Compensation

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji abruptly turned around and saw Flender standing there, supported by Oscar, his face pale.

Perhaps because maintaining the bombardment of [Weather Ball] had left Xu Linjiu with no energy to keep the ice on Flender's body.

Thus, Flender had already broken free from the ice statue. However, having been frozen in extreme ice for so many days, his body had long since weakened to the limit.

"Xu Linjiu! We surrender! We're willing to compensate you!"

Despite his frail condition, Flender still raised his voice and shouted toward the sky.

Hearing Flender's words, Xu Linjiu slowly lowered the hand gathering [Weather Ball], though several [Weather Balls] still hovered at his side.

As the barrage of water spheres ceased, Zhao Wuji's body swayed twice before he collapsed onto the ground, gradually reverting to human form.

The rain gradually weakened, leaving only a fine drizzle falling softly.

Zhao Wuji sprawled in the mud, gasping for breath.

His skin was mottled black and blue, covered in bruises forcibly battered out by the water spheres.

Those [Weather Balls] looked light and harmless, but after being amplified to triple power, getting hit by one was no different from being rammed by a charging soul beast.

"Teacher Zhao!"

Seeing this, Oscar hurried over from Flender's side and crouched beside Zhao Wuji.

"I, your father, have a Big Sausage!"

As Oscar's chant rang out, two sausages appeared in his hands.

Zhao Wuji stuffed both sausages into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. Only then did some color return to his pale face.

At that moment, the figure in midair slowly descended and stopped before the people of Shrek Academy.

Xu Linjiu stood with his hands behind his back, looking Flender over. "Compensation? In the state Shrek Academy is in, what compensation can you possibly offer?"

Flender took a deep breath. After pondering for a long while, he finally seemed to make up his mind and pulled out a piece of white bone from his storage soul tool.

The bone was jade-white throughout, shaped like a breastbone, with a faint cyan glow flowing across its surface.

"A soul bone?"

Xu Linjiu raised a brow and beckoned with his hand. The soul bone automatically flew up and landed in his palm.

"A thousand-year one? Headmaster Flender, a thousand-year soul bone hardly seems like enough."

"If it were merely an ordinary thousand-year soul bone, then it might indeed not be enough for someone like you."

Flender's voice clearly carried a trace of heartache. "But this thousand-year soul bone is no ordinary one. The soul skill it contains is an exceptionally rare flight-type soul skill!"

"A flight-type soul skill?"

Xu Linjiu's eyes lit up. If one's martial soul lacked the ability to fly, an ordinary soul master could only barely manage brief flight after reaching the Soul Sage realm.

Only upon reaching the Title Douluo realm could one truly break free from gravity and fly freely through the air using powerful soul power.

Just then, the system prompt sounded in his ear again.

[Ding! A precious material has been detected!]

[Material can be consumed to create the skill machine *Fly TM*!]

[Create?]

[Yes/No]

It could actually be used like this?

Xu Linjiu's heart stirred. Refining a soul bone was meant to obtain its soul skill anyway, so he might as well exchange it directly for a Pokémon skill better suited to him.

And if that was possible, could other soul bones be used this way as well?

For example, could he turn Tang San's mother's soul bone into [Synthesis]?

Still, using a soul bone of that quality this way would be somewhat extravagant. It would be more feasible to find some low-quality soul bones at auctions.

Flender's voice came again. "I acquired this soul bone in my younger days, when I killed a fallen soul master while traveling across the continent. That is why I know the skill contained within it."

"As you know, a flight-type soul skill and a chest soul bone, which is relatively rare among soul bones—together, their price at auction would be at least several times higher."

Xu Linjiu tossed the soul bone in his hand. "It is indeed not bad."

"Then... does that settle this matter?" Flender asked cautiously.

"Settle it?"

Xu Linjiu stored the soul bone in his storage soul tool, then looked at Flender with a faint smile that was not quite a smile.

"The compensation issue is settled, but Ma Hongjun's medical expenses, Notting Academy's repair costs, Tang San and Xiao Wu's emotional damages, and the travel expenses for my hard work in bringing you all back—you can't expect me to cover all that myself, can you?"

Flender's face instantly turned green. "Emotional damages! And travel expenses!"

Flender's hands trembled without pause. For a miser like him, handing over a soul bone he had treasured for years was painful enough.

Now Xu Linjiu had listed such a massive additional sum. Flender felt like dying.

"Then what else do you want?"

"Not much."

Xu Linjiu raised a hand and held up a number. "One figure. Fifty thousand gold soul coins. How about it?"

"Fifty thousand! Is your academy's training ground made of gold? Why would it cost that much to repair—"

Flender stopped halfway through, because he had already noticed that the water spheres beside Xu Linjiu had somehow silently drifted close to him.

"I'm only asking for fifty thousand because your academy doesn't look like it has much money, so I gave you a fifty-percent discount. Otherwise, without a hundred thousand gold soul coins, don't even think about settling this!"

"But I really can't come up with that many gold soul coins!"

Hearing Xu Linjiu's words, Flender looked on the verge of tears.

Fifty thousand gold soul coins! Shrek Academy could not save up that much even in two years.

"Don't blame me for not giving you a chance!"

Xu Linjiu summoned the [Weather Balls] back to his side. "If you truly can't produce that many gold soul coins, you can use other things to pay your debt. But the value of anything used as payment will be discounted by ten percent!"

"A ten-percent discount too!"

A sharp pain twisted through Flender's chest. His already weakened body surged with blood and energy, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Headmaster Flender!"

Oscar had just finished easing Zhao Wuji's injuries. Seeing this, he hurried over again, conjuring two Recovery Big Sausages and handing them to Flender.

Flender waved his hand. "It's useless. My problem isn't physical right now—it's psychological!"

Clutching his chest, Flender took a long while to recover. He turned to Oscar. "Go get Teacher Shao Xin. I need to speak with him!"

"Yes!"

Oscar answered and turned to run outside.

Once Flender regained his composure, he looked at Xu Linjiu. "Sir, I have a shop in Soto City. Please wait a moment while I recover some soul power. I'll go take stock of my assets at once!"

Xu Linjiu nodded without speaking.

When Shao Xin arrived, Flender gave him a few instructions. Then, after eating two sugar beans condensed by Shao Xin, he summoned his martial soul and flew toward Soto City.

"Please come this way and rest."

About two hours later, Flender finally returned.

"Sir, this is the limit of what I can offer. Please inspect it."

As Flender spoke, he handed over a storage ring.

Xu Linjiu took the ring and swept it with his Inner Focus.

There were roughly thirty thousand gold soul coins inside. Aside from that, there were some rare minerals, medicinal herbs, and a deed to a piece of land. The piece of plate crystal Tang San obtained in the original story was among them.

"Not bad. Including this ring, the value is about right."

Only after confirming there were no issues did Xu Linjiu accept everything.

He turned and rose into the air once more, hovering overhead as he looked down upon the people of Shrek Academy.

"Let today's matter end here."

"But remember this well. If anyone dares cause trouble at Notting Academy again, being frozen into an ice statue will be the least of your worries."

As his words fell, Xu Linjiu turned into a streak of light and shot into the heavens, vanishing beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.