'Ahem! It's nothing, you all carry on.'
Gu Rong walked back behind Ning Fengzhi, his face slightly flushed with embarrassment. That Fu Ye—still as shameless as he was twenty years ago!
"Old fox, is there anything else? If not, I'll take her back to the academy."
Hearing Fu Ye's words, Ning Fengzhi could only offer a wry smile.
As the master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, there were only two forces in the world that could make him yield: Spirit Hall and Fu Ye.
He was well aware that the other party was hiding a great secret. But as an old fox—no, a wise man—he knew better than to pry into another's private affairs.
As for where Fu Ye had been these past ten years, he had no intention of asking.
"It's nothing serious. I came mainly to let mother and daughter reunite and catch up. Secondly, I wanted to check on Rongrong's progress."
Fu Ye nodded in acknowledgment but decided to keep his daughter's… or rather, his woman's identity a secret for a little longer.
"Rongrong has been training diligently. Ever since joining Tianshui Academy, she's been working very hard and gets along well with the other girls."
Since Ning Rongrong wanted to surprise her father, Fu Ye didn't reveal that she had already reached level 48 or that her spirit had evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
"That's good, that's good."
Hearing Fu Ye's reassurance, Ning Fengzhi felt much more at ease. After all, with a Ultimate Douluo like Fu Ye as her teacher, he had no reason to worry about Rongrong's safety or education.
In truth, he had initially worried that Rongrong might not get along with her classmates, end up expelled, and come running back home in disgrace to complain.
"I have something interesting here. Take a look. Whether you want to share it with others or not is up to you."
A sly smile tugged at the corner of Fu Ye's lips. After all, Tang San and Tang Chuan currently had no ties to Ning Fengzhi. Otherwise, they would surely have sold these hidden weapons to him at exorbitant prices.
But Fu Ye was different. He directly handed over the blueprints for all the basic mechanical hidden weapons—such as the Silent Sleeve Dart, Godly Zhuge Crossbow, Flying God Claw—along with designs for large-scale lethal weapons like the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus.
To him, these things were practically useless. But for an auxiliary sect like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, they were nothing short of priceless treasures.
Among them were more than a dozen mechanical hidden weapons.
Combined with something like the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus—essentially a high-explosive fragmentation grenade—they would be more than enough to grant the disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect the ability to protect themselves when traveling.
In truth, the combat power scaling in Douluo Continent was rather absurd. In the Soul Land 1, a high-explosive grenade could outright kill a Level 95 Super Douluo.
Yet in Soul Land 3, a Super Douluo could withstand barrages from class 8 fixed soul-guided artillery shells. The power creep was truly beyond reason.
High-explosive grenade damage is greater than Class 8 fixed soul-guided shell?
Then again, it was no wonder the system stated that Soul Land 1, 2, 3 and 4 were four parallel universes. Their power levels were simply incomparable—there was no point in trying.
But he was curious: how could he get to the universe of Soul Land 2?
As far as he knew, this cheat system didn't offer cross-universe travel.
Would he need to raise his spirit power to the level of a God King? Or wait until the story of Soul Land 1 concluded before moving on to other parallel universes? He didn't know.
But as the saying goes, cross that bridge when you come to it.
Just because the option wasn't available now didn't mean it never would be.
Since the system confirmed that this world had neither the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts nor the Silver Dragon King, it stood to reason that a path to Soul Land 2 existed within his cheat system—he just hadn't met the activation conditions yet.
After turning it over in his mind, he finally settled down.
For now, the important thing was to live well in the present. As for the future… he'd leave that to fate.
Noticing that Catgirl was still clinging to her mother, Fu Ye shot her a look that said: 'We're leaving'.
"Mother, I'm sorry… I have to go."
Catgirl understood all too well that she was in no position to defy the masked man before her. Her mother was here too—if she disobeyed, her mother might also suffer.
"No! I just found you, I can't—"
The old woman couldn't bear to let her long-lost daughter leave again. But Catgirl knew she had no choice. If she didn't return to that man soon, her mother would be in danger!
Meanwhile, Ning Fengzhi was completely absorbed in the hidden weapon atlas Fu Ye had given him.
