How could selling fish pay more than staging a shakedown?

The Mystic Water Pill was a precious medicine unique to the Xuanming Family, worth a fortune in gold.

The reason the Mystic Water Pill was so expensive was that refining it required the blood essence of over a dozen water-attribute soul beasts, along with dozens of precious water-attribute herbs, blended through a special process.

The water attribute had a cleansing effect. Not only was the Mystic Water Pill highly nourishing and capable of increasing soul power, its medicinal properties were also exceptionally gentle, allowing soul masters of any rank to absorb its effects easily.

For soul masters below rank twenty, it could raise their soul power by at least one rank. Moreover, the Mystic Water Pill could cleanse the meridians and marrow, expelling impurities from the body, nourishing the meridians, and improving a soul master's innate aptitude.

At Huo Yuhao's words, Xu Sanshi's vision went black, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Huo Yuhao wasn't merely opening his lion's maw to demand an outrageous price-he was devouring people without even spitting out their bones!

"Eight or ten Mystic Water Pills? Why don't you just rob someone?!" Xu Sanshi said in grief and indignation. "I only have two Mystic Water Pills on me. Take them or leave them!"

"Rob someone? How could robbery be faster than extortion... ahem, faster than demanding compensation?" Huo Yuhao said solemnly. "You think two Mystic Water Pills will get rid of me? I'd better go find Dean Qian."

Huo Yuhao strode straight toward Shrek Academy.

The male student Huo Yuhao had previously asked to report the incident eagerly followed behind him. He was still thinking about those three days of free barbecue and wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away.

"Bei Bei, Brother Bei, please put in a word for me! I'm begging you!" Xu Sanshi turned to Bei Bei beside him for help. "If he really reports me to Dean Qian, it's all over. I'll definitely be expelled. But you know I really can't get eight or ten Mystic Water Pills on such short notice."

"You brought this calamity on yourself. There's no escaping it." Sighing in frustration at his hopelessness, Bei Bei caught up with Huo Yuhao again.

"Yuhao, eight or ten Mystic Water Pills really are beyond his means. Could you cut that in half and have him give you four Mystic Water Pills, then make up the other four with soul coins?"

Unable to withstand Xu Sanshi's pleading either, Tang Ya said to Huo Yuhao, "Little Yuhao, let him off this once, for your big sister's sake."

"Ah, there's nothing I hate more than being bullied. But since Brother Bei Bei and Sister Xiaoya have pleaded for you, I'll let you off this once." Huo Yuhao stopped and shook his head with feigned helplessness. "But when can you give me the four Mystic Water Pills and the soul coins to cover the rest? If you take too long, I won't be able to keep my mouth shut."

Xu Sanshi took a black card out of his Storage Soul Tool. He stroked it reluctantly, then gritted his teeth and handed it to Huo Yuhao.

"There's fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins on this. You can redeem it at any bank in Shrek City whenever you want. I can give you two Mystic Water Pills now, and the other two tomorrow!"

Huo Yuhao accepted the black card and two small porcelain bottles from Xu Sanshi and put them into his storage ring, secretly smiling in satisfaction.

How could selling fish pay more than staging a shakedown? Look at me, meeting such a generous benefactor at my tender age!

Patting the black-clad senior student's arm, Huo Yuhao assured him that the promise of three days of free barbecue still stood. The student then left in high spirits.

Huo Yuhao returned to his stall, took forty gold coins out of the bag Xu Sanshi had thrown over earlier, and tossed the bag back to him.

Xu Sanshi froze and looked at Huo Yuhao in confusion, unsure what he meant. Huo Yuhao, however, took another two fish out of the cabinet below, seasoned them, and set them on the grill.

"I was originally going to keep these two fish for my own dinner today. Since you're so determined to buy them, I'll sell them to you. Wait a moment. They'll be ready soon," Huo Yuhao said calmly.

