Leng Yaozhu abruptly stopped halfway through turning away.
Her gaze passed over Lu Guan and landed squarely on Na'er, who was hiding behind him.
The little girl was clutching the hem of Lu Guan's clothes. Noticing someone looking at her, Na'er shrank farther behind him, peeking out with only half her head, her purple eyes blinking.
Leng Yaozhu said nothing. Instead, she turned around and approached, her high heels clicking with each step.
Mu Chen's hand froze in midair with his teacup, and he hardly dared to breathe.
Mu Ye also abandoned his casual posture and leaned forward slightly.
Who was Leng Yaozhu? The Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master, a Level 98 Super Douluo!
Even a Titled Douluo would have to show her utmost respect. Yet now, she had actually crouched down before a six-year-old girl.
"Little girl, what's your name?" Leng Yaozhu asked very softly.
Na'er didn't answer. Instead, she tilted her head up to look at Lu Guan.
Lu Guan drew Na'er in front of him and patted her head.
"Her name is Na'er. She's my little sister."
Leng Yaozhu studied Na'er for a long time, growing more astonished the longer she looked.
She could actually sense an aura from this child that was no weaker than that of her own martial soul.
And her martial soul was the Heavenly Phoenix!
This was a promising talent beyond imagination.
Leng Yaozhu reached out, intending to touch Na'er's silver hair.
Na'er stepped back half a pace and dodged her hand.
Leng Yaozhu wasn't annoyed. She withdrew her hand, her tone gentle.
"Na'er, would you like to come with me? To become my disciple?"
The moment she said that, the office became so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Mu Chen sucked in a breath. Just what kind of day was this? Was smoke rising from Eastsea City's ancestral graves?
First, Body Sect Master Mu Ye had come looking for Lu Guan, and now even the Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master wanted to take Na'er as her disciple!
Mu Ye watched the show from the sidelines.
Na'er shook her head, her little hands clutching Lu Guan's clothes tightly.
"Na'er isn't leaving. Na'er wants to stay with Big Brother."
Her voice was soft and sweet, but left no room for negotiation.
Leng Yaozhu froze for a moment. In all her years, this was the first time she had offered to take a disciple, only to be rejected to her face by a six-year-old child.
She stood up and looked at Lu Guan.
Lu Guan sighed and stepped half a pace forward, shielding Na'er completely behind him.
"Deputy Pagoda Master Leng, please don't take offense." Lu Guan spread his hands helplessly. "My little sister has been attached to me since she was little. She's very attached to home."
"And my parents absolutely dote on her. They're afraid she'll fall if they hold her in their palms, afraid she'll melt if they hold her in their mouths. If someone suddenly took her away, my parents would go frantic."
Leng Yaozhu said nothing, simply watching Lu Guan in silence.
Lu Guan paused, then changed tack.
"Still, being taught personally by the Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master is an opportunity you couldn't find even with a lantern. Missing out would definitely be Na'er's loss."
Lu Guan looked at Leng Yaozhu. "I could help persuade her. I could also talk to my parents."
Leng Yaozhu raised an eyebrow.
This boy has something else in mind.
She glanced at Mu Ye, who was sitting in his chair suppressing a laugh, then at Lu Guan, who stood before her with a perfectly serious expression.
"Oh? Then I'll have to trouble you," Leng Yaozhu said, playing along.
Lu Guan grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.
"Then you'll owe me a favor, Pagoda Master Leng."
He said it lightly, but his words were truly startling.
No one took the "favor" Lu Guan mentioned seriously.
After all, the difference in their strength was simply too vast.
Yet those somewhat presumptuous words made Leng Yaozhu's eyes brighten.
This boy... has he let things go to his head, or has he guessed about my deal with Mu Ye?
Pointing it out like this is showing off his cleverness a little, but he's a child. It's understandable.
A faint trace of regret stirred in Leng Yaozhu's heart. Had she known the boy's mind was so monstrously sharp, perhaps she should have taken him as her disciple.