"Thwack."
Fu Ye smacked him lightly on the back of the head.
"Huh? What? What is it?"
Ning Fengzhi looked up in confusion. The moment his eyes landed on Fu Ye, a fiery passion ignited in his gaze.
"Incredible! Truly incredible! Your Excellency Fu Ye, are you truly giving this atlas to me?"
Ning Fengzhi was practically stammering with excitement. One had to understand—he was a man of exceedingly high standards. In his eyes, the mechanical hidden weapons detailed in this atlas were fully capable of killing an unprepared Soul King!
And that final, exquisitely complex hidden weapon… it was likely designed to deal with powerhouses at the Titled Douluo level!
In that moment, he couldn't help but address Fu Ye with utmost respect. Even his breathing grew heavy.
Fu Ye looked at him helplessly, then glanced meaningfully toward Catgirl.
'What I mean is—I'm leaving. Shouldn't you take your people and go too?'
'Sigh…'
Ning Fengzhi took a long, deep breath and finally calmed down.
"I am deeply grateful for your generosity. Should you ever need anything in the future, you need only ask. Whatever I, Ning Fengzhi, possess, I will give it to you without hesitation."
Gu Rong, a blunt and straightforward man, witnessed all of this with confusion. He didn't understand why the Sect Master was so fascinated by these drawings covered in complicated scripts and diagrams.
He didn't get it—but he didn't ask. Asking would only make him look foolish.
By then, Catgirl and the others had also heard Ning Fengzhi's form of address: "Your Excellency."
A Titled Douluo!
"Alright, Little Kitty, it's time to go."
In the afternoon, after returning to Tianshui Academy, the first to notice Fu Ye's return was the young girl Xue Ke. Since she didn't participate in afternoon combat training, she was practicing yoga under the shade of a tree.
It wasn't that Xue Ke wasn't allowed to join—she simply preferred logistical support over direct combat. After consuming the Magic Grass, her talent wasn't far behind that of the Tianshui battle team members.
"Brother Fu Ye!"
Xue Ke, all 1.45 meters of her, dashed over in the blink of an eye and threw herself into Fu Ye's arms like an eager little tiger.
But the scene left the catgirl behind him utterly stunned.
Catgirl: 'Huh? What's going on? This place isn't anything like what I imagined…'
What she had pictured initially: a cage-like room, extravagant furniture, a dark chamber… and herself in chains, becoming a plaything for the other's amusement.
...
"Huh? Brother Fu Ye, why are you wearing the red mask that Sister Yue'er made for you?"
Xue Ke was puzzled. After all, Brother Fu Ye was so handsome—why would he want to hide his face?
"Well, I went out to look around the auction house. Remember, I emptied out your father's 5 billion inventory. It'd be a bit awkward if someone recognized me," Fu Ye explained.
He also wanted to experience what it felt like to be a rich man. This kind of extravagant spending was honestly… pretty satisfying.
"Pfft—he's not my father! He even mortgaged his own daughter to you, Brother Fu Ye."
Xue Ke felt a pang of discomfort at the thought. Her own father had sold her off right in front of the buyer—what girl wouldn't feel upset about that?
But she considered herself lucky. Not only did she know the creditor, but he was also incredibly handsome and gentle.
"Well, your uncle isn't a good guy either. He was disrespectful to your elder sisters and even attacked them. But I heard your eldest brother misses you a lot. Would you like me to take you back to see him sometime?"
Over the past six months, he'd been constantly tangled up with that mischievous girl Qian Renxue. Every time he tried to find Bibi Dong for some… private matters, she was likely to be at the Spirit Hall.
Unlike in the original story, Qian Renxue now treated Bibi Dong like her own sister.
However, after what happened to old man Xue Ye—first because of Fu Ye, and then with the secret poisoning by Dugu Bo—his health had been deteriorating, his body growing weaker by the day.
As a result, Qian Renxue had gradually taken over many of the royal family's affairs.
…
On the other side, inside the Heaven Dou Royal Academy:
The plump Yu Xiaogang was trapped in a dense grove, groaning in pain.
The grove was filled with burly men, all breathing heavily.
