Popcorn Yan Shaozhe

As the culprit, Ma Xiaotao's identity could be easily uncovered by Lu Yuan once he became Mu En's disciple, provided he put his mind to it—including her master-disciple relationship with Yan Shaozhe.

For the sake of his precious disciple's future, Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth. Even with his miserly nature, he knew he would have to bleed heavily this time.

"Junior Brother, look, Xiaotao was at fault that day, but your Senior Brother has some other..."

"What Xiaotao?" Lu Yuan cut Yan Shaozhe off directly, looking at him in confusion. "Why do I remember some Evil Soul Master sneaking into the academy that day?"

Then, under Yan Shaozhe's stunned gaze, Lu Yuan continued to mutter to himself, "Fortunately, the wise and mighty Dean Yan of the Martial Soul Department had noticed long ago and specially arranged for me to capture that utterly wicked, outrageously bold Evil Soul Master alone. In the end, the Evil Soul Master surrendered and was reduced to nothing but bones. It's just that everything was carried out in secret, so only I know of Dean Yan's contribution!"

Heh! The kid wasn't stupid!

Evil Soul Masters had to be wiped out—there was no way around it!!!

"Indeed, Junior Brother, how could those Evil Soul Masters be so awful?" Yan Shaozhe immediately beamed after understanding Lu Yuan's implication. He patted Lu Yuan's shoulder and said, "Although only us martial brothers know of this merit, your Senior Brother will never let a single bad person go, nor will I mistreat any meritorious contributor!"

Yan Shaozhe's words made Lu Yuan realize that he had understood the hint. Now came the bargaining stage.

Looking at his bargain-bin Senior Brother, Lu Yuan flashed a mouthful of snow-white teeth.

"Senior Brother, you have no idea. Although I ultimately exterminated that Evil Soul Master, I exhausted every last trump card in the process!"

"That Evil Soul Master's cultivation was formidable. To defeat him, I first consumed ten ten-thousand-year heavenly treasures to raise my cultivation and trigger my state!"

"Stop, stop, stop, wait a moment, Junior Brother." Yan Shaozhe's face twisted when he heard that. "What kind of Evil Soul Master would require that many ten-thousand-year heavenly treasures?"

"Ah, Senior Brother, you don't understand. That Evil Soul Master... seemed to have a fire attribute, with roughly the strength of a Soul Emperor. His cultivation was formidable—"

"I'm fine now, Junior Brother. Against this sort of Evil Soul Master, we should strike hard! Go on!"

"Then, in order to kill him, I had to self-destruct Soul Bones. I blew up a full ten Left Arm Soul Bones, and then I consumed..." After Lu Yuan rattled off a lengthy list of heavenly treasures and cultivation resources as if reciting a menu, he smacked his somewhat dry lips before finally stopping. "Only then did I manage to bring him to justice, Senior Brother!"

Though opening with an outrageous price and then haggling back and forth was how negotiations worked, wasn't this opening bid a little too outrageous?

After listening to Lu Yuan's string of rapid-fire demands, Yan Shaozhe's face turned green. What kind of Evil Soul Master was this expensive to fight? Heavenly treasures were being eaten by the basketful like cabbages, while normally priceless Soul Bones were being blown up by the cartload!

"Junior Brother, your Senior Brother..."

Seeing Yan Shaozhe's troubled expression, Lu Yuan grabbed his sleeve and wailed tearfully, "Senior Brother, I've contributed to the academy! I've bled for the academy—"

"If that won't do, let's ask our teacher!" Lu Yuan abruptly changed his tone. "Let our honored teacher distinguish loyalty from treachery! With Teacher here, he'll definitely recognize my contributions to the academy!"

"Don't bring Teacher into this, Junior Brother!" Seeing that Lu Yuan had even dragged Mu En into it, Yan Shaozhe knew he would have to bleed heavily this time. But this precious disciple whom he had raised like a daughter—if he did not dote on her, who would?

After some back-and-forth tugging, the two settled on a final price. They then arranged a time for Lu Yuan to collect the goods from Ma Xiaotao's little courtyard in the inner academy, where Ma Xiaotao could also personally apologize to Lu Yuan, putting the matter completely behind them.

By rights, Ma Xiaotao should have come to his door to apologize. However, Lu Yuan lived in the outer academy's public dormitory, where there were too many watchful eyes, and Mu En would even be reorganized at the dormitory entrance from time to time. Considering how ruthlessly Yan Shaozhe had been fleeced this time, Lu Yuan did not fuss over it too much.

After all, Yan Shaozhe should be thanking him!

That evening, Lu Yuan took the token Yan Shaozhe had given him and arrived without obstruction at the entrance to a small courtyard in the inner academy.

"Student Lu Yuan, please come in."

A tall, voluptuous woman dressed in red welcomed Lu Yuan inside. She was none other than Yan Shaozhe's treasured disciple, Ma Xiaotao.

Ma Xiaotao was not wearing her veil today, revealing an exquisite face. Her features were sharply defined, carrying an aggressively beautiful allure. Her pale pink eyes could easily make one feel as though their soul was being drawn away. Fortunately, her gaze was cold, slightly suppressing the intoxicating, bone-melting charm of her eyes.

However, when she saw Lu Yuan, she seemed to recall something, and her gaze could not help but waver.

"Hm? What should you call me?" Hearing Ma Xiaotao's form of address, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow, then lightly snapped his fingers.

Mm-hm!

Several months had passed, yet when that familiar sensation surged from her lower abdomen, Ma Xiaotao still could not help letting out a soft moan.

"L-Little Martial Uncle, p-please come in!"

"What Little Martial Uncle? A Martial Uncle is a Martial Uncle. What's with little or not little?" Lu Yuan looked at Ma Xiaotao's peach-blossom face without the slightest intention of being gentle with her, scolding her without restraint—

In this life, he hated it most when people called him little!

"Alright, alright, Martial Uncle Lu, p-please come in!" Seeing Lu Yuan make as if to snap his fingers again, Ma Xiaotao hurriedly changed her words. Forcing a smile onto her face, she ushered Lu Yuan into the courtyard.

"Now that's more like it!" Seeing that Ma Xiaotao was far more obedient this time than when they had first met, Lu Yuan nodded in satisfaction. "Did you bring all the goods?"

"I brought them all, Martial Uncle!" Hearing Lu Yuan's question, Ma Xiaotao replied hurriedly and handed him a pouch-shaped Storage Soul Tool.

Opening the storage pouch, Lu Yuan carefully inspected the heavenly treasures his old Senior Brother had coughed up. They were all sufficiently aged treasures that assisted cultivation, or heavenly treasures with light attributes, along with high-quality pills for cultivation and healing.

There were even several ten-thousand-year Radiant Light Fruits!

Those were excellent treasures. Not only did they suit his own Martial Soul attribute, but they could also help the user improve their spiritual power. They were rare heavenly treasures capable of directly raising one's spiritual cultivation.

"The goods don't match the order, Niece Xiaotao." However, after taking stock of the supplies, Lu Yuan showed no joy on his face. "Where are the Left Arm Soul Bones I asked for?"

Without waiting for Ma Xiaotao to explain, Lu Yuan raised his hand and snapped his fingers again!

"Ah—" Ma Xiaotao could no longer endure the strange sensation in her body and let out a long, thin nasal moan. Resisting the burning heat in her body, she hurriedly explained, "M-Martial Uncle, Teacher said Soul Bones aren't so easy to find, but he's already doing his best to look for them!"