For My Father, With Schemes in Mind

"Then let's test him."

"Find Huang Jinxu and do as Yan Shaozhe suggested."

Song Yunzhi considered it for a moment, then gave her verdict.

She truly disliked Yan Shaozhe. In fact, she loathed him.

The reason, naturally, had to do with her daughter.

With Yan Shaozhe's Martial Soul and talent, he should have been a priority for cultivation. When he was with her daughter at the academy, Song Yunzhi had already resolved to find him a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

She had even found a suitable target.

But Yan Shaozhe had broken up with her daughter and turned around to entangle himself with another woman.

Under those circumstances, Song Yunzhi naturally would not help him hunt down a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

By then, Mu En was already confined to his reclining chair and could not leave the academy. Xuan Zi was unreliable, so Yan Shaozhe, a favored son of heaven, lost the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring that should have been prepared for him.

Over the years, her daughter had opposed Yan Shaozhe at every turn, and Song Yunzhi had little affection for him either.

But she had to admit that Yan Shaozhe knew a thing or two about scheming.

For now, the best course was to test Huang Jinxu first, then decide whether to push for him to become master of the Sea God Pavilion.

Hearing Song Yunzhi's proposal, the others voiced their agreement.

Yan Shaozhe immediately grew excited.

There had been a few snags along the way, but the outcome was what he wanted.

Led by Yan Shaozhe, the group headed to Huang Jinxu's restaurant in Shrek City.

They went straight to the top floor.

Outside a secluded cultivation chamber on the top floor, a young woman waited.

She was Nan Qiuqiu.

Huang Jinxu's daughter.

Nan Qiuqiu knew little about what had happened between her mother and father.

She only knew that she had never seen her father since the day she was born. Her mother had never spoken a word of blame against him, always saying he had his reasons.

When she was twelve, her mother sent her to Shrek Academy. She had wanted to find her father at once and ask what those reasons were.

Why had he not come back to see her and her mother all those years?

When they first met, her father had been surprised—shocked, even. She thought he would acknowledge her, but instead he left.

He had only told her that it was not yet time for them to acknowledge each other as father and daughter.

Once he took on a disciple, they could do so. Then he would make up for every debt and every wrong.

That was why Nan Qiuqiu had sought out Huo Yuhao the moment she learned that the Heavenly Fiend Douluo had taken a disciple.

Partly, she wanted to confirm it. She also wanted to see just what sort of person her father had chosen as his disciple.

Once she had confirmed it, she left and came here.

But her father was in secluded cultivation. After fifteen years of waiting, how could Nan Qiuqiu leave now that this day had finally arrived?

She intended to wait here until he emerged.

While Nan Qiuqiu waited, her heart brimming with excitement, the leaders of Shrek Academy arrived.

From the look of things, they had come for her father.

Caught off guard, she had no idea how to respond.

Yan Shaozhe and his group saw Nan Qiuqiu too. Though surprised, they paid her no attention.

She was only a student. Compared with what they had come to deal with, she hardly mattered.

Bang!

Yan Shaozhe swung his fist again, striking the Soul Tool array surrounding Huang Jinxu's cultivation chamber.

He had suffered badly for doing this before, but now the entire leadership of Shrek Academy stood behind him. He had nothing to fear.

More than that, Yan Shaozhe had a little scheme in mind. He deliberately put more force into the blow, hoping to enrage Huang Jinxu inside.

If Huang Jinxu struck again, Yan Shaozhe had ways to win everyone's approval for him.

Yan Shaozhe wanted to be master of the Sea God Pavilion himself, but he knew full well that neither his strength nor his reputation was enough to convince the others.

He wanted Xuan Zi to become master of the Sea God Pavilion.

For one thing, their temperaments and views aligned. For another, Xuan Zi tended to stand above mundane affairs. Even if he became master, someone would still have to handle everything else—and Yan Shaozhe was the perfect man for it.

Then, though he would not be master of the Sea God Pavilion, he would hold the most power in all of Shrek Academy.

At the thought, Yan Shaozhe struck harder.

He gave no thought to whether Huang Jinxu was cultivating inside, or whether he might be at a critical juncture.

"Stop!"

"Headmaster, aren't you afraid you'll disturb the Heavenly Fiend Douluo while he's in secluded cultivation?"

"That's one of the greatest taboos for a Soul Master."

As Yan Shaozhe again channeled Soul Power into a strike against the Soul Tool array's barrier, Nan Qiuqiu could bear it no longer. She stepped forward and rebuked him in a stern voice.

At first, seeing the academy's leaders arrive—even the headmaster and Elder Xuan—Nan Qiuqiu had assumed they had important business with her father. She had planned to wait quietly to one side and see him after they were done.

But the headmaster kept pounding on the Soul Tool array's barrier.

She was only a Soul Ancestor, but even she knew the barrier meant someone inside was cultivating in seclusion or engaged in something important. They must not be disturbed.

The headmaster's actions could hurt her father. How could Nan Qiuqiu stand by and let that happen?

Even against the headmaster, she stepped forward without hesitation.

She had barely spent any time with this father of hers, but her mother had spoken of him countless times.

To her mother, he was the greatest man in the world, someone who could stand alongside the Sea God himself.

So although Nan Qiuqiu had scarcely known her father, her mother's influence had left her with no shortage of love for him.

"Nan Qiuqiu, this is a matter for the academy's leaders. It isn't something a young girl like you can involve herself in."

"You'd better leave."

Yan Shaozhe knew Nan Qiuqiu well enough. She was one of the outer academy's gifted students.

Both her Innate Soul Power and her Martial Soul were top-tier. He had once wanted to bring her into the inner academy and make her truly one of their own.

But when he learned that the girl was the daughter of the Earth Dragon Sect's leader and would inherit the sect one day, he abandoned the idea of recruiting her.

As a result, his opinion of Nan Qiuqiu was lukewarm at best.

He paid no heed to her accusation.

"I won't let you keep disturbing the Heavenly Fiend Douluo's cultivation."

Nan Qiuqiu's resolve was firm. She stepped across his path, plainly intending to stop Yan Shaozhe from striking again.

She did not know what reasons her father had for keeping their relationship hidden, so she did not reveal that she was Huang Jinxu's daughter.