Two? If word got out, people would think the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had fallen on hard times

Holy shit, a loot box!

Seeing the unmistakable Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul Fragment on her, coupled with her Soul Elder cultivation at that age, Lu Yu immediately realized who she was.

"May I ask if you're Young Sect Master Ning Tian of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?"

Lu Yu smiled faintly and addressed the blonde girl beside them whose Martial Soul Fragment was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

"You investigated us!"

Wu Feng stepped forward, but Ning Tian stopped her.

"Wu Feng, stand down."

"Yes, Young Sect Master."

Ning Tian looked at Lu Yu with a smile.

"I've long heard of your ability to gather information, Grandmaster Lu. Seeing it for myself today, it truly is extraordinary. I see you have yet to join any faction. Might our Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect have the honor?"

"The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, huh? Its signature Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, provides a fixed ten-percent boost with each Soul Skill, then another ten percent every ten levels. With such powerful support abilities, it certainly is a fine Martial Soul for elite team combat."

"Thank you for your praise, Grandmaster Lu."

Ning Tian's smile deepened. It seemed this conversation could be quite pleasant...

"Unfortunately, that Martial Soul caps out at Soul Saint. That's as far as you'll get in this lifetime."

Ning Tian's smile froze on her face. Watching from the sidelines, Tang Ya grinned cheekily. This fellow's tongue was as venomous as ever.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?"

Seeing someone dare provoke Ning Tian, Wu Feng immediately activated Martial Soul Possession. Dense red scales covered her left arm, but just as she tried to step forward, she discovered she could not move a single step.

A blue-haired girl stood beside Lu Yu, her eyes shining gold. This was clearly her doing.

"What are you trying to do to Master?"

The Spirit Eyes' first Soul Skill, Spiritual Prison, was a top-tier spiritual control skill from the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. It was clearly not something Wu Feng could break free of on her own.

Looking at the immobilized Wu Feng, Lu Yu felt thoroughly satisfied.

This was a Soul Skill worthy of a million-year Soul Beast: instant hard control across levels. If he had followed that Sky Dream Ice Maggot's original method of allocating points by drawing from the Spirit Eyes' skill pool, just how badly would this Million-Year Soul Ring have been squandered?

Beside them, Ning Tian's eyes instantly lit up at Huo Yutong's display.

Wu Feng was the strongest fighter among the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's younger generation. Otherwise, she would never have become Ning Tian's personal guard. Yet now she had been forcibly restrained in a single encounter.

Ning Tian studied Lu Yu.

I must bring Lu Yu into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Initially, she had thought Lu Yu's abilities would, at most, suffice to guide high-grade Martial Souls. Now it seemed even guiding top-tier Martial Souls would be no problem for him.

"I failed to discipline her properly. Might I ask you to show mercy, Grandmaster Lu?"

Lu Yu nodded, and Huo Yutong immediately withdrew her Soul Skill.

"Hmph!" Freed from the restraint, Wu Feng also withdrew her Martial Soul, but still shot Lu Yu a fierce glare.

Sigh. Ning Tian covered her forehead in distress. Wu Feng was purely here to cause trouble. She had completely soured their relationship. There was no sting without comparison-look how obedient the blue-haired girl opposite them was.

Were it not for their many years of friendship, Ning Tian would have had her family replace her guard long ago.

"Grandmaster Lu, a small token of my sincerity. Please accept it as an apology."

Ning Tian quietly held out a storage Soul Tool Ring.

A dark blur flashed before her eyes, and the ring was already in Lu Yu's hand.

"Oh, not at all. I was the one who spoke rudely in the first place. The fault was mine."

Lu Yu probed the ring. Inside were a full ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

A Soul Tool plus ten thousand Gold Soul Coins for a single apology-the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect really were filthy rich.

Of course, the coins inside were surely a meeting gift that also conveyed their desire to recruit him. But should he join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?

As far as he knew, the current Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had two Titled Douluos, just as it had ten thousand years ago.

But ten thousand years had already passed. On the continent today, a mere two Titled Douluos were no longer enough to cross the threshold of a top-tier sect.

Money alone would not be much help in the future.

Seeing that Lu Yu offered no further response after accepting it, Ning Tian understood that money alone could not buy him over.

"Might I ask why you set up this arena, Grandmaster Lu?"

