Ma Hongjun and Oscar had the strongest reactions. At Li Hanqiu's words, both of them shuddered.
They abruptly turned to look at each other, their pupils shrinking the instant their gazes met.
"T-Teacher Li took Boss Dai as his disciple?!"
"Mubai became your disciple, sir?!"
The news struck like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.
They had never imagined that Dai Mubai, who normally loathed men more than anyone and looked down on Li Hanqiu the most,
had actually become Li Hanqiu's disciple without a word?!
Oscar and Ma Hongjun's minds went completely blank. For a long while, neither could recover.
Meanwhile, Li Hanqiu lowered his head to give Tang San and Xiao Wu instructions:
"You two, take Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing to the Back Mountain. Teach them the basics of soul marks first. I'll come find you after class."
Tang San slowly raised his head.
"Teacher..."
"What is it?"
He opened his mouth, but ultimately left his question unasked and merely nodded gently.
"All right."
After the four left, only three students remained in the classroom.
Ning Rongrong sat at the back with her chin propped on her hand, looking ready to enjoy the show.
Ma Hongjun was still staring at the muddy half of a sweet potato on the ground, swallowing repeatedly. Oscar glanced from one to the other, not daring to make a sound.
"Class is starting," Li Hanqiu said. "This is a good opportunity to teach you some techniques for controlling soul power."
Halfway through the lesson, something went wrong with Ma Hongjun.
First, he squirmed around on the bench. Then he sprang to his feet, his face flushed red, as though he were being roasted over a fire.
"Hungry... so hungry... I'm starving..."
A faint red glow burned in his eyes, and his breathing grew harsh and rapid.
"Teacher, I-I'm so hungry I can't stand it!"
He turned and ran toward a tree, throwing his arms around the trunk and trying to gnaw on it.
"Hongjun! Stop biting!" Oscar rushed over and clung tightly to Ma Hongjun's waist, tears streaming down his face in panic.
"You can't eat bark! You'll burst your stomach! I'll buy you meat pies-ten of them! Please, don't eat random things!"
Li Hanqiu frowned and strode over.
He clamped a hand on Ma Hongjun's shoulder. "Don't move."
Ma Hongjun turned his head. The pupils in his round eyes were now scarlet.
"Teacher, it hurts. I'm hungry... my stomach feels so hungry..."
"A drawback of phoenix evil fire?" Li Hanqiu murmured. Then he brought two fingers together and pressed them against Ma Hongjun's back.
A strand of pure soul power flowed from Li Hanqiu's fingertips into Ma Hongjun's body.
Under Li Hanqiu's control, the soul power moved like a little icy snake. It swam through the explosive fiery energy rampaging inside him, guiding the evil fire slowly out of his body.
"Phoenix evil fire really is sinister."
Only after considerable effort did Li Hanqiu barely manage to draw out thirty percent of the evil fire inside Ma Hongjun.
And that was only possible because his soul mark cultivation had given him precise control over his soul power.
An ordinary Soul King would probably have been able to do nothing but stare helplessly.
Once he had more or less finished drawing out Ma Hongjun's evil fire, Li Hanqiu said, "Hongjun, what's going on with your phoenix fire?"
Ma Hongjun pouted at the question. "Teacher, I've never had enough to eat since I was little. After I awakened my martial soul, it got even worse. I keep getting hungry..."
After hearing this, Li Hanqiu reached toward Ma Hongjun's lower abdomen and pressed two fingers against his soft belly.
He then closed his eyes and examined him carefully. A moment later, Li Hanqiu opened his eyes. "Hongjun, you can't gorge yourself anymore."
"Huh?!" Ma Hongjun's eyes went wide. "But Teacher, I can't help wanting to eat. Being hungry feels awful..."
"The drawback of phoenix evil fire isn't simply hunger, as you think. Rather, phoenix true fire is so pure that it requires nourishment with an extremely high energy content. Your body can't withstand it, so it resorts to eating to maintain its physical condition."
Li Hanqiu explained, enunciating every word.
"The more you eat, the more you temporarily suppress the evil fire. But that's only a short-term solution. Over time, it will burn out your meridians instead, and your stomach might even burst with a boom."
Ma Hongjun's mouth formed an O. Hearing that his stomach might explode, he hurriedly grabbed Li Hanqiu's sleeve and pleaded desperately:
"Waaah-Teacher, Teacher, I don't want my stomach to explode! Please save me! There's still so much delicious food I haven't tried. I don't want my stomach to explode!"
