Reasoning with Him? I'll Reason with His **...

Five full days had passed since the Martial Soul Academy survey was wrapped up.

Whenever Qian Xunzong had nothing to do, he would glance over at the academy construction site. Every time, it made his brows twitch furiously and his temper flare.

The site was still a complete mess: the floor tiles were cracked like spiderwebs, the Spirit Gathering Array had completely gone dead, and weeds on the ground had grown half a man tall. Forget starting repairs—the Engineering Division had not even sent over a single broom.

So all the effort he had spent on the survey records had been for nothing. The Engineering Division had simply given up on the spot, letting everything go in one ear and out the other and treating the Pope's orders like wind by their ears.

Beneath the corridors of Cloud-Treading Villa, a warm breeze drifted by.

Qian Xunzong lounged on a white jade recliner, holding the soft Jade Balance Xiejing Beast in his arms while his fingers stroked its snowy fur. His pleasant mood of idly slacking off had been completely ruined by the construction site's shameless inaction.

"This is ridiculous. The approval was finished, the blueprints were submitted, and they were given both funds and authority. Yet the Engineering Division is just pretending to be dead?"

Qian Xunzong rolled his eyes and could not help complaining. "Are employees this arrogant these days? They take Spirit Hall's salary, loaf around drinking instead of working, and still dare hold up this young master's project?"

Shen Ye, who stood solemnly nearby in black, stepped forward with a bow and handed him a black Embroidered Uniform Guard intelligence report. His tone carried a hint of mockery. "My lord, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has uncovered the reason. Su Jian, the supervisor of the Engineering Division, deliberately stalled the project."

Qian Xunzong opened the report and skimmed through it. The more he read, the funnier it became.

The official reason sounded perfectly righteous: the division's stock of century-old spirit plants was insufficient to support repairs to the array, so they requested that construction be temporarily postponed.

The real truth was both simple and absurd: the Engineering Division indeed had very few high-grade spirit-gathering plants, but they could still provide them. The problem was that they were Su Jian's treasured darlings, which he had spent half his life cultivating, and he could not bear to use them up.

Put bluntly, he was protecting his precious flowers and plants. He would rather halt the entire construction site than part with even a little of his own treasure, throwing a tantrum while on official business and deliberately making things difficult for the young master.

"Good grief. Slacking off at work, wasting public funds, and daring to hold up my project over a few pots of plants."

Qian Xunzong snorted. The laziness in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by an air that warned others not to provoke him.

"Does he think Spirit Hall is his private backyard? It's a public project—since when is there yours and mine?"

Shen Ye struck while the iron was hot and supplied the precise intelligence. "Even more absurdly, he has been absent from work for five days. Right now, he is in a top-tier private room at Moon-Watching Tower in the city, eating and drinking with his subordinates, bragging without a care for whether the construction site lives or dies."

"The construction site is waiting eagerly for work to begin while the supervisor is drinking and boasting in a private room?"

Qian Xunzong stood, gently set the little Xiejing Beast down on the recliner, and flexed his wrists until they cracked. He wore a kindly expression.

"Fine. Since he has no time to come to the site and discuss work, I'll pay him a personal visit. I'll go over there for a friendly heart-to-heart and reason with him properly."

"Shen Ye, summon Gui Mei and Yue Guan. Accompany me to Moon-Watching Tower."

Shen Ye answered expressionlessly, "Understood. We will accompany the young master to reason with him."

Both of them knew perfectly well that the young master's version of reasoning was roughly equivalent to reasoning.

At the same time, inside the Papal Palace.

Sandalwood incense curled through the air, and the atmosphere was filled with helplessness and a trace of innocence.

Qian Daoliu stared at the work suspension application laid out in black and white on the table. He pressed a hand to his forehead, his face full of worry, looking exactly like a big boss with a headache from disobedient employees.

Beside him, Qian Xunji sat in a side seat with one leg crossed over the other, cracking sunflower seeds as he complained wildly, his gossiping expression in full force.

"Dad, this Su Jian is practically a parasite of Spirit Hall! He relies on knowing how to cultivate spirit plants and set up arrays, slacks off every day, and repeatedly stalls construction progress. He has no respect for the Papal Palace at all! Why not just arrest him, lock him in a dark room, and punish him severely?"

Qian Daoliu let out a helpless sigh, his face full of a saint's dilemma. He perfectly demonstrated what it meant for a powerful man to be bound hand and foot by his own moral principles.

