Make a Big Score

"Hey, give me sixty gold soul coins," Di Qiuli said, holding out her hand to Mu Feng.

"Brother Yu, I have a feeling the feng shui here is bad. Why don't we eat somewhere else?"

As he spoke, Mu Feng was about to pick up his bowl and make a run for it. Di Qiuli's beautiful eyes flared with anger as she snapped, "Mu Feng!"

Seeing that she was truly upset, Mu Feng finally sat back down. Yu Tianhuang glanced at the stunning girl, then at Mu Feng, and promptly lowered his head, refusing to get involved in their dispute.

Di Qiuli stared wide-eyed at Mu Feng, who met her gaze without backing down.

"First, my name isn't 'hey.' Second, I don't owe you money, so why should I give you any?"

Di Qiuli froze. Right—although Mu Feng owed her two favors, he did not owe her money. She was instantly left speechless.

Nanmen Yun'er, who had been watching the situation from the side, hurried over to Di Qiuli. "Maybe we should just forget it, Qiuli."

It would have been fine if Nanmen Yun'er had stayed away, but the moment she came over, an indescribable emotion surged through Di Qiuli's heart. Blood rushed to her head, and her snow-white, jade-like face flushed crimson.

While people in the distance who knew nothing of the situation were still sighing over what seemed like another heavenly couple, Di Qiuli stood before Mu Feng with misty eyes, breathing heavily.

Mu Feng sighed. He had not expected this young lady to change moods so quickly or be so easily provoked. One moment, it had been thunder and lightning; the next, it had turned into endless rain.

"Alright, alright. I'll go buy two more portions for you." Mu Feng waved his hand and rose to head for the serving counter. Di Qiuli bit her lip and glared at him. "No. You don't owe me money, so why would you buy me food?"

At once, black lines crawled across Mu Feng's forehead. He had not expected his own words to come back and hit him so quickly.

Seeing Di Qiuli sulking, Mu Feng pressed her into the seat beside him. "I don't owe you money, but I owe you a favor. Consider this a little interest payment."

Mu Feng looked at the little girl beside her and asked curiously, "And this is?"

Since Di Qiuli was still angry, Nanmen Yun'er introduced herself. "My name is Nanmen Yun'er. Like Qiuli, I'm a freshman in Class Nine."

"What a coincidence. We're in Class Nine too. I'm Mu Feng, and this is Yu Tianhuang, my roommate."

With that, Mu Feng went and bought two more identical portions. The four sat around the table, chatting about information they had gathered on their homeroom teacher and notable freshmen, such as Ning Tian, the young mistress of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect from their own class.

As they talked, Yu Tianhuang and Nanmen Yun'er quickly noticed that whenever Mu Feng was not involved, Di Qiuli was like an icy beauty—cold and breathtaking. Yet whenever Mu Feng entered the conversation, she seemed to become an entirely different person.

Di Qiuli switched between personalities with effortless ease and without the slightest hesitation, leaving Yu Tianhuang and Nanmen Yun'er utterly amazed by her skill at changing faces.

Yet neither Mu Feng nor Di Qiuli, caught up in it themselves, had ever noticed this oddity.

As the group grew more engrossed in conversation, the topic inevitably turned to martial souls. When Nanmen Yun'er learned about Mu Feng's martial soul, she was just as shocked as Yu Tianhuang had been.

"Then, Brother Mu, may I ask what rank your soul power is?"

Mu Feng swallowed the last soup dumpling and answered, "Rank thirty-nine."

"What?!" Yu Tianhuang and Nanmen Yun'er cried out in unison.

The commotion immediately drew the attention of several nearby tables. Mu Feng hurriedly lowered both hands, signaling for them to calm down.

"Sorry, I lost my composure," Nanmen Yun'er apologized. But it was not entirely her fault. Yu Tianhuang beside her was still sitting there with his mouth agape, unable to say anything. Only now did he realize that his roommate was absurdly monstrous.

"What? There aren't any left?"

