Sacred Winged Angel Martial Soul

"No, thank you for your kindness, Teacher, but I can't selfishly take up your personal time." Meng Li politely declined.

"You child... Fine. Come find me after class. You only missed one day; just make up for it over the next few days." Lin Ximeng looked utterly sincere.

"Go in first. The other students should all be here. Introduce yourself in a moment."

When Meng Li followed Lin Ximeng inside, he turned his head and glanced at Tang Wulin, who sat in the second seat of the fourth row. Tang Wulin, who had been cheated out of a hundred yuan, felt the corner of his eye twitch.

All the students' gazes gathered on the newcomer before them.

This kid was dressed so neatly and looked pretty good.

But yesterday, they had seen their teacher fly into a rage because someone had failed to show up for class.

Skipping the very first day of school—he was probably a poor student, the kind who had given up on himself.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Meng Li—Meng as in dream, Li as in koi. My Innate Soul Power is rank five. The school hasn't told me what my Martial Soul is yet. Don't talk to me in the future; I like peace and quiet." Meng Li smiled, then found an empty seat and sat down after finishing his introduction.

Lin Ximeng was rather speechless.

This guy really is a poor student, the students all thought.

Red Mountain Academy's curriculum alternated between a day of basic Soul Master knowledge and a day of cultural studies, mainly language, famous figures, mathematics, and the like.

Today happened to be a day for cultural studies.

After listening for a few minutes, Meng Li began nodding off. Today's lesson was pretty much the same as what he had learned in elementary school.

I'll come once every other day from now on. Cultural studies really are boring. As he listened, Meng Li fell asleep.

"This brat is hopeless." Lin Ximeng glared at the sleeping Meng Li through gritted teeth.

"Meng Li, stand up!"

"Oh, Teacher." Meng Li woke from his dream, still groggy.

Lin Ximeng utterly despised the way this brat had completely given up.

Society was far too competitive these days. Someone like Meng Li would never make it in the future.

"Look at this question. What is one hundred and fifty-four plus twenty-six? If you can't answer, don't leave after school!"

"Oh, one hundred and eighty." Meng Li thought for a moment before answering.

"What about this one...?"

"Two hundred and thirty-five."

"And this one?"

"One hundred and fifty-three."

A child prodigy! the students below thought. They were still counting one finger at a time, yet this person who slept in class was actually so impressive.

If Meng Li knew what they were thinking, he would only smile. It was just elementary school material, not advanced mathematics.

"Sit down," Lin Ximeng said helplessly. "Don't get too smug. Answering this one correctly doesn't mean you'll be able to answer them in the future."

Meng Li nodded.

After being tortured through an entire lesson, a classmate approached Meng Li and asked, "You're so good at this. You must work really hard behind the scenes, right?"

Meng Li recalled how the protagonist of a novel written by an author had answered a similar question.

"Wrong. I'm even more relaxed behind the scenes." After saying that, Meng Li stood and headed toward Lin Ximeng's office, leaving behind a group of thoroughly irritated students.

Tang Wulin began to wonder whether all his hard work was worth it.

When Meng Li arrived at the office, every teacher turned to look at him. He was the first student to come to the office this semester.

"Sit." Lin Ximeng poured herself a cup of tea and watched Meng Li.

Meng Li nodded and obediently sat down.

"What is going on with you? Why do you fall asleep the moment class starts?"

Lin Ximeng scolded Meng Li for more than ten minutes before she began tutoring him one-on-one on yesterday's material.

Because time was short, Lin Ximeng condensed the lesson and explained only the more important points.

She explained that everyone awakened their Martial Soul at the age of six, that meditation was the only way to increase Soul Power, that combat-oriented Soul Masters were called Battle Soul Masters, while Soul Masters not intended for combat were called Tool Soul Masters. Martial Souls that did not take the form of living beings were called Tool Martial Souls, while those born with the form of living creatures were called Beast Martial Souls.

His Martial Soul, meanwhile, was rather special: a humanoid Martial Soul with snow-white angel wings. If Martial Souls had a beauty pageant, his Martial Soul would definitely take first place!

She was an incomparably beautiful female angel with a pair of snow-white wings, breathtaking features, and flawless pale skin. She wore an ancient-patterned battle robe woven in gold and white, a white cape draped over her shoulders, and a golden crown set with blood-red gemstones upon her head. In her hand was a pale golden spear inlaid with rubies, while golden radiance shone from her entire body.

She looked like both a valkyrie and an angel.

This was a Martial Soul that had never appeared before. The Spirit Pagoda named it the Sacred Winged Angel Martial Soul. Golden radiance emanated from her entire body, her snow-white wings were her defining trait, and her appearance was as beautiful as an angel's—hence the name.

"The only way to increase Soul Power is meditation... That doesn't sound very reliable."

After the tutoring session ended, Meng Li returned to the classroom lost in thought.

He planned to meditate nearby. As for cultural studies, to hell with them. He had already studied that stuff for more than ten years—enough to last him.

Meng Li sat on his stool, and his mind instantly emptied. Following his teacher's instructions, he cast aside distracting thoughts and sensed the Soul Power present in the air.

There really was some! Meng Li looked delightedly at the Soul Power appearing before him. It came in all sorts of colors.

He only needed to find the kind he needed. The Angel Martial Soul belonged to light, so he needed to absorb golden Soul Power.

He controlled his thoughts and drew the golden Soul Power toward himself. Countless points of golden light gathered from every direction, silently burrowing into his body and nourishing every corner of it.

If other people absorbed Soul Power as quickly as water flowing through a small river, then he was a tsunami.

Light-attribute Soul Power within several miles surged madly toward him.

Other people needed one or two years to cultivate to rank eight, yet he accomplished it in only one morning. His talent was truly astonishing.

"Meng Li, Meng Li, it's time to eat. Teacher told me to call you."

Meng Li emerged from his meditative state and realized that he had been lying down asleep. His deskmate was calling him from beside him.

His deskmate also thought Meng Li was hopeless. He slept as soon as class began, so he would have no future prospects.

"Food time?" Meng Li brightened.

He followed his classmate to the cafeteria. The decor was average, but the food was genuinely excellent: six dishes and one soup to choose from freely, along with unlimited refills of milk and fruit. Most importantly, all of it was free.

Thinking of the little beggar at home who could not do anything, he decided to ask whether he could take some food back.

This was another job that required selling his face. After Meng Li used his eloquence to explain his family's situation to the cafeteria auntie, she tacitly allowed him to bring some food home.

"Big Brother, what are you doing? Why aren't you back yet?" Na'er sat at home, rubbing her rumbling stomach. She did not even feel like watching her favorite anime.

Click.

The door opened, and Na'er's eyes instantly lit up. She sprang up from the sofa, hurried to the doorway, and saw Meng Li changing his shoes.

Na'er threw herself into his arms without saying a word.

This silly girl was probably lonely by herself. Then again, she might just be hungry... Meng Li stroked Na'er's head. She was half a head shorter than him. "What's wrong, Na'er? Did someone bully you?"

"Hungry," Na'er said softly.

"Didn't I tell you that I put everything in the pot? You only had to heat it up. You didn't eat breakfast either?" Meng Li asked.

"I don't know how..."

"Right, I forgot you're still little. Eat first. I'll bring food back from now on." Meng Li lifted the food he had brought with him.

"You're not blaming Na'er for being thoughtless?" Na'er asked, somewhat confused.

"How could I blame you? You're my little sister!" Meng Li gently rubbed Na'er's short silver hair in reassurance.