"Big bro, this is the Heaven Dou Royal Academy! Isn't it a bit much to dig a tunnel and sneak in like this?"
"Ahem. 20,000 gold soul coins have been transferred."
"Alright, brothers—let's do this!"
It was almost evening. Resentment burned in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. He knew exactly who had sent these men.
"Bibi Dong, I hate you! I hate you!"
But now, he was only a Level 24 Soul Grandmaster with useless soul skills. There was no way he could resist these thugs.
"Hmm? He actually insulted our most respected Pope? He deserves punishment! Third Brother, go shut his mouth!"
Ever since Yu Xiaogang had joined the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he'd been partying day and night—always singing, always dancing.
Whenever they got the chance, this group would sneak in through pre-dug tunnels. Strangely enough, the academy's security never seemed to notice.
But the truth was…
Inside the Central Office of Heaven Dou Royal Academy:
"Old Meng, don't you think what we're doing is a bit… unethical?"
A trace of pity appeared on Bai Baoshan's face.
"Sigh… what choice do we have? The academy can't even afford to pay salaries anymore."
"If that esteemed lady hadn't privately given us a dozen bills, do you think we'd be living this comfortably?" Meng Shenji also wore a helpless expression. There was no other way—she had given them too much.
Besides, he couldn't stand Yu Xiaogang's behavior. The man had no talent, no intelligence, no looks—all he had were connections that got him a teaching position. He really wanted to expel him.
"Old Bai, we're all helpless. As the saying goes, Not even a hero can survive without money. Let's just turn a blind eye and pretend we didn't see anything." Zhi Lin also voiced his stance.
Inside Tianshui Academy:
"Brother Fu Ye, who is she? She's so tall—is she a new sister joining the academy?"
Xue Ke was set down from Fu Ye's arms, then turned her gaze toward the cat-eared girl standing before her.
"Ah? I was…"
The little cat girl looked nervously at the girl in front of her. She could tell the other girl was younger than her, but…
"Well, she's a new member of our Tianshui team's logistics group. Like you, she'll only be responsible for support duties. Didn't your sister Dou Dou go to Spirit City for training? This little one can help share some of your workload."
The logistics work for the Tianshui team mainly involved delivering juice and towels during training, occasionally preparing medicinal baths, and so on.
The rest of the time was spent on their own cultivation, learning massage techniques, and practicing yoga.
After all, they only trained for two hours a day. Handing out juice and towels or helping with medicinal baths wasn't too demanding.
"Really? This girl is joining our logistics team?!"
Xue Ke's eyes sparkled with joy. Logistics work could be boring.
When Dou Dou was around, at least the two of them could chat. But now that Dou Dou had left for Wuhun City, Xue Ke was the only one left—and it was lonely without anyone to talk to.
The petite Xue Ke, only about 1.45 meters tall, walked right up to the cat girl who stood around 1.6 meters. Though shorter, Xue Ke's presence was far more confident.
"Miss, what's your name? I'm Xue Ke, from the Tianshui logistics team. Welcome!"
Faced with such enthusiasm, the cat girl was momentarily stunned, but she eventually stammered out her name:
"My name is Jiang Jing. I'm a slave my master bought from the auction house."
Xue Ke's eyes widened in disbelief. She turned to look at Fu Ye, as if asking for an explanation.
"Well, I did buy her from the Heaven Dou Auction House. But this little one was a bit rebellious earlier, so I gave her a small lesson."
There was no real need to hide it. He hadn't brought it up earlier mostly to spare the cat girl's feelings—after all, entering the academy as a slave wasn't exactly dignified.
But since she mentioned it herself, Fu Ye saw no reason to cover for her.
"Ah? So you were bought by Brother Fu Ye too?!"
Xue Ke grew even more excited. After all, she herself had been bought!
Fu Ye's face darkened at her words. This girl really had no filter—she made him sound like some kind of human trafficker who specialized in abducting young girls.
'Huh??? What did she mean too?'
The cat girl was also stunned. What did she mean by also?
"Hehe, to tell you the truth, I was also bought by Brother Fu Ye! My old man owed him money, so he used me to pay off a debt of 500 million gold soul coins. How much did Brother Fu Ye pay for you?"
