Qian Chen swept his gaze over the Sea God Pavilion members filling the hall and declared, "All right. Thank you for your guarantees, seniors."
He turned toward Yan Shaozhe and deliberately added, "Dean Yan, remember to pick out a top-quality Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone for me."
Yan Shaozhe was feeling pleased just then and immediately waved a hand. "Of course!"
"Good, then it's a deal!"
As his words fell, Qian Chen abruptly circulated his Soul Power. The next instant, a vast, holy presence of light swept through the entire hall. Dazzling golden light shot skyward, so piercing that no one could open their eyes for a moment.
"The Holy Angel Martial Soul! It really is the Holy Angel Martial Soul! You actually have twin Martial Souls!" Cai Mei'er, vice dean of the Martial Soul Department, was the first to cry out involuntarily.
Hearing this, everyone focused their eyes for a closer look. That pure, holy pressure-wasn't it precisely the legendary Holy Angel Martial Soul that restrained all evil!
Qian Chen nodded. "That's right. I do have twin Martial Souls. One is the Seven Kill Sword, and the other is this Holy Angel."
A complicated look flashed through Mu En's eyes. This time, Shrek really had picked up a double-edged sword. He instantly made up his mind: he had to keep Qian Chen at Shrek forever, hone him into the academy's sharpest sword, and ensure that its edge always pointed outward.
Qian Chen continued, "My Holy Angel Martial Soul naturally restrains Evil Soul Masters. What's more, after I kill Evil Soul Masters, the evil power inside them is directly purified by my Angel Martial Soul and converted into my Soul Power, allowing my strength to rise rapidly."
Xuan Zi slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "No wonder! No wonder you volunteered to take on all the Shrek Inspection Corps' missions to exterminate Evil Soul Masters!"
Qian Chen glanced at Xuan Zi and nodded lightly, acknowledging his words.
Beside him, Yan Shaozhe's face had already turned as black as the bottom of a pot. So Qian Chen could increase his cultivation simply by killing Evil Soul Masters, and no one else could possibly learn this method! His Martial Soul Department was going to lose a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone for nothing!
Qian Chen turned toward him just then and stared straight at him. "Dean Yan, when will you give me my Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
Cai Mei'er immediately stood up. "Qian Chen, this doesn't count! We can't learn anything from your method at all, much less compile a cultivation method anyone can use."
Qian Chen turned to the other elders. Everyone in the room fell silent. None of them had expected this outcome.
As Zhang Lexuan watched Yan Shaozhe's ugly expression, Cai Mei'er's on-the-spot reversal, and all the elders playing deaf and dumb, a sharp pain struck her heart. How could the teachers and elders she normally respected go back on their word? At that moment, she even began to question what the honor Shrek always spoke of actually meant.
Zhang Lexuan abruptly rose to her feet. "Qian Chen, perhaps the Martial Soul Department really doesn't have any Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones in reserve right now. Take my Hundred-Thousand-Year Saber-Toothed Tiger King left arm bone first."
As she spoke, she took the Soul Bone straight out of her Storage Soul Tool, held it in her palm, and offered it to Qian Chen.
"Yan Shaozhe, how many times have I told you? You forget greater principles at the sight of petty gains, look forward and backward in everything you do, and waver indecisively. With that disposition, you'll suffer a great loss sooner or later." Mu En's aged voice suddenly rang through the hall.
Rebuked mercilessly by his teacher in front of everyone, Yan Shaozhe instantly flushed scarlet and stammered in protest, "Teacher, he played a trick! No one can learn his method!"
Mu En paid him no further attention. His gaze softened as he looked at Qian Chen and beckoned. "Qian Chen, come. Come over here."
Qian Chen walked up to Mu En as instructed and bowed. "Mu En."
Mu En nodded. The next moment, he took a translucent Soul Bone suffused with holy white light from his own Storage Soul Tool. At the sight of it, almost everyone present exclaimed in unison, "Mu En!"
