Every day, aside from regular cultivation, these beasts each had a bigger appetite than the last—especially Little Gold. One meat meal from him was at least dozens of times Su Wen's portion. If they kept eating at Aunt Lu's every meal, the inner court cafeteria would be emptied out in a few days.
And even though he had five million gold soul coins in his pocket, at the rate these three cubs ate, in at most half a year he'd have his coffers scrubbed clean.
He didn't go to Old Mu for help.
Instead, he went straight to the head of the Beast-Battling Zone.
It was essentially a kind of foster care.
I'll board my soul beasts with you. You handle hygiene, food, and lodging conditions.
(The academy had poured a lot of money into the Beast-Battling Zone. It covered a large area and even provided special care for high-rank soul beasts, simulating their original habitats—for example, there was a venue replicating the Extreme North just for several Ice Jade Scorpions.)
In turn, those soul beasts could help you handle challenges from students and boost your reputation.
The main story wouldn't kick off for another year anyway. While "sparring," they could also gain real combat experience. They were wild soul beasts to begin with, born with predatory instincts, but they lacked techniques specifically for fighting humans.
A win-win.
Of course, the moment they left the academy, or if there were a fight, Su Wen would take them back. (Because this was his martial soul, once he captured a soul beast, the spirit ball would be linked to it. The spirit ball existed within Su Wen's sea of spirit, so with a single thought, no matter where the beast was, he could summon it through the spirit ball.)
Seeing Elder Gong agree with a broad smile, Su Wen yawned.
…
"Sis Xiaotao, if you want my life just say so. No need to beat around the bush…"
Su Wen's throat bobbed.
He stared at the dish on the table in front of him—string beans stewed with rhino horn—and couldn't help the twitch at the corner of his mouth. The pitch-black rhino horn had been boiled to mush. It was the single horn of the Food-Devouring Rhino, a commonly used great tonic ingredient. But the soup was thick and inky, with who-knew-what thrown in.
On top, the bubbling string beans were clearly tender—which was to say undercooked. Looked like she'd forgotten to add them while cooking and tossed them in at the end.
White steam rose.
An indescribable smell drilled into his nostrils.
Su Wen's face went green.
"How would Sis Xiaotao ever harm you!" Ma Xiaotao rolled her beautiful eyes. "Trust me, this all-around tonic soup was something I simmered with care. It took a whole day. Come on, try it…"
"Where'd you learn this?" Su Wen narrowed his eyes, trying to buy time.
"Don't worry about that—just say, are you eating or not!" Ma Xiaotao turned her head aside, a little guilty.
"I'll try it."
Su Wen said blandly. Under the table, one hand clenched tight. With the other, he picked up the ladle. Under Ma Xiaotao's expectant gaze, he scooped up a single bean. It looked like the only edible thing present. Its full name was earth-crystal string bean, a plant-type soul beast fairly well-known in an eastern province of the Heavenly Soul Empire.
Crunch-crunch.
As Su Wen chewed and swallowed with a blank face, Ma Xiaotao's heart jumped into her throat.
"Is it good?" she asked cautiously.
"You did a good job," Su Wen nodded.
"That's great…" Ma Xiaotao beamed and started to turn to the kitchen to ladle him a big bowl.
"Don't make it again," Su Wen said, stirring the pot of black sludge, a look of utter despair on his face.
Ma Xiaotao: "???"
"…"
"Then eat more~"
Ma Xiaotao sat at the table, propping her chin up, blinking and blinking till her eyelashes were practically brushing Su Wen's face.
"Sigh, Xiao Wen, I've got news on what you asked me to look into." Yan Shaozhe stormed in.
"Jiang Nannan really…"
He caught sight of the all-around tonic soup on the table at a glance, and his expression turned stunned. "Is this for feeding soul beasts?"
He shot Ma Xiaotao a surprised look. "Didn't think you were actually reliable…" He leaned closer, dipped his chopsticks in a little of the broth and sniffed it, then suddenly frowned. "Actually, don't bring this to any soul beasts. This potpourri is way too toxic. Little Gold and the others are only thousand-year soul beasts. Their bodies aren't strong enough—they might not be able to take your cooking."
Su Wen: "…"
Ma Xiaotao: "…"
Su Wen stared at Ma Xiaotao, feeling the hollow weakness of a man who'd just escaped death. "Look into my eyes!"
Guilty, Ma Xiaotao whisked the pot away. "I'll go clean up the back kitchen. You two talk~"
"You ate some?" Yan Shaozhe sidled over and whispered.
"I ate one bean," Su Wen said expressionlessly.
"Shouldn't kill you… no, you'll be fine," Yan Shaozhe said with a sly grin.
Su Wen: "…"
"You said you had news on Jiang Nannan?"
"That's right. I had Du Weilun ask around recently. The child's father passed early. She lives with her mother. Now her mother is critically ill. She's taken leave these past few months and returned to the Heavenly Soul Empire to seek treatment for her."
Su Wen saw a flash of anger in Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
Most likely the teachers at Shrek Academy had hidden this—or rather, hadn't considered it worth mentioning—much less reported it to Du Weilun or him.
"Zhou Yi?" Su Wen raised a brow.
"Hm? How do you know her?" Yan Shaozhe looked flabbergasted.
Su Wen's mouth twitched.
So it really was her…
She was rather notorious in the original, too.
"Not her. It was the homeroom teacher of Class 3, Year 2—Yang He." Yan Shaozhe then shook his head. "Zhou Yi's reputation isn't great, but she does care a lot about outstanding students. After all, that's one of her evaluation metrics." He shot Su Wen a playful look.
"Yang He? Never heard of him," Su Wen shrugged.
"You don't know till you check. The bastard has been lining his pockets with student funds. His family wealth is already over ten million gold soul coins," Yan Shaozhe said coldly, seething.
"Shrek students really are loaded…" Su Wen clicked his tongue in awe.
But he also understood this much:
If not for Yang He being so greedy—using his title as a teacher to extort students while at the same time suppressing Jiang Nannan's petition to the academy so that Yan Shaozhe, Du Weilun, and the others didn't know—most likely the dean wouldn't be this furious.
Students are the root of a school. If you're hacking at the roots, how do you expect the outer court to function?
Give it a few days and he'd be dismissed. Or… disappear.
"There are always bigger fish…"
That was all Su Wen could say.
Yan Shaozhe looked a bit embarrassed too.
After all, the Martial Soul Department was under his full control. For a mistake like this to happen—and right in front of Su Wen…
"Managing the academy is your business for later. The urgent thing is not to let Jiang Nannan go down the wrong path," Su Wen reminded him.
"A girl with no one to rely on, forced onto a crooked road—wouldn't that be all thanks to your Martial Soul Department."
"You brat…"
Yan Shaozhe glared at Su Wen, jaw aching.
"Forget it. Let's take a trip to the Xuanming Sect."
Clearly, as an old fox, looking at the bigger picture, he could see Xuanming Sect's scheme at a glance…
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