[You Call This a Bowl?]

Night.

"Brother, are we really going to try to recruit Wei Fan?"

"You're already here, aren't you?"

"But he was a Soul Elder two years ago, and he's still a Soul Elder now. He hasn't improved in two years. Besides, his martial soul is water, and ours are fire. Water and fire don't mix! I really don't know what the dean is thinking."

"We do whatever the dean tells us to do."

"No way. I'm going to show him what I'm made of."

"Little sister, don't do anything reckless!"

A brother and sister dressed in fiery red stood on a street in Elephant Armor City, looking especially striking against the night.

The brother leaned against a wall with his hands in his pockets, while the sister paced back and forth, occasionally glancing toward the intersection.

"Brother, he's here!"

The sister spotted Wei Fan and clenched her delicate fists.

"Wei Fan!"

"Hm? Who are you?"

Wei Fan asked as a young man and woman approached him.

"We're from Blazing Fire Academy. I'm Huo Wushuang, and this is my sister, Huo Wu."

"We came to invite you to join Blazing Fire Academy. The dean promised that if you come, you'll receive priority access to the academy's resources..."

Huo Wushuang explained why they had come.

Their dean's reason for recruiting Wei Fan was simple.

He wanted Wei Fan, the defending champion, to lead Blazing Fire Academy's team to the championship in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament three years from now.

With Wei Fan joining them, their chances of winning would increase tremendously.

"Hey, I want to challenge you to a soul fight!"

Huo Wu fixed her gaze on Wei Fan's face.

She had no objection to the dean wanting to strengthen the Blazing Fire Team!

But if he was going to recruit someone this way, promising so many privileges and resources and even handing over the captaincy of Blazing Fire Academy's team, that person had better have real ability.

At the very least, he had to beat her!

"Little sister, stop fooling around!"

Huo Wushuang stepped forward to stop her.

They had come to recruit Wei Fan into Blazing Fire Academy. A soul fight wasn't on the agenda.

"If anything happens, I'll answer to the dean."

"Do you dare?"

Huo Wu raised her chin and looked at Wei Fan, two flames seeming to burn in her eyes.

"Sure!"

Wei Fan hadn't wanted to fight, but he wanted the two stalks of thousand-year ginseng Huo Wushuang was carrying.

He had heard them perfectly clearly earlier. These two wanted to recruit him and give him two stalks of thousand-year wild ginseng.

If he refused this soul fight, they might just leave with the ginseng.

Boom!

With Martial Soul Possession, an orange-red fiery silhouette with a figure exactly like Huo Wu's gradually appeared behind her.

The next instant, Wei Fan moved!

With a flash of light, he appeared before Huo Wu.

An azure Hand Cannon, five feet long with a three-inch bore, was already pressed against Huo Wu's face.

An azure vortex formed at the muzzle, steadily sucking in the surrounding air.

Watching the muzzle gather energy, Huo Wu didn't dare so much as breathe.

"Brother Wei Fan, hold back!"

Huo Wushuang rushed over to stop him. If that cannon fired, his sister's body wouldn't be able to withstand it.

He was far too monstrous!

Huo Wushuang hadn't even seen Wei Fan make his move before he condensed water into ice, forming a Hand Cannon with terrifying destructive power.

"My sister was only joking."

"Let's get back to business. Please accept these two stalks of thousand-year wild ginseng first."

That little incident had instantly changed Huo Wushuang's attitude.

He finally understood why the dean had gone to such lengths to recruit Wei Fan.

An old horse really did know the way!

If Wei Fan hadn't held back just now, his sister would probably already be lying on the ground.

If he hadn't seen Wei Fan's soul rings, he would never have believed this guy was only a Soul Elder.

"You could've just come. No need to bring gifts."

Wei Fan certainly wasn't going to stand on ceremony. He casually accepted them and tucked them into his Soul Tool.

"About joining our Blazing Fire Academy..."

Seeing Wei Fan accept the gifts, Huo Wushuang was overjoyed.

There's a chance!

"Let's talk over a meal!"

Without waiting for a response, Wei Fan grabbed Huo Wushuang and headed toward a restaurant.

Only after they had been walking for a while did Huo Wu recover from her defeat and hurry after them.

Everything had happened so quickly that she had been left stunned!

After they arrived at the restaurant...

"Little sister Huo Wu, order whatever you like!"

Looking at the menu Wei Fan handed her, Huo Wu felt rather overwhelmed by the attention. Didn't geniuses all have their eyes perched on top of their heads?

Why was Wei Fan so hospitable?

This wasn't at all the personality a genius Soul Master was supposed to have.

"Why aren't you ordering?"

"Little sister Huo Wu, what would you like?"

"Eggplant, cucumber, carrots...?"

Wei Fan flipped through the menu as he asked.

"Bitter melon, I guess!"

What she ate didn't matter to her. Her thoughts were already entirely on Wei Fan.

