Qian Duoduo plopped himself down in the chair beside Cai Meier, as if it were his own. The one originally sitting there, Du Weilun, very consciously gave up his seat without a word. Behind Qian Duoduo followed a tall and composed middle-aged man. Upon seeing him, Du Weilun's expression changed slightly before he gave the man a polite nod.
"Hehehe, I am the vice dean of the outer courtyard after all. Isn't it normal for me to drop by and observe the freshmen assessment?" Qian Duoduo chuckled, the flesh on his face bunching up adorably.
"Go away! You, a vice dean of the Soul Tool Department, watching the Martial Soul Department's freshmen assessment?" Cai Meier clearly didn't buy Qian Duoduo's nonsense. "Spit it out—who have you got your eyes on?"
"Haha, Meier, you're still as sharp as ever. You know I wouldn't show up here for no reason!" Qian Duoduo laughed awkwardly under her glare. "Fanyu, you explain it to Dean Cai."
"Yes!" The middle-aged man behind Qian Duoduo stepped forward. He was Fan Yu, the Soul Tool Department's director of teaching and an eighth-tier Soul Engineer. With a respectful nod, he said, "Dean Cai, we've come for Huo Yuhao."
"Huo Yuhao?!" Cai Meier and Du Weilun were both stunned. Even Zhu Ziyang showed a flicker of surprise and understanding.
It was clear now—Huo Yuhao must have astonishing talent in Soul Tool creation for both the vice dean and the teaching director of the Soul Tool Department to come personally and request him.
With a frown, Cai Meier asked, "Huo Yuhao has talent in Soul Tools?"
"Exactly!" Fan Yu nodded, his eyes alight with excitement and a hint of fanaticism. "Dean Cai, you're aware that Huo Yuhao's martial soul is his eyes, yes? His martial soul is practically born for making Soul Tools! The most important aspect of creating Soul Tools is the engraving of soul force inscriptions, and engraving requires extremely sharp eyesight. Others have to focus intensely just to see the inscription lines clearly, but for Huo Yuhao, it's effortless!"
"You're claiming he has Soul Tool talent just based on his martial soul? Isn't that a bit speculative and arbitrary?" Cai Meier clearly didn't believe it, nor was she willing to hand Huo Yuhao over. After all, he had a Body Martial Soul—something incredibly rare—and she had hoped to use his development as a case study in training such rare soul masters.
"It's not mere speculation!" Fan Yu immediately responded. "Dean Cai, I tested him myself. Huo Yuhao learned and successfully engraved a first-tier soul inscription array in just half a day! His talent is stronger than mine and even stronger than Dean Qian's!"
"Hmm?" Cai Meier was taken aback. She didn't fully grasp the significance of mastering a soul array in half a day, but she understood one thing—Qian Duoduo, a vice dean and eighth-tier Soul Engineer, hadn't refuted his subordinate's assessment. That was surprising.
"Meier, what Fan Yu said is true," Qian Duoduo said quickly, catching her suspicious look. Deep down though, he was a little skeptical himself—he'd never met Huo Yuhao and didn't know if what Fan Yu said was actually true, but he trusted him.
Whether Fan Yu's claim was true or not didn't matter to Cai Meier. What mattered was that she didn't want to hand Huo Yuhao over to the Soul Tool Department.
"Let me think it over," she said with a hesitant expression, buying time. "I'll give you an answer after I've made up my mind."
Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu instantly saw through her stalling tactic. Though first-year students weren't officially part of the Martial Soul Department yet, the final departmental assignment still required the dean's signature. As long as Cai Meier kept dragging things out, once Huo Yuhao advanced to third year, he'd be fully under the Martial Soul Department.
Qian Duoduo grew anxious. "Meier, what is there to consider? Your Martial Soul Department is overflowing with talent. Huo Yuhao is just a specially admitted student from the Tang Sect, and his first soul ring is only ten years old! His cultivation talent is extremely poor. Let him transfer to us—our Soul Tool Department is genuinely lacking in people!"
He even started to play the pity card. "Meier, have some mercy on your senior brother! You know how hard things are in our department! Ziyang, help me out here, would you?"
Zhu Ziyang, who had been watching silently from the side, was suddenly called on. He blinked, confused, and gave Qian Duoduo a helpless look, as if to say, 'You're on your own with this one.'
