During Shrek's second morning class, an uninvited visitor arrived at Qian Duoduo's office.
"So that's what happened this morning."
After hearing the other party out, Qian Duoduo nodded and asked:
"So, Yan Shaozhe, what did you come to me for?"
"You know perfectly well." Standing before him, Yan Shaozhe sneered. "Old Qian, that wasn't very decent of you, taking in an unprecedented genius like this behind my back!"
Yan Shaozhe was truly in a foul mood.
When he learned that morning that Ma Xiaotao had lost control and gone berserk, his heart had leaped into his throat, terrified that she would fall.
Only after receiving the report that there had been no casualties did he breathe a sigh of relief.
What a blessing. It seemed Xiaotao wouldn't become an Evil Soul Master anytime soon.
Then he was told that Ma Xiaotao had offended an unprecedented genius.
At first, he hadn't believed it.
He knew exactly how strong Ma Xiaotao was. When she went berserk without regard for anything, her strength was no less than a Soul Saint's, and her offensive power came close to a Soul Douluo's. And they were saying a Soul Elder had taken her down in single combat?
Was this a joke?
Yet after sending people to investigate, he had to admit that this boy might indeed possess that strength.
Lin Xi hadn't deliberately concealed his information. After all, he knew concealment was pointless. If a major power wanted to investigate him, there was no way he could hide it as he was now.
Now Yan Shaozhe couldn't sit still.
This wasn't someone the simple word "genius" could adequately describe.
Ma Xiaotao's talent was enough to establish her as Shrek's greatest genius beneath Zhang Lexuan. What, then, did that make Lin Xi, who had crushed her head-on?
Lin Xi was a full six years younger than Ma Xiaotao!
Forget Ma Xiaotao-even Zhang Lexuan, no, even those predecessors with ultimate martial souls in Shrek's history hadn't achieved anything like this.
In his excitement, Yan Shaozhe had intended to simply grant Lin Xi core disciple status, only to be told that someone had beaten him to it.
Lin Xi already held the status of a core disciple of the Soul Tool Department.
That left him utterly dumbfounded.
Why had those fellows acted so quickly?
He hadn't heard a single thing about Lin Xi before this, and they had already seized the initiative?
That wouldn't do.
So, after reading through the information on Lin Xi, Yan Shaozhe had rushed straight over to Qian Duoduo without stopping.
He couldn't allow Lin Xi to develop in the Soul Tool Department.
Putting an unprecedented genius like this in the Soul Tool Department was far too wasteful.
Qian Duoduo yawned.
"Sorry, Old Yan. I'd love to help a brother out, but this isn't something I can decide."
Yan Shaozhe narrowed his eyes in displeasure.
"You're the vice dean of the Soul Tool Department. What could possibly be beyond your authority?"
"Haha, that's true enough, but Old Yan." Qian Duoduo crossed one leg over the other and said smugly, "This student named Lin Xi came to us himself and asked to become a disciple of the Soul Tool Department. We have to respect a student's wishes, don't we?"
He had long since discussed with Xian Lin'er and Fan Yu what they should say if Yan Shaozhe came demanding the boy.
After all, anyone who wasn't blind could see Lin Xi's talent. At the latest, the freshman assessment three months from now would bring him into the Martial Soul Department's sights.
When that happened, the Martial Soul Department would absolutely stop at nothing to snatch him away. That went without saying.
They were already preparing to make Lin Xi the main candidate for the ultimate individual soldier plan. How could they simply let the Martial Soul Department take him away like this?
In response, Yan Shaozhe merely scoffed.
"Heh, Old Qian, don't play dumb with me. You must have offered him some benefits before he agreed to join your Soul Tool Department, right? That doesn't prove anything."
Anyone who knew even a little about Shrek knew which was superior, the Martial Soul Department or the Soul Tool Department. Never mind not approaching the Martial Soul Department-he had gone straight to the Soul Tool Department?
Yan Shaozhe didn't believe it for a second.
However, Qian Duoduo sighed.
"No, Yan Shaozhe, you really have misunderstood this. We didn't give him any benefits."
"...?"
"Believe it or not, it's the truth. We're troubled by it too."
Under Yan Shaozhe's suspicious gaze, Qian Duoduo scratched his chin glumly.
He genuinely wasn't lying. Lin Xi really hadn't asked the Soul Tool Department for any benefits.
Getting Huo Yutong admitted didn't count at all. She was already rank sixteen herself; all she lacked was a city lord's recommendation letter. That heaven-defying Soul Skill of hers was more than enough to make up for that shortcoming.
In other words, Lin Xi had essentially received no benefits at all before settling into the Soul Tool Department.
This left Qian Duoduo deeply uneasy.
For an exceptional genius like Lin Xi, who had only just enrolled, emotional attachment and the like meant nothing. Only benefits could keep him there.
Yet he acted as though he wanted nothing, leaving the Soul Tool Department's three big shots with no idea what he wanted.
This was also one of the reasons they had decided so quickly to arrange for Lin Xi to join the ultimate individual soldier plan.
What they didn't know was that Lin Xi was deliberately refraining from asking them for anything.
He knew full well that debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay, so he had intentionally avoided owing Shrek any favors.
After all, there was absolutely no way he would remain at Shrek Academy in the future. When he left, at least neither side should owe the other anything.
This had nothing to do with benefits or anything of the sort. It was his principle for dealing with the world.
But Yan Shaozhe certainly didn't believe it.
In his view, the only reason Lin Xi wasn't asking for benefits was that he thought little of the Soul Tool Department's meager resources.
His Martial Soul Department could offer far more than the Soul Tool Department.
Leaving everything else aside, could the Soul Tool Department afford to give him hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings and Soul Bones?
His Martial Soul Department could!
For someone like Lin Xi, who had the potential to become the next Sea God Pavilion Master, any amount of resources spent nurturing him would be worth it.
He narrowed his eyes and asked:
"Old Qian, I'll ask you one last time. Are you willing to let our Martial Soul Department have this student named Lin Xi?"
Qian Duoduo's expression turned serious.
"Don't even think about it."
"Very well." Yan Shaozhe nodded lightly. "Then I'll see you at the Sea God Pavilion Meeting."
He was ninety percent confident about this.
Twelve years old, with Soul Saint-level combat strength-this was unprecedented. He trusted what choice the elders would make.
Qian Duoduo also drew a deep breath.
"You think I'm afraid of you?"
He knew the moment that would decide victory or defeat had arrived.
Unlike Yan Shaozhe, Qian Duoduo wasn't entirely confident.
In truth, he hadn't expected this day to come so quickly either. They had originally anticipated Lin Xi being exposed three months from now, or a week from now at the very earliest.
Yet Ma Xiaotao had drastically shortened the time they had to prepare.
As a result, they now had far fewer cards to play than expected.
But they couldn't back down.
If they backed down, Yan Shaozhe really would snatch Lin Xi away.
Their Soul Tool Department had waited for these talents like people yearning for the stars and the moon, and had finally managed to pick up two geniuses. How could they simply hand one over to the Martial Soul Department?
And so, on just the second day of the semester, a Sea God Pavilion Meeting was convened because of an accident.
All to fight over a single first-year student.