Li Hanqiu withdrew his hand and smiled faintly. Since he had raised the issue, he naturally already had a solution.
He took out a list he had copied the previous night from inside his robe.
"This is the Fire Element Diet, which I wrote myself. Starting tomorrow, follow it for all three meals.
"Use the flesh and blood of fire-type soul beasts to guide the evil fire out of your body. Then nurture your genuine phoenix true fire. Finally, draw the phoenix true fire into your martial soul to complete its Martial Soul Evolution!"
"Really? Will it work, Teacher?" Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up.
"Give it a try. Based on my deductions, the chances of success are quite high."
"Teacher, you're the best!" Ma Hongjun cried. Then something suddenly occurred to him, and he rubbed his belly with both hands. "Then... what if I'm still hungry after eating? Can I have extra meals?"
"You can," Li Hanqiu said with a smile. "There's an extra-meal chart on the third page. Of course, those meals still center on fire-type soul beasts."
Ma Hongjun grinned foolishly, his eyes narrowing into slits until they all but disappeared.
After class, Oscar stayed behind.
Holding a small food box, he paced beneath the veranda several times before finally working up the courage to approach Li Hanqiu.
"S-sir."
"Yes?"
"My... my food-type martial soul... is it useless?"
He lowered his head, a few strands of white hair lifting in the breeze.
"I heard from Mubai. Yesterday, at the Great Soul Arena, you were all so amazing.
"All I can do is make steamed buns and stinky tofu... I feel like I'm holding everyone back."
"Food-type martial souls are the most underestimated lifeline," Li Hanqiu said.
Oscar raised his head, his eyes glistening.
"Haven't you heard the saying?"
"W-what saying?"
Li Hanqiu smiled faintly. "Supports are forged from iron; damage dealers flow past like water. Support-type soul masters are the most welcome wherever they go."
"Besides, your 'God of Food' martial soul is exceptionally precious. It ranks among the very best on the entire continent."
Oscar froze for a moment. He had never expected Li Hanqiu to think so highly of him, and his eyes grew misty.
"Then... sir, c-can I study under you?"
His voice trembled, and the rims of his eyes had already turned red.
"Hongjun wants to follow you too. We... we've actually wanted to become your disciples for a long time. We were just afraid Mubai would be unhappy..."
Nearby, Ma Hongjun poked his head out from behind a flower bed and nodded furiously.
"Teacher, even Mubai has become your disciple. What do we have left to fear!"
The two exchanged a glance, walked up to Li Hanqiu, and bent their knees, kneeling together.
"Please accept us as your disciples, Teacher (sir)!"
Li Hanqiu looked at them and smiled.
"Get up. I agree to your request."
Deep within his mind, the system's voice thundered.
[Disciples successfully accepted: Ma Hongjun (female), Oscar (female).] [Manga Grandmaster System: Double rewards triggered!] [Reward: Soul power level +2] [Reward: Soul master teaching bonus.] [Effect: When you instruct your disciples in cultivation, their cultivation speed increases, and you can also draw a small amount of origin feedback from teaching them.] [Reward: The ages of all the host's soul rings increase by another 3,000 years!] [Reward: One in ten thousand soul rings] [Effect: When the host reaches Soul Emperor and selects the Sixth Soul Ring, the system will select the soul ring that best matches your martial soul from among countless soul rings, with the optimal age and attributes.]
Li Hanqiu felt heat flare around his waist, and he nearly failed to suppress his five soul rings. He hurriedly enveloped them in soul power, concealing their thousand-year purple behind bright yellow.
Then he looked at the two youngsters before him, crying and laughing at once, and a sense of calm settled over him.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar were the easiest two to take as disciples, especially after he had accepted Dai Mubai.
Taking them both in had been as effortless as splitting bamboo along its grain.
Just then, Li Hanqiu seemed to sense something and turned to look at a young woman approaching.
"Rongrong," he said.
Ning Rongrong was already standing beneath the veranda.
She tilted her head, all smiles.
"Teacher Li, how did everyone become your disciple before I even noticed?
"Do you want to take me as your disciple too?"
She brushed aside the pink hair by her ear, her eyes curving like those of a sly little fox.
But in the next moment, Ning Rongrong changed tack. "You're still a little short of the mark. Once you can beat my Sword Grandpa and Bone Grandpa, we can talk about taking me as your disciple~"
With that, she turned and walked away, her skirt swaying.
Li Hanqiu watched the pink figure retreat and smiled helplessly.
Ning Rongrong really was as proud as ever.
Before you continue