In Flender's room, an oil lamp illuminated two faces.
One was dark and glowering; the other wore a bitter frown.
Yu Xiaogang paced around the room with his hands behind his back, the hem of his gray robe sweeping dust into the air.
Every two steps, he spat out a curse. Another two steps, another curse.
"Zhu Zhuqing... that girl Zhu Zhuqing has taken Li Hanqiu as her master too!"
"That bastard Li Hanqiu is trying to scoop up every promising talent at my Shrek in one net!"
He stopped abruptly and braced both hands against the edge of the table, his face flushed red. "Flender, you still have the leisure to drink tea!"
Flender held his cup and slowly took a sip.
"What are you so worked up about?"
"What am I worked up about?" Yu Xiaogang shrieked like someone had stepped on his tail. "Tang San, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing-that's three top-tier geniuses already!
"If he keeps taking disciples, will there be so much as a foothold left at Shrek for a 'Grandmaster' like me?"
"Boohoo... my Tang San, my Xiao Wu, my Zhu Zhuqing. They should all have been my disciples!"
Yu Xiaogang buried his head and sobbed in anguish, as though those girls would actually have given him a second glance if Li Hanqiu hadn't been around.
Flender set down his teacup, not even bothering to look at him.
"I raised Mubai myself, and Oscar and Hongjun have been with me for years. Those three won't be coaxed away by a few words."
"As for Ning Rongrong..."
He paused, the corner of his mouth lifting. "With the temperament of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's princess, do you really think she'd obediently take Li Hanqiu as her master?"
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, an expression of "actually, that does make sense" spreading across his face.
Ning Rongrong was a little demon queen, the sort who had two Titled Douluos trailing behind her whenever she went out.
Never mind Li Hanqiu-even if they brought her own father over, she wouldn't spare him a proper glance.
He let out an "uh," unable to find anything to say.
"So put your heart back in your chest." Flender waved a hand. "No matter how high Li Hanqiu jumps, Zhu Zhuqing is as far as he'll get."
Yu Xiaogang didn't answer.
His eyes darted about before he suddenly bent down and leaned close to Flender's ear.
"I do have an idea..."
Flender tilted his head.
"Dai Mubai." Yu Xiaogang lowered his voice. "That kid hates Li Hanqiu more than you can imagine.
"All we need to do is fan the flames a little more, and he'll never take him as his master for as long as he lives."
Flender frowned. "You want to use Mubai?"
"It's not using him. It's helping him see Li Hanqiu's true colors."
Yu Xiaogang gave a sinister smile. "I'll find a few people to spread the story about 'Li Hanqiu tricking female students into getting rooms at the Rose Hotel,' with a few embellishments.
"Think about it. With Mubai's temper, won't he explode when he hears?"
Flender's expression gradually darkened.
"Yu Xiaogang." He addressed him by his full name. "You've seen what kind of temperament Mubai has.
"What he hates most is men who have designs on women. Have you thought about what he'll do if you use this to light the fuse?"
"What will he do? Crippling Li Hanqiu would be ideal!" Yu Xiaogang slapped the table. "I want him to hate him! The more, the better!"
"You bastard!"
Flender slammed his cup down.
Tea splashed out, spreading across the tabletop.
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Yu Xiaogang held his neck stiff, but finally softened his voice. "...Isn't this for the academy's sake too? Look at Li Hanqiu, taking one disciple today and another tomorrow.
"Once his wings are strong enough, he'll dust off his backside and leave. All the promising talents we painstakingly raised will end up as a bridal gown sewn for someone else!"
Those words struck Flender where it hurt.
Flender's expression shifted several times before he finally leaned slowly back in his chair.
"Just this once."
He stared at Yu Xiaogang, his voice deep and cold:
"There won't be a next time."
"And don't let the fire spread to the academy. If Mubai causes trouble, I'll hold you responsible."
Yu Xiaogang's face immediately creased into a broad smile.
"Don't worry, don't worry. I know what I'm doing!"
A mountain breeze poured through the window, bending the oil lamp's flame to one side.
In a small room on Shrek's eastern side.
Tang San hadn't lit a lamp. The room was pitch-black.
He sat alone on the edge of the bed, his back against the wall. Moonlight slipped through the window lattice, spreading a patch of clear light beside his feet.
He held a strand of blue silver grass.
He wound its leaf around his fingertip again and again, unwinding it only to coil it back up, making it twist as though alive.
His conversation with Zhu Zhuqing the night before replayed over and over in Tang San's mind.