The Spirit Pagoda handled martial soul awakening across the continent, which meant it could obtain information on the vast majority of the continent's talents immediately.
This was an utterly terrifying monopoly on resources. If the Spirit Pagoda used it to recruit talents without restraint, it would probably take less than a century to become another Spirit Hall, the organization that had held the entire continent under its heel ten thousand years ago.
A towering tree caught the wind; going too far was as bad as falling short.
To avoid becoming the target of every arrow, the Spirit Pagoda had always focused on researching and selling soul spirits, never lightly involving itself in recruiting talents.
At most, it would arrange for a Spirit Transmitter to offer five hundred thousand in financial support, planting the seed of goodwill.
Still, when it encountered a promising talent it liked, the Spirit Pagoda always had its ways.
No one dared say anything if a powerhouse like Leng Yaozhu took an exceptional talent as her disciple.
And the Spirit Pagoda had quite a few such powerhouses.
Those with body martial souls usually had extremely low innate soul power, making someone with innate full soul power like Lu Guan a special case.
That was why Leng Yaozhu had seen Lu Guan's awakening records immediately.
Innate full soul power, and an unprecedented mutated body martial soul.
She had considered taking him as her disciple, too, but after weighing things repeatedly, she had ultimately chosen to pass the information to Mu Ye in exchange for a favor.
Forget it. The wood has already been made into a boat.
Lu Guan belongs to Mu Ye now. Taking this little girl named Na'er with me would be good, too.
Leng Yaozhu gathered her thoughts and looked at Lu Guan.
"All right, I owe you a favor." Leng Yaozhu agreed readily. "As long as it falls within the Spirit Pagoda's rules, you can come to me if you run into trouble in the future."
Lu Guan nodded in satisfaction.
Lu Guan took Na'er by the hand and led her to a corner of the office.
"Na'er, I'll be going to Heaven Dou City to train soon," Lu Guan said, lowering his voice.
Na'er's little hand suddenly tightened. She looked up at Lu Guan, her purple eyes filled with panic.
"Big Brother doesn't want Na'er anymore?"
"It's not that I don't want you." Lu Guan crouched down to meet her eyes and reached out to ruffle her silver hair. "I have to get stronger. If you stay in Eastsea City, we'll be too far apart to see each other regularly."
Na'er's eyes reddened instantly. She bit her lip hard, tears welling in her eyes.
"But..." Lu Guan deliberately trailed off.
"Big Brother-"
"If you become Pagoda Master Leng's disciple, things will be different." Lu Guan gently guided her along, pointing at Leng Yaozhu on the sofa.
"She's the Spirit Pagoda's Deputy Pagoda Master, one of the strongest people on the entire continent. If you go with her, you'll not only learn amazing things, but you can also ask her to bring you to Heaven Dou City to see me."
Na'er froze for a moment, her mind racing.
If I don't become her disciple and stay home, once Big Brother goes to Heaven Dou City, I won't get to see him at all.
If I become her disciple, this pretty auntie is so powerful that she'll definitely have a way to go to Heaven Dou City.
Na'er counted it out on her fingers.
Becoming her disciple means I can go to Heaven Dou City, and going to Heaven Dou City means seeing Big Brother.
I come out ahead!
Na'er's eyes instantly lit up, and her little head bobbed rapidly.
Everything was settled.
"No time like the present." Mu Ye stood up and rolled his shoulders. "Since we've agreed on everything, let's go to your house now. I need to explain things to your parents in person and take care of the formalities of accepting you as my disciple while we're there."
Leng Yaozhu nodded in agreement.
Taking disciples, and taking someone else's children away at that, was certainly something their parents had to be informed about.
Mu Chen hurriedly spoke up from the side. "Then I'll come along, too. I'm Guan'er's forging teacher. With me there, Lu Guan's parents will feel more reassured."
The five of them left the Blacksmith Association together.
Before you continue