At 6:00 AM the next morning.
Before daybreak, Xu Tianyuan was still fast asleep in bed.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door.
Bang, bang, bang!
The knocking instantly shattered Xu Tianyuan's pleasant dream.
"Who is it?"
Muddled, Xu Tianyuan sat up from the bed and shouted toward the outside.
Yet he never received a reply.
He found it strange-who had time to spare to knock on doors this early in the morning?
Damn it... Could this be an assassin sent by Xu Tianran?
Xu Tianyuan's heart tightened, and he sobered up for the most part.
Yet he quickly dismissed this conclusion.
After all, if it really were an assassin, they wouldn't knock.
Wouldn't it be better to quietly sneak up and kill him?
Would they really knock to tell him to get up and await execution?
That made no sense.
Xu Tianyuan slowly walked over to the window and looked down.
He saw an orange-haired girl standing at the entrance, hesitating, her face written all over with reluctance.
Her hands were behind her back, and the tip of her shoe drew circles on the ground.
"Turns out it's her."
Xu Tianyuan raised an eyebrow.
He didn't understand why Ju Zi came knocking this early in the morning.
Surely she wasn't after his handsome looks, right?
Although he really was quite good-looking, it wasn't to the extent that someone would throw themselves at him first thing in the morning.
Besides, she had practically mistaken him for a slaughterhouse worker just last night, and today she was coming on to him?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
"Hey, spit it out if you've got something to say."
Xu Tianyuan pushed open the window and leaned out halfway.
Ju Zi was pacing back and forth at the entrance when she suddenly heard a sound from above. She looked up and found Xu Tianyuan staring right at her, shirtless.
As his gaze swept across Xu Tianyuan's upper body, Ju Zi hurriedly took back her eyes. "The dean asked me to come teach you the academy's rules, and later I'll take you to class."
Hearing this, Xu Tianyuan instantly understood why Ju Zi had come looking for him.
He hadn't expected Jing Hongchen to actually send her.
The old man really knew how to make arrangements.
"Wait at the door."
Xu Tianyuan turned around to wash up in the bathroom.
Then he got dressed.
He stood before a mirror.
He had to admit, this vessel was still quite pleasing to the eye.
His facial features were three-dimensional, his looks handsome, and his skin fair.
Coupled with a head of fluttering short blonde hair.
If not for his terrible reputation and weak strength, there was no telling how many women would throw themselves at him.
Of course, Xu Tianyuan was referring to high-quality women; superficial ones didn't count.
In the past, just to fake being trash, he used to visit pleasure houses every day to listen to music. The ones wanting to throw themselves at him weren't few, and some even wanted to keep him as a kept man.
It was just that he had rejected all of them.
After all, the women in those places mostly came for his imperial prince status and wallet.
Even though Xu Tianyuan was playing the fool, he still had standards and wouldn't be desperate enough to take anything.
"Two tigers, two tigers..."
Xu Tianyuan simply tidied up his hairstyle, humming a classic children's song.
He leisurely strolled downstairs, unlocked the door, and just stared quietly at Ju Zi without speaking a word.
Seeing that he didn't take the initiative to speak, Ju Zi grew extremely reserved.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, she couldn't hold on any longer and averted her gaze.
"Are you going to class now or not?"
"Our academy's class times are rather early. The first class starts in another half hour."
"If you're going, I can teach you the rules along the way."
Xu Tianyuan stroked his chin, wondering what he was thinking, as a nameless glint flashed through his eyes.
"Come inside and talk."
He turned sideways to invite Ju Zi into the room.
Seeing this, Ju Zi was actually rather reluctant in her heart, but she found it truly hard to refuse. In the end, she stepped inside with short, dainty steps.
Her eyes darted everywhere; she simply didn't dare look at Xu Tianyuan.
And right at that moment.
Xu Tianyuan heavily slammed the door shut.
"What are you doing?"
Ju Zi was so startled she almost jumped, covering her chest as she rapidly retreated two steps until her back pressed straight against the wall.
"Don't be nervous."
Xu Tianyuan sat down on the living room sofa, patted the spot beside him, and signaled for Ju Zi to come sit with him as well.
Ju Zi stood frozen in place, her feet as if rooted to the floor.
"I'll just stand."
Noticing that Xu Tianyuan kept staring at her, she felt completely uncomfortable all over.
The other's gaze held not a shred of lust, instead concealing something indescribable.
It was as if he saw right through everything, or as if he were evaluating the value of an object.
"Ahem."
Ju Zi cleared her throat, wanting nothing more than to finish the task quickly and go to class.
If she stayed any longer, she feared her heart wouldn't take it.
"Since you aren't going to class, I'll say it right now."
She began to chatter away, reciting the so-called rules.
They were all very basic, essentially what not to do in the academy and what could be done.
Along with some reward and punishment systems.
Xu Tianyuan let it go in one ear and out the other the whole way. His eyes never left Ju Zi, and he didn't know what he was thinking, a trace of an elusive smile hanging on the corners of his lips.
"Alright, I've said everything I needed to say, goodbye."
As soon as Ju Zi finished speaking all the rules, she prepared to leave like a little white rabbit about to be eaten by a big bad wolf, her hand already resting on the door handle.
"Hold on."
A smile curved the corners of Xu Tianyuan's lips. "You're Xu Tianran's person, right?"
Hearing this, Ju Zi froze in place, slowly turning her head as her expression changed from nervous to confused.
"What on earth do you mean?"
Xu Tianyuan's expression abruptly darkened.
His previous devil-may-care appearance vanished in an instant.
Replaced by an eerie calm.
"What do I mean?"
"That scumbag Xu Tianran will die by my hands sooner or later. As his person, you'll definitely try every possible means to avenge him when that time comes."
"I'm just considering whether I should eliminate a hazard like you in advance."
Others might not know, but Xu Tianyuan, who had thoroughly read the original work, was well aware that Xu Tianran had saved Ju Zi's life.
Although in the later stages of the plot, the relationship between these two wasn't particularly good.
At least at the present stage, Ju Zi was an extremely loyal woman.
If he killed Xu Tianran, Ju Zi would certainly think of revenge.
Though she posed no threat to him, having someone constantly plotting behind his back was still a nuisance.
"You're going to kill Xu Tianran?"
Ju Zi's expression became incomparably strange. "Big Brother, you're a level-29 Soul Grandmaster wanting to kill the Soul Douluo Xu Tianran-could you please not joke around?"
"The freezing cringe level of your joke is colder than those old grandmothers' corny jokes."
Faced with her sarcasm, Xu Tianyuan wasn't angry in the slightest.
Nor did he have any intention of offering an explanation.
"I won't go looking for trouble with him for now; right now I'm mainly talking about you. You're a food-type Soul Master just past level 30-dealing with you should still be a breeze, I imagine."
Hearing these words, Ju Zi's expression shifted, turning as grim as if facing a formidable enemy.
Yet she quickly realized something and patted her chest.
"I don't know if you're joking or if you genuinely want to do something to me."
"In any case, I advise you not to entertain any other thoughts."
"That's right, I really am only a little past level 30, and my martial soul is a food-type with zero offensive power."
"But don't forget, this is the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and I am still a Quasi-Level 3 Soul Engineer. You can't possibly be my opponent."
"Any random soul tool I pull out from my hands will be enough to give you a hard time."
Before you continue