"How could I not want to? But as a descendant of the Angel God and the Pope of Spirit Hall, I must act openly and with proper cause."

"Su Jian merely hoards materials, and those materials are indeed scarce. He has been passively negligent, but it is not especially serious. He slacks off, drinks, and lets things rot, but he has not colluded with enemies or plotted rebellion. There is no concrete major crime.

"If I move against him rashly, many people in the hall will surely gossip, saying I cannot tolerate meritorious officials. If word spreads, it will damage the reputation of the Angel Lineage."

If Qian Xunzong had been there, he would definitely have mocked his father with, "You really know how to put on an act..."

Qian Xunji: Didn't sit~

"That old fox has seized on my weakness—my concern for my reputation and unwillingness to punish a meritorious official without cause. That is why he dares lie around and slack off so brazenly, holding the entire Engineering Division hostage."

At that point, a motherly gleam of gratification suddenly lit up in Qian Daoliu's eyes. He had clearly already imagined the scene, and his expression was full of certainty.

"However, Zong'er is intelligent and perceptive. Though young, he is calm and thoughtful. When he goes to see Su Jian later, he will surely reason with him gently, appeal to both emotion and logic, and settle the trouble without lifting a hand. It will be dignified and thorough, perfectly preserving Spirit Hall's honor."

After hearing that, Qian Xunji spat the sunflower seeds in his mouth all over the floor. His shoulders shook wildly as he held back laughter so hard it nearly injured him internally, while he frantically complained in his heart.

Calm and thoughtful? Gently reasoning with him? Dignified and thorough?

Expecting my little brother to sit down and have a proper conversation about rules was less likely than the Clear Sky Hammer turning into cotton candy!

But he did not dare shatter his father's beautiful fantasy. He could only lower his head and desperately hold back his laughter, silently ordering a song called "Cool" for Su Jian at Moon-Watching Tower, along with a pig-head makeover package.

Moon-Watching Tower, top-floor Heaven-class Room Number One.

The private room reeked of wine and meat. A table was piled high with exquisite dishes, while four Engineering Division officials toasted one another, their faces flushed red from drink as their boasting nearly blew the roof off.

In the seat of honor, Su Jian was red-faced from drinking. His head was tilted high, his nostrils nearly pointing at the sky, and he was wildly disparaging the young master with utter contempt. The more he spoke, the more arrogant he became.

"He's just a six-year-old brat! He was lucky enough to be born as the Qian Family's second young master, and he thinks he can cover the sky with one hand? He hasn't even grown all his hair, yet he dares meddle in our Engineering Division's affairs!"

"Those spirit plants of mine are treasures I have raised for decades. I water and care for them every day, putting more effort into them than I would my own son. Using them to repair the academy grounds would be a complete waste of talent and a reckless squandering of precious things!"

"I'm deliberately halting work and letting things rot. His Holiness the Pope values his reputation and does not dare touch me. What can a little brat of a young master do—eat me?"

The three lackey subordinates beside him immediately showered him with flattery, their rainbow-colored praise filling the room.

"Supervisor, you are mighty! The young master is too young and ignorant. He simply does not understand the hardship of cultivating spirit plants!"

"We just need to keep slacking off and drinking. No one above dares punish us anyway!"

They were so caught up in their bragging that they did not hear the footsteps gradually approaching outside the door. They knew even less that the six-year-old brat they had been talking about had already arrived carrying a "reasoning package."

The next second—

Boom—!!

A thunderous crash shook the room as the entire thick solid-wood door was violently kicked to pieces. Wood chips flew everywhere, fragments of the door slammed into the wall, and the wine and food on the table were all sent flying across the floor.

The noisy private room instantly fell dead silent. Everyone froze mid-drink and stared blankly toward the doorway.

Qian Xunzong stood with his hands behind his back. The youth looked lazy, yet his presence was overwhelmingly imposing. Behind him, Shen Ye, Gui Mei, and Yue Guan stood in a line, their pressure turned to the maximum.

"Who has the nerve to barge into my private room?" Su Jian's expression darkened. He slapped the table and rose to his feet, Soul Power surging from his body as he shouted fiercely despite his inner weakness.

Before his words had even faded, Shen Ye's gaze turned cold. Light erupted beneath his feet, and nine soul rings appeared. The terrifying Soul Power of a Titled Douluo instantly sealed the entire private room, forming an airtight prison.

The four people in the room immediately stiffened from head to toe. Their Soul Power was completely locked down, as if their bodies had been filled with cement. They could not move at all, and even opening their mouths to speak was difficult.

