The three fell silent once more.
The same question swirled in each of their minds.
What force could nurture such a monster?
The Heaven Dou Imperial Family?
Unlikely.
Spirit Hall?
Never heard of such a person.
The Clear Sky Sect had long since closed its doors.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was even less plausible—their methods were completely incompatible with this.
It made no sense.
Ning Fengzhi was the first to emerge from his contemplation.
“Is there more?”
The young Soul Master looked up.
“Yes.”
His voice began to tremble again.
“After being thoroughly impressed by those Soul Skill demonstrations, the young lady agreed to continue as that person’s disciple.
Then, that person deduced a method for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to advance into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.”
Three gazes focused intently once more.
The young Soul Master’s throat tightened.
“The result of that person’s deduction was to seek a certain Immortal Herb.”
He forced the name from his lips.
“Kira Tulip.”
A pause.
“It was said that after ingesting it, one’s innate talent could be directly enhanced, allowing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to evolve into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.”
He finished.
This time, the silence that fell upon the great hall was longer than any before.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
No one spoke.
Ning Fengzhi slowly raised his hand.
“You may leave.”
The young Soul Master felt as if granted amnesty, bowing deeply before retreating from the hall.
The heavy doors closed behind him with a low, muffled thud.
Only the three remained inside.
“Kira Tulip.” Ning Fengzhi repeated the five words softly.
“Has either of you heard of it?”
Gu Rong shook his head.
Chen Xin also shook his head.
“Nonsense.” Gu Rong was the first to voice his opinion.
He crossed his astonishingly long, skeletal arms, his gaunt face etched with disdain.
“What Immortal Herb could make a Martial Soul advance?
Someone’s trying to pull a scheme on us.
I’ve lived over ninety years, and I’ve never even heard of such a thing, let alone seen it.”
“Nor have I.” Chen Xin rarely agreed with Gu Rong, but this time he did.
His silver hair swayed slightly as he spoke with certainty.
“No historical texts have ever recorded any external object capable of causing a Martial Soul to undergo a fundamental transformation.
If such a thing existed, it would have spread across the entire continent long ago.”
Ning Fengzhi did not respond immediately.
He tapped his fingers on the armrest three times.
The rhythm was slow.
“Kira Tulip.” He repeated it once more.
“These five words don’t sound like a name casually made up.”
Gu Rong frowned.
“You believe it?”
“I didn’t say I believe it.” Ning Fengzhi narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze flickering in the candlelight.
“I said it doesn’t sound made up.
When ordinary people spin lies, they either speak vaguely without giving specific names, or they use a known treasure to intimidate.
He gave an extremely specific name that no one has ever heard of.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“A swindler usually wouldn’t do that.
Because specific things are the easiest to verify.”
Chen Xin’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.
Ning Fengzhi continued, “I will look into ancient texts later.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s library holds many fragmented scrolls passed down from antiquity.
Perhaps we can find some clues there.”
He then shifted the topic.
“But that is not the most urgent matter.”
His gaze swept over Chen Xin and Gu Rong.
“The most pressing issue at hand is how to deal with Rongrong’s newly acknowledged master.”
Gu Rong snorted coldly.
“What’s there to deal with?
Just go and drag the person here.
If they won’t talk, beat them until they do.”
“Old Bone, you are reckless.” Chen Xin spoke calmly.
“Who are you calling reckless?” Gu Rong glared over.
Chen Xin ignored him, turning to Ning Fengzhi.
“What is your meaning, Fengzhi?”
Ning Fengzhi’s fingers stilled.
“That young man’s origins are unknown, but his abilities have already proven to be not weak.
He actively approached Rongrong, his purpose unclear.”
His voice lowered slightly.
“But one thing is certain.
Regardless of his background, Rongrong now has a master-disciple relationship with him.
If there truly is some major force standing behind him, acting rashly might only alert the enemy.”
“So we just watch idly?” Gu Rong’s voice rose again.
