Douluo Continent: My name is Lu Mingfei, and my martial soul is Lu Mingze.

Yan Shaozhe coughed lightly and said seriously, "Teacher Song, this matter is Xiao Tao's fault, but as her teacher, I also bear responsibility. I will certainly not cover up her shortcomings, but Xiao Tao's outburst of anger is indeed an urgent issue..."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Lu Mingfei's cold attribute ability is the key to Xiao Tao's suppression of evil fire. If he can help Xiao Tao suppress evil fire regularly, this kind of thing will not happen again."

"Of course, this requires Lu Mingfei's own consent; I'm just making a suggestion."

That's a very skillful way of putting it.

He admitted his mistake, steered the conversation toward solving the problem, and managed to absolve himself of all responsibility.

Old Song did not express his opinion, but turned to look at Lu Mingfei.

What's your opinion?

Before Lu Mingfei could speak, Ma Xiaotao had already stood up from the soft couch and walked up to him.

A blush still lingered on her face.

"Lu Mingfei, what happened today was my fault. I shouldn't have carried you away by force." Her voice was hoarse but capable, without any hesitation.

"But to be honest, your cold attribute can indeed help me suppress the evil fire. I'm willing to trade anything I have for you—soul bones, resources, rare and precious materials, just name your price."

She spoke very seriously, then added, softening her tone, "Of course, I promise I won't stubbornly resist you like I did today again."

Looking into her eyes, Lu Mingfei had already agreed in his heart.

Rather than letting this senior student lose her temper again and have to "tough it out" once more, it's better to go with the flow and help her out, and we can also earn some resources in the process.

Anyway, I won't suffer any loss.

Of course, deep down he had an even more down-to-earth thought—that Ma Xiaotao, though a bit short-tempered, was actually not a bad person.

The conflict at the lake last time was, to put it bluntly, a fit of anger. Today, seeing her fall into the water and almost burn herself to death, he couldn't help but be moved.

As for how the trigger came about, don't ask.

"OK."

Lu Mingfei nodded.

Ma Xiaotao's eyes lit up.

"However, I have one condition," Lu Mingfei added.

"you say."

"I will decide on the location and method for suppressing the evil fire from now on."

"make a deal."

The conversation between the two was concise and to the point. Old Song nodded slightly, and Yan Shaozhe also breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Nannan's expression was unpleasant, but she didn't say anything. She just stood behind Lu Mingfei, staring coldly at Ma Xiaotao.

Seeing that things had taken a turn for the better, Yan Shaozhe quickly pressed his advantage: "As compensation and gratitude from the Martial Soul Department to Lu Mingfei, I will transfer a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone from the Martial Soul Department's inventory, along with a batch of rare and precious materials to aid cultivation. I will have someone send over the detailed list later."

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly remembered something, and his lips twitched: "Elder Song, you can just give me the accounts for those defensive soul tools from the previous treasure appreciation event. I'll go through the Martial Soul Department."

Qian Duoduo: Yan Shaozhe, you're such a good person!

Although Lu Mingfei didn't spend much money, it was just a drop in the ocean for Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er, but what he saved was equivalent to what he gained. This time, the Soul Guidance Department made a huge profit.

Old Song glanced at Yan Shaozhe and nodded.

"Can."

Lu Mingfei silently added one point to Yan Shaozhe's score in his mind.

Although Yan Shaozhe is extremely protective of his own, at least he is generous with the money.

As for the feud between him and Yan Shaozhe, that's another matter and doesn't affect his business.

Hearing Yan Shaozhe agree so readily, Ma Xiaotao was clearly in a great mood. She turned around and looked at Lu Mingfei, her eyes still shining. Then she did something that surprised everyone present.

She opened her arms and hugged Lu Mingfei tightly.

Yes, it was another hug, a genuine, heartfelt, and suffocating hug.

Lu Mingfei's face was covered again. This time he didn't even have a chance to struggle because Ma Xiaotao was holding him too tightly, her arms wrapped around the back of his head, pressing him hard into her arms.

"Thank you, Lu Mingfei!"

Ma Xiaotao's voice came from above him, filled with genuine gratitude and excitement, completely unaware of what her action meant to a hot-blooded young man.

Lu Mingfei's face turned as red as a purplish-red. He waved his arms meaninglessly in the air twice before letting them fall limply to his sides.

Then Jiang Nannan moved.

She walked forward expressionlessly, reached out and grabbed Ma Xiaotao's wrists, which were wrapped around Lu Mingfei's arm. Her grip was light but extremely firm, and she pried them apart one finger at a time.

"Please let go." Her tone was polite, but her eyes were cold, clearly saying, "You'll face the consequences if you don't let go."

Ma Xiaotao glanced down at her, a hint of interest flashing in her eyes.

She was a remarkable person; she saw through Jiang Nannan's thoughts at a glance.

"Oh." Ma Xiaotao not only didn't let go, but hugged Lu Mingfei even tighter, resting her chin on Lu Mingfei's head and looking at Jiang Nannan with a smile.

"Junior, what do you mean by this? Can't I let Mingfei and I get to know each other a little better?"

Jiang Nannan's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"It's fine to enhance feelings," she said, emphasizing each word, "but please be mindful of your approach."

"I think this approach is quite good, Mingfei, what do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingfei just wanted to disappear into the ground.

He struggled to raise his hands in surrender, and mumbled, "I...I think...I think you should let me go first, I can't breathe."

The voice was muffled.

Jiang Nannan reached out and tried to pry Ma Xiaotao's fingers off again, this time with significantly more force than before.

Ma Xiaotao, on the contrary, became interested. She simply let go of Lu Mingfei's head, put one arm around his waist, and used the other hand to push away Jiang Nannan's hand, with the corners of her mouth turned up high.

"What's wrong with just giving me a hug? Can't I?"

"no."

"Who are you to him?"

Jiang Nannan was taken aback by the question, but then replied without changing her expression, "Classmate."

"Why are you being so nosy, classmate?"

"Classmates can also be managed."

"What if I don't let go?"

"Then I'll wait."

The two women clashed like that.

Lu Mingfei was caught in the middle, looking left and right.

As Old Song sat in the main seat watching this scene, his expression finally broke down. His lips twitched involuntarily, and then he sighed very slowly, picked up his teacup, and took another sip.

Yan Shaozhe stood to the side, looked at Old Song, then at the three young people, his lips twitched, and then he coughed.

"Young people really have a lot of energy."

Old Master Song glanced at him sideways, his eyes clearly saying, "You should take care of your own apprentice first."

Yan Shaozhe wisely kept quiet.

While Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan were still staring at each other, Lu Mingfei finally seized an opportunity to break free from Ma Xiaotao's arms. He darted to the other side of the room, pressed himself against the wall, and gasped for breath. He looked even more disheveled than when he climbed out of the lake.

Looking at him, Ma Xiaotao's smile widened.

She turned to look at Jiang Nannan and said in a tone that was both defiant and smug, "From now on, I will officially have a working relationship with him, so it's only natural that we cultivate our relationship regularly, right?"

Jiang Nannan didn't say anything, but just turned her head and glanced at Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei squatted in the corner, his hands covering his head, looking extremely helpless.

Jiang Nannan withdrew her gaze and looked at Ma Xiaotao, her face still cold and aloof.

She remained silent for a while before finally speaking, her tone calm.

"Then we can train them together."

Lu Mingfei: ?