A deal

Under the white-robed Soul Saint's treatment, Jiang Hai had recovered. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong then woke up one after another.

Unlike Huo Yuhao, who had witnessed everything, Wang Dong looked utterly bewildered. "What was that monster just now?" she demanded angrily.

The white-robed Soul Saint glanced at the three of them and said, "All right, you're fine now. You'd best forget what happened today. If any of it gets out, you'll be expelled from Shrek Academy immediately. This is your compensation. I trust you're all sensible people!"

The white-robed Soul Saint tossed them three little green bottles, glanced at Zhang Lexuan, and gave a slight nod before floating away.

Zhang Lexuan glanced at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, then said to Huo Yuhao, "Huo Yuhao, right? Jiang Hai trusts you, and I hope you'll live up to that trust. You may know what happened today, but you must not tell anyone else!"

Huo Yuhao recalled Jiang Hai's mysterious coffin within a coffin. Under Wang Dong's suspicious gaze, he promised, "Senior, don't worry. I'll keep my lips sealed and won't reveal a single thing to anyone."

Zhang Lexuan nodded. "The academy's compensation won't disappoint you. Jiang Hai, shall we take a walk?"

Jiang Hai nodded, and the two left side by side. Zhang Lexuan said evenly, "Tell me what happened."

Jiang Hai thought for a moment before saying, "My martial soul evolved when I hunted for my first soul ring. Maybe I was lucky-the Diamond Tiger happened to have developed a soul bone. That soul bone merged with the Diamond Tiger's corpse inside the Bronze Coffin and gave birth to a new Golden Coffin! The Golden Coffin has only one ability: it lets me briefly borrow the strength of a person or corpse inside it. Through a fortunate coincidence, I borrowed Senior Ma Xiaotao's strength to suppress her evil power!"

"Hmm?" Zhang Lexuan frowned. "How did you know the person just now was Xiaotao?"

Jiang Hai said, "Senior Ma Xiaotao was my examiner in the final stage of the freshman assessment. She left quite an impression on me!"

Zhang Lexuan nodded. "After what happened today, Xiaotao will probably come looking for you often. Her martial soul was inherited from one of Shrek Academy's predecessors, but it has a tremendous drawback. If she didn't have to suppress her evil fire, her talent and accomplishments would be no less than mine. The academy has high hopes for her, so I hope you won't hold today's incident against her. Xiaotao isn't a bad person. If you can help her, please do what you can. Also, when you need your second soul ring, you can invite her to go with you. Given your circumstances, hunting soul beasts alone is no longer suitable."

Jiang Hai's martial soul dictated that every one of his soul rings had to exceed the limits of what his body could withstand.

Zhang Lexuan hesitated before saying, "Jiang Hai, you're someone who knows his own mind. I've never heard of a martial soul as mysterious and powerful as yours, and I know you haven't told me the whole truth. But I only hope you won't let power blind you and set you on a road of no return. A single thought can lead to righteousness; a single thought can lead to evil."

"I'm leaving. I hope to see you in the Inner Court soon. Take care!" With that, Zhang Lexuan soared through the air and vanished from Jiang Hai's sight.

Jiang Hai gave a wry smile. Feeling the surging soul power inside him, he found himself somewhat at a loss for words.

Borrowed power was not his own, after all. All the power he had borrowed from Ma Xiaotao had been returned, but his martial soul could refine the soul power, strength, and intelligence within a corpse.

Although Ma Xiaotao was not a corpse, Jiang Hai had still felt his strength and intelligence growing rapidly while she was inside the Golden Coffin, along with a leap in his soul power. Whatever else might be said, Ma Xiaotao was a Soul Emperor approaching the Soul Saint realm.

Jiang Hai had gained a great deal. The soul power refined from Ma Xiaotao, together with the medicinal potency of the Mystic Water Pill, had raised his soul power by another two levels immediately after his recent breakthrough. It had now reached a startling level eighteen.

Jiang Hai glanced at the jade bottle in his hand. A Soul Ascension Pill could raise the soul power of a Soul Master below level thirty by one level without any side effects. Combined with his remaining Mystic Water Pill, it meant that, if he wished, he could break through to level twenty right now and become a Quasi-Soul Grandmaster.

Moreover, Ma Xiaotao's power was as fierce as fire and complemented the Mystic Water Pill's medicinal potency. The transformation he had undergone this time was no less profound than the last-in fact, it far surpassed it. Although Jiang Hai's talent was still poor, it was now comparable to that of a Soul Master with innate soul power at level four or five.

But every gain came with a loss!

Jiang Hai glanced at the empty Golden Coffin. Lin Youtian's corpse had long since crumbled to dust. Otherwise, it might not have escaped the notice of Shrek Academy's many teachers. At that point, even if Jiang Hai was not an Evil Soul Master, he would have been branded one.

Jiang Hai felt a little regretful. Although he had absorbed almost all of Lin Youtian's strength, the Golden Coffin could still have absorbed his intelligence and rapidly increased Jiang Hai's soul power. Now, though his talent had improved, his future cultivation would depend entirely on his own efforts-until the Golden Coffin welcomed its next guest.

Shaking his head, Jiang Hai glanced in the direction Zhang Lexuan had departed and headed for the cafeteria.