...
Xue Ke, ever the heaven-defier, spoke with her trademark audacity.
"I— I— I—"
The little cat girl, Jiang Jing, stammered "I" three times in a row, but couldn't bring herself to say a fourth word.
'No, sister… you've been mortgaged for 500 million gold soul coins. Is that really something to be proud of?'
Fu Ye: 'Did I do something wrong? Why is this little girl's train of thought so bizarre now?'
That's right. Fu Ye was speechless—truly, utterly speechless.
Xue Ke: 'I'm worth 500 million! I'm proud! How much are you worth?'
"I… I was bought by my master for 3.5 million gold soul coins."
Helpless. Very, extremely helpless.
The little cat girl had never encountered anything so outrageous before. Right now, she was thinking that all the girls here must have been bought from outside by the man in the red mask.
"Alright, you little troublemaker, always causing me headaches. Fine, I'll leave it to you to teach this little kitty a thing or two."
Fu Ye pinched her delicate, lovely cheeks, but Xue Ke took the chance to remove the mask from his face.
"Mwah!"
Without any warning, she leaned in and gave him a kiss.
"Hehe, don't worry, Brother Fu Ye! Xue Ke will complete the mission!"
With the mask off, the seal was lifted. The immortal like appearance bestowed by the system was no joke.
"Good. Take good care of her. If this little cat girl doesn't behave, you know where to find me."
At that moment, the little cat girl finally glanced up at Fu Ye. Too shy to see clearly, she still got the impression that he was quite handsome.
For this little kitty, the only rule Fu Ye gave her as her master was that she must never harm herself or any of the other girls in any way.
Just like with Zhu Zhuyun before, Fu Ye granted her the greatest degree of freedom. She would want for nothing—food, clothes, shelter, or travel.
However, Zhu Zhuyun had been sensible and clever. After joining the team, she got along perfectly with the other girls.
Later, Fu Ye even removed her slave mark. After all, she had become his woman; it wasn't right for her to keep bearing the mark of a slave.
But had Zhu Zhuyun been disobedient, constantly trying to escape, Fu Ye would have made her a real slave.
The same went for this little cat girl. Fu Ye could understand initial resistance, but if she continued to defy him, he wouldn't go easy on her.
He never considered himself a good guy, after all. He wouldn't force an ordinary girl, but the slaves he bought were not ordinary girls in his eyes.
A slave should act like one. He could treat her fairly and equally—but only if she behaved and didn't cause trouble. After all, if she'd been bought by nobles, her reality would have been far worse.
As for being bought by Ning Fengzhi? Hah! Did anyone really think that old fox was a good guy? How could anyone who managed such a major sect be kind enough to spend money just to help someone find their daughter?
It was only ever for his own benefit. Of course, the same was true for Fu Ye.
The world was vast, filled with countless girls. Though he couldn't accept them all, when he met one he liked, he wasn't above using a trick or two.
Evening arrived, blanketing everything in quiet.
Fu Ye was lying alone in his room, resting. If you're wondering where his wives were… please watch the VCR:
Inside the cat girl's dormitory.
"Wow! Sister Jiang Jing's ears are so soft! They're so fun to pet!"
A hint of excitement flushed Shui Yue'er's cheeks. After all, wasn't petting cats the most comforting thing?
"Yeah! Sister Jiang Jing has a great figure too—though not quite as good as Sister Zhuyun's." Yu Hairou traced the curves of the cat girl's body with curiosity, comparing her to Zhu Zhuyun.
"What beautiful eyes! Blue and green—so pretty!"
Wu Ling was also nearby, gazing at her with keen interest.
"Hehe, Sister Jiang Jing's tail is so fun to stroke! Just like a real cat's tail!"
Dugu Yan was continuously petting Jiang Jing's tail. As her hand wandered deeper, she gradually reached the base.
"Sister… you can't touch there."
The little cat girl Jiang Jing sat among the crowd of girls, her face flushed. This was her first time meeting so many beautiful and adorable young women!
"Hehe, it's fine! Let me pet you, and I'll take care of you later."
Dugu Yan pulled her into an embrace, and Jiang Jing could feel Dugu Yan's strong, steady heartbeat.