He had only just told Zhu Zhuqing, "You're still far from good enough. You don't deserve to be Master's disciple."
Only for Zhu Zhuqing to shoot back, "I refuse to accept that."
The very next day, Zhu Zhuqing had knelt before Master and become his third disciple.
Tang San abruptly clenched his fist.
With a snap, the blue silver grass cut into his flesh, but he seemed not to feel the pain, his expression shifting between light and shadow.
"It was me... it was all my fault."
He spoke softly.
On the windowsill, a moth battered against the screen, its wings rustling.
"Discouragement, provocation, intimidation... none of it works on a stubborn mule like Zhu Zhuqing."
Tang San slowly released the blue silver grass and lowered his eyes in contemplation, seemingly pondering something.
"It looks like I'll need a different strategy next time."
He raised his hand and straightened the tangled stems one by one. The blue silver grass rose without a breeze, dancing around his fingertips.
"The supreme teachings of the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons said that to kill someone, you must identify their weak spot and finish them with a single strike!
"The same principle applies to controlling people. Whatever someone's weakness is, you must target it and tailor your approach to the individual."
"Ning Rongrong is arrogant, Ma Hongjun is gluttonous, Oscar is weak-willed, and as for Dai Mubai...
"He has a deep misunderstanding of Master. Perhaps I can use that."
As he spoke, he suddenly stopped.
Gazing at the moon outside the window, Tang San smiled softly.
"Master, am I terribly wicked?"
No one answered him. Only the blue silver grass at Tang San's fingertips rose and fell, leaping as though it possessed a living heartbeat.
Only the wind lifted a few strands of his hair, then let them slowly fall.
Not far away, in the teachers' dormitory.
Li Hanqiu stood before the window, tapping the sill intermittently with his fingers.
After taking Zhu Zhuqing as his disciple, the system's rewards had been quite generous, including a basic reward of +3 soul power levels.
The soul power within Li Hanqiu had risen another notch, bringing him to level 56.
There was another reward that Li Hanqiu valued greatly.
It was:
[Reward: Age of all the host's Soul Rings +500 years.]
An increase of five hundred years might not seem like much, but what if it was applied to his first soul ring and second soul ring?
With another five hundred years added, Li Hanqiu's first two Soul Rings would both become purple thousand-year rings!
Fortunately, the system lived up to its reputation: anything it produced was sure to be top quality.
Li Hanqiu could choose to reveal his Soul Rings' original purple color, or conceal it and turn them into yellow hundred-year soul rings.
Such a reward was truly incredibly generous.
There was also [Netherworld Eyes].
With a thought from Li Hanqiu, a faint, almost imperceptible spectral gleam flashed in his eyes.
Outside the window, the scenery shrouded in darkness suddenly became clear.
He could make out the veins on the leaves of a distant tree, a stray cat crouching at the corner of a wall, and even the still-flickering lamp in Flender's room.
His range of vision had stretched tremendously.
By a rough estimate, it gave Li Hanqiu a visual range of three kilometers!
Within three kilometers, everything was sharp and clear. Beyond three kilometers, his vision gradually grew blurry.
Its maximum range was around five kilometers. Anything farther away became an indistinct blur he couldn't make out.
An extremely long visual range, combined with night vision and the ability to track movement.
[Netherworld Eyes] was undoubtedly an exceptionally practical ability.
Li Hanqiu slowly exhaled.
After taking Zhu Zhuqing as his disciple, each system reward had been better than the last. What would he receive if he took all seven?
He turned, walked to the table, and spread out a sheet of paper.
There were only four names on it.
Dai Mubai.
Oscar.
Ma Hongjun.
Ning Rongrong.
He picked up his brush and drew a line beneath "Dai Mubai."
Dai Mubai had a forceful personality. He and Zhu Zhuqing were not the same sort of person.
Zhu Zhuqing wanted to grow stronger. Provoking her a little had actually done the trick.
But Dai Mubai was more stubborn than anyone. Once he set his mind on something, even ten oxen couldn't drag him back.
Provocation was absolutely out of the question. He needed another approach.
Li Hanqiu set down his brush and gazed out the window.
"Dai Mubai..."
Li Hanqiu narrowed his eyes.
The night breeze swept past, and the spectral gleam in his eyes flickered.
Wouldn't it be more interesting if I could make Dai Mubai say, of his own accord, that he wanted to become my disciple?
That was what Li Hanqiu thought.
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