So be it if Lin Youtian had crumbled to dust. Death wiped the slate clean. Since he was already reduced to ashes, their grudge could be considered settled.

Jiang Hai suddenly felt lighter inside. An invisible weight abruptly lifted, and even the circulation of his soul power quickened a little.

The day's classes were relatively easy, consisting entirely of theory. The morning covered martial soul classification, while the afternoon covered soul beast identification.

Although Jiang Hai's soul power was far from weak and his combat strength was impressive, both rested on the strength of his martial soul. His theoretical knowledge was limited to his fragmentary understanding from his previous life, leaving him well behind even Sun Yunhai. Fortunately, his increased intelligence kept him from struggling too much.

He devoured knowledge like a starving man. With the memories of his previous life, Jiang Hai understood better than anyone that knowledge was the most precious thing in the world. Now that he had the chance, he refused to pass up any opportunity to improve himself.

Only after classes ended did Jiang Hai reluctantly leave the classroom. The theory lessons seemed to captivate him even more than yesterday's physical training.

And after class, someone he had expected came looking for him.

Ma Xiaotao!

This time, Ma Xiaotao had no grotesque mask covering her face. Her youthful, beautiful figure had curves in all the right places, and her peerless features made her one of the rare beauties Jiang Hai had encountered across both his lives. Only Tang Ya and Zhang Lexuan could compare.

"Senior, what can I do for you?" Jiang Hai asked evenly. Deep down, he did not particularly want any contact with the Inner Court disciples, especially after Ma Xiaotao had called him her junior fellow disciple that morning.

Naturally, Jiang Hai knew who Ma Xiaotao's teacher was: Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Shrek Academy Martial Soul Department.

Ma Xiaotao's words undoubtedly meant that Yan Shaozhe had already set his sights on him.

Jiang Hai's plan was to spend six years in Shrek Academy's outer court and then leave. But if Yan Shaozhe took him as a disciple, he would have no choice but to enter the Inner Court, which required a full twelve-year stay at Shrek Academy.

"Come with me!" Ma Xiaotao led Jiang Hai to the shore of Sea God Lake, where hardly anyone passed by.

"May I take a look at your martial soul?" Ma Xiaotao asked.

Jiang Hai sighed. With a thunderous crash, the Bronze Coffin landed beside him, and an ancient, weighty aura washed over them.

Ma Xiaotao's attention was now wholly absorbed by the Bronze Coffin martial soul. She found it hard to imagine that a martial soul resembling a coffin could actually suppress, and even refine, her evil fire.

After she had returned that morning, the evil fire within her had vanished completely. She would be free of its torment for at least half a month. Perhaps, once Jiang Hai grew stronger, he might even be able to refine her evil fire completely.

That was why Ma Xiaotao had been unable to resist coming to find Jiang Hai again that afternoon.

The Bronze Coffin was heavy and ancient, but otherwise gave off no particular aura. Ma Xiaotao knew, however, that there was another Golden Coffin inside it.

"Can you open it?" Ma Xiaotao asked.

Jiang Hai nodded, and the Bronze Coffin opened. Ma Xiaotao stepped inside and immediately spotted the Golden Coffin at its center.

Ma Xiaotao glanced at Jiang Hai, and the Golden Coffin suddenly opened as well. She entered it and examined her surroundings. Abruptly, she felt a faint force emerge. Her soul power diminished by a tiny fraction, while her evil fire also shrank back, as though it had encountered its natural predator.

"It really works!" Delight appeared on Ma Xiaotao's face. Looking at Jiang Hai, she said, "Junior fellow disciple, how about we make a deal? From now on, I'll have your back, but on one condition. Every month-no, every week-three days! Every three days, you'll help me suppress my evil fire. What do you say?"

Jiang Hai stared at Ma Xiaotao expressionlessly. If not for the Mystic Water Pill's medicinal potency, her evil fire would probably have burned him straight to ashes this time. Suppressing it every three days? She might as well kill him.

Jiang Hai said, "Senior Ma, I'll be honest with you. Suppressing your evil fire today nearly cost me half my life. If a Mystic Water Pill hadn't protected my body, I'd probably have been crippled, if not dead. Once every three days? I don't have the Mystic Water Pills for that."

"Mystic Water Pills?" Ma Xiaotao frowned. She knew of them and understood what kind of medicine they were. With her strength, obtaining three or five would not be difficult, but for her, that would be no more than a cup of water thrown onto a blazing cartload of firewood.

Ma Xiaotao said, "All right, then. Let's change the condition. I'll still have your back. If anyone provokes you, just tell me, and I'll get revenge for you. But your martial soul has to be open to me at any time, so I can cultivate inside it. Don't tell me you refuse. I can see that having me cultivate inside your martial soul benefits you too. This coffin has been devouring my soul power all along. It isn't taking much, but I'm a Soul Emperor approaching the Soul Saint realm. Even the tiniest fraction is an astronomical amount to you."

Ma Xiaotao was a Soul Emperor, after all, so she could naturally detect the Bronze Coffin drawing away her soul power. She simply could not detect the loss of strength and intelligence.

But that was enough. Accelerating Jiang Hai's soul power growth brought her every benefit and no harm. Once Jiang Hai became stronger, wouldn't he be better able to help her suppress her evil fire?