Reaching a Consensus

"Your teacher has already settled the terms with Sister Chang Li. Sister Jing Liu will help purge the evil fire from your body in three days. When that happens, you won't have to endure its torment any longer," Keqing said with a smile.

As she watched the red-haired girl silently drinking fish soup before her, Keqing could not help but feel a surge of admiration.

From Lu Jingming, she had learned about the nature of the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao—it was a flame capable of stirring up a person's primal desires.

Ma Xiaotao's ancestor, Ma Hongjun, had needed to constantly vent his desires from a young age to ease the pain caused by this evil fire. He changed girlfriends one after another, all because they could not endure the intense demands triggered by Ma Hongjun's evil fire and chose to leave him.

The evil fire Ma Xiaotao endured was no less severe than Ma Hongjun's—if anything, it was even stronger.

Yet she had stubbornly borne it through sheer force of will.

Ever since her martial soul awakened, she had remained true to herself, keeping herself pure and never losing her way or falling into depravity because of the desires brought on by the evil fire.

In terms of unwavering willpower alone, she far surpassed her own ancestor.

It was precisely for this reason that Keqing held a great deal of affection for Ma Xiaotao.

Keqing herself was an exceptionally disciplined person, and she admired those who possessed equally strong self-control.

That was also why she had taken the initiative to care for Ma Xiaotao.

After all, the City Lord's Mansion never lacked maids. The people of Haiyuan City regarded it as an honor to send their daughters there to serve.

Clang! Clang!

Two crisp metallic collisions rang out across the training ground. The longsword in Lu Jingming's hand became a series of afterimages as it shot toward Jing Liu in a fierce barrage.

Every strike was swift as lightning, its sword wind howling as though it would tear through the air.

Yet Jing Liu remained calm. Holding her sword in one hand, she effortlessly received every one of Lu Jingming's attacks.

Whenever the two swords met, brilliant sparks burst through the air like dazzling fireworks blooming in the night sky.

Lu Jingming's offensive surged like a tide, one exquisite sword technique after another emerging without end. His body flickered through the field as sword qi flowed continuously around him, while the powerful shockwaves he raised crashed brutally into the training ground like raging waves.

Though the ground had been meticulously forged from Soul Guiding Metal and was incomparably hard, it was still carved with startling white marks beneath the ravages of the sword qi.

Although Lu Jingming used every ounce of his strength and displayed the swordsmanship he had learned to its fullest, Jing Liu continued to handle him with ease.

Every swing of her sword was perfectly timed, as though she had merged with her surroundings. Every movement carried the bearing of a grandmaster.

Just as Lu Jingming's old strength ran out and his new strength had yet to rise, a cold glint flashed in Jing Liu's eyes, and the longsword in her hand thrust out like lightning.

Lu Jingming only saw a flash of cold light before his body froze. The sword tip had already stopped in front of him, less than an inch from his throat.

Looking at the glinting sword tip before him, Lu Jingming helplessly raised both hands in surrender. Yet his face still wore a playful grin as he said, "As expected of Teacher Jing Liu. Your swordsmanship is unmatched in the world! Even without using Soul Power, you can defeat me so easily."

"I am not The Great Black Tower. Also, you've been slacking off lately." Jing Liu did not respond much to Lu Jingming's flattery, merely offering a calm assessment, though there was a faint severity in her tone.

Lu Jingming smiled awkwardly upon hearing that.

He knew that he had indeed been lax in his swordsmanship training lately, clearly spending less time on it.

But it could not be helped. He still had many matters to plan and arrange in advance, and there were only so many things he could handle at once.

Jing Liu naturally knew what had been keeping Lu Jingming busy lately. She nodded slightly and said evenly, "No matter how much you plan, when the crucial moment comes, you will ultimately have to rely on your own strength."

Lu Jingming nodded in deep agreement.

He understood that principle, so he had already decided to hand off the matters at hand to others and devote himself fully to cultivation, striving to increase his strength.

After all, he possessed True Authority. He could safely entrust matters to those he trusted absolutely.

At that moment, Zhang Lexuan approached with light steps, holding an exquisite handkerchief in her hand.

She gently wiped the fine beads of sweat from Lu Jingming's forehead and said softly, "Sister Chang Li has finished negotiating with that Dean Yan."

"Is that so? In that case, the rest is up to you, Teacher." Lu Jingming showed no surprise upon hearing the news.

He knew very well that, in order to resolve the evil fire in Ma Xiaotao's body, Yan Shaozhe would most likely agree as long as their terms were not excessively harsh and did not endanger Shrek Academy's fundamental interests.

Since Yan Shaozhe had already agreed to their conditions, it was now Jing Liu's turn to act.

Having just gone through an intense session of swordsmanship training, Lu Jingming was already drenched in sweat.

He returned to his residence, took a comfortable bath, and changed into clean, neat clothes before heading to the reception hall with Zhang Lexuan and Jing Liu.

There, they met Yan Shaozhe once again.

Seeing Lu Jingming and the others arrive, Yan Shaozhe revealed a satisfied smile and said, "City Lord Lu, I agree to the three conditions you proposed on behalf of Shrek Academy. When will you be able to purge the evil fire from my disciple?"

The three conditions Chang Li had discussed with Yan Shaozhe were all within Shrek Academy's acceptable range. There had been no outrageous demands, which left Yan Shaozhe quite satisfied.

The first condition was that Shrek Academy provide two places to cultivate beneath the Sea God Island Golden Ancient Tree for one year.

At Shrek Academy, the opportunity to cultivate beneath the Sea God Island Golden Ancient Tree was exceedingly rare. Normally, only inner courtyard disciples were qualified to receive such an opportunity even once, and most disciples could only cultivate there for a few months.

However, as a member of the Sea God Pavilion and the dean of the martial soul department, Yan Shaozhe held a certain degree of decision-making authority and could still meet this request.

Moreover, once the evil fire problem in Ma Xiaotao's body was resolved, Shrek Academy would very likely be able to cultivate another Sea God Pavilion Pavilion Master with an ultimate attribute.

One had to know that the previous Sea God Pavilion Pavilion Master in Shrek Academy's history who possessed an ultimate attribute had been a legendary figure.

Four thousand years ago, when the Sun Moon Continent collided with the Douluo Continent and the Sun Moon Empire invaded the Douluo Continent, the Original Three Douluo Kingdoms suffered defeat after defeat. He led over a hundred immensely powerful Titled Douluo to successfully defeat the mighty Sun Moon Empire, turning the tide and propelling Shrek Academy to unprecedented heights of glory.

It was also that Sea God Pavilion Pavilion Master with an ultimate attribute who forced the Sun Moon Empire to cede territory and pay reparations, renaming the Sun Moon Continent as the Douluo Continent.