"Flick—"
One shouldn't touch a cat's tail—but Dugu Yan did. At that moment, Jiang Jing felt as if she'd been electrocuted. Her whole body stiffened; the hair on her arms stood on end, and the fur on her two cute ears bristled straight up.
"Sister Jiang Jing is so adorable. How about sleeping with Sister Yanzi tonight?"
"Sister Yanzi, you're such a rogue!"
"No, let Hai Rou sleep with Jiang Jing today!"
…
It wasn't until late into the night that the group of girls had their fill of fun. After all, with a new little sister who had cat ears and a tail, each of them was bursting with curiosity and excitement.
Jiang Jing never could have imagined that after these young ladies learned she had been bought, they didn't mock or look down on her. On the contrary, not a single one cared about her background or talents.
Compared to her past life, she felt a world of difference.
One had to know that she had been the least favored in her family before. The only one who ever loved her was her mother; even her father looked down on her for being a daughter.
But those good days didn't last. Her father became addicted to gambling and lost the family's entire fortune in just half a year.
In the end, she was reduced to being sold as a slave at an auction house—where the mutation of her martial soul became a selling point to drive up her price.
Late at night.
Dugu Yan, who was sharing a bed with her, grew furious when she saw the handprints on Jiang Jing's bottom and asked how she got them. The answer, however, left her both amused and exasperated.
"So you tried to resist and escape at first, and that bad guy Fu Ye spanked you for it?"
The cat girl fell silent after hearing Dugu Yan's words. Perhaps she knew what she did was wrong, but it had been her instinctive reaction at the time.
"Little sister, to be fair, what you did wasn't unreasonable. But you might not know—this bad guy Fu Ye is actually a man of principle."
As the second oldest among the girls after Shui Bing'er, Dugu Yan began explaining some things about Fu Ye.
"You could say he bought you out of pity. He wanted to bring you back to live at Tianshui Academy. But you making such a scene upset him."
"He had good intentions, and you met him with hostility. Think about it—with your special physique, even if you had escaped, did you really think you'd be safe?"
As she listened to Dugu Yan, Jiang Jing began silently replaying the events of the day in her mind.
"What a poor, silly sister. You should know what 3.5 million gold soul coins means. Yet he rescued you, and the very next second you tried to run away. No wonder that bad guy was angry."
...
Dugu Yan kept whispering in her ear, and the little cat girl, Jiang Jing, began to feel that she had indeed been too aggressive.
After all, even though the other party had been angry, he had only torn her clothes and spanked her bottom without taking further advantage of her. He had even given her a new set of clothes afterward.
"Well, Sister Yan, I'll go apologize to Master tomorrow."
"You don't need to call that bad guy Master. Listen to me—just live well here, play with your sisters often, and occasionally act cute and spoiled around that scoundrel."
"After all, he isn't the kind of man who loses his head at the sight of a girl. He won't lay a finger on you unless you ask him to."
Hearing Dugu Yan's words, the little cat girl Jiang Jing's cheeks instantly flushed bright red.
"Sister Yan…"
After listening to Dugu Yan, the little cat girl's face grew even redder. How could someone as beautiful and powerful as Dugu Yan know such things? Could it be that…
"Shh~ You've just arrived. It's better not to know too much yet. Let's go to sleep now."
In the end, Dugu Yan never returned to her cat-petting ways, and the little cat girl became the third most beloved in their group—after Xue Ke and Dou Dou.
After all, who could resist an adorable cat-eared girl who prepared juice and medicinal baths for you?
A new day began bright and early. In Fu Ye's room, the three generals—Xiao Wu, Ruyan, and Erlong—had all been utterly defeated by Fu Ye.
The three women, who had intended to challenge him in a round-robin battle, eventually lost to Fu Ye due to exhausted stamina. But for Fu Ye, who had battled all night, it was nothing more than child's play.
In the blink of an eye, two months passed.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition was about to begin.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Competition is the largest martial spirit competition on the douluo continent.
It is initiated and hosted by the royal families of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, with the Spirit Hall serving as a co-organizer. The strength of the participants is second only to the Spirit Hall's own elite trials.
