"Brother! Yang! Jian!"
"You'd better explain yourself properly, or I'm really going to throw caution to the wind."
Upon hearing Yang Jian's words,
Ning Rongrong immediately gritted her teeth and demanded an explanation, her smile never reaching her eyes.
"Oh, all right, then."
"Since you've asked so sincerely, I'll be merciful and tell you."
"This thing can only handle Soul Elders. Even killing a Soul Ancestor would be a struggle. It's dirt cheap to make, too. Forget a million Gold Soul Coins-even charging you a hundred would be too much."
Yang Jian smiled faintly.
He had never intended to hide it, much less take Ning Rongrong's million Gold Soul Coins.
He only wanted to harvest some emotional rewards from her.
Besides,
if he really took that million Gold Soul Coins from her, he would probably wear the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's label for the rest of his life.
Nobody would believe that Ning Fengzhi would pay a million Gold Soul Coins for a little business deal between his daughter and someone her own age.
Everyone would assume there was more to it.
Yang Jian had no intention of wearing any faction's label before he grew strong.
"Then when you said this thing could kill a Soul Emperor, you were lying to me too?!"
Ning Rongrong asked hurriedly.
"Wrong!"
"To be precise, I wasn't lying to you. I was lying to Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang."
Yang Jian chuckled.
"I get it!"
Fatty Ma Hongjun immediately raised his hand. "Boss, you were bluffing Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang to keep us safe, so that old woman wouldn't hurt innocent bystanders the moment she attacked."
"After all, that old woman is a Soul Emperor with a fearsome reputation. Who knows what hidden tricks she might have?"
"So once she learned that our bunch of two- and three-ring Soul Masters had two divine weapons capable of killing her, she'd abandon any plans she might have had."
"Holy shit!"
At that thought,
the look Fatty Ma Hongjun directed at Yang Jian suddenly became blazing hot. "Boss! You're way too good to us!!"
"Boss!!!"
As he shouted,
Fatty Ma Hongjun wobbled his little belly and lunged toward Yang Jian.
Fortunately, Yang Jian reacted swiftly, reaching out to hold him at arm's length. Otherwise, there would have been no escaping that bear hug.
"All right, all right."
"Now isn't the time to get sentimental. As your boss, isn't looking after you what I'm supposed to do?"
After saying that, Yang Jian took a small dish of leftover ten-thousand-year whale glue powder from the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Jade Belt and placed it in Fatty Ma Hongjun's hands. "Fatty, split this among yourselves. Don't eat too much at once. It's good for your bodies, and it'll increase the age of the Soul Rings you can absorb."
"Holy shit!"
"Yang, you really have something this good?!"
Dai Mubai was shocked this time as well.
He simply didn't contribute any emotional rewards to Yang Jian.
There was no helping it. Yang Jian had farmed him too hard earlier.
Still, Yang Jian didn't mind. He had already used enough of the stuff to develop a tolerance. Throwing it away would be a waste, so he might as well let them use it.
As for Xiaotian, there was even less need to mention him. A Soul Beast's body was already countless times stronger than a human's.
Given how often Yang Jian fed him, the quality of his food, and his recent evolution,
he now couldn't even be bothered to eat dragon blood and dragon meat if their True Dragon bloodline was slightly weaker.
"Brother, Brother, you're so good to us!"
"I... I... I want to give you another million Gold Soul Coins as my dowry!"
"Will you marry me right now?"
Ning Rongrong suddenly leaned closer and said.
She was practically a chameleon.
"Do I look like an idiot to you?"
"Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else. Just looking at you annoys me."
Yang Jian herded Ning Rongrong aside as though he were shooing a duck.
He couldn't even be bothered to correct the traps hidden in her words anymore.
In short, she could do whatever she liked.
"Yang, that's not very fair of you."
Dai Mubai walked over and said.
"Scruffy Tiger, what madness has gotten into you now?"
Yang Jian asked.
"Sure, this Godly Zhuge Crossbow only works against Soul Ancestors and below, but it's still a good weapon."
"You're only giving them to Fatty and Ning Rongrong? What about the rest of us?"
"You can't play favorites. Besides, last, last, last, last, last time, when you wanted to rile up the dean and asked me to help..."
"Fine, fine. One for everyone, all right?"
Before Dai Mubai could finish,
Yang Jian shot him a glare. "Just shut that foul mouth of yours!"
"Hahaha..."
"Then I'll be eagerly awaiting my Godly Zhuge Crossbow."
Dai Mubai laughed.
Only Flender frowned. "Mubai, what have you and young Yang done behind my back this time?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Dai Mubai denied it outright.
And so,
Flender turned his scrutinizing gaze toward Yang Jian.
Yang Jian didn't even acknowledge him.
It wasn't a guilty conscience, but a tactical retreat.
At least, that was how Yang Jian saw it.
After all, Flender wasn't the only person he'd used that same tactic on.
There wasn't a single person in the whole of Shrek Academy whom Yang Jian hadn't farmed for emotional rewards, good or bad. When you had that many debts, one more couldn't weigh you down.
Besides,
in Yang Jian's reckoning, although they had indeed lost out when it came to negative emotions, that wasn't his fault.
After all, who told them to get angry?
And when it came to positive emotions, they had indeed benefited, but that also... no, that deserved praise for our fellow student Yang Jian.
After all, who made them smile?
A perfectly closed loop of logic.
"Yang Jian!"
Just as Flender was wondering what exactly Yang Jian and Dai Mubai had done together,
Tang San's voice suddenly rang out from the forest.
At the sound, everyone turned toward him in unison.
Only Oscar, who was absorbing his Soul Ring, had no attention to spare for all these affairs.
Otherwise, he would certainly have come over too.
"Qingqing, did I hear that right?"
"That guy actually called Brother by his name."
Ning Rongrong whispered to Zhu Zhuqing.
"Yes, it's definitely suspicious."
Zhu Zhuqing agreed.
At that moment, her gaze toward Tang San was also filled with wariness.
Someone who could try to kill his own companion at the slightest disagreement was certainly no good person.
Not to mention that he had been targeting Yang Jian ever since joining Shrek.
"Tang San, if you're planning any dirty tricks, I suggest you save yourself the effort."
"Otherwise, Yang won't even need to lift a finger. I can beat you into the ground myself."
Dai Mubai valued loyalty above all. As he spoke, he not only stepped in front of Yang Jian but also activated Martial Soul Possession.
He looked ready to attack at the slightest disagreement.
"That's right!"
"And there's me too!"
Ma Hongjun also activated his martial soul, his scorching evil fire burning more than a dozen stalks of blue silver grass around him to death.
"And us!"
Ning Rongrong spoke up as well, though she didn't immediately activate her martial soul.
She knew that if Tang San truly intended to attack, Yang Jian would certainly notice.
The only reason she had stepped forward and planted her flag so clearly was to show whose side she was on.
Zhu Zhuqing naturally thought the same way, so she didn't even say anything.
She simply stepped over to stand beside them.
"I think you've all misunderstood."
"If I really wanted to do anything to you, Yang Jian would be the only one here who could stand against me."
Tang San merely swept a cold gaze over the group, then replaced it with a burning look as he stared fixedly at Yang Jian.
He seemed about to speak, only to hold back.
Before you continue