The Overfamiliar Fan Yu

Fan Yu had thought his luck had been against him this year, but today, he suddenly felt his fortunes turning around.

Although he had lost Zhou Yi, the wife he had once loved, looking back now, she had few merits aside from her pretty face and the way she could trill like an oriole beneath him.

Back then, Fan Yu truly had known next to nothing about anything besides cultivation and researching Soul Tools. That was how Zhou Yi had toyed with him in the palm of her hand.

Now, after experiencing the "painful loss of his beloved," he could see things a little more clearly.

If the Soul Tool Department gained a genius personally chosen by Mu En, and that genius became his disciple, Fan Yu's standing at Shrek Academy would rise with the tide. He might even become the first elder to enter the Sea God Pavilion as a pure Soul Engineer.

His existing personal disciple, He Caitou, did have considerable talent. Though he was a food-type Soul Master, he had a very robust physique and a gift for Soul Tools that surpassed even Fan Yu's own back in the day. The Sea God Pavilion had already tentatively selected him as a candidate for the Ultimate Individual Soldier.

But aside from a few dog-donkeys, who wouldn't want more geniuses in their hands?

So when Fan Yu asked Mu Jin out for a meal, he had also made some roundabout inquiries into Bai Jingtian's habits.

Besides learning some of Bai Jingtian's daily habits, he had received a pleasant surprise: Mu Jin and Bai Jingtian were distant relatives.

Thus, after learning that Bai Jingtian often got up early for morning training, Fan Yu planned to "run into" him one morning and try to recruit him into the Soul Tool Department.

But Fan Yu hadn't expected Ma Xiaotao, the infamously fearsome Flame Maniac of the inner court, to go berserk this morning. And the powerful elders of the inner court seemed to have collectively revealed their hidden crayfish Martial Soul Avatars, paying no attention to what Ma Xiaotao was doing.

Although Bai Jingtian had publicly defeated Zhou Yi, who was also a Soul Emperor, not long ago, Fan Yu could have figured out with his heel that, even at the same Soul Emperor cultivation, an inner court disciple could easily defeat two or three Zhou Yis.

Bai Jingtian was clearly no match for Ma Xiaotao.

Though he had landed a kick to great effect, it had only slowed Ma Xiaotao's assault for a moment, not stopped it completely.

So Fan Yu raised a hand, pulled out a Soul Cannon, and fired at Ma Xiaotao.

Mindful of the Evil Fire Phoenix's fearsome reputation, Fan Yu didn't hold back. His opening shot was a Class 5 Fixed Soul Cannon Shell.

A Class 5 Fixed Soul Cannon Shell packed considerable power and would certainly stop Ma Xiaotao's current assault, but there was no need to worry about it killing her.

After blasting Ma Xiaotao away, Fan Yu fired several ordinary high-explosive shells, driving her back once more. Then he stepped in front of Bai Jingtian himself, shielding him and the two female classmates behind him.

Although Fan Yu carried a long-range Defensive Soul Tool called the Guardian Angel Cannon, he couldn't be certain that Ma Xiaotao, with her Evil Fire erupting, wouldn't be able to destroy it.

One reason the inner court disciples looked down on Soul Tools was that their stats really were high enough to give them solid grounds to scorn most Soul Engineers' Soul Tools.

"Don't worry, Bai Jingtian, and you two freshmen. I'm Fan Yu, director of the Soul Tool Department.

"She's just an inner court disciple of the Martial Soul Department. Watch me use my Soul Tools to knock some sense into her!"

After introducing himself, Fan Yu pulled out several more Soul Tools and subjected Ma Xiaotao to a furious bombardment. The blasts left her unable to tell north from south, and she fell unconscious and plunged into Sea God Lake, leaving only a string of bubbles behind.

"So... this is a Soul Engineer?"

Huo Yutong's eyes widened in surprise. This was the second Soul Douluo powerhouse she had ever seen with her own eyes.

Du Weilun had shown his Soul Rings, but he hadn't displayed any particularly impressive strength.

Fan Yu's performance now, however, had truly opened Huo Yutong's eyes.

In less than ten seconds, Ma Xiaotao, who had come on so fiercely and was ten times more terrifying than Zhou Yi, had become a drowned rat, held up by the ankle in Fan Yu's grip.

Although he seemed to have come for Bai Jingtian, that didn't stop Huo Yutong from beginning to yearn for the Soul Tool Department.

"Honestly, what are those people in the Martial Soul Department doing...? Student Bai Jingtian, are you all right?"

"Director Fan, I'm fine, but why are you here?"

Bai Jingtian looked at the battered Ma Xiaotao and made sure she would surely remain immersed in carefree slumber for a while before meeting Fan Yu's eyes again.

But at this moment, two emotions were mixed in Fan Yu's gaze. One was the same desire Yan Shaozhe had shown to take Bai Jingtian as a disciple. The other...

Sure enough, he wants to become my uncle.

"I heard you're very interested in Soul Tools, Student Bai Jingtian. Would you like to join the Soul Tool Department?"

Fan Yu didn't beat around the bush. As soon as he spoke, he tried to recruit him.

"Director Fan, according to Shrek Academy's rules, outer court disciples can only apply to join the Soul Tool Department starting in their fourth year.

"However, after the freshman assessment, I'll take the Soul Tool Department's courses as electives."

Though he called them electives, Bai Jingtian only wanted to borrow the Soul Tool Department's equipment.

As the saying went, poor students have plenty of stationery. Although Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department couldn't compare to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, it still had every piece of equipment it needed.

And although Bai Jingtian had the boost of the "Blue Scientist" talent and didn't lack the money to buy rare metals, Soul Tools still had to be worked on by hand.

The conditions in Shrek Academy's dorms clearly didn't lend themselves very well to that.

It wasn't that Bai Jingtian couldn't sit on his bed and make Soul Tools with a carving knife and rare metals, but that would create quite a few hygiene and safety hazards. Besides, making Soul Tools right under Wang Dong's nose could easily make her explode on the spot.

If she brought out that unknown power of Tang San within her ahead of time to punish him, his only way to survive would be to use up one of his precious uses of Magnetic Field Haunting.

So Bai Jingtian took advantage of Fan Yu's words to borrow a chicken to lay his eggs.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear. As for the academy's rules, I'll make a suggestion to both deans and the Pavilion Master."

Although Fan Yu hadn't achieved his goal outright, he had still gained something.

Just then, the people from the inner court finally arrived. At their head, Yan Shaozhe saw Ma Xiaotao dangling upside down by her ankle from Fan Yu's hand, and his expression immediately turned extremely ugly.

The good news was that Ma Xiaotao's uncontrollable Evil Fire outbreak this time didn't seem to have caused many casualties among the outer court disciples. The cleanup afterward probably wouldn't require everyone to toil and strain.

The bad news was that someone from the Soul Tool Department had stopped Ma Xiaotao—and it was none other than its director, Fan Yu.

"Dean Yan, you certainly got here fast. You nearly let my nephew get burned to death.

"I used quite a few Stationary Soul Tools to stop her, so naturally you should pay for them, right?

"And there's my nephew's compensation for emotional distress. You can decide how much to give him."

Fan Yu tossed Ma Xiaotao at Yan Shaozhe and made his suggestions in a measured tone.