The competition rules include several key points:
First, all participating students must be under twenty-five years old, and each team must maintain exactly seven members per match.
Second, the spirit of the competition is one of camaraderie; contestants must avoid injuring their opponents whenever possible. Fatalities are strictly forbidden.
Any contestant who kills an opponent will cause their academy to be disqualified from the tournament and held liable for compensation.
At this time, Fu Ye was explaining the details of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition to the group of young women at the academy.
"Before the main competition, we must go through several rounds of preliminaries, which are held in different regions. Here in the Heaven Dou Empire, the preliminaries are centered in Heaven Dou City."
"All advanced soul master academies within the empire that are not part of other kingdoms or principalities will compete in the Heaven Dou City division."
"The advanced soul master academies from each kingdom and principality will hold their own preliminary rounds. The Heaven Dou Empire has four kingdoms and one principality. That means, including the Heaven Dou City division, there are six preliminary divisions in total."
"Aside from the one team that receives a direct bye to the finals, these six divisions will compete for fifteen spots. The Heaven Dou City division has five spots due to its high concentration of soul master academies and its status as the imperial capital."
"The other four kingdoms and the principality each have two spots. The Star Luo Empire's structure is similar."
"That means thirty teams will advance to the finals through the preliminaries. Before the finals, there will be a promotion match—essentially a ranking competition to determine the seeding and match order for the main tournament."
After hearing Fu Ye's explanation, Xiao Wu's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Under twenty-five? Brother Fu Ye, can Xiao Wu join in and have some fun too?"
Even though she was a teacher, she met the age requirement. Calculated in human years, she was only about twenty-three or twenty-four this year!
She totally qualified!
Shui Bing'er and the other girls: Huh? (•_•)?
The young women were stunned. Could Teacher Xiao Wu really compete?
"Ahem! Xiao Wu, our Tianshui team already has a lineup. You're a teacher now—you can't compete against your students," Fu Ye said helplessly. What was this girl thinking?
The lowest-ranked member of their team was already a Level 45 Soul Ancestor, and most were Soul Kings or higher.
She already had invincible strength—did a peak Level 98 Title Douluo really need to show off too?
The group of young women below began whispering among themselves.
"Sister Bing'er, what level is Sister Xiao Wu at now?"
Dugu Yan was puzzled. She had arrived later than the others and, although Xiao Wu was a teacher here, she had never seen her release a spirit ring.
"Well… Teacher Xiao Wu is a peak Level 98 Title Douluo. If she competed…"
Shui Bing'er thought for a moment and then simply gave up.
Forget it, sisters—it'd be an automatic win. Let's just accept it.
There was no other way. A Title Douluo fighting in the Soul Master Competition? If they lost, it could only mean the match was fixed!
Three minutes later.
Xiao Wu: "Aww, really? Okay then…" (≧﹏≦)
After having her self-recommendation firmly rejected, Xiao Wu leaned against Fu Ye, her rabbit ears drooping.
Shui Bing'er and the others also looked disappointed.
The Tianshui girls internally sighed: Damn, the official cheat code has been banned!
Fu Ye: （〃｀ 3′〃）
Was that really how it was? How could they play fairly without restricting Xiao Wu? It was utterly inappropriate for a Title Douluo to bully Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings.
"There is still one week until the Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition begins. During this time, everyone should rest well and recuperate."
"As for the lineup, we'll follow the usual method—random selection."
After all, the Tianshui team now had as many as eleven members. Those with bad luck might not even get to play in the finals.
On the other side, inside the Heaven Dou Royal Academy…
"According to my sources, the championship prize for this Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition is likely to be three extremely high-quality ten-thousand-year spirit bones! We must get them!"
Tang Chuan, the vice-captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team, was speaking passionately.
Upon hearing that the reward might be treasures from the Blood River, Yu Tianheng and the others lit up with excitement.
"Xiao Chuan, are you sure your information is accurate?!"
Although Yu Tianheng was eager, he knew that with Tang Chuan's status, it was nearly impossible for him to have access to such classified information early on.
"Absolutely!"
As a reincarnated God King, no piece of information on the continent could escape his divine wisdom! He was the God of Wisdom—Tang San!
…
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