"Just helping that little girl up there build some confidence."

"Building confidence through combat? That certainly is a good method, but isn't the oath behind this wager a little excessive? That student only has one Soul Ring, after all. What if she encounters a powerful opponent, loses, and can't enroll?"

Ning Tian looked toward Xiao Xiao. Her Martial Soul and Soul Skills were indeed powerful, but ultimately, she was only a One-Ring Soul Grandmaster. She could still handle ordinary Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters, but against an expert like Wu Feng beside her, there was no way she could win.

"If it were simply about building confidence, winning a few matches would indeed suffice. There would be no need to swear an oath and stake her future."

"But that is how the weak think."

"If you think you'll lose before you even enter the arena, you shouldn't enter in the first place."

Lu Yu spread his hands. "No need to hold back, Young Sect Master Ning. Go ahead and send the girl beside you into the arena. After all, for someone like you, with tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins flowing in and out every second, wouldn't staying here be a complete waste of time?"

"Tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins every second? I'm hardly that wealthy."

"Since you're so confident, Grandmaster Lu, if that student loses, how about letting her join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?"

Ning Tian looked at Xiao Xiao in the arena. Just now, she had defeated several more Soul Grandmasters with ordinary Martial Souls.

If a genius like her joined the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and received its resources and training, she would be every bit as good as Wu Feng beside her.

"Have Xiao Xiao join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect? I can make that decision. And not just for Xiao Xiao-if this girl can defeat her, Yutong and I can join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect as well."

Lu Yu spoke confidently. The bait had been scattered; now it depended on whether the rich girl before him would take it.

"You and she would join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect too?"

Ning Tian began calculating inwardly. Lu Yu did not look like someone who would join the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect for its resources so easily. That meant he was absolutely certain of victory.

His actions looked like a trap laid for her. Should she take it?

"Whatever your conditions are, Grandmaster Lu, please name them."

Without even a second's hesitation, Ning Tian decisively stepped into the trap. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could detect treasures. After these tens of thousands of years of development, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's wealth truly rivaled a nation's. All it lacked now was top-tier fighting strength.

Mere Gold Soul Coins-if she gave them away, so be it. If Xiao Xiao could defeat Wu Feng, then Lu Yu and the others would surely achieve more than Titled Douluos in the future. She could treat it as an investment in the friendship of future Titled Douluos.

Besides, what if? What if Wu Feng defeated Xiao Xiao? Wouldn't that mean...

"If you lose, just give me two Mystic Water Pills."

Ning Tian froze after hearing that.

Two Mystic Water Pills? That was it?

What was the meaning of wagering only two Mystic Water Pills?

Although Mystic Water Pills could improve innate Soul Power, at most they could only raise a Soul Master with rank-one to rank-three innate Soul Power to rank four.

What heir of a major faction had innate Soul Power below rank four?

Their only other effect was raising Soul Power by two ranks within the Soul Grandmaster stage without side effects.

They were merely pills that were produced in small quantities and rather difficult to buy. At ten thousand Gold Soul Coins each, they really were nothing to a major faction.

Was this a louse opening its tiny mouth?

"Two Mystic Water Pills would be far too paltry compared with your talents. How about this? If I lose, I'll give you four."

Ning Tian made an extravagant offer in reverse. What a joke. If the young sect master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect used just two Mystic Water Pills to recruit three geniuses, people would think her sect had run out of money if word got out.

Even if she lost, forty thousand Gold Soul Coins would be a mere sprinkling of water.

"You're actually giving me four Mystic Water Pills? You certainly are generous, Young Sect Master Ning Tian. We should talk more often."

Dealing with the filthy rich really was comfortable. Lu Feng decided that if he found Aromatic Silk Beauty in the future, he could absolutely sell it to Ning Tian. He trusted that the filthy rich would not disappoint him.

To Wu Feng beside her, Ning Tian's lavish scattering of coins looked entirely different.

The young sect master has great faith in my strength. I absolutely won't disappoint her.

Hmph. She looked at Huo Yutong.

A mere Soul Master-don't get smug. Huo Yutong had only managed to restrain her earlier because she had been careless. Once Huo Yutong and the other two joined the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, she would show her what seniority meant.

Under Huo Yutong's puzzled gaze, Wu Feng stepped into the arena.