Su Jian, who had been so arrogant a moment ago, went pale in an instant. His pride shattered on the spot, and his pupils contracted violently.

A Titled Douluo personal guard? This young master's entourage was far too terrifying!

Without giving him even the slightest chance to beg for mercy, Qian Xunzong flashed forward, moving so quickly that he left an afterimage. A clean, decisive flying kick struck Su Jian squarely in the chest.

"Pfft—"

Su Jian spat out a mouthful of old wine mixed with blood. He flew backward like a kite with its string cut and slammed hard into the wall behind him, leaving dense spiderweb cracks across its surface. Curled up on the floor, his chest was wracked with pain, and several bones felt as if they had broken.

"You take a salary while slacking off, hold up public materials, and defy orders from the hall. You really do have some nerve."

Qian Xunzong walked slowly up to him and looked down at the fallen Su Jian. His tone was calm yet infuriating.

"I was originally planning to reason with you properly. Unfortunately, you refused to listen, so we can only change the method of communication."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qian Xunzong raised his foot, took off his shoe, and aimed its sole at Su Jian's swollen cheek. Again and again, crisp, resounding slaps echoed through the private room.

"F*** you! You dare hold up my project!"

Slap! Slap! Slap!

"I'll f*** your **..."

Slap! Slap! Slap!

The shoe sole flew rapidly through the air.

The sound was crisp and stress-relieving, and the satisfaction was off the charts.

At first, Su Jian tried to remain stubborn and defiant. But after several strikes from the shoe sole, he completely broke down. Both cheeks swelled rapidly into buns, blood ran from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were beaten so swollen that they narrowed into slits. His once-proper features became utterly distorted, turning him into a genuine pig-headed man in the most miserable state imaginable.

Shen Ye had sealed his Soul Power, so even if he wanted to resist, he could not!

"Young Master, I was wrong! I will never dare do it again! I'll start work immediately! I'll hand over every spirit plant! Please, stop hitting me!"

Tears and snot streamed down Su Jian's face as he kowtowed and begged for mercy. All his previous arrogance had been beaten out of him by the shoe sole, and he regretted it so deeply his intestines had turned green.

The three subordinates beside him watched their supervisor get beaten in public. Panicked and enraged, they gritted their teeth against the pressure of a Titled Douluo and tried to step forward to save him.

But the moment they took half a step, the two members of the underworld atmosphere squad immediately blocked their way, their oppressive presence and absurdity both reaching new heights.

Yue Guan instantly dropped his gentle beauty's smile. With a casual flick of his fingers, he grabbed two bottles of fine wine from the table and smashed them apart with two loud cracks. Holding the sharp glass shards and raising an orchid finger, he spoke in an intensely mocking tone.

"Oh my, are you handsome boys planning to go help him? What, are you jealous that your supervisor got a limited-edition pig-head face? Would you like me to kindly give you matching looks? Free delivery included, you know?"

Black mist rolled around Gui Mei's body. His expressionless cold face paired with those underworld-like words as his hoarse voice rang out icily.

"Don't move. Move once, and you will not need to go home tonight. You can stay at Moon-Watching Tower as permanent decorations."

One was feminine, one was cold—an extreme contrast. Together with Shen Ye standing motionless, his nine rings suppressing the room with the deathly aura of a Titled Douluo, the three subordinates' legs began trembling on the spot. They froze where they stood and did not dare move forward even half a step.

What a joke. Going up would only mean getting beaten together. Who wanted their perfectly good face turned into a pig head?

The entire room was silent, with only Su Jian's intermittent groans remaining.

Only after half an incense stick of time had passed,

Qian Xunzong withdrew his foot, calmly rubbed the dust off the sole of his shoe, and looked at Su Jian, whose face resembled a pig's head. His tone was blunt and domineering.

"Before dawn, transport every spirit plant you have been hiding to the academy construction site. All craftsmen will report to work on time and work through the night."

"If there is even the slightest delay or concealment again, I will not go to the Pope. I will directly cripple all your Soul Power and throw you into a mine to dig rocks for the rest of your life. Do you understand?"

"I understand! This subordinate will carry it out completely! I would never dare delay in the slightest!" Su Jian nodded frantically from the floor, terrified of receiving another blow from the shoe sole.

Qian Xunzong could not be bothered to spare another glance at these slackers. He waved a hand and turned away. "Let's go."

The group departed in style, leaving behind a private room in complete disarray and four people still shaken with fear, no longer possessing even the slightest desire to drink or boast.