Departure for Nuoding Academy, Tang San Was Furious

The day Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy began classes was fast approaching, and Li Yue's mother had already bought him a work-study student slot.

At first, Li Yue's mother had wanted to pay the tuition and enroll him normally. But Li Yue wanted to accompany Tang San, so he asked his mother to buy only a work-study student slot.

As it happened, none of the nearby villages had found children with Innate Soul Power this time, so the slot was purchased.

On the day of departure, Tang San carried a simple bundle on her back, containing all her belongings.

There was not much in it, really. Everything had been given to her by Li Yue, clothes and the like. Without Li Yue, she probably would have set out empty-handed.

Li Yue, meanwhile, had nothing in his hands. His luggage had all been placed in the carriage.

Holy Spirit Village was still some distance from Nuoding City.

Though it was not far and only took half a day on foot, Li Yue's mother felt sorry for her son and had prepared a carriage for them. It had been hired from Nuoding City.

Li Yue's mother said through tears, "Yue'er, you must get along well with your classmates at the academy. If anyone bullies you, tell the teachers right away. If you meet a girl you like, be brave and pursue her. Try to let Mother hold a grandchild as soon as you graduate."

"Got it. I'll get along well with everyone. Goodbye, Mother! I'll come back during the holidays!"

Li Yue selectively ignored part of what his mother had said. Even though Douluo Continent was also known as Love Continent, having children at a junior Soul Master Academy was far too early.

"Bye-bye."

After climbing into the carriage, Li Yue waved goodbye to his mother. The small carriage could not hold too many people.

He was going to school, but he did not feel much sadness. He had finally escaped the beginner village. Cultivation and everything else would be much more convenient from now on.

"Goodbye, Auntie." Tang San waved from beside him as well.

Although Li Yue's mother said she did not like her, she sometimes had strong women deliver things to Tang San out of pity.

Watching Li Yue's mother see him off, Tang San could not help feeling a trace of envy. Her father had not come.

He was probably still sleeping. He had drunk all night yesterday, and she did not know whether the breakfast he had made for her would turn into lunch.

Under the skilled handling of the elderly driver, the carriage slowly moved forward.

An old horse pulled the carriage. It was not very fast, but the journey was not long.

Thus, Li Yue and Tang San soon entered the gates of Nuoding City, and the carriage driver's job came to an end there.

They found a restaurant, ate lunch, and asked the owner where Nuoding Academy was.

They learned that Nuoding Academy was in the western part of Nuoding City.

After asking several passersby for directions, they arrived at the entrance of Nuoding Academy before long.

A huge archway stood before them, built from solid stone. Four large words were written above it: "Nuoding Academy."

"That's right. This is Nuoding Academy."

Li Yue nodded with certainty. He could read, since his mother had hired a teacher to teach him literacy.

Tang San had learned the language of Douluo Continent by now, but she could not read its writing, so she was still illiterate.

Beneath the archway were two iron-bar gates, made from Iron Essence. Li Yue recognized it at a glance.

In the martial arts world of his previous life, it had been called Iron Mother. These iron gates were far better than the piece of scrap metal containing Iron Essence that he had given Tang San.

He wondered whether anyone would come steal it.

The gatekeeper was a slightly plump middle-aged man. Li Yue did not remember his exact description, but judging from the timeline alone, he was most likely the one from the original story.

Li Yue stepped forward and politely said, "Hello, we're new students here to enroll. She is a work-study student from Holy Spirit Village, and I'm a work-study student from Green Mountain Village and the surrounding villages."

The gatekeeper looked them up and down. One was a pretty boy, the other a poor girl. They looked rather like a young master and servant. "Show me your Spirit Hall testing certificates."

Li Yue took out the certificates Su Yuntao had issued. There were two of them, one of which belonged to Tang San.

The gatekeeper snatched both certificates from Li Yue's hand, holding one in each hand.

The moment he looked at them, he grinned, especially when he saw Blue Silver Grass with Innate Level Eight Soul Power and a fire poker with Innate Full Soul Power. He burst out laughing.

"Blue Silver Grass with Innate Level Eight Soul Power? A fire poker with Innate Full Soul Power? Heh, you can't even forge documents properly."

"Blue Silver Grass is famously a useless martial spirit, and you claim it has Innate Level Eight Soul Power? I've been a gatekeeper for four years, yet I've never seen a single Blue Silver Grass with even Innate Level One Soul Power."

"And this fire poker even has Innate Full Soul Power? That's hilarious. You two want to sneak into Nuoding Academy looking like this? Go back and practice forging documents for a few more years."

When Tang San heard the gatekeeper dare to mock Li Yue like that, fury immediately flared in her heart.

You can insult me, but you can't insult Senior Brother Li Yue. How could someone as insignificant as you demean him?

She clenched her small fists tightly, afraid she would not be able to stop herself from punching the gatekeeper. But remembering that they had come here to study, she forced herself to endure it.

Fire blazed in Tang San's eyes as she glared angrily at the gatekeeper. "What right do you have to question him? You're only a lowly gatekeeper. What qualifications do you have to question Brother Yue's talent?"

Rather than restraining himself, the gatekeeper laughed even louder and said arrogantly:

"What? Did I say anything wrong? Everyone knows that the Blue Silver Grass martial spirit has great difficulty awakening Soul Power. Even Level One Soul Power is nearly impossible, let alone Level Eight."

"Do you know what Level Eight means? It means he could possibly cultivate to become a Soul Saint, like that Soul Saint from your Holy Spirit Village."

"I've been a gatekeeper here for so long, and I haven't even seen anyone with Innate Level Five Soul Power. Now you're telling me a Blue Silver Grass with Innate Level Eight Soul Power has appeared? You're trying to make me laugh my teeth out."

"And you, with your Innate Full Soul Power fire poker, I can't even be bothered talking about you. You little brat, get lost. Stop standing here and annoying people."

Tang San was driven nearly mad with rage by the stupid gatekeeper's words. She was about to explode.

Her fingers rested on the Sleeve Arrow as she released the safety. Quietly raising her left hand, she secretly aimed the Sleeve Arrow at the gatekeeper's throat.

With the slightest pressure from her finger, a Sleeve Arrow would shoot out.

She was ready to kill the gatekeeper and be done with it. She and Senior Brother Li Yue could roam the world together. There was no need to attend this little Nuoding Academy.

"Don't." Li Yue reached out with his right hand and held Tang San's restless hand. Even if you want to kill him, can't you sneak into his house at night and kill him quietly?

We are disciples of the Tang Sect. We are assassins. Do you know what an assassin is? Strike from the shadows, and if the blow misses, flee a thousand miles away.

Not activate an unstoppable rampage and slaughter everyone present.

The system's voice rang out in his mind: "Detected that the host has saved the life of Nuoding Academy's gatekeeper. The gatekeeper now owes a great karmic debt."

Li Yue was a little speechless upon hearing the system's voice. Couldn't it even be bothered to give him a name?

He might be a minor character, but that was a little too perfunctory.

"You little brats, get out of here!"

Just as the gatekeeper was about to use force to drive Li Yue and Tang San away, a figure hurried over from inside Nuoding Academy.

The man was in his forties, neither tall nor short, with a lean build, short black hair, and an ordinary face that nonetheless carried a distinctive air.

He was none other than the renowned Theory Master, Yu Xiaogang, who was currently making a living at Nuoding Academy.

Yu Xiaogang saw the gatekeeper trying to drive away students, and they were precisely the students with high Innate Soul Power aptitude whom he had longed for, students who could help him verify his theories. He immediately shouted, "Stop!"

As though he had not spoken in a long time, his somewhat hoarse voice echoed through the air.