"Poor cultivation talent?" Cai Meier was practically laughing in disbelief. "Do you think I'm blind? Huo Yuhao advanced six soul power ranks in three months, and you say his talent is poor? He has a Body Martial Soul! Do you even understand what that means for us in the Martial Soul Department?"
"What?" Qian Duoduo froze. He hadn't known Huo Yuhao was that insane—six levels in three months? That was two levels a month! How could that be poor talent? Was Fan Yu lying to him? He turned a suspicious look on Fan Yu.
"Dean Cai, the reason Yuhao's soul power advanced so quickly is because I gave him a Soul Ascension Pill!" Fan Yu didn't even look at Qian Duoduo's accusing eyes. He urgently tried to explain himself. If he'd known this would happen, he'd have waited to give Huo Yuhao the pill after he transferred departments!
"What? A Soul Ascension Pill?!" Cai Meier was stunned.
She had assumed Huo Yuhao's rapid progress was due to his natural cultivation talent. Now, she wondered if she'd misunderstood the entire situation. Was his initial soul power really just rank 1? Did he only reach rank 11 by age eleven because of poor aptitude and neglect?
"So it was the Soul Ascension Pill..." Qian Duoduo looked equally surprised. First, a trace of annoyance flickered across his eyes, but he quickly brightened. "Meier, I guess you've got no more excuses now, huh?"
Still unwilling to concede, Cai Meier countered, "Not so fast. Even with the Soul Ascension Pill, that would only account for two or three levels. That would put him at most at rank 14, not rank 17!"
"One Soul Ascension Pill isn't enough, true," Fan Yu said with a confident smile. "But what if we add two Mystical Water Pills to that?"
"Two Mystical Water Pills?!" Cai Meier, Qian Duoduo, and Du Weilun were all shocked.
Zhu Ziyang's mouth twitched slightly. He guessed what was going on and silently felt sympathy for Xu Sanshi.
"Fan Yu, you really care about this Huo Yuhao, huh?" Qian Duoduo finally realized how much value Fan Yu placed on the boy. One Soul Ascension Pill was already costly, and now two Mystical Water Pills? Even if Fan Yu was rich as an eighth-tier Soul Engineer, this was still excessive.
"It's all worth it!" Fan Yu saw the misunderstanding but didn't explain. This was exactly the effect he wanted. Only if the Martial Soul Department realized how much he'd invested would they hesitate to forcefully keep Huo Yuhao.
"Haha, Meier, now can you let him go?" Qian Duoduo asked smugly.
Cai Meier was silent for a moment, her face calm. Then she slowly said, "One hundred fixed-mounted soul cannon shells."
"What?" Qian Duoduo and Fan Yu weren't sure they heard her right.
"I said, if you want me to let him go, bring me one hundred fixed-mounted soul cannon shells," Cai Meier repeated calmly. She knew stalling and force wouldn't work anymore, but she also wasn't going to walk away with nothing. If the Soul Tool Department wanted Huo Yuhao, they'd have to pay.
"Meier, you're not serious!" Qian Duoduo's face darkened. "A hundred fixed-mounted soul cannon shells? Each one costs 5,000 gold coins!"
"Come on, don't try to fool me. You guys already mastered the production process. 5,000 gold is the retail price. Your manufacturing cost is no more than 100 gold per shell!" Cai Meier's expression didn't change, but her lips curved upward slightly.
"No way, absolutely not!" Qian Duoduo shook his head repeatedly. "Even at cost, one hundred is too much. If I agree to this, Lin'er will skin me alive! No way!"
"No?" Cai Meier gave a devilish smile. "Then forget about getting my signature on the department transfer form. Worst case, we'll take it to the Sea God Pavilion. It's not us lacking talent—it's you!"
"You..." Qian Duoduo was speechless, caught between a rock and a hard place. He glanced at the hopeful Fan Yu behind him, then at Cai Meier's smug face, and finally gritted his teeth. "Fifty. That's my limit."
"Deal!" Cai Meier broke into a pleased smile. "When Huo Yuhao chooses his department in third year, I promise not to interfere."
"You better mean it!" Qian Duoduo muttered bitterly.
"Dean, don't worry!" Fan Yu whispered to him. "Yuhao's value is far beyond fifty cannon shells. Elder Xian won't blame you."
"I hope not..." Qian Duoduo sighed in defeat.
Zhu Ziyang had watched the whole talent tug-of-war play out. He knew that after today, Huo Yuhao would definitely leave an impression on the academy's upper levels—and as his talents continued to emerge, that impression would only deepen.
(End of Chapter)
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