A burly man with thick brows, tiger-like eyes, a straight nose, and a square mouth stood before the gold soul coin serving counter, his dark brows tightly furrowed.

Since very few people at Shrek Academy could afford the food sold at the last counter, only the same handful of people came here to eat. To avoid wasting ingredients, these dishes were usually sold in limited quantities each day.

"One freshman ordered four portions by himself this year. Otherwise, you would've gotten at least one," the cafeteria uncle said, jerking his chin. The muscular student in the black school uniform was none other than Xu Sanshi, one of the Shrek Outer Court's Twin Stars. Since few people visited this counter, the uncle had long known Xu Sanshi.

Xu Sanshi looked in the direction the uncle indicated and saw two men and two women chatting happily around a table. He quickly noticed that the basket of soup dumplings in front of the golden-haired girl had not been touched, and he strode toward them.

"Fifty gold soul coins. I'll buy that basket of soup dumplings." Xu Sanshi slapped a small cloth pouch down in front of Di Qiuli. The four of them looked at the suddenly appearing giant in confusion.

Di Qiuli frowned, her tone cold. "Not for sale."

"Sixty gold soul coins."

"Not for sale."

"You want more?" A trace of anger entered Xu Sanshi's voice. Sixty gold soul coins were enough for the girl before him to eat two more meals like this. If he had not been waiting days for these Earth Dragon Tendon Soup Dumplings, he would never have offered sixty gold soul coins for them.

In his view, no one besides himself would give up sixty gold soul coins over a few soup dumplings. The only possibility was that the girl in front of him was greedy; he simply had not offered enough.

Di Qiuli was no pushover to begin with. Xu Sanshi was already in the wrong, and his aggressive tone made her even less inclined to give him a pleasant expression when she was already full of pent-up anger. Her rosy lips moved lightly, uttering one crisp, perfectly enunciated word.

"Scram."

Di Qiuli's tone was exceedingly calm, yet she packed all her impatience and disdain into that single word.

And who was Xu Sanshi? Alongside Thunderclap Bei Bei, he was known as one of the Outer Court's Twin Stars. Throughout the entire Outer Court, he rarely gave anyone a pleasant look besides Jiang Nannan, let alone endured such rude treatment from someone else.

Enraged, Xu Sanshi slammed his palm onto the table, sending the four people's bowls and chopsticks flying into the air. Mu Feng, however, looked entirely unsurprised.

Yu Tianhuang and Nanmen Yun'er, sitting opposite him, could only laugh helplessly. How had their first day at the academy turned into such a mess just from coming out for a meal?

Seeing the two people before him on the verge of fighting, with a brawl likely to break out at any moment and soup splattering everywhere, Mu Feng, worried about getting his clothes dirty, suggested, "I heard there's a soul fighting arena in the academy. Why don't you two fight there?"

Xu Sanshi snorted and glanced at them sideways. "I'm only afraid you won't dare accept the challenge. I'll seal my second and third soul skills. When you lose, don't blame me for bullying the young."

"Lead the way," Di Qiuli said coldly.

After saying that, she did not forget to turn back and rake Mu Feng with a glare for being so eager to watch the fun.

Nanmen Yun'er and Yu Tianhuang, who did not know Di Qiuli's soul power rank, wore worried expressions. Judging by the burly man's black uniform, he was a fifth-year Shrek Outer Court student. His strength had surely reached the Soul Elder level.

Di Qiuli had only just enrolled, so she was probably at most a Grand Soul Master. Even if Xu Sanshi claimed he would seal his second and third soul skills, there was still an enormous gap in soul power between them.

The two looked at Mu Feng, who was walking beside them with a slight frown. Nanmen Yun'er, trailing behind, could not help asking, "What is Brother Mu thinking about? Why don't you fight in Qiuli's place? With your strength, you could definitely defeat him easily."

Yu Tianhuang could not help nodding along. Mu Feng waved his hand carelessly and said offhandedly, "Don't underestimate her. That big idiot is about to suffer badly. I'm just thinking about how to make a big score off him."