Call Me Zheng Li

Otherwise, he might be rejected, and that wouldn't be a good thing.

Besides, Dai Huabin wasn't the sort to take things lying down. In the original story, after losing a bet to Huo Yuhao, he even sent people from the Duke Mansion to hunt Huo Yuhao and the others down...

Shaking his head, Zheng Li stopped thinking about it. For now, he'd better focus on running.

This is exhausting...

At last, the class bell rang, and the students from both classes all collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

Of the three, Zheng Li was the first to fall. Ling Nan immediately crawled onto Zheng Li's stomach and lay there, limp.

"Damn it... Ling Nan, you bastard! If you're going to climb on me, at least take off your Iron Vest! Get off! You're killing me!" Zheng Li said with difficulty.

Ling Nan made a token effort to struggle, then shook his head. "I can't. I don't have an ounce of strength left..."

"You..."

Zheng Li was furious and wanted to push Ling Nan off, but his arms were too weak.

Just then, a man in his thirties drifted over. His eyes were full of the weariness of age, and seven optimally matched Soul Rings revolved around him. Then his body swayed, transforming into a towering tree as he activated his Martial Soul Avatar.

"Is this the healing after running in Iron Vests?" Zheng Li recognized the scene.

He remembered that Zhou Yi had invited this man. Now he was helping Class Five as well.

A green leaf fell onto him, and a cool sensation spread through his body. Everything in him began to recover rapidly...

It was warm and soothing.

"Huh? I'm better?" Ling Nan, still sprawled on Zheng Li, clenched his fist in delight.

"If you're better, then get off me!"

Zheng Li lifted Ling Nan with both hands, curled his right leg up, and kicked him in the stomach!

The kick wasn't very hard. Ling Nan just toppled over and rolled a few times.

"Damn! Zheng Li, that was cold!"

"Oh? You weren't saying that when you were crushing me just now, were you?" Zheng Li glanced at Ling Nan expressionlessly.

"I'm alive again! Hahaha!"

Su Yunqing had recovered too. She immediately stood up, bounced twice, and laughed.

She was acting like a total idiot...

Zheng Li couldn't help covering his eyes.

Soon, everyone had recovered.

The man in white had already left without a sound, just as quietly as he had arrived.

Zhou Yi was standing not far from Shen Lan. She didn't go over to her, but looked deeply at Zheng Li before saying, "You won. I'll have the Gold Soul Coins delivered to you later."

After that, Zhou Yi called out, "Class One, follow me," and strode toward the other side of the plaza.

Only Huo Yuhao from Class One had lasted until the end, while Class Two had two students left. The winner was obvious.

Zhou Yi didn't care about Dai Huabin. He had the Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul and the strength of a Soul Elder. If he couldn't last until the end, then he'd be wasting that Martial Soul and Soul Power.

But Zheng Li...

Zhou Yi walked along, thinking. Who knew what was on her mind?

Du Weilun had only told Mu Jin about Zheng Li's information, and even then, not in detail. Naturally, Zhou Yi didn't know.

From the original story, Zheng Li could infer from Zhou Yi's curious questions about Huo Yuhao's Martial Soul that the homeroom teachers of the ten freshman classes might not know their students' Martial Souls.

He couldn't figure out why. Perhaps they thought it was better for the homeroom teachers to find out for themselves?

Shen Lan opened her mouth as if to say something, but then stopped. She gave a self-mocking smile and muttered, "I finally won once..."

From the look of Zhou Yi, she didn't seem to care about this so-called win or loss.

Thinking of that, Shen Lan's gaze dimmed. But she put on a composed expression and called out, "Class Five, assemble."

Once they had assembled, Shen Lan said, "You all did very well this time. Even I, your teacher, was impressed."

She meant every word. Zhou Yi had been moved at the end, and how could Shen Lan not have been?

"No one will be expelled today. But don't think I didn't notice those of you who slacked off and tried to get out of it. I'll be keeping a close eye on them from now on. If this happens again, I won't show any leniency! You'd better be careful!" Shen Lan didn't say who she meant, but gave everyone a stern look.

Some of the students felt their hearts skip a beat. At the same time, they were relieved they'd eventually stood up and followed along.

"Dai Huabin. Zheng Li."

"Here." Dai Huabin, who was already in the front row, stepped forward.

"Teacher," Zheng Li replied from within the crowd. The others moved aside, revealing him in the middle.

Dai Huabin also looked at Zheng Li, his gaze cool. He knew why the teacher had called them.

It was about who would be class monitor.

Zheng Li noticed Dai Huabin's stare and couldn't help twitching the corner of his mouth.

Teacher Shen Lan, you're making him resent me!

Still, he wasn't afraid of Dai Huabin. He'd deal with whatever came.

"Dai Huabin, starting today, you'll be Class Five's class monitor. Zheng Li, do you have any objections?"

Shen Lan's reasoning was simple. Zheng Li had lasted until the end and had Twin Martial Souls, but his Soul Power Level wasn't high enough to convince the others.

