Yuan Tuo's fingertips twitched slightly. The black mist dispersed, the water snakes dropped to the ground, and wooden spikes emerged once more.
Yuan Tuo chuckled and pretended not to see them as he walked over. The wooden spikes shattered inch by inch.
Meng Anli's eyes shone brightly. So powerful!
She must have cultivated blessings for several lifetimes to have a teacher this powerful.
She could hardly wait to begin cultivating.
Meng Anli looked toward the striking red-haired youth.
He had already been eye-catching enough, sitting atop the desk in the last row. At that moment, his expression carried a trace of astonishment as well.
Clearly, he had not expected him to be so formidable.
Yuan Tuo stood at the front of the lecture hall, casually picked up the Discipline Ruler, and gave it a light squeeze. The ruler crumbled into dust.
"I'm afraid of this thing too."
His master had used it to beat him more than once before.
With a chuckle, he swept his gaze over the dozen or so disciples, who stood without standing properly and sat without sitting properly.
"Let me formally introduce myself. My surname is Yang. You may call me Teacher Yang."
The red-haired youth tapped the desk impatiently. "Whatever your surname is, you seem to have some skill. Go on, then—what are your rules?"
"The only rule is this: during class, you must remain in this room. What you do otherwise is none of my concern."
"Aren't you afraid we'll make a racket and disturb your Princess Anli?"
"She will not be disturbed by you."
Yuan Tuo turned to Meng Anli, his voice gentle. "Anli, find yourself a seat first."
The red-haired youth jumped down from the desk, smiling maliciously. "Sit here."
Yuan Tuo's brows furrowed slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Meng Anli had already walked over and wiped the dirt from the chair and desktop where they had been stepped on.
The moment she sat down, four water snakes appeared out of thin air on the desk.
Expressionless, Meng Anli picked up one of them, tied it into a knot, and set it at the corner of the desk.
The snake wriggled, seemingly placed under a restriction, but it could not break free.
She did the same to the other three, arranging the four knots into a flower.
She looked at the red-haired youth and smiled lightly. "Thank you for the welcome gift."
The red-haired youth looked at the snakes, then at Meng Anli's earnest, dewy little face, and gave a vicious smile.
"So you've got guts, huh?"
A large toad appeared on the desk again.
Never mind whether one feared it or not—the warts all over its body were disgusting enough.
Meng Anli placed a restriction on the toad, set it atop the flower, then took a string of coins from her sleeve and tied it around the toad's tongue.
The warts on the toad's body turned into strings of coins.
It was incomparably adorable.
She looked at the young man in white and said earnestly, "A Golden Toad brings gold—abundant wealth and blessings. Thank you."
The smile on the young man in white's face vanished for an instant.
"Pfft~"
Yuan Tuo could not help laughing from the front of the lecture hall. "What harmonious and affectionate classmates. I still don't know your names. Since the books have not arrived yet, let us use this time to get acquainted."
No one spoke.
Yuan Tuo asked blandly, "You don't dare?"
"What is there to fear?" The red-haired youth was the first to speak. "My surname is Guang, given name Ling."
Meng Anli's heart gave a heavy thump.
Guang Ling, the Crown Prince of the Guang Clan Dragon Tribe.
After she had been locked in the dark prison in her previous life, Meng Shiwan had once come to flaunt things before her.
She said that she wanted a Dragon Tendon Whip, so the Crown Prince had pretended to be in love with the young dragon girl of the Guang Clan Dragon Tribe. When she loved him most deeply, he tore out her dragon tendons.
Her brother, Guang Ling, and her father, the Dragon King, sought revenge for her. Guang Ling was strangled to death by Crown Prince Shaoguang, while the Dragon King was suppressed in the mortal realm.
Sympathy tinged her gaze as she looked at Guang Ling.
Guang Ling turned around and met her eyes directly. Dissatisfied, he said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Meng Anli thought for a moment. "Perhaps because you possess boundless resources, yet waste your years away. It is pitiful."
Guang Ling raised his fist. "Want to see who's wasting their years?"
"Not now. Wait for the test three months from now."
Guang Ling curled his lip. "Coward."
Yuan Tuo said, "Who wants to introduce themselves second?"
The young man in white spoke. "Mo Ziqian."
Meng Anli's eyelid twitched. Mo Ziqian, the young master of the Mo Family's third branch?
She knew of Mo Ziqian, likewise thanks to Meng Shiwan's boasting.
It was said that the Mo Family's businesses spread throughout the Immortal Realm and the mortal realm, and the competition for each generation's family head was even fiercer than succession to the throne.
The next family head was precisely Mo Ziqian, who had been unknown in the early years.
He loved Meng Shiwan so deeply that when Meng Shiwan married the Crown Prince, he gave all his family assets as her dowry. He himself was left penniless, yet willingly continued to work for the Crown Prince for nothing.
His reputation for deep devotion spread throughout the Seven Realms.
Meng Anli moved a little farther away from him.
Mo Ziqian lowered his lashes, looking pitiful and wronged. "Does the young lady find the stench of money on me offensive?"
Before Meng Anli could speak,
Guang Ling had already sarcastically come to his defense. "After all, she is Princess Anli. Naturally, she regards wealth as filth."
Meng Anli did not refute him. She merely looked at him with even greater sympathy.
Child, you treat him sincerely now, but later this fellow will serve the killer of your entire family like a horse before a carriage.
Guang Ling grew angry under her gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that again?"
Meng Anli shook her head, reached through the air to fiddle with the Golden Toad, turned its head toward Guang Ling, and lightly pressed it.
The Golden Toad said, "Ribbit~"
"Pfft~" Yuan Tuo could no longer hold back his laughter.
Guang Ling shouted furiously, "Meng Anli!"
Mo Ziqian called softly, "Guang Ling, forget it."
Guang Ling's anger faded. "Hmph! I'm a grown man. I won't lower myself to the level of a little woman like you."
Yuan Tuo was in high spirits.
How interesting. This was far more interesting than the North Sea.
Anli looked like a soft little bun, yet she did not let herself suffer losses. She truly was worthy of being his master's disciple.
He called to the others, "Who will introduce themselves next?"
Before you continue