Ning Zhirou looked at the smiling Lin Yun, then at Empress Bing who stood behind him like a maid, her heart full of bitterness.
'A frog in a well, I truly am a frog in a well!'
Ning Zhirou inwardly sounded the alarm for herself. This was the consequence of insufficient strength and a narrow vision. Not having seen a true powerhouse, she mistakenly believed she was invincible, not knowing that in front of a real powerhouse, she was nothing more than an ant that could be easily crushed.
Speaking of which, it was also that Seven-Colored Glazed Jade Tea that made her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda turn into an eight-layered one, causing her to become a little arrogant.
As the saying goes, a person cannot have both humility and a thunderous Yatalaise at the same time. Having broken the ten-thousand-year-old confinement of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda and becoming the Eight Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, Ning Zhirou's former cautiousness was temporarily replaced by arrogance.
She knew that the force behind Lin Yun was not to be trifled with, and she had instructed the two protector Titled Douluos beforehand not to offend him. The only thing she hadn't expected was for Lin Yun to descend upon the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect with such a high posture, giving her a show of force the moment he arrived.
It was ridiculous that she had thought of communicating with Lin Yun on an equal footing. With this kind of strength gap...
Was equality even possible?
Thinking of this, Ning Zhirou felt much more at ease. She casually threw the two ice sculptures behind her and then gracefully bowed to Lin Yun, "This concubine greets Your Excellency. Please do not blame me for the poor hospitality. I have heard that Your Excellency loves rare and exotic treasures. Please accept this small token of apology."
A bright blue light flashed, and a cold jade box with sides about twenty centimeters long appeared in Ning Zhirou's hands. She then held the box with both hands and presented it to Lin Yun.
She had something in her.
Lin Yun didn't reach out to open the jade box. Instead, he first looked at Ning Zhirou, who had lowered her posture and actively showed weakness and goodwill after just a brief thought, and he sighed inwardly.
The decline of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had its reasons, but it also had a reason for why it still had its legacy and hadn't disappeared in the river of time.
Just for this ambition, coupled with the special nature of a support system sect and the essence of a merchant sect, it was simply too difficult for them to be completely destroyed.
"No wonder your Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect has been able to carry on its legacy. This kind of mindset, being able to recognize the situation and act accordingly, is truly beyond what ordinary people can do," Lin Yun said with some emotion, seeing that Ning Zhirou had already bowed her head.
"Your Excellency overpraises me," Ning Zhirou said with a faint smile, maintaining her bowed posture.
This was why she was a talent. Lin Yun hadn't reached out to open the box and accept the gift, so she would maintain this posture, giving Lin Yun enough face and emotional value. Even as a sect master, she knew when to bow her head and didn't show any sign of losing face.
If she had taken this posture from the beginning, Lin Yun would have happily discussed with her about them submitting to him inside the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
She was too smart and too sensible.
It would be a pity not to subdue such a force and use them to betray Tang San.
So, Lin Yun accepted Ning Zhirou's show of weakness and reached out to open the box she held.
A dreamy milky white light instantly lit up, with a layer of colorful, rainbow-like brilliance. Lin Yun's eyebrows raised slightly, and he reached in to take out the item in the box.
It was a milky white pearl slightly smaller than Lin Yun's fist. It was actually more of a sphere, but it was called a pearl for a simple reason.
"A pearl?" Lin Yun blinked.
"Yes, Your Highness. This should be a hundred-thousand-year-old pearl from a mollusk-type soul beast. The quality is very high, and absorbing it can increase a significant amount of soul power," Empress Bing said.
All in all, it was no worse than a soul bone.
Impressive, a big gesture. According to Empress Bing, if a normal Soul Sage were to absorb this item, they could increase their soul power by three to five levels. Although it would take three to five months to gradually absorb the soul power from the pearl, to be able to increase one's soul power by three to five levels without any side effects was enough to make any Soul Sage jealous.
For Soul Masters below the Soul Sage level, the effect would be even better, especially for Soul Engineers.
Because this item could even refine soul power, purifying and compressing the diluted and impure soul power that Soul Engineers had from taking medicine. It could truly be called a treasure of heaven and earth.
After all, it was a hundred-thousand-year-old mollusk pearl. Such an item had probably not appeared many times in the history of the Douluo Continent. If it were taken to the Sun Moon Empire, someone would probably be willing to pay the price of a tier 9 soul tool or a tier 8 soul-guided fixed-caliber cannonball for it.
More importantly, this sparkling item perfectly matched Lin Yun's preferences.
"Your Excellency has good eyesight. This is indeed a hundred-thousand-year-old mollusk pearl, obtained by an elder of our Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect several hundred years ago," Ning Zhirou said with a smile.
"This is a small token of apology. Please accept it, Your Excellency!"
"Alright, I'll accept this item," Lin Yun nodded, closing the box and putting it into his storage soul tool. He had no use for this item, but there were people around him who could use it.
In addition, if he didn't accept this item, Ning Zhirou would probably be on tenterhooks.
As a matter of fact, Ning Zhirou felt no heartache when she saw Lin Yun accept the pearl; instead, she was greatly relieved, and the smile on her face became much brighter and more natural.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was a large family. Although treasures like this pearl were rare, they were not that few in number. They could afford it. Now, she was the one asking for help. Ning Zhirou wasn't afraid of Lin Yun asking for something; she was afraid of him not asking for anything at all.
Well... or rather, she was afraid that Lin Yun would eventually take everything.
"Please, Your Excellency, follow me into the sect," Ning Zhirou stood up straight and made a gesture of invitation.
As for the two Titled Douluos who had been frozen into ice sculptures...
Ning Zhirou completely ignored them. Since they were already Titled Douluos, freezing them for a while wouldn't kill them. Asking Lin Yun to unfreeze them now might displease him, not to mention that Ning Zhirou wasn't sure if these two arrogant fools would cause more trouble after they were freed.
They already gave her a hard time on a regular basis. After all, she wasn't Ning Fengzhi, and Heavenly Sword Douluo and Purple Star Douluo weren't Sword and Bone Douluo. They didn't have that kind of harmony, otherwise, they wouldn't have jumped out to cause trouble even after she had given them a warning.
Ning Zhirou felt it was better to let them stay frozen for a while.
On the other hand, Lin Yun gave Empress Bing a look, and Empress Bing pointed her finger, freeing the two Titled Douluos from the confinement of the ultimate ice.
To Ning Zhirou's surprise, after the two protector Titled Douluos came out of the ice, they looked at Empress Bing and immediately became docile. They followed Ning Zhirou with a disheartened look.
It was a classic case of being beaten into submission.
(End of Chapter)
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