Apprenticeship, Late

When Jiang Ming heard that voice, his pupils shrank, and shock surged through his heart!

He had just seen the change in his soul rings and had completely forgotten he was still beside Mu En!

Mu En must have seen his soul rings change just now. What should he do?!

Jiang Ming grew wary, a little flustered.

With his current strength, if Mu En wanted to do anything to him, he had no chance of resisting at all!

"Little fellow, don't be so nervous. Put away your martial soul first. This old man has been maintaining this barrier for you for so long, and it's quite tiring."

Mu En's voice was very gentle, without the slightest trace of malice.

Jiang Ming looked around. Bright golden-yellow light enveloped the space near him, separating the outside world from this small area.

Seeing this, Jiang Ming relaxed a little.

It seemed that when his soul rings changed, no one else had seen it.

Thinking this, Jiang Ming put away the Book of Spirits Martial Soul, and the four soul rings—one black and three purple—vanished as well.

A few minutes later, Jiang Ming and Mu En returned to the way they had been at the beginning.

Under the large tree, the two of them lay separately on lounge chairs, speaking softly about something.

"Little fellow, your martial soul really is quite special. But don't worry, this old man won't tell anyone."

Mu En spoke with a light chuckle. His aged face was very benevolent, and as sunlight fell over him, he carried an Aura of Light and Holiness.

"Mm."

Jiang Ming nodded. After spending these past few months with him, Mu En had left a pretty good impression on him.

However, after revealing the secret of the Book of Spirits Martial Soul in front of Mu En, another thought arose in Jiang Ming's heart.

He pondered for a while, then stood up from the lounge chair, faced Mu En, and said in a low voice, "Mu En, I want to take you as my teacher!"

A breeze blew past, stirring up two or three dead fallen leaves. Jiang Ming's slightly immature face was full of seriousness.

When Mu En heard Jiang Ming's words, he did not open his eyes, but said softly, "If you're taking me as your teacher because I saw what's special about your martial soul, there's no need. This old man isn't someone who runs his mouth."

Jiang Ming shook his head and said, "No, it's not because of that."

Mu En raised an eyebrow, and a faint turbid light flashed through the slit of his eyes.

"Oh? Then what is it because of?"

Jiang Ming lifted his head, his determined face carrying a trace of anticipation.

"Because taking you as my teacher will make me stronger!"

Yes, this was the real reason Jiang Ming had chosen to take him as his teacher.

First, judging from their interactions over these three months, this Mu En should not be a bad person. The Aura of Light on him, as well as that powerful light energy just now, also proved this point.

The probability that someone with a pure Aura of Light was an evildoer was extremely low.

Moreover, when he had asked Mu En for guidance before, Mu En had helped him a great deal. In a sense, he already counted as half a teacher.

Second, Mu En's strength was definitely extremely powerful!

Before this, his understanding of Mu En's strength had not been very clear. Although he had roughly judged that Mu En should be a Titled Douluo, the gap between Titled Douluo was also very large.

And after talking with that Xuan Zi yesterday, he now had a much clearer understanding of Mu En's strength.

Mu En > Xuan Zi > Dean!

Based on this, Jiang Ming felt that if he was going to take someone as his teacher, then taking Mu En as his teacher was undoubtedly the best choice.

"Become stronger?"

Mu En's eyelids moved slightly, revealing eyes that had weathered the vicissitudes of life. He said in a low voice, "Your talent is already very strong. If you want to become stronger, you don't necessarily need to take me as your teacher."

Jiang Ming shook his head firmly and said, "No, I want to take you as my teacher!"

One old and one young stared at each other just like that, turbid, aged eyes and bright, lively eyes gazing across the space between them.

Jiang Ming could not tell what lay within Mu En's murky gaze. He simply looked at him with such firm persistence.

And after Mu En saw the determination and stubbornness in Jiang Ming's eyes, he pondered for a while, but in the end, he still nodded.

Although it had been a very long time since he had accepted a disciple, and his last personal disciple was already almost a hundred years old now, he truly did quite like Jiang Ming's nature.

Good talent, willing to work hard, and not wicked at heart. That was already quite good.

"Teacher!"

Seeing Mu En nod, Jiang Ming immediately called out "Teacher," then darted over in front of Mu En and began massaging his shoulders and kneading his legs. He was as obedient as could be!

"You slippery little brat."

Mu En was amused by Jiang Ming's actions. He chuckled softly twice, closed his eyes, and said quietly, "Jiang Ming, it's already nine o'clock."

"What's wrong with nine o'clock? Your disciple has to take care of you first!"

Jiang Ming said with a smile. Then he realized, and the movements of his hands stopped as well.

"N-nine o'clock."

Jiang Ming's eyes flew wide open, his expression turning a little exaggerated.

"It's nine o'clock! I'm late!"

"Teacher, I'll come keep you company after class!"

With that, Jiang Ming immediately kicked off with both legs and ran at full speed toward the Teaching Building.

When Jiang Ming arrived at the classroom, Zhou Yi was explaining the roles and fighting methods of Attack-type Soul Masters and Control System Soul Masters in team battles.

She seemed not to have seen Jiang Ming and continued teaching. Jiang Ming also quietly bent low and slipped in through the back door, taking a seat in the very back.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, more than an hour had gone by.

When the bell rang, Jiang Ming was still clinging to a bit of luck, hoping to leave the classroom with the crowd.

"Jiang Ming, come to my office!"

Jiang Ming, who was only one meter from the classroom door, instantly froze in his tracks, his head drooping straight down.

Sure enough, he had still been found out!

A few minutes later, Jiang Ming stood in the office. Zhou Yi had her arms crossed, her soft and beautiful face filled with seriousness.

"What, winning the championship in the Freshman Assessment went to your head? You actually dared to be late to my class?"

Zhou Yi was very angry.

Over the past three months, Zhou Yi had seen Jiang Ming's performance for herself. He was diligent and serious every day, and he was also an obedient, good child.

But today's lateness gave her the feeling that Jiang Ming was about to slack off.

In truth, this was only human nature. For the past three months, Jiang Ming's performance had been excellent, so when he suddenly came in late, it easily made the expectations in Zhou Yi's heart fall flat.

"Teacher Zhou, I'm sorry!"

Jiang Ming did not give a reason first, because the fact remained that he had been late.

"Go on, tell me. Why were you late? You brat, you weren't even late during those past few months when you stayed up all night over at the Soul Tool Department. So why were you late today?"

Hearing Jiang Ming apologize, much of the anger in Zhou Yi's heart also dispersed.

She held great expectations for Jiang Ming, and she also believed that with Jiang Ming's temperament, he would not be late for no reason. Something unexpected must have happened.

"Well... actually, there was a bit of a problem with my Martial Soul, but it's fine now."

Jiang Ming did not explain too clearly. The fewer people who knew about his soul ring's advancement, the better.

"There was a problem with your Martial Soul?!"

Zhou Yi frowned. A Martial Soul was the foundation of a Soul Master. A problem with one's Martial Soul was no small matter!