"Brother Wei Fan, just get me a serving of abalone!"

Huo Wushuang didn't stand on ceremony, immediately naming his favorite food.

"The usual, and two more bowls of home-style rice!"

Before long, two enormous basins of fragrant rice were brought to the table.

"Come on, don't be shy!"

"Make yourselves at home. All this food is for you."

"You're not allowed to leave until you finish!"

Wei Fan urged the two of them to dig in.

Gulp.

Huo Wushuang's throat bobbed as he stared at the heaping basin of rice before him.

But it wasn't hunger. It was shock!

You call this a bowl?

We can't leave until we finish?

Are you kidding me?

"Wushuang, why are you sitting there in a daze?"

"You asked for this abalone. Look how plump it is, so tender and juicy."

"Eat up!"

"..."

Several dishes later...

"Burp!"

"Brother Wei Fan, I really can't eat another bite."

Huo Wushuang felt as though his stomach was about to burst.

He had seen people urge others to drink, but this was his first time seeing someone urge others to eat.

This was fucking ridiculous!

"You came all this way. I can't let you go hungry."

"Have another bowl!"

As he spoke, Wei Fan pushed the fragrant white rice in front of Huo Wushuang.

"Are we still going to have a proper talk about me going to Blazing Fire Academy?"

Seeing Huo Wushuang's reluctant expression, Wei Fan spoke up.

"Fine, I'll eat!"

[Ding! Treated Huo Wushuang to white rice. Reward: 50-year soul ring enhancement.]

[Apply it to the fifth soul ring!]

[Ding! Successfully applied. Fifth soul ring age +50 years.]

"Brother Wei Fan, when are you planning to come to Blazing Fire Academy?"

Huo Wushuang asked while rubbing his stomach.

"I'll accept the gifts, but I won't be going!"

"Feel free to visit whenever you have time. I'll treat you to a meal."

Wei Fan picked up the gifts from Blazing Fire Academy...

And made himself scarce!

There was absolutely no way he would go to Blazing Fire Academy. With Huo Wushuang's tiny appetite, how could he possibly compare to those elephants?

"Burp!"

Huo Wushuang was dumbfounded!

What the fuck was that?

Fine, don't go, but he still accepted the gifts.

Wasn't he supposed to refuse the gifts and apologetically say he wouldn't go?

He wasn't playing by the rules!

What a crushing loss!

Huo Wu watched the figure disappear into the night, a trace of disappointment showing in her lovely eyes.

Wei Fan actually wasn't coming to Blazing Fire Academy!

"Brother, what do you think of Wei Fan?"

Huo Wu's red lips curved upward, a hint of budding romance appearing on her face.

"He's all right, I guess!"

Huo Wushuang replied indifferently.

After this first encounter, his strongest impression was: stuffed!

Even his sister's serving of white rice had ended up in his stomach.

"All right?"

"You have no idea how powerful his cannon is!"

"It was pressed against your sister's face! If I'd taken that shot, I would've been gone!"

"..."

Huo Wu chattered on without stopping.

"Little sister, you haven't fallen for him, have you?"

Looking at Huo Wu's expression, Huo Wushuang sensed something was off.

His sister was exceptionally gifted and had grown up surrounded by admirers, like the moon surrounded by stars. She was extremely proud. Not only was she fiercely competitive, she also found defeat hard to accept.

He had never seen her defend an opponent who had beaten her like this. Most importantly, that opponent was a man!

"I have!"

"Is there a problem?"

Huo Wu openly admitted that she had fallen for Wei Fan.

"Do you even know him?"

"He might already have a girlfriend."

Huo Wushuang thought that was very likely. After all, Wei Fan was so strong that it would be perfectly normal for several girls to like him.

"So what if he has a girlfriend? Aren't men there to be stolen?"

She, Huo Wu, dared to love and hate. If she liked someone, she would pursue him!

Was that wrong?

"You were just saying water and fire don't mix."

"Water and fire balance each other, just as salt and plums complement each other!"

"Fine, everything you say makes sense. So you really won't reconsider Feng Xiaotian?"

"Who would ever like a bootlicker like that!"

She liked men who were powerful enough to pin her down in a fight.

A bootlicker like Feng Xiaotian clearly wasn't one of them!

"Brother, I just realized that when you stand next to Wei Fan... you look so ugly!"

She stared at Huo Wushuang's face and said it very seriously.

Huo Wushuang: "..."

"Everyone says we look alike. Saying that is like dealing a thousand damage to the enemy while taking eight hundred yourself, you know?"

Watching Huo Wu run off into the distance, Huo Wushuang shook his head helplessly.

A bootlicker, a bootlicker-lick away until you're left with nothing!

Feng Xiaotian, oh, Feng Xiaotian, how can you fail to grasp something so obvious?

With your strength, wouldn't beating my sister be a piece of cake?

Yet you insist on going easy on her!