Lin Fan naturally had no intention of returning benefits that had fallen into his hands.
Besides, Du Weilun thought an extra five million Gold Soul Coins was enough to exchange for a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone. That was simply wishful thinking.
A treasure on the level of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone was worth at least close to ten million Gold Soul Coins, and it was the kind of thing money could not buy. Countless people could hold piles of money and still fail to obtain one. Such things could only be encountered by chance.
Lin Fan might not lack money, but he was not foolish enough to be cheated and still smile about it.
The conflict between him, Yan Shaozhe, and Du Weilun had long since been established. He was not the sort of person who could keep smiling after a dispute, then give up benefits just to preserve some so-called friendly relationship.
Besides, even if he returned the Soul Bone, Yan Shaozhe would not appreciate it. Instead, he would mock Lin Fan behind his back for being easy to manipulate.
After Du Weilun left, Ling Luochеn looked at the Soul Bone in Lin Fan's hand, which radiated a dense fire-element aura, and could not help sighing softly.
"Space-attribute Soul Bones are just too rare."
She was telling the truth. The space attribute itself was an extremely rare attribute, so corresponding Soul Bones were naturally rarer still.
Lin Fan understood that as well, but he understood even more clearly that even if Shrek Academy's warehouse truly had a space-attribute Soul Bone, Yan Shaozhe would never take it out and give it to him.
That old fox would much rather Lin Fan get nothing at all.
Lin Fan's gaze fell on Leng Yaozhu beside him, and he suddenly asked, "Leng Yaozhu, your Martial Soul is fire-attributed, right?"
Leng Yaozhu was slightly stunned by the question, then nodded.
"Mm."
Fundamentally speaking, anything related to a phoenix was more or less fire-attributed. Whether it was the Bright Phoenix or the Dark Phoenix, it was the same.
Of course, there were exceptions like the Ice Phoenix.
As Leng Yaozhu answered Lin Fan, her heart began beating faster against her will.
A slightly fanciful thought surfaced in Leng Yaozhu's mind. Lin Fan was asking this... Could he be planning to give that Soul Bone to her?
Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones were already quite rare in this era. In the era she came from ten thousand years later, they were even scarcer.
In that era, even ordinary Soul Beasts were difficult to encounter. Soul Masters usually obtained Soul Rings for cultivation through Artificial Soul Spirits. Even genuine Soul Beast Soul Spirits were exceedingly scarce, let alone Soul Bones.
If Lin Fan really intended to give her this Soul Bone...
At that thought, Leng Yaozhu secretly shook her head, feeling that she was being a little narcissistic. After all, she had not known Lin Fan for long.
Although they got along fairly well, why would he give her something so precious?
Just because she had this appearance? In Leng Yaozhu's eyes, Ling Luochеn beside them was also exceptionally beautiful.
Just as Leng Yaozhu was talking herself into giving up, Lin Fan spoke and offered the Soul Bone to her.
"Since your Martial Soul is fire-attributed, this Soul Bone is yours. It happens to suit you."
Hearing Lin Fan's words, Leng Yaozhu blinked her lovely eyes and stared at him in utter disbelief. He was really giving it to her?
"R-Really... for me?"
Leng Yaozhu still could not believe what was happening before her. She had known Lin Fan for less than a day, and he was treating her this well?
Lin Fan nodded, a faint smile on his lips.
Only then did Leng Yaozhu confirm that she had heard correctly. An indescribable excitement surged through her heart, and she quickly nodded.
"Thank you!"
However, the moment she agreed, her mind as the Leng Family's heir began turning rapidly.
She suddenly realized that she could not simply accept Lin Fan's gift for nothing.
Although she and Lin Fan were friends now, they had known each other for only a short time, and the Soul Bone was simply too valuable. Taking it for free would be unjustifiable in both sentiment and reason.
Leng Yaozhu thought for a moment before speaking.
"Lin Fan... Later, I'll take out the clothes in my Storage Soul Tool and show them to you. Take whatever you like. If any of it can help you, that would be best."
Lin Fan smiled and nodded at Leng Yaozhu's words. Sure enough, communicating with intelligent people required no effort. Although Leng Yaozhu had not yet inherited the position of Head of the Leng Family, she could not possibly be completely naive when it came to social dealings.
When Lin Fan first obtained this Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone, he had intended to see whether it could further awaken his Second Martial Soul.
After his Second Martial Soul awakened, Lin Fan could sense that it could not absorb Soul Rings like an ordinary Martial Soul. It needed external stimulation in order to grow further.
The moment it awakened, Lin Fan had already sensed what it could do: Time Acceleration and Time Reversal. However, the range of time it could currently affect was quite limited, lasting at most around ten seconds.
Of course, ten seconds was already more than enough to change the course of a battle in actual combat.
But Lin Fan had always been greedy. Naturally, he would not be satisfied with controlling merely ten seconds of time.
He wanted more. So when this Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone fell into his hands, Lin Fan tried using it. Unfortunately, it did not work.
So he planned to see whether Leng Yaozhu could provide further stimulation. After all, she came from ten thousand years in the future. Something on her might be able to help him further improve his Time Martial Soul.
For example, he had awakened his Time Martial Soul using Leng Yaozhu's Black-Rank Mecha. That meant it was still possible.
However... Lin Fan could not confirm anything more specific.
"Sorry for the trouble, then."
Lin Fan smiled at Leng Yaozhu. He did not put on airs and repeatedly refuse before finally accepting.
"It's no trouble. If anything, I should be the one thanking you."
Leng Yaozhu shook her head, a faint smile also appearing on her lips. Seeing Lin Fan's reaction, she knew she had made the right choice.
Thankfully, she was not the kind of person who forgot everything the moment she saw something valuable. She also knew how to think about investing for returns.
Of course, Leng Yaozhu had no idea that Lin Fan intended to use these things to further stimulate his Martial Soul. She thought he planned to research items from ten thousand years in the future. After all, she had seen his talent with Soul Tools.
It was unparalleled in the world.
Ling Luochеn had watched the entire exchange from the side. A faint smile appeared on her face as she spoke.
"Now that you're done talking, Yaozhu, shall we leave first? I'll help arrange your accommodations."
"Sorry for the trouble, Luochеn."*2
"Good. As expected of my daughter, you did well!"
The Head of the Leng Family could not help laughing when he saw the scene before him.
"The young lady did well, but... there may be considerable trouble ahead. The young lady is close to Lin Fan now, which means she has also fallen out with Yan Shaozhe's group. And Yan Shaozhe's group is close to Xuan Zi. If... if Xuan Zi returns, I'm afraid she may be caught up in it."