Mystic Water Pill

Before Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong could speak again, a mocking male voice rang out from behind the crowd.

"Hey, do you not understand human speech?"

Xu Sanshi burned with anger and immediately turned to look behind him.

Chen Tianyuan slowly emerged from the crowd. Having just returned from the Star Dou Great Forest, he had yet to change his clothes and looked a little disheveled. Even so, he radiated confidence and power.

Huo Yuhao lit up at the sight of him. "Brother Chen!"

Wang Dong looked Chen Tianyuan over. Naturally, he had heard of Chen Tianyuan's exploits as the Outer Court's Number One, but hearing about someone was no substitute for meeting him. He had always imagined Chen Tianyuan as a burly, rough sort, yet the man before him was nothing like that. He actually looked even gentler than Bei Bei.

The surrounding students naturally recognized Chen Tianyuan and immediately settled in to enjoy the show.

At the sight of Chen Tianyuan, more than half of Xu Sanshi's anger vanished. But to maintain his image in front of Jiang Nannan, he kept up his tough attitude. "Chen Tianyuan, stay out of this. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

Chen Tianyuan tilted his head to glance behind Xu Sanshi. "Jiang Nannan's already gone. Who are you still putting on an act for?"

"What?"

Xu Sanshi hastily looked back. Seeing that Jiang Nannan had already walked into the academy, he immediately moved to chase after her.

But Chen Tianyuan flashed in front of him, smiling with narrowed eyes. "You think you can leave after making all that trouble? You haven't paid for the grilled fish yet."

Xu Sanshi looked down. At some point during the commotion, one of the grilled fish had fallen to the ground.

Seeing this, he generously pulled out a Gold Soul Coin and tossed it to Huo Yuhao. "Keep the change."

Chen Tianyuan raised an eyebrow slightly. "I'm afraid one Gold Soul Coin won't be enough."

"Not enough? Are you kidding? One Gold Soul Coin is enough to buy this kid's entire stall," Xu Sanshi snapped.

Chen Tianyuan chuckled. "One Gold Soul Coin only covers the grilled fish. You haven't paid compensation for emotional distress yet."

Xu Sanshi looked at Chen Tianyuan as though he were a bandit. "Why don't you just rob someone?"

Chen Tianyuan shrugged. "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

Xu Sanshi sighed. "Brother Chen, can I just admit I was wrong? What exactly do you want?"

Chen Tianyuan held up one finger. "One Mystic Water Pill."

"Absolutely not," Xu Sanshi said firmly.

Chen Tianyuan hooked an arm around his shoulders and whispered a few words into his ear. Xu Sanshi's stern face promptly blossomed into a delighted smile, and he readily took a jet-black wooden box out of his Storage Ring.

After accepting the wooden box, Chen Tianyuan sent him on his way. Xu Sanshi looked quite happy about it, too.

After walking some distance, Xu Sanshi remembered to turn back and call, "Tianyuan, don't forget! If it really works out, dinner's on me."

Beside them, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong were brimming with curiosity about what Chen Tianyuan had said to Xu Sanshi.

Chen Tianyuan turned around and casually tossed the wooden box to Huo Yuhao, who fumbled to catch it. "Brother Chen, what's inside?"

Instead of answering, Chen Tianyuan said, "Grill me two fish first. I haven't eaten all day."

Huo Yuhao hurriedly picked two lively black carp from the bucket beneath him, deftly scraped off their scales, gutted them, rubbed them with spices, and set them on the grill. The entire process took less than a minute.

While Huo Yuhao was grilling the fish, two familiar figures finally arrived.

"Where's that Xu Sanshi? How dare he bully a disciple of our Tang Sect! His guts have certainly gotten nice and fat."

The speaker was none other than Tang Ya, the current sect master of the Tang Sect and a Level 32 Soul Elder.

Behind her, Bei Bei pressed a hand to his forehead helplessly, then patted Tang Ya on the shoulder. "All right, all right. He's already gone."

Tang Ya came to her senses without feeling the least bit embarrassed. Looking at the two grilled fish in Huo Yuhao's hands, she grinned. "Yuhao, did you save those for me?"

Huo Yuhao scratched his head and smiled. "These are for Brother Chen. Teacher Xiao Ya, I saved your fish, but I haven't grilled them yet."

Chen Tianyuan accepted the two grilled fish Huo Yuhao handed him and took a bite. They tasted just as he remembered.

"You guys chat. I still need to report to Director Du to close out my leave."

With that, Chen Tianyuan turned and headed into the academy.

Only then did Huo Yuhao remember the wooden box Chen Tianyuan had tossed him. He opened it to find a jet-black pill the size of a quail's egg, giving off a faint, bitter smell.

Bei Bei looked surprised when he saw the pill. "It's actually a Mystic Water Pill."

From Bei Bei's tone, Huo Yuhao could vaguely tell that this pill was extraordinary. He hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother, is this pill very valuable?"

Bei Bei nodded. "Mystic Water Pills are a specialty of the Xuanming Sect, and only a limited number are produced each year. Our academy only receives a supply thanks to our cooperative relationship with them."

"Outside the academy, a single Mystic Water Pill usually costs over ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, and even then, it's hard to get your hands on one."

"Its effects fully justify the price, too. For a Soul Master below Level 20, taking one raises their soul power by at least one level. It also cleanses the sinews and marrow, effectively raising an ordinarily gifted Soul Master's innate soul power by one level."

After hearing Bei Bei's explanation, Huo Yuhao was stunned. Chen Tianyuan had simply given him such a precious pill.

Seeing what was on Huo Yuhao's mind, Bei Bei patted his shoulder. "Keep it. That guy has no use for it anyway."

Beside him, Wang Dong wore a strange expression as his imagination began running wild. Could Chen Tianyuan have a taste for men?

After closing out his leave, Chen Tianyuan did not return straight to his dormitory. Instead, he headed to the Soul Tool Department.

At its core, Shrek Academy still looked down on Soul Tools. The reason was simple: the academy had too many powerful, high-ranking Soul Masters, not to mention Mu En, a Level 99 Limit Douluo. Their power had blinded most people.

Chen Tianyuan had also tried studying Soul Tools, but his talent for them was every bit as poor as his talent as a Soul Master was outstanding. Even after Xian Lin'er, the dean of the Soul Tool Department, personally taught him for a while, he had still failed to grasp the basics.

This time, Chen Tianyuan had come to the Soul Tool Department to have his Flying Soul Tool repaired.

His Soul Tool had been personally crafted by Fan Yu, a Level 8 Soul Engineer, and was unquestionably a top-quality piece among Level 4 Soul Tools.

After taking apart the Flying Soul Tool and inspecting it, Fan Yu discovered the problem. Its original Level 4 Core Array had been replaced with a Level 3 one, and the thruster's exhaust components, originally made from precious metals, had been replaced with ordinary metal. Even setting aside how much worse the replacements performed, the difference in material costs alone exceeded ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Fan Yu sighed. "It's no longer worth repairing. I'll make you a new one. Come pick it up in a few days."

Naturally, Chen Tianyuan was happy to reap the fruits of someone else's labor. "Thank you, Teacher Fan Yu."