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"You—!"
Dai Mubai was utterly enraged. He never expected that invoking the royal family's prestige wouldn't intimidate this guy.
"What do you mean, 'you'? Stop dilly-dallying. Are you going to hand over your stuff now, or do I beat you up first and then take it? Hurry up and choose, or I'll choose for you."
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou glanced at the pendant hanging around Dai Mubai's neck.
This "Dai Tiger" wasn't wearing any rings or bracelets, nor did he have anything special hanging from his waist. The only thing that looked like a storage-type soul tool was the pendant around his neck.
Upon hearing this, Dai Mubai fell silent.
Though Chu Chengzhou appeared to give him two options, in reality, neither was acceptable.
Hand over the storage-type soul tool willingly? Absolutely not!
After all, there were still people watching.
If he backed down without even having a knife held to his throat, how could he ever show his face again at Shrek Academy?
Moreover, if this reached the ears of his domineering father, the emperor, knowing he had such a cowardly son, he would undoubtedly send someone to break his legs.
As for being beaten up before handing over the soul tool?
If he was going to hand it over anyway, why endure a beating first? Why not just hand it over at the start and avoid the pain?
Therefore, Dai Mubai could only choose silence, allowing Chu Chengzhou to forcibly take the storage pendant.
Being robbed was still better than voluntarily surrendering and appearing weak.
"Looks like you've chosen to get beaten up? Fine, I'll grant your wish!"
Immediately, Chu Chengzhou waved his True Spirit Flag. His first spirit ring lit up, and a towering Sky Azure Tree summoning spirit, over ten meters tall, materialized.
Under Chu Chengzhou's control, the Sky Azure Tree extended several resilient vines.
A hundred-year Sky Azure Tree summon only had the innate ability Healing. After AFKing its way to becoming a thousand-year summon, it gained another innate skill: Guardian.
The Guardian skill allowed the formation of a soul power shield, which could also be applied to external targets.
Moreover, besides its innate abilities, the summoning spirit wasn't devoid of other skills.
For example, the Light Lion's pounce, tail strike, and headbutt, as well as the Sky Azure Tree's root whip and vine bindings, were all inherent techniques of their respective summons.
"I'll give you one last chance. Otherwise, I'll hang you up and beat you."
Chu Chengzhou pointed at the vines dangling from the Sky Azure Tree.
True-to-word: Hang you up and beat you!
Dai Mubai: "..."
After much deliberation, Dai Mubai finally relented. He removed the pendant from his neck and tossed it to Chu Chengzhou.
There was no helping it—the situation left him no choice. Compared to appearing weak, being hung up and beaten would be far more humiliating.
As for the possibility of this reaching Star Luo City and leaving a cowardly impression on his father, the emperor?
After fleeing Star Luo City to escape his older brother Dai Wei Si's oppression, he had already become a laughingstock. Whether he was seen as a coward or not no longer mattered.
After all, things couldn't get any worse than they already were.
The only pity was that his carefree days ahead wouldn't be as comfortable as before.
Dai Mubai glared fiercely at Ma Hongjun. That damn fatty—if it weren't for him, how could he have ended up in such a predicament?
"Not bad, not bad, you little tiger knows when to yield!"
Chu Chengzhou happily caught the storage pendant Dai Mubai threw at him.
After erasing Dai Mubai's residual soul power and reattuning it, Chu Chengzhou immediately sensed its internal storage space.
Indeed, as a prince of Star Luo, his status was extraordinary. The internal space of this storage pendant was quite sizable, measuring over three meters in length, width, and height—nearly 30 cubic meters.
Inside, there weren't too many items. Besides some clothes, the most abundant things were scattered gold soul coins lining the bottom.
Of course, the most valuable items weren't these loose coins but a stack of official banknotes issued by the Tian Dou Empire, each with a denomination of ten thousand gold soul coins.
After counting them, Chu Chengzhou discovered that Dai Mubai's private stash contained over two hundred thousand gold soul coins just from this stack of banknotes.
While two hundred thousand gold soul coins wasn't an astronomical fortune, it was still a tidy sum. At least, it would cover his daily expenses for the foreseeable future.
"Here~, take these things back. No need to say I didn't leave you anything."
After inspecting the contents, Chu Chengzhou tossed the clothes and other miscellaneous items from the pendant back to Dai Mubai, feigning a gesture of goodwill.
However, it was obvious that Dai Mubai didn't appreciate Chu Chengzhou's "kindness."
You rob my storage soul tool and over two hundred thousand gold soul coins, and returning my clothes is supposed to count as kindness?
That said, despite his resentment, Dai Mubai had no choice but to accept.
There was no helping it—all his belongings, including spare clothes, were inside that pendant. If he didn't accept this "kindness," he'd have nothing to wear!
"Alright, there's nothing more for you two here. Scram~! Oh, and remember, don't let me catch you crossing my path again, or it won't end so easily next time."
Waving dismissively, Chu Chengzhou signaled the two to leave while issuing a final warning.
Dai Mubai shot Chu Chengzhou a hateful glare before turning and heading back to Shrek Academy without looking back.
Watching Dai Mubai leave in anger, Ma Hongjun quickly chased after him.
Suddenly, Ma Hongjun realized something important.
Why were Chu Chengzhou and Xiao Wu here in the first place?
This was outside Suotuo City. Along the way, aside from farmland, there were only a few scattered villages.
The only thing related to soul masters here was Shrek Academy.
Could it be that their destination was Shrek Academy—and they were here to enroll?
Thinking this, Ma Hongjun's face turned pale.
At this moment, Chu Chengzhou was equivalent to a demon king in his eyes. If they were here to enroll, wouldn't that mean his future would be filled with suffering?
"Brother~, judging by the happy look on your face, there must be quite a lot of gold soul coins in there, right?"
After the two left, Xiao Wu pointed at the storage pendant in Chu Chengzhou's hand and asked with a smile.
"What do you want?"
Glancing at Xiao Wu, Chu Chengzhou immediately wiped the smile off his face.
"Hehe~, finder's share! Don't you think you should give me a cut?"
Extending her hand, Xiao Wu looked at Chu Chengzhou expectantly.
"Finder's share? Hmm, I suppose that's fair!"
After stroking his chin thoughtfully for a moment, Chu Chengzhou nodded. He then took out a single gold soul coin and placed it in Xiao Wu's hand.
"Just one?"
Xiao Wu's eyes widened instantly. She had just started to feel reassured, and he only gave her one gold soul coin?
"Don't want it? If you don't, give it back!"
Chu Chengzhou made a move to take the coin back from Xiao Wu's hand.
"Hmph~, you're such a cheapskate!"
Xiao Wu quickly placed the coin into her rabbit-shaped pouch hanging from her waist.
Though it was just one coin, it was still a gold soul coin after all!
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