise never to use what happened today to threaten Shrek Academy again!"

"One year is too short. At least ten!"

"Impossible! Rather than willingly follow you for ten years, I'd fight you to mutual destruction... Two years at most!"

And so, Xu Tianming and Zhang Lexuan began a verbal tug-of-war. After intense bargaining, they finally reached an agreement: from this day onward, Zhang Lexuan would obediently remain at Xu Tianming's side for three years and obey his every command.

In return, Xu Tianming had to promise not to publicize what happened today across the continent or use it to threaten Shrek Academy.

Once their verbal agreement was complete, the two signed a written contract that, in truth, held no real binding power.

However, judging by Zhang Lexuan's character, Xu Tianming was certain that as long as he did not violate the agreement, this woman would never dare stir up trouble first.

"I've already signed the contract with you. How much longer are you going to keep these shackles on me?"

"Oh, sorry. I nearly forgot about that."

Xu Tianming chuckled awkwardly, then took the key to unlock the shackles from his pocket.

Still, he had to admit that seeing Zhang Lexuan's body restrained by shackles gave her a rather unique charm...

Once the restraints on her body were completely removed, Zhang Lexuan once again felt the soul power circulating within her. She immediately intended to sit down and cultivate to recover it, but Xu Tianming stopped her.

"Don't rush to recover your soul power. You've been locked up here alone for most of the day, so you're probably hungry, right? This is a meal I packed from the Mingdu Grand Hotel. It shouldn't be any worse than Shrek Academy's cooking."

Zhang Lexuan truly was a little hungry. After hesitating only briefly, she accepted the exquisite food box from Xu Tianming and opened it directly.

Her delicate nose twitched slightly. After confirming that there was no strange smell, she picked up her chopsticks and tasted a small piece of meat. Then she began eating heartily, utterly unconcerned with maintaining her image.

Seeing how much she was enjoying the meal, Xu Tianming did not disturb her and simply sat quietly to the side, watching.

Watching a beauty eat was also a splendid sight.

Only after she had finished eating did Xu Tianming take the initiative to start a conversation.

"Come to think of it, the moment I saw you summon your Martial Soul, I started wondering about something. You should be from our Sun Moon Empire, shouldn't you? Why did you choose to join Shrek Academy?"

Zhang Lexuan's eyes filled with confusion at his words.

"What are you talking about? My family was once one of the powerful noble houses of the Heaven Soul Empire. We have absolutely nothing to do with your Sun Moon Empire!"

Seeing the earnest look on Zhang Lexuan's face, Xu Tianming shook his head helplessly.

"Looks like you really don't know anything."

"What do you mean?"

"By the way, do you know what Martial Souls the Sun Moon Empire's imperial family inherits?"

"I don't know. I never looked into that in detail."

"I see. Then it's no wonder. But it doesn't matter. Let me tell you: one inherited Martial Soul of the Sun Moon imperial family is the Sun, and the other is the Silver Moon Martial Soul you possess!"

Zhang Lexuan's eyes widened at once.

"No... How is that possible?"

"Are you going to say that Martial Soul awakenings have a degree of randomness, so even if you don't have Sun Moon Empire blood in you, it wouldn't be strange for you to awaken the Silver Moon Martial Soul?"

That was indeed what Zhang Lexuan had been thinking, so she replied instinctively.

"Isn't that right?"

"Heh. You should know better than anyone how powerful the Silver Moon Martial Soul is. But after joining Shrek Academy for so many years, have you ever seen a second person with the same Martial Soul as you, or even a similar one?"

His words plunged Zhang Lexuan into silence once more.

She thought back carefully. It really was as Xu Tianming had said. Shrek Academy's fame spread across the entire continent, yet ever since she had joined it, she had never encountered another person with the same Martial Soul as hers.

There had once been a time when she had curiously asked Elder Mu, hoping to learn about the origins of her Martial Soul.

But she had been young and ignorant back then. Elder Mu had casually brushed it off, and the matter had simply been muddled over.

Seeing that she said nothing, Xu Tianming pressed his advantage.

"Looks like you've thought of something, but you don't dare be certain... It doesn't matter. We still have plenty of days ahead of us. You can take your time thinking about your background."

Xu Tianming deliberately moved past the subject, making Zhang Lexuan breathe a sigh of relief inwardly.

At a time like this, she truly had no mood to dwell on the unpleasant matters of her past.

However, speaking of her Silver Moon Martial Soul reminded her of something else.

"When I used my Martial Soul's power to suppress that evil soul master, you placed your hand on my back. At that moment, I felt an almost inexhaustible surge of soul power. It seemed that as long as your hand remained on me, I could output infinite soul power... Can you tell me how you did that?"

When Zhang Lexuan took the initiative to ask about it, the corners of Xu Tianming's lips could not help but curl upward.

She finally took the bait!