Neither Yali, Yun Ming, nor even Long Yeyue believed that getting Xia Yi to formally acknowledge a master at Shrek Academy through conventional means was possible.
Since the normal approach wouldn't work, they decided to abandon it altogether.
When they assigned Feng Wuyu the task, they made it clear—he could use any means necessary as long as he got Xia Yi to accept a master.
Everything else could be dealt with after Xia Yi became an apprentice.
As long as the master-disciple bond was established, they were confident they could keep Xia Yi under control.
Feng Wuyu knew that Yun Ming, Yali, and Long Yeyue each had their own motives and schemes.
But none of that mattered to him—all he needed to do was fulfill his mission and take Xia Yi as a disciple.
The real question was, how could he get Xia Yi to agree?
Threats, bribery, deception—Feng Wuyu considered every possible method.
But none of them seemed appropriate.
Even if he used tricks to force Xia Yi to acknowledge him as a master, he wanted a situation where Xia Yi wouldn't hold resentment.
Feng Wuyu pondered for a long time without finding a good solution.
In the end, he decided to take the simplest, most direct approach.
It was shameless, sure—but at least it was still somewhat aboveboard.
Besides, people don't hit a smiling face. Even if Leng Yaozhu showed up, there wasn't much she could do to him.
Ironically, Xia Yi hadn't even considered calling Leng Yaozhu.
This whole ordeal was disgusting, but he could handle it himself.
And honestly, this was nothing he couldn't deal with.
"Kid, have you made up your mind?" Feng Wuyu asked with a smile.
"Haven't you already taken Tang Wulin as a disciple?" Xia Yi scoffed. He still remembered how Tang Wulin had addressed Feng Wuyu as "teacher" last time.
"That's none of your concern. Don't worry—since I've decided to take you as my disciple, I will fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher. I won't hold anything back because of Tang Wulin." Feng Wuyu reassured him.
Over the past few days, he had thought things through—Xia Yi had no sense of belonging to Shrek Academy and was unlikely to stay forever.
Sooner or later, Xia Yi would realize the manipulation behind the scenes and sever ties with Shrek Academy.
His job was simply to guide Xia Yi while he was still here.
Once Xia Yi left, there would be no need to continue mentoring him.
So he didn't have to worry about any conflict between Xia Yi and Tang Wulin over the title of Divine Blacksmith.
"We aren't destined to be master and disciple," Xia Yi shook his head calmly.
"Then we'll just wait," Feng Wuyu leaned back against the wall, propped his feet up on the forging table, and closed his eyes as if truly prepared to wait him out.
"You want to play a game?" Xia Yi looked at Feng Wuyu expressionlessly.
He had plenty of ways to leave, but if he escaped now, there was no guarantee Feng Wuyu wouldn't pester him again later.
So he decided to play along.
"A game? What kind of game?" Feng Wuyu's eyes lit up the moment he heard Xia Yi wasn't outright rejecting him.
Was there hope?
Xia Yi casually snapped off a piece of metal the size of a thumb from a nearby ingot. Without even heating it, he picked up his forging hammer and, with a few strikes, shaped it into a perfect cube—a die.
"You want to play dice?" Feng Wuyu frowned.
Leaving something as serious as accepting a master up to luck seemed far too careless.
Besides, he fully intended to cheat—was Xia Yi really not worried about him rigging the outcome?
With his level of spirit power and soul power, he could manipulate the dice without Xia Yi noticing a thing.
"Could this brat be looking for an excuse to back down, knowing he can't win against me?" Feng Wuyu speculated.
"That's right. We'll use dice," Xia Yi nodded, his tone indifferent. "Let's leave it to fate to decide if we're meant to be master and disciple."
"Explain the rules first," Feng Wuyu wasn't about to agree immediately.
Even though he was confident and ready to cheat if necessary, Xia Yi was too cunning. If he wasn't careful and fell into Xia Yi's trap, it would be much harder to pressure him into apprenticeship later.
"Alright, I'll explain the rules," Xia Yi grinned. "I have a die here, and you'll roll it three times. Then, you'll write down the three numbers in sequence and repeat them once, forming a six-digit 'luck number.' For example, if you roll 1, 2, and 3, your luck number would be 123123. Finally, we divide this number by seven. The remainder determines how many years I'll be your student—if the remainder is 1, I'll be your student for one year; if it's 2, then two years, and so on."
"You little brat, you're trying to cheat me!" Feng Wuyu instantly flared up in rage. "Do you think I don't know math? Any number divided by seven has a remainder between 0 and 6. You're just trying to scam six years of free lessons from me!"
Feng Wuyu didn't know how long Long Yeyue's scheme needed to last, but he wasn't about to accept a deal where he could only secure Xia Yi's apprenticeship for a maximum of six years.
Even worse, if he rolled a "luck number" that was divisible by seven, leaving a remainder of zero, then what?
Wouldn't that mean the mission from the Sea God's Pavilion's three leaders would fail entirely?
"You have a point," Xia Yi nodded thoughtfully before giving Feng Wuyu a thumbs-up. "You do understand math."
"Of course! I oversee Shrek Academy's Blacksmith Association—I handle both forging and financial matters!" Feng Wuyu puffed up proudly. "Come up with another plan. I'm not agreeing to this one."
"You think the time is too short? Fine, we can play multiple rounds, and the results can stack. But each time we play, you have to give me a piece of metal at least as valuable as Starfall Iron. How about that?" Xia Yi proposed calmly.
"This was your real goal all along, wasn't it?" Feng Wuyu gave Xia Yi a sharp look. "A random six-digit number divided by seven can have a remainder anywhere from 0 to 6, averaging around three years per game. If I want to win a hundred years of apprenticeship, I'd need to give you more than thirty pieces of rare metal. You're trying to milk the most profit out of this, aren't you?"
"Take it or leave it," Xia Yi said indifferently.
"Of course I'll play," Feng Wuyu agreed without hesitation.
Starfall Iron was rare, but as long as Xia Yi didn't insist on that specific metal, he could provide alternatives.
"Alright, but we set the terms now—however many rounds we play today, that's final. You won't bring up the apprenticeship issue again in the future, agreed?" Xia Yi slapped the die onto the table.
"Trying to bait me into playing more rounds? Fine, I agree!" Feng Wuyu replied coolly.
"And one more thing—you can't use soul power or spirit power to control the dice," Xia Yi added.
"I'm not that shameless," Feng Wuyu snorted.
If this were a simple game of chance where one roll determined everything, he would have cheated in a heartbeat.
But since this was a long-term gamble where Xia Yi would eventually become his apprentice anyway, there was no need to rig the game.
"Then give me the metal, and we'll begin," Xia Yi said flatly, his expression unchanged.
Feng Wuyu took a deep breath and placed ten pieces of Sky Star Iron on the table. "Let's start with ten rounds."
"Alright!" Xia Yi swiftly collected the ten metal pieces.
Feng Wuyu nodded, picking up the die. But instead of rolling immediately, he looked at Xia Yi with a complicated expression and sighed.
"Kid, I really don't like the way you're acting right now."
Xia Yi shook his head silently.
"Apprenticeship is a serious matter. Even though I forced you into this situation, treating it like a mere bargaining chip… I don't like it," Feng Wuyu murmured.
Xia Yi scoffed. "Don't act like your motives for taking me as a disciple are so pure. If you can use apprenticeship to achieve your goals, why can't I use it as a trade?"
"Fair enough," Feng Wuyu laughed bitterly.
"Forget it." He sighed and finally rolled the die.