After Teacher Li confirmed everyone was unharmed, Yan Shaozhe's gaze fell on Furina. His tone was more cautious than before, even carrying a hint of imperceptible negotiation: "Since you students are unharmed, let's leave it at this for now. When your three companions wake up, please tell them that what happened by the Sea God Lake today should be treated as an unexpected disturbance. No need to look into it further, and no need to speak of it outside. The Academy will naturally provide you with compensation."
Thoughts raced through his mind. Zhou Yi's cautionary tale was still fresh in his memory; as a Dean, if he handled this poorly in front of this sharp-tongued, mysterious-background girl, he might repeat the same mistake. Moreover, Elder Mu had long instructed him to pay special attention to this girl.
Observing her talent, strength, and even her identity as the "Pope of the Water God Cult," coupled with the equally gifted Huo Yuhao beside her, these two could be called monsters among monsters. Even looking across the entire Outer Court, it would be hard to find anyone to compare with them. Such talent must be recruited by the Academy at all costs; the previous high-and-mighty attitude must be set aside now.
Especially since his previous improper inquiry had immediately invited her merciless retort, it showed that this girl had a fiery temperament and a sharp mind, and was definitely not someone to be trifled with. If she couldn't be properly appeased, a rift might form.
Thinking of this, Yan Shaozhe didn't hesitate and directly offered his price: "As compensation for this accident, and as an apology from the Academy, I will give you two soul ascension pills, a Spirit Bone over 50,000 years old, plus a ten-thousand-year Spirit Bone. In addition, each of you will receive one million gold coin."
He paused, his tone becoming increasingly sincere, "After all, human life is paramount. Money can never measure the value of life, especially the safety of students with such exceptional talent as yours. As for the Spirit Bones, I will try my best to find ones that match your attributes to show my sincerity."
His words were almost spoken with the mindset of "spending money to avoid disaster" and "investing in the future." He didn't want to follow in Zhou Yi's footsteps, nor did he want to become enemies with Furina, so he raised the stakes as much as possible, attempting to settle the matter in one go and leave a good impression to pave the way for future recruitment.
Furina had originally been calculating that if Yan Shaozhe showed any more flaws or arrogance in his words, she would latch onto it and give him a good "beating" to secure more benefits.
But seeing him lower his attitude so much and offer such "honest" compensation—especially that Spirit Bone over 50,000 years old, which had always been a priceless, rare treasure throughout the long years of the Douluo Continent—her calculations faded, and she even felt like teasing him: "Little Yan, you're quite accommodating."
On the surface, she just displayed a hint of "reluctantly accepting" reserve, nodded, and said: "Since the Dean is so sincere, we will not decline. Thank you for your consideration, Dean."
Seeing her agree, Yan Shaozhe felt slightly relieved. Maintaining the serious expression expected of a Dean, he nodded: "No need for thanks. It was originally the Academy's failure in supervision; it is only right to give the victimized students an explanation and compensation." He postured correctly, attributing the fault entirely to the Academy.
Immediately, he changed the subject and asked the biggest question in his heart: "However, there is one thing this Dean is very puzzled about. How did you subdue Ma Xiaotao... that is, this red-haired Inner Court student? She is a Spirit Emperor, and her flames are tyrannical. Yet among you, you, who have the highest Soul Power, are only a four-ring Soul Ancestor, and looking at your Martial Soul characteristics, it seems to lean towards support. Student Huo Yuhao is only a three-ring, with the Spiritual Eyes as his main Martial Soul, and his First Soul Skill also shows support capabilities. Could it be... among you, someone possesses a Second Martial Soul with an ultimate attribute, or did you have help from others?"
This was the only reasonable explanation he could think of.
There were no other teachers at the scene, and ordinary Outer Court Spirit Emperor-level teachers might not be able to quickly subdue the rampaging Ma Xiaotao, and might even be harmed in return.
Hearing this, Furina raised a finger to her lips, made a playful yet firm gesture for secrecy, and a glint of slyness flashed in her eyes: "Sorry, Dean. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you this for now. Perhaps at some suitable time in the future, we will show our trump cards, but for now... please allow us to keep a little secret."
Her tone was relaxed, but her refusal was crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
Yan Shaozhe was silent for a moment. As expected, this girl was much harder to deal with than he had anticipated; she was impervious to both soft and hard tactics and was extremely meticulous. Naturally, he couldn't, and wouldn't, force an answer here.
However, Furina didn't stop there. She changed the topic, her tone becoming meaningful: "That said, respected Dean..."
"Hmm? Is there anything else?" Yan Shaozhe's heart tightened, with a bad premonition.
"Naturally there is. I want to talk about the root cause of the 'fault' in this incident."
"Looking at how you rushed over, and this senior... um, senior sister? This situation of her suffering Qi Deviation and losing control, I'm afraid... it's not the first time, is it?" Her tone was steady, but every word was like an awl.
Hearing this, Yan Shaozhe's breathing hitched imperceptibly. He had thought that since the compensation was agreed upon, this matter could be glossed over, but he didn't expect this girl to be so relentless, pointing directly to the core of the problem. Silence couldn't solve the problem, and in the end, he could only nod with a complex expression, admitting this fact.
Seeing this, Furina sighed softly, but her tone became sharper: "As I thought. The ancients said, if teaching is not strict, the teacher is lazy. A student's cultivation goes wrong, nearing loss of control, and as a teacher, failing to detect it in time and enforce effective constraints is a dereliction of duty. Today, luckily it was us, as we still have some ability to protect ourselves. If it were other weaker freshmen, under this violent flame, wouldn't they have lost their lives in vain? At that time, what use would even the most generous compensation be? Can it bring life back?"
She paused slightly, letting the weight of her words sink in, then continued: "Moreover, when a student makes a mistake and hurts someone, their instructor is naturally hard-pressed to absolve themselves of blame. A large part of this responsibility should fall on you, the teacher. I really find it hard to understand how a Titled Douluo, leading many instructors who are at least Soul Sage level, could not stop a Spirit Emperor student under his tutelage, letting her rush into the Outer Court area..."
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