Invitation to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well (I)

"Surround it! Don't let it get away!"

In the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Area of the Star Dou Great Forest.

A pink Ten Thousand Year Cockscomb Snake had been reduced to the point where everyone wanted to beat it up. Yet the ones who had driven it to this state were not a dozen Soul Sages, nor a dozen Soul Emperors or Soul Kings, but a group of Soul Ancestors and Soul Elders.

If this Ten Thousand Year Cockscomb Snake could speak, it would surely curse the inhuman beasts chasing behind it: What the hell is wrong with this world? A bunch of Soul Ancestors and Soul Elders were fiercer than Soul Kings and Soul Emperors. Were they even human anymore?

Unfortunately, it could not speak.

Even more unfortunately, speaking would not save it from death.

Not far from the Ten Thousand Year Cockscomb Snake.

Behind the group of Soul Ancestors and Soul Elders.

Ye Qingcang had just placed a freshly extracted soul bone into a Crystal Storage Box. Thoughtfully, he stuck a label on it with a name written on it.

"The twenty-fourth soul bone." Violet took the storage box and placed it in a large chest. Inside that priceless chest lay another twenty-three Crystal Storage Boxes, along with the soul bones enclosed within them. They came in all sorts of shapes and corresponded to different body parts, but all of them were ten-thousand-year soul bones. "Twelve more to reach the quota."

"That depends on their ability." Ye Qingcang waved away the alchemy formation. His casual manner made Yu Xiaogang, Ning Rongrong, and the others green with envy. "The hunting area has a diameter of two hundred kilometers, and they have ten days. However many Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast corpses they bring back, that is how many soul bones I can extract. So whether we reach the quota and everyone gets a soul bone depends on them, not me."

Ning Rongrong suddenly understood how Blue Tyrant Academy had become rich enough to rival a nation.

So far, she had discovered three cash cows.

The first was the Spirit Cuisine Room, which brought in money by the day.

Its hourly income was calculated in tens of thousands.

What was most infuriating was that the Spirit Cuisine Room used nothing but scraps!

The second was Soul Tools, which sold for exorbitant prices.

Blue Tyrant Academy did not sell its truly good items. Just casually putting out a level-five Storage Soul Guidance Device could fetch several million Gold Soul Coins at auction.

The third was the soul bones before them.

Although there were very few soul bones on the market, that did not mean they were worthless. On the contrary, it was precisely because they were so scarce that they were especially valuable. A ten-thousand-year soul bone was worth no less than the auction price of a level-five Storage Soul Guidance Device. In fact, because ten-thousand-year soul bones could enhance combat ability while Soul Tools could only improve convenience in daily life, ten-thousand-year soul bones were even more sought after.

Were several hundred million Gold Soul Coins a lot?

Not much!

Not much at all!

That was the amount a farmer could earn only after farming for a hundred million years without eating or drinking, while selling all his grain.

It was also what a merchant could earn only after traveling for tens of thousands of years, making all the right choices and managing his business with painstaking care.

It was even what a family business could earn only after operating steadily and safely for several centuries.

But!

That was also the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's annual income!

Net income!

The entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had worked diligently for a year, only to discover in the blink of an eye that they could not compare to a single day of Ye Qingcang waving his hand around. Ning Rongrong could hardly be blamed for feeling unbalanced. Anyone who saw this would feel the same way.

Still, just as the world itself was unfair.

Fairness was only relative; there was no absolute fairness.

Ye Qingcang possessed power and knowledge, so making money came easily to him. Ning Rongrong possessed status and the appraisal abilities bestowed by her martial soul, so she never had to worry about food or clothing. The essence of unfairness was fairness, and so-called unfairness was merely an excuse people gave to their own desires—jealousy, greed, hatred, and the like. They hoped to use that excuse to turn unfairness into fairness, but in truth, such so-called fairness was merely another, even greater unfairness.

Only...

"Twenty-four plus twelve, thirty-six..." Yu Xiaogang noticed that something was off about the numbers. "If thirty-six soul bones is the quota, there are forty-three students. Who are the seven that will be left out?"

The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more unwilling he became.

Taking advantage of the lull before the twenty-fifth Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast was brought back, he rose to his feet and walked toward Ye Qingcang, Violet, and Xiao Wu.

When he arrived, his expression was far from pleasant.

His attitude was cold, and his tone stiff.

Suppressing the greed in his heart, he pompously lectured Ye Qingcang, "Shrek Academy has already merged with Blue Tyrant Academy. As Liu Erlong's adopted son, you should treat everyone equally. Besides, a hunting area with a diameter of two hundred kilometers is still too small. Since you have a way to extract soul bones from Soul Beast corpses, you should be more ruthless. Remember: if Heaven bestows something and you refuse to take it, you will suffer the consequences!"

Ye Qingcang did not react.

It was as though he had not seen Yu Xiaogang at all.

Violet did not react either.

Holding the Jade Seal Machine, she watched Tom and Jerry playing on it with great interest, as though she had not heard Yu Xiaogang speak.

But Xiao Wu could not ignore Yu Xiaogang!

She did not have Ye Qingcang and Violet's mindset!

"None of your damn business!" Xiao Wu forced her gaze away from the amusing cat and mouse and fixed it on the face of this "Grandmaster," who looked as though someone owed him several million Gold Soul Coins. Anger flared in her pink eyes.

"Does being an adopted son mean he owes you something?"

"Adopted son this, adopted son that—where are your manners?"

"A hunting area with a diameter of two hundred kilometers is too small?"

"Are you planning to kill every Soul Beast and extract all their soul bones?"

"I've disliked you for a long time. Every day, you look down on this and sneer at that. No one even pays attention to you, so can't you just find somewhere cool to stay?"

"Do you have to jump out and disgust everyone?"

She admitted that Ye Qingcang was cruel, slaughtering Soul Beasts for soul bones. But she also admitted that his cruelty had limits. Despite having the strength to personally kill three ninety-thousand-year Thousand Jun Ant Kings, he had not gone on a rampage hunting Soul Beasts himself. Instead, he had let Blue Tyrant Academy's students hunt them on their own. He had even limited the area to a diameter of two hundred kilometers, without completely destroying the Star Dou Great Forest's ecosystem. Even if the students of Blue Tyrant Academy killed every Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast within that range, it would not affect the vast Star Dou Great Forest.

Throughout this process, all Ye Qingcang did was extract the soul bones. If the other students were incompetent and failed to capture Ten Thousand Year Soul Beasts, then there would naturally not be so many soul bones.

Ye Qingcang had given the order.

But the responsibility did not rest entirely on Ye Qingcang.

As Ye Qingcang put it: every day, no fewer than a hundred thousand Soul Beasts died in the jaws of other Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. We only came here once in a while. We have the ability to indulge ourselves a little and kill a few dozen more Soul Beasts. Would that truly have a lasting impact on the balance of the Star Dou Great Forest?

Therefore, she could not condemn Ye Qingcang.

But just because she did not condemn Ye Qingcang did not mean she would not condemn Yu Xiaogang, who had rubbed her the wrong way from beginning to end. Even though Yu Xiaogang was Tang San's teacher, his petty, opportunistic behavior was utterly damaging to his character and made people look down on him!

This time, even if Liu Erlong, her adoptive mother, stood with Yu Xiaogang, and even if Tang San stood with Yu Xiaogang, she would still choose to firmly support Ye Qingcang. It could be considered her own insignificant show of support!