Eastsea City's Three Little Ones, Ice Sword Lu Jun?

Inside the buffet restaurant, crystal chandeliers cast warm yellow light over the dazzling array of food counters.

Fresh Sea Soul Beast sashimi, steaming Spirit Beast Steaks, and all kinds of exquisite pastries filled the twenty-meter-long buffet table.

Yet the most eye-catching sight was the blue-haired boy in the corner.

He looked about ten years old and was slightly taller than others his age. His soft blue hair was tied into a small braid behind his head.

At that moment, he was devouring the mountain of food before him at an astonishing speed.

Roast suckling pig, deep-sea lobster, and charcoal-grilled steak were effortlessly torn apart in his hands like toys, vanishing into his seemingly bottomless mouth in the blink of an eye.

"Brother Lu, what are you looking at?"

Seeing Lu Jun suddenly freeze, Long Chen followed his gaze and spotted the boy their age, who was eating like mad.

Long Chen's eyes widened at once.

"Th-This guy... was he reincarnated from a starving ghost?"

"Your appetite is about the same as his," Lu Jun quietly added.

That made Long Chen even more embarrassed.

"Brother Lu, I-I have a very small appetite. How am I anything like that guy?"

"It's a blessing to be able to eat. Just be like him and openly show how much you can eat. No one will say anything about you."

Lu Jun spoke calmly.

"As long as you're alive, don't concern yourself with other people's opinions or judgments. That only creates unnecessary inner turmoil."

"Brother Lu is right." Long Chen scratched his head sheepishly. "I care too much about what the other students at the academy think of me."

Lu Jun withdrew his gaze and stopped looking at the boy.

There was no mistaking it.

So young, such a huge appetite, and blood essence fluctuations as well—he was definitely Tang Wulin.

The protagonist of this era.

The boy and girl sharing his table had to be Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan.

Those three, apart from Gu Yue Na, were also Eastsea City's three little ones. They had fought side by side from childhood to adulthood and had the closest bond with one another.

Beside Tang Wulin, Xu Xiaoyan was elegantly sipping juice in small mouthfuls. Her youthful face, that of a girl around ten years old, was full of disgust.

"Captain, you're going to be treated like a monster if you keep this up."

As she spoke, she deliberately moved her chair farther away.

Xie Xie, seated opposite Tang Wulin, stood with his arms crossed. This ten-year-old boy clearly had a cute baby face, yet he insisted on wearing a cold expression.

He silently turned away, using his actions to declare that he did not know this person.

"Mmm, this is delicious!" Tang Wulin's cheeks were puffed up like a hamster's. Then, he swept the table clean like a whirlwind and licked his lips with lingering satisfaction.

He stood up, carried his empty plate toward the buffet counter again, and walked with the light steps of a little beast searching for food.

"Captain! You're still eating? You've already eaten at four or five tables!" Xu Xiaoyan finally could not hold it in any longer. Pouting angrily, she turned to the man in white beside her. "Teacher! Do something about Captain. He eats way too much. It's so embarrassing..."

The man in white wore a gentle expression and smiled helplessly.

"This is a buffet. Let him eat. At least he'll get his money's worth."

A woman was seated beside the man in white, affectionately holding Wu Zhangkong's arm. Her eyes and brows were filled with tenderness.

"Your student really can eat as much as ever."

"It should be because of his mutated martial soul. Still, being able to eat is a blessing." The man in white nodded.

At that moment, Lu Jun felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

Of course he knew who their teacher was.

He was the White Clothes Blue Sword from the original novel, Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong!

And who else could the woman beside him be, so intimate with him and looking like his lover?

Long Bing!

Long Bing, who had long since died in the original novel, was standing here alive and well.

His mind raced.

Long Bing was the daughter of Dark Hummingbird, one of the Holy Spirit Cult's Four Heavenly Kings.

Now that the Holy Spirit Cult had already been uprooted by the Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yulai and Dark Blood Demon, for instance, only worked for the Spirit Pagoda.

Perhaps Dark Hummingbird had vanished long ago, taken on another identity, and begun working at the Spirit Pagoda.

Without an Evil Soul Master father, Long Bing naturally would not quarrel with Wu Zhangkong because of him.

Therefore, Long Bing would not die, nor would she separate from Wu Zhangkong. Wu Zhangkong would not become the Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong who wore a sour face all day and only showed a gentle smile before her gravestone.

At that thought, Lu Jun smiled from the bottom of his heart.

He rather liked this teacher. Although Wu Zhangkong came from Shrek Academy, he was a good teacher and a responsible one.

At the very least, he was not like the others, acting like human-shaped beasts.

Not everyone at Shrek Academy had something wrong with them.

But... since Long Bing was fine, how had he run away from Shrek Academy with Long Bing, come to Skysea City to compete, and still brought Tang Wulin and the others along just like in the original novel?

Could it be that because Long Bing's father was a high-ranking figure in the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy had refused to let Long Bing remain at Shrek Academy and chosen to have her graduate instead?

Wu Zhangkong, who wanted to be with Long Bing, would definitely have followed her...

"Brother Lu?" Long Chen tapped Lu Jun's shoulder, pulling him out of his long thoughts. "Why are you spacing out again? You were smiling one moment and frowning the next. What are you thinking about?"

Only then did Lu Jun come back to his senses. He steadied his emotions and said quietly,

"Nothing. Thanks for interrupting my thoughts. Otherwise, I would've kept thinking endlessly."

Seriously, why was he thinking so much?

Seeing them enjoying themselves here rather than suffering as they had in the original novel made him feel much better.

"Let's find a place to sit and eat."

"Okay, Brother Lu. What do you want? I'll get it for you!"

"No... I'll get it myself."

With a blank expression, Lu Jun walked past Tang Wulin's group. He had intended to ignore them and did not want any interaction with them, but then he suddenly heard a crisp cry of surprise.

"Look!" Xu Xiaoyan abruptly grabbed Xie Xie's sleeve and pointed at Lu Jun's back with her other hand. "Isn't that 'Ice Sword Lu Jun,' nineteenth on the Young Talent Rankings?"

Xie Xie immediately turned around. His cold expression instantly fell apart.

"Really? Let me see!" He narrowed his eyes and inspected Lu Jun carefully. "White clothes... and he looks exactly like the photo. That's him! I've seen him on the Young Talent Rankings online!"

Tang Wulin had already returned, with half a steak still stuffed in his mouth. He asked indistinctly, "Ice Sword Lu Jun? Young Talent Rankings? What's that?"

"All you ever do is cultivate, forge, and eat. Of course you don't know anything about the internet." Xu Xiaoyan lowered her voice. "He's the monster ranked nineteenth on the Young Talent Rankings. I heard he entered Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy directly as a transfer student, became the top student of the first grade as soon as he enrolled, and reached level thirty-three Soul Elder at around ten years old!"

"Th-Thirty-three?"

Tang Wulin's expression froze.

Thinking about how he himself was only level seventeen, he suddenly realized that the gap between people really was enormous.