Mu En raised a hand to quiet them. "Qian Chen, Yan Shaozhe is my disciple. Since he made a mistake, I, as his teacher, must naturally bear responsibility for him. Today, I'll give you this hundred-thousand-year Light Heaven Horse left leg bone as his apology to you."
Standing beside him, Yan Shaozhe wished the ground would swallow him. If he had simply handed over the Soul Bone, how would things have come to this? He had failed to keep the Soul Bone and had thoroughly lost face as well. But before his teacher Mu En, he dared not utter even half a word of refusal.
Qian Chen accepted the Soul Bone with both hands and said solemnly, "Thank you for bestowing this Soul Bone on me, Mu En."
Mu En nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly asked, "Qian Chen, do you think I count as a good teacher?"
"Of course."
"Then would you be willing to become my disciple? Killing Evil Soul Masters can indeed increase your Soul Power quickly, but you still have a long road ahead if you want to reach the level of Limit Douluo."
The expressions of Xuan Zi and the other elders all changed, and they hurriedly spoke up. "Mu En, please reconsider! This child has the Holy Angel Martial Soul!"
"That all happened ten thousand years ago. However great the enmity, it should have faded after so long. Besides, Qian Chen isn't just a member of the Qian Family. He's also a descendant of Sword Douluo Chen Xin's Chen Clan, which saved Lord Sea God. If even our predecessors could set aside their grudges and reconcile, why should we cling to the past?" Mu En spoke as magnanimously as he could.
Mu En understood perfectly well that this child, Qian Chen, valued both tangible benefits and kindness. Otherwise, he would not have proposed these conditions to the academy, much less sent Yan Feng to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Mu En immediately decided on a two-pronged approach: use concrete benefits, coupled with the bond between master and disciple, to tie Qian Chen firmly to Shrek.
Qian Chen also knew that, with the status of Mu En's disciple, it would be much easier for him to take charge of the Sea God Pavilion and control Shrek in the future. He immediately bowed. "Yes, I am willing to become your disciple, Mu En!"
"Haha! Good! I never expected that, at my age, I would still take in a disciple with such outstanding talent and character!" Mu En laughed heartily.
The instant Qian Chen agreed to become his disciple, an Inner Court disciple hurried inside and reported loudly, "Elders, deans! Sect Master Ning of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect has come to visit with his daughter!"
Xuan Zi snorted coldly at the news. "What's he here for? Tell him Shrek has important business today and isn't receiving any visitors!"
Yan Shaozhe did not want the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect disrupting matters at this moment either, and immediately voiced his agreement.
Mu En glanced at Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe again, his tone carrying a measure of disappointment. "Xuan Zi, Yan Shaozhe, what are you doing? Shrek is, ultimately, an academy. Unless the world falls into chaos and the Douluo Continent faces a great calamity, Shrek will always remain neutral. We never refuse admission to disciples of other sects, so naturally, we cannot stop our students from joining other sects either."
Mu En continued, "Qian Chen's Seven Kill Sword already has ties to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. They must have come for Qian Chen. If we prevent them from meeting him, what will the sects of the world think of Shrek? Go invite Sect Master Ning in."
"Yes," everyone replied.
Shrek really knows how to wave the banner of righteousness as a cover! Qian Chen thought. They make everything they say sound unassailable.
Mu En looked at Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe and sighed inwardly. In the end, these two still lacked a little boldness. The sun had long since set on the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. If not for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's exceptional treasure-appraising ability and the sect's enormous wealth, it would have ceased to exist long ago. So what if Ning Yuan came looking for Qian Chen? Qian Chen had already witnessed Shrek's deep foundations. Could he still think highly of a declining Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?
But after another thought, he still gave a solemn order. "From today onward, all information about Qian Chen is to be classified as Shrek's highest secret. Tell that girl Ning Ke'er to keep her mouth shut, and have the people of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect do the same."
"Yes, Mu En!" everyone answered in unison.
Before long, a refined-looking middle-aged man slowly entered the reception hall of the Shrek Inner Court, holding a little girl's hand.