Dragon horns?
When the Class Nine students who had initially held Nan Zhuliu in some disdain heard those two words, their gazes turned serious as they looked at him again, with a little wariness mixed in.
It was not because they could see dragon horns up close, but because they had read between the lines of Mu Jin's words and realized that Nan Zhuliu was no ordinary character.
Dragons-almost any Martial Soul associated with that word, so long as it did not undergo an irreversible negative mutation, was usually far more powerful than most of the Martial Souls present.
Among those varied gazes was one with a deep, burning intensity.
Nan Zhuliu turned to look. It belonged to a very pretty little girl with neat, short golden hair. Her large, watery-blue eyes lent her gaze a certain aloofness, while the little freckles on either cheek gave her a mischievous look somewhat at odds with her demeanor.
Ning Tian.
The name instantly sprang into Nan Zhuliu's mind.
Nan Zhuliu took just one look before withdrawing his gaze.
Soon, the first lesson of the school year passed uneventfully.
When morning classes let out, Nan Zhuliu saw Huo Lingtong leaving with an old woman. Presumably, Zhou Yi had dragged her off to the Soul Tool Department.
"Hey."
Wang Dong came up to Nan Zhuliu and said somewhat awkwardly, "Huo Lingtong was called to the homeroom teacher's office. She asked me to tell you to go on ahead."
"Okay, thanks."
Seeing that Nan Zhuliu not only did not head straight for the cafeteria but was walking against the crowd, Wang Dong froze for a moment. "Where are you going?"
"To collect a debt."
He had hit a little hard yesterday, but Xu Sanshi should have woken up by now. Naturally, he was going to collect the three Mysterious Water Pills that belonged to him.
After asking an upper-year student in a black uniform and learning that Xu Sanshi should be taking his advancement assessment in the Beast Dueling Area, Nan Zhuliu turned and headed straight there.
The Beast Dueling Area.
Xu Sanshi moved his weak, aching body a little and immediately grimaced in pain.
That kid really had hit hard. Had Xu Sanshi not been a cut above his opponent, he would almost have fallen to a Soul Beast with all these injuries.
"Class monitor, someone's looking for you."
Xu Sanshi was a little puzzled. All the Class Two students were in the Beast Dueling Area. Who could be looking for him?
The student delivering the message glanced at him cautiously, his voice growing quieter and quieter. "It's that first-year junior."
Clearly, this student had also been among the many spectators at yesterday's positively theatrical soul duel.
The corners of Xu Sanshi's mouth twitched. He had already guessed why Nan Zhuliu had come looking for him.
But just as he had said yesterday, a true man knew when to bend and when to stand tall.
Xu Sanshi started toward the entrance to the Soul Dueling Area.
Two people stood outside the entrance to the Soul Dueling Area. One was Nan Zhuliu, while the other also wore a white first-year uniform and had an unusual matching shade of pinkish blue for both hair and eyes.
Seeing Xu Sanshi come out, Nan Zhuliu beckoned. His meaning was obvious.
Xu Sanshi took out a small porcelain bottle and drew a deep breath. "I was out of line yesterday..."
Nan Zhuliu took the little porcelain bottle and swept it with his divine sense.
Discovering that it contained not just three Mysterious Water Pills but a full five, he could not help feeling a little surprised.
Surprised though he was, since Xu Sanshi had handed them over, there was no problem. Once they left his hands, the responsibility was his.
Nan Zhuliu had no time to listen to Xu Sanshi ramble. Once he had the Mysterious Water Pills, he turned and left, leaving Xu Sanshi, who had spent the entire walk rehearsing a whole speech in his head, speechless and silenced.
He was a genius, after all. A little arrogance was perfectly normal.
That was the only way Xu Sanshi could console himself.
Wang Dong leaned over and asked curiously, "What's in there?"
"Mysterious Water Pills. Want any? I can sell you a few."
The primary function of Mysterious Water Pills was to cleanse the sinews and marrow, followed by a slight increase in a soul master's Soul Power.
Judging by how Xu Sanshi still carried a few around at his cultivation level, they could still have some effect on a Soul Elder, but overall, they were not much use to Nan Zhuliu.
He had asked Xu Sanshi for three because, aside from one intended for Huo Lingtong, he had mostly wanted to sell the remaining two for money.
Hearing Nan Zhuliu's words, Wang Dong nearly spat out a mouthful of water. "These are Mysterious Water Pills worth ten thousand gold! You're just going to sell them like that?"
"They're no use to me. Why can't I sell them?"
Nan Zhuliu's voice was calm, as though he were discussing something utterly trivial.
Wang Dong hesitated awkwardly. "Thirty thousand gold soul coins. Sell me one."
Although Mysterious Water Pills could be said to work better the worse a soul master's talent was, their ability to slightly increase Soul Power was still very friendly to a lazy bum like Wang Dong.
Wang Dong was so lazy that even the two deputy sect masters currently in charge of the Clear Sky Sect could do nothing about her. They could only tell her to buy any treasures that could increase Soul Power whenever she came across them. Their family was not short of money.
Mysterious Water Pills had mild medicinal properties, so taking any number of them would not affect one's foundation. Add to that Wang Dong's deep pockets, and naturally, she would buy them whenever they were available.
"Fifty thousand."
"Wow, you're way too greedy! Mysterious Water Pills cost thirty thousand gold soul coins at most on the market, and you're asking for fifty thousand right off the bat. That's a whole twenty thousand gold soul coins more!"
Nan Zhuliu gave her an indifferent glance. "I'll give you thirty thousand gold soul coins. If you can buy me one, I'll sell you mine for twenty thousand."
Wang Dong smiled sheepishly. How could she not know that the issue with pills like these was not the price, but that they had a price and no supply? "Fine, fifty thousand it is."
"Money in one hand, goods in the other."
"I don't have that much cash on hand right now. Give me a few days."
Nan Zhuliu suddenly stopped and said seriously, "I still have a few more. Why don't you buy them all?"
Wang Dong sneered repeatedly. "You're taking me for a sucker, aren't you?"
Nan Zhuliu turned and walked away. "Forget it if you don't want them. I'll find someone else."
"...How many?"
"Three."
Wang Dong gritted her teeth. "Fine. Just you wait."
"Please don't say something so open to interpretation. My fists will get thirsty."
Estimating that there was still some time before class, Nan Zhuliu picked up his uniform jacket and left the dorm room with Wang Dong.
Just as he left the dormitory building, Nan Zhuliu spotted Huo Lingtong standing in the dormitory lobby, seemingly waiting for someone.
Seeing Nan Zhuliu, Huo Lingtong immediately came over. "Sorry, Zhuliu. As soon as class ended, Teacher Zhou called me to her office to ask me some questions, then took me to the Soul Tool Department. It took ages before I could come back."
Nan Zhuliu nodded. "I saw."
"I've heard about that Teacher Zhou from other senior students too. Apparently, she often expels students who won't obey her using all sorts of reasons."
Wang Dong complained weakly, "We've already experienced her thunderous methods. This morning alone, she expelled nine people from Class One for not finishing a hundred laps."
At the mention of that morning, Huo Lingtong still felt a lingering fear. Fortunately, she had barely managed to finish at the very last moment.
"And precisely because of that, every class she teaches ends up with the highest elimination rate. Although their assessment pass rate is high too, that's only relative to the tiny number of students she has left."