A faint smile touched Shi Nian's lips at those words, and his gaze visibly softened.
Those words were certainly pleasing to the ear, and he appreciated them, but he would not follow someone just because of a flattering line or two.
His tone was neither warm nor cold. "After all that, it's still empty talk. What can you offer me?"
"Entirely new theoretical knowledge, Soul Bones, immortal herbs. If you're willing to join us, you can also become vice dean right away." After saying that, A Da thought for a moment and added, "You only need to give us an answer before the Soul Master Tournament ends, but the later you decide, the fewer resources we can offer."
Shi Nian stared at them. Rather than refusing outright, he asked, "Where should I go to find you?"
"The Emerald Merchant Guild. Just give them my name, A Da, and someone will take you to the Venerable Lord," A Da replied.
The corner of Shi Nian's mouth twitched when he heard his name. How could anyone have a name like that? Still, he nodded and replied, "I'll think it over."
With his message delivered, A Da did not linger and chose to leave. After all, poaching someone from another camp could not be rushed.
Only after A Da and the others had left did Shi Nian turn back. "Two Soul Saints, the Emerald Merchant Guild, Cloudtop Academy. Interesting."
During their conversation, he had already sensed through his Remnant Dream Martial Soul that A Da was merely an ordinary person with no Soul Power, but the two people behind him were genuine Soul Saints.
He had heard that over the past year, the Emerald Merchant Guild had risen into a new merchant guild spanning both great empires despite suppression from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Every one of these details suggested that an even greater power might be hidden behind them, yet he could not be certain which power it was.
"Interesting. It seems I'll have to keep a close eye on this Cloudtop Academy during the Soul Master Tournament."
Then he returned to the academy. His research into Seven-in-One Fusion had already reached its final stage. Originally, he had planned to use it as a trump card in the next Soul Master Tournament, but now it seemed he would have to pick up the pace.
Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and the Soul Master Tournament, held once every five years, began.
Looking at Wine Fox standing among the competing team members, Li Chen did not know what to say. A Titled Douluo like her was going to bully a bunch of students whose strongest members were only Soul Kings.
She had come to him every day, wheedling and acting cute, saying she would only appear in the finals to secure the championship. She had also promised not to casually reveal her Soul Rings, and only then had he agreed to let her have some fun.
In any case, their current strength meant they had nothing to fear from anyone. He had merely wanted to develop steadily before.
Cloudtop Academy was located in the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom. Its Preliminary Tournament would take place in Haagen-Dazs City, where it would compete with teams from ten other academies for two spots.
The Haagen-Dazs royal family had arranged rooms at the Royal Hotel for all the competing teams. Bored with nothing to do, he called Wine Fox, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling over to play cards.
Before long, however, someone knocked on the door. He had finally gotten a good hand, only to be interrupted, so he went to answer the door feeling rather annoyed.
"Hello. Are you Mr. Li Chen, the team leader from Cloudtop Academy?" A servant wearing a Haagen-Dazs court uniform stood outside and asked politely.
"Yes. What can I do for you?"
The servant bowed slightly. "His Majesty the King would like to invite you to a special meeting. The team leaders from every academy will be attending."
"Go ahead and play without me." Li Chen turned back to tell Wine Fox and the others before addressing the servant. "Sorry for the trouble, but please show me the way."
The servant raised a hand to gesture. "Please follow me."
He walked at an unhurried pace, stopping every ten steps or so to turn sideways and make an inviting gesture to Li Chen before continuing forward.
The two passed through the corridor and rounded the stairwell. Instead of heading downstairs, they went all the way up to the hotel's top floor.
At the end of the corridor stood a pair of dark brown wooden doors. The servant stopped before them, turned, and bowed slightly to Li Chen. "Mr. Li, please go in. His Majesty and the other team leaders have already arrived."
He did not knock, merely stepping aside to stand beside the doors and indicating that Li Chen should push them open himself.
Li Chen reached out and pushed open the door.
Inside was a spacious conference room with a long table in the center. Quite a few people were already seated around it, dressed in various styles. They were presumably the team leaders from the different academies.
The King of Haagen-Dazs sat at the head of the long table. To his right was a black-robed bishop from Spirit Hall, and to his left was a minister in charge of finances.
Only after Li Chen casually chose a seat and sat down did the King of Haagen-Dazs speak. "Now that everyone is here, let us begin."
The finance minister rose, cleared his throat, and bowed slightly toward the king before speaking. "Our Haagen-Dazs Kingdom division has a total of two qualification spots. In accordance with custom, we will now auction off one of them."
"We will arrange byes throughout the competition for the team that purchases the spot, allowing them to advance directly. The remaining academies will compete for the other spot."
"The starting bid for the qualification spot is one million Gold Soul Coins, with each increase no lower than one hundred thousand. To place a bid, simply raise the numbered paddle on the table."
Well, would you look at that! Li Chen thought after hearing this. No wonder there were still teams merely along for the ride at the grand finals in Spirit City. It turned out that outside the imperial capitals, these kingdoms and duchies were engaging in this sort of backroom manipulation.
A qualification spot was being auctioned off this openly and brazenly. Judging by the other academy leaders' expressions, they all knew exactly what was going on.
There was even a black-robed bishop from Spirit Hall present, yet he made no attempt to stop it and simply sat there watching.
"One million one hundred thousand." A team leader in a blue-green robe raised his paddle. His voice was not loud, but it rang exceptionally clearly through the quiet conference room.
"One million two hundred thousand." Someone on the other side followed, raising a paddle with a crisp, decisive motion.
"One million three hundred thousand." Another person called out a bid.
Several rounds of bidding went back and forth across the conference room. The price climbed from one million one hundred thousand to two million before the pace noticeably slowed.
Sitting toward the back, Li Chen had not placed a single bid. Instead, he was considering whether to buy the spot and advance directly or compete for the remaining one.
After all, Gold Soul Coins were truly nothing more than a string of numbers to him. One gold bar could be converted into two million Gold Soul Coins, so he could essentially have as many as he wanted.
"Three million," Li Chen called, raising his paddle.
As his words fell, the conference room went silent for a moment.
Several team leaders in the front rows who had been hesitating over whether to keep bidding turned to look at him at the same time, surprise in their eyes.
After that brief silence, someone tentatively added another bid. "Three million one hundred thousand."
The voice sounded much weaker than before, as though its owner clearly lacked confidence. Li Chen looked up and saw that it was the academy whose entire team consisted only of Soul Elders.
Without hesitation, Li Chen raised his paddle again almost immediately. "Four million."
This time, even the team leader beside him wearing round-framed glasses turned to look at him, opened his mouth, then swallowed his words.
The other academy leaders lowered their paddles one after another, abandoning the auction. Seeing this, the finance minister announced, "Congratulations to Cloudtop Academy on successfully advancing."
Before you continue