“Of course not.” Ning Fengzhi’s index finger tapped one final time.
“We must be swift.
We must ascertain his background face-to-face before he can react.”
He turned to Gu Rong.
“Uncle Bone, you will go.”
A faint, inscrutable smile surfaced on Gu Rong’s withered face.
“Travel overnight to Suotuo City.” Ning Fengzhi’s voice held no emotion.
“Meet that young man in person.
Probe him if you can, see through him if possible.
If you discover any sinister forces behind him, eliminate them directly.”
He paused for a beat.
“Rongrong’s safety is the first priority.”
Gu Rong stretched lazily.
His two-and-a-half-meter-tall frame unfurled, joints emitting a series of crisp cracking sounds.
“Should have said that sooner.”
He tilted his head, working his neck, a layer of near-bloodthirsty excitement rising on his gaunt face.
“Just as well, this old man’s hands have been itching for a while.”
“Don’t hurt Rongrong,” Chen Xin added, eyes closed.
“Nonsense.” Gu Rong rolled his eyes at him and turned to stride toward the hall doors.
That astonishing skeletal frame took its first step.
His foot had not yet settled.
“Uncle Bone.” Ning Fengzhi’s voice came from behind.
Gu Rong’s step halted for an instant.
He turned his head slightly, revealing only half of his withered profile.
Ning Fengzhi stood before the Sect Master’s seat, candlelight casting from behind him, enveloping his face in the boundary between warm light and shadow.
His eyes were calm, unfathomable.
“What if what that young man said is true?”
Gu Rong was taken aback.
“Then it’s even more imperative to figure him out.”
He grinned.
That smile would likely frighten a young person unconscious on the spot.
“Someone who can make the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda become Nine Treasures…
either becomes our friend.”
He pushed open the hall doors.
Night wind poured into the great hall, making the drapes flap loudly.
Gu Rong’s two-and-a-half-meter-tall figure stood in the doorway, backlit by the candlelight inside, his voice somewhat scattered by the wind.
“Or he shouldn’t live.”
The door closed behind him.
Only Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin remained in the hall.
Chen Xin’s eyes were closed, a faint curve at the corner of his mouth.
“Fengzhi.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe that matter about the Immortal Herb?”
Ning Fengzhi did not answer.
He walked back and sat in the Sect Master’s seat, leaning into the chairback, crossing his hands before him, his fingers slowly tapping the armrests.
The candlelight reflected on his face, making the sedimented depth in his eyes even clearer.
“Uncle Sword, let me ask you something.”
Chen Xin lifted an eyelid.
“If it were you, wanting to trick a twelve-year-old girl into becoming your disciple, what method would you use?”
Chen Xin remained silent.
“Showing her a few flashy Soul Skills would be enough.” Ning Fengzhi answered himself.
“I know Rongrong’s temperament best.
As long as something is sufficiently novel, sufficiently powerful, she’ll take the bait.
There’s absolutely no need to additionally fabricate something about Seven Treasures becoming Nine Treasures.”
Ning Fengzhi paused, his gaze sharpening.
“That young man has already won Rongrong over by demonstrating his Soul Skill.
After that, he still proactively offered to help Rongrong deduce a method for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to advance.”
Ning Fengzhi tapped his index finger on the armrest once.
“Unnecessary.
Unless he truly knows.”
“It could also be bait to hook you.”
“That’s possible,” Ning Fengzhi admitted frankly.
“But if it really is bait for me, then what he offers can’t be fake.
Bait that’s too fake won’t catch fish.”
The hall fell quiet again.
The candle flames flickered twice.
Chen Xin suddenly let out a soft laugh.
That laugh was extremely brief, like the sound of a thin sheet of ice cracking.
“Interesting.”
He stood up.
His snow-white robe fell straight, and his silver hair swayed slightly.
“Regardless of whether it’s true or false, Old Bones will go there.
We’ll have an answer by tomorrow.”
He walked toward the hall’s entrance.