Even if he became class monitor, he'd probably be challenged and lose the position soon.

"No objections, Teacher."

Zheng Li meant it. Being class monitor was a hassle; he'd much rather have more time to cultivate.

"Good. Anyone who objects can challenge Dai Huabin at any time. If you win, you'll replace him as class monitor. That's all. Class dismissed."

Shen Lan left, and the students of Class Five scattered.

"Let's go. We should get back to the dorm and wash up. I stink," Ling Nan said with a sniff of his armpit.

Zheng Li nodded. He and Ling Nan and Su Yunqing were about to leave.

"Zheng Li!"

Dai Huabin, surrounded by several people, called out to him.

"Can I help you?" Zheng Li turned around in confusion.

What was Dai Huabin up to now?

"If you're not satisfied, you're welcome to challenge me anytime." Dai Huabin gave Zheng Li a provocative look, then turned and walked away with an air of aloofness.

"..."

Call Me Zheng Li

Freshly showered and feeling clean, Zheng Li sat on his dorm bed, tapping his finger against the nearby table and making a knocking sound.

He was thinking about money.

That's right, money!

Was the ten thousand Gold Soul Coins the system had given him not enough?

Zheng Li could say for certain: it wasn't!

"The Blade of Life..."

Zheng Li murmured the name.

Of all Huo Yuhao's opportunities, the one thing Zheng Li would never pass up was the Blade of Life.

If he remembered correctly, the Blade of Life's starting bid at the auction had been one hundred thousand gold coins!

Even if the Blade of Life was currently just the "Spirit-Devouring Fierce Blade," and he could buy it directly without going through an auction house, haggling might lower the price. But even then, there was no way he could afford it with the Gold Soul Coins he had.

After all, it was a Ranking Engraving Knife.

Although the "Spirit-Devouring Fierce Blade" would have to be purified to regain its Blade of Life form, he had neither the method nor the ability to purify it.

But once he got his hands on it, there would be a way!

He could put it in the System Space then. Surely even the "Spirit-Devouring Fierce Blade's" ferocious aura wouldn't be able to break out of the System Space!

Just then, the system's core within Zheng Li's body trembled.

System: Hm? What's this chill? Is someone trying to harm this system?

Zheng Li didn't know the system had reacted.

Xiao Nai spoke from his spiritual sea. "Xiao Li, are you worrying about money? I might have a way, but it'll be difficult."

"What way?"

"New..." Xiao Nai had just said one word when she stopped, for some unknown reason.

Zheng Li understood what Xiao Nai meant.

"Are you talking about the Spirit Bone awarded to the first-place team in the Freshman Assessment?"

"Yes, but after thinking about it, it won't work," Xiao Nai said.

Zheng Li nodded. "I thought of that just now too. Xiao Nai, do you have a better idea?"

Their intelligence was more or less on par.

Sometimes, he really wished Xiao Nai were a genius with a high IQ.

"Let me think about it some more."

"Okay."

The reason the Spirit Bone awarded to the Freshman Assessment's first-place team wouldn't work was simple.

First: Given his strength, he'd need two teammates at the Soul Grandmaster level. Even then, they'd only have a chance of taking first place.

Second: Even if they did take the championship under those circumstances, the reward would go to the whole team, not just him.

Even if he did the most and got the Spirit Bone, he'd have to compensate his teammates.

If that happened, he could afford to compensate them, since he planned to sell the Spirit Bone for Gold Soul Coins anyway.

From what he remembered, the Spirit Bone awarded to the first-place team wasn't suitable for him.

Of course he wanted a Spirit Bone. It didn't need to be particularly old, just suited to him.

But it couldn't be too low in age, either.

What, was he supposed to get a set of hundred-year Spirit Bones?

Zheng Li couldn't help laughing. The stronger the Spirit Beast, the higher the chance it would drop a Spirit Bone, so hundred-year Spirit Bones were probably rare.

He was getting off track.

"The Freshman Assessment..." Zheng Li sighed. "System, why couldn't you have rewarded me with Innate Level 20 Soul Power? Wouldn't that have been great~"

"Please stop dreaming."

Zheng Li: "..."

He really, really wanted to beat the system up!

"Xiao Li, if you win the Freshman Assessment championship, then it might work," Xiao Nai said.

"How so?" Zheng Li asked in confusion.

"Given your Soul Power Level, it's unlikely you'll contribute the most, so someone else would almost certainly get the Spirit Bone. But even if you did contribute the most, you could still choose not to take the Spirit Bone. Whoever gets it could compensate you and the other teammate."

"From what you've told me, the Spirit Bone awarded by Shrek Academy can't be bad, so it'll be worth a lot. Spirit Bones are priceless and hard to come by, and everyone knows how rare and precious they are. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for some Gold Soul Coins as compensation," Xiao Nai said.

Zheng Li considered it. It really was possible, but...

"It could work, but first I'd need two strong teammates. And then we'd need to win first place in the Freshman Assessment..."