Xu Sanshi's eyes lit up at those words, and he walked over to Jiang Nannan in a few quick steps. His expression instantly softened as he said gently, "Nannan, wait a little longer. The grilled fish will be ready soon."

Jiang Nannan, however, did not appreciate the gesture at all. Though she was kind to everyone else, she was as cold as winter toward Xu Sanshi.

She angrily turned her head away and said coldly, "Xu Sanshi, I've told you before: there's no chance of anything happening between us. Please stop bothering me!"

With that, she turned and walked away.

Embarrassment washed over Xu Sanshi's face. He plopped down on the wooden stool beside Huo Yuhao's stall and silently stared at Jiang Nannan's retreating figure.

"The Barbecue King is ready! Sister Xiaoya, dig in!"

Huo Yuhao lifted the Gold Dragon Fish, which was over a meter long, onto a specially made serving platter, then carried it over and set it on the table before Tang Ya and Bei Bei.

"Wow, it smells amazing! Little Yuhao, your cooking is incredible!" Tang Ya said to Huo Yuhao, her eyes narrowing in pleasure as she savored the Gold Dragon Fish's tender, silky flesh.

"Little Yuhao, it looks like you have some time now, right? Would you like to join our Tang Sect? Our sect's signature techniques are very suitable for you to cultivate. You're all alone, and you're still so young. If you join the sect, we can all look after one another."

The corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched. Lady, try looking after yourself first. If Bei Bei weren't following you around, the Tang Sect probably wouldn't even have you, its lone commander, left.

For thousands of years, they had poured countless resources into desperately nurturing soul masters with a trash martial soul like Blue Silver Grass to serve as sect master. No sane person would do something like that.

It was fortunate that the Tang Sect had once been the continent's greatest sect. An ordinary organization could never have withstood such abuse.

Not only was the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record left behind an abridged version, God King Tang hadn't even told the Tang Sect's successors that his own martial soul was the top-tier Blue Silver Emperor, rather than the trash martial soul Blue Silver Grass.

Sometimes Huo Yuhao genuinely suspected that God King Tang had founded this so-called Tang Sect purely for his own amusement. Whenever something upset him in the Divine Realm, he could watch his intellectually challenged descendants stubbornly banging their heads against Blue Silver Grass and get a laugh out of it.

As for the Tang Sect's supposed signature techniques? They were utterly worthless to Huo Yuhao now.

How could the Mysterious Heaven Skill, which would only count as a second-rate cultivation method even in a martial arts world, possibly compare to the Flame Mantra, with its limitless potential for evolution?

And that went doubly for the so-called Mysterious Jade Hand, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and the like. How could they rival the power of Eight Extremes Collapse and the Heavenly Net Art?

Joining the Tang Sect was easy, but getting out was harder than ascending to heaven. The price was too steep. Huo Yuhao wasn't about to make a losing bargain like that!

"I'm sorry, Sister Xiaoya. As you said earlier, joining a sect is a lifelong decision, so I still need to think it over carefully." Huo Yuhao shook his head and politely declined.

"Yuhao, listen to me. Once you join the Tang Sect, we'll be family. No matter how great the difficulties are, Bei Bei and I will..."

Before Tang Ya could finish, Bei Bei pulled her away.

He didn't dare let Tang Ya casually make promises to Huo Yuhao. If Huo Yuhao someday discovered that they couldn't actually fulfill those promises, it would only invite endless resentment.

You're the one writing the checks, but I'm the one who has to cash them!

Although Bei Bei liked Tang Ya and was willing to give his all for her and the Tang Sect, even human strength had its limits. He didn't dare guarantee that he could handle everything.

Ignoring Bei Bei and Tang Ya as they canoodled nearby, Huo Yuhao silently transferred the Mystic Water Pills from his storage Soul Tool Ring into Yao Lao's Black Ring.

"Teacher, these are the Xuanming Family's Mystic Water Pills. Their medicinal effects can enhance cultivation and cleanse the meridians and marrow. Please examine them and see whether their effects can be improved."