As he passed by Ning Fengzhi’s side, his steps paused for a moment.
“Don’t worry.
Rongrong will be fine.”
Ning Fengzhi looked up at Chen Xin’s profile.
The candlelight cast half his face, as delicate as an infant’s, in light and shadow.
“Uncle Sword.”
Chen Xin tilted his head slightly.
“What if Uncle Bones finds that the young man isn’t an enemy?”
Chen Xin didn’t turn back.
“Then we’ll see if he’s worthy of being Rongrong’s master.”
His figure disappeared beyond the hall’s entrance.
Only Ning Fengzhi remained in the great hall.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze passing through the empty hall to land on the painting hanging on the opposite wall.
It depicted a seven-story glazed pagoda, its body radiant with flowing light, but its top was blank.
That painting had hung there for a thousand years.
Every generation of sect masters had looked at it, thinking the same thing.
Ning Fengzhi tapped his finger on the armrest one last time.
“Kira Tulip.”
He uttered these five words for the third time.
His voice was so low only he could hear it.
Then he rose and walked toward the library behind the Sect Master’s Hall.
The sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty hall for a long time before fading away.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Suotuo City.
Inside a bedroom of a three-courtyard mansion.
Yang Xing turned over amidst the circle of sixteen maidservants, the golden credit card under his pillow poking the back of his head.
Groggily, he pulled out the card and changed its position, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.
Then he went back to sleep.
Completely unaware that at this very moment, a skeletal figure two and a half meters tall was treading through the night, streaking toward Suotuo City at the extreme speed of a Titled Douluo.
…
When Ning Rongrong arrived at Shrek Academy, the registration line was already very long.
She truly hadn’t expected this so-called academy to be just a village.
A dilapidated wooden fence surrounded a few crooked wooden huts.
If not for the old man sitting at a table by the entrance, she would have thought she’d come to the wrong place.
But Ning Rongrong didn’t disdain it for long.
Ever since leaving Yang Xing’s shabby house and traveling this stretch, she had been using the Wind-Queen’s Mystic Gate to experiment with altering the friction of the ground beneath her feet and the air resistance.
It was like gliding along an invisible slide over the ground, nearly twice as fast as an ordinary horse-drawn carriage.
Although her control was still clumsy and the consumption significant, the feeling of manipulating the changes of all things was simply too exhilarating.
Ning Rongrong stood in line, watching as the father of a boy ahead of her tried to get a refund because he thought the ten Gold Spirit Coin registration fee was too expensive.
He was scared out of his wits when a tall, golden-haired youth with sinister eyes released three Soul Rings.
She curled her lip in disdain.
A shabby academy, yet it still fleeces money mercilessly.
However, what happened next piqued her interest somewhat.
The old man in charge of registration was actually a Soul Emperor above level sixty, and the announced admission conditions were absurdly stringent: under thirteen years old, with Soul Power above level twenty-one.
Only monsters accepted, no ordinary people.
Ning Rongrong’s eyes lit up.
Interesting.
When it was her turn, the old man pinched her hand and let out a soft exclamation the moment he sensed the fluctuation of Soul Power.
She then released her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and two hundred-year Soul Rings rose.
A rare look of surprise appeared on the old man’s face.
“May I ask, have I passed the preliminary test?”
Ning Rong smiled gently and appropriately.
A standard lady persona, fully operational.
What followed went smoothly.
The golden-haired young man named Dai Mubai led her into the academy’s interior.
On the way, she encountered three other examinees who had also been exempted from the second and third tests.
A black-haired youth named Tang San, with the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, level twenty-nine.
A girl named Xiao Wu, with a rabbit Martial Soul, also level twenty-nine.
And a girl named Zhu Zhuqing, who exuded an icy aura all over, with the Hell Civet Martial Soul, level twenty-seven.
Four monsters, gathered at the fourth test.
“Teacher Zhao, I’ve brought people for the fourth test assessment.”