Minotaur Chieftain!

(Thanks to Small Fry Xiao Mo for the 30,000 reading coins. An extra update for Small Fry Xiao Mo~)

"Eldest senior sister, what are you looking at?"

Zhang Lexuan trembled, lowered the right hand propping up her cheek, and turned toward the blond young man with mismatched eyes who had just approached.

"Oh, Yueheng. Have you finished taking care of things?" A faint smile appeared on Zhang Lexuan's face.

"Yes. Since entering the Inner Academy, I've passed through Star Luo City several times on missions with the group without going home once. Mother wasn't very happy about that, so I just took this opportunity to spend some time with my family. It was nothing important," Dai Yueheng explained with a nod.

He was also a member of Xuan Zi's team on this trip. He had only temporarily left the group to go home, which was why he hadn't been with Zhang Lexuan and the others.

Only now, after seeing Xuan Zi and the others enter, had he left Dai Hao's side and returned to Shrek Academy's group.

"Thanks for your efforts. Spend more time with your family whenever you have the chance. It's a good thing," Zhang Lexuan said softly.

"Thank you for your concern, eldest senior sister." Dai Yueheng smiled, then noticed that his fellow Shrek members around him were all looking at him strangely.

Dai Yueheng: ?

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Everyone hurriedly shook their heads.

Had Dai Yueheng been the only one there, they would certainly have mercilessly teased this duke's son.

Granted, Zhang Lexuan's excellence made most male disciples of the Inner Academy regard her as the goddess of their dreams, with winning her heart as their highest goal and achievement.

But there weren't many like Dai Yueheng, whose crush on Zhang Lexuan had become known all the way from Shrek to Star Luo City...

If Zhang Lexuan hadn't been present, making it rather inappropriate to amuse themselves at his expense in front of their eldest senior sister, Dai Yueheng would definitely have become everyone's topic of conversation.

Only Dai Yueheng remained lost in a fog. He kept feeling that his colleagues were laughing at him behind his back and keeping something from him. Being completely in the dark was starting to irritate him.

Meanwhile, the culprit behind all this, Su Yuan, was still sitting with Xu Jiujiu, drinking juice as they chatted and laughed.

Although the venue was noisy, the side hall wasn't very large. As a Soul Master, Su Yuan could naturally hear what was happening over there, and his smile deepened.

Interesting. Very interesting.

Forget it. Since I have nothing to do, let's check the two traits I obtained earlier!

[Host has triggered the iconic scene [Food Guarding]. Trait [Food Guarding? Send It Over!] can be extracted!]

[[Food Guarding? Send It Over!] Trait effect: Whenever the host encounters a target guarding their food in front of you, this trait will grant the host the two secret techniques, Heart-Shaking Kick and Dragon Fruit, specializing in disciplining disobedient food-guarding targets!]

"...?" Su Yuan blinked and promptly put the trait out of his mind.

Not much use.

This was the first time he had obtained a useless trash trait. Not only were its activation conditions demanding, but the effects it granted were also mediocre and wouldn't help much.

Next.

[Host has triggered the iconic scene [A Bull! There's a Bull!] Trait [Minotaur Chieftain] can be extracted!]

[[Minotaur Chieftain] Trait effect: Whenever the host develops the desire to steal someone whose heart already belongs to another, or someone who is already married, this trait will activate immediately, automatically reducing the target's sense of morality by 90%, increasing their sense of forbidden transgression by 300%, lowering their psychological defenses by 30%, and making them more easily swayed and aroused in the host's presence. All effects of this trait are doubled when the target's lover/partner is present.]

[[Minotaur Chieftain] Trait note: Madam, you wouldn't want...]

Huh?

The mouthful of juice Su Yuan had just swallowed nearly sprayed out of his nostrils. He clutched his chest and coughed violently.

Xu Jiujiu, beside him, jumped in alarm. She hurriedly put down her glass goblet and gently patted his back with her fair hand to help him catch his breath.

"Cough, cough... Sister Jiujiu, I'm fine." Su Yuan covered his mouth and waved a hand, his eyes filled with disbelief and helpless amusement.

Su Yuan wasn't surprised that the second trait involved a cuckolding warrior. What broke his composure was its effect.

Morality reduced by 90%, a sense of forbidden transgression increased by 300%, psychological defenses lowered by 30%, and a heart more easily swayed and aroused-and those effects would double when the other person's lover or partner was present?

And then there was that outrageous trait note.

Every single line sent Su Yuan bouncing back and forth between keeping a straight face and losing it.

Still, unlike that useless [Food Guarding? Send It Over!] trait above, [Minotaur Chieftain] could come in handy in plenty of situations.

Whether he was pursuing women, stealing someone else's sweetheart, or using the trait's properties to deal with enemies, infiltrate enemy camps, gather information, and so on, it could prove useful.

Of course, to an amusement-seeker like Su Yuan, its greatest uses were still pursuing women and finding entertainment.

With Wang Xian'er backing him, dangerous missions involving infiltrating enemy camps to gather information would certainly never fall to him. And since he could become a God King in just twenty-two years, he had no need to undertake some absurd deep-cover investigator mission on the Douluo Continent.

So didn't that leave finding entertainment as the trait's only ultimate purpose?

With just the [Rich Lady, I Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore] trait, that group of Spider Spirits had already gone so wild. If he equipped [Minotaur Chieftain] as well, Su Yuan would become a friend to women everywhere.

Extract both. Equip them all, Su Yuan silently commanded.

After briefly weighing things up, Su Yuan judged that neither trait would be like [Rich Lady, I Don't Want to Work Hard Anymore], whose positive effects had ended up backfiring.

Both required specific conditions to activate. [Minotaur Chieftain], in particular, even required Su Yuan to actively develop the thought before it would affect a target.

Keeping them equipped all the time would be fine.

Yet the instant Su Yuan equipped [Minotaur Chieftain], Zhang Lexuan, who was chatting and laughing with the Shrek group in the side hall, abruptly trembled.

[Ding-]

[[Minotaur Chieftain] Trait effect activated! Target: Zhang Lexuan!]

What a lightning-fast response. Not a moment's delay! Su Yuan's eyes widened slightly, and he instinctively turned toward Zhang Lexuan.

She happened to raise her eyes toward him at that very moment, and their gazes met.

Su Yuan gave nothing away, maintaining that faint smile, unruffled by favor or disgrace. Meeting Zhang Lexuan's gaze, he merely raised his glass goblet in a distant salute.

Zhang Lexuan, on the other hand, showed a flicker of panic in her tranquil, autumn-water eyes. After raising her teacup in return, she hurriedly turned away and averted her gaze.

Her heartbeat quickened, too.

Clearly, Su Yuan's gaze was perfectly calm, and the smile on his face was elegant and proper.

Yet to Zhang Lexuan, his gaze was so scorching. As their eyes met, those deep eyes seemed about to draw in her very soul and melt her completely.

And her heartbeat had shamefully quickened!

Why? Why do I feel this way about him? Clearly... clearly it should be Bei Bei... Zhang Lexuan gripped her glass goblet tightly, her pearly teeth lightly biting her red lip.

The moment she thought of Bei Bei, the sense of forbidden transgression amplified by [Minotaur Chieftain]'s three-hundred-percent boost made Zhang Lexuan feel as though she were sitting on needles.

Could it be...

Could it be that I really can't go back anymore?