Chapter Thirty-Eight: An Acquaintance He'd Met Only Once

Zheng Li closed his eyes and relaxed.

"A Li, do you really dislike me that much?" A familiar voice tinged with grievance sounded beside him.

Zheng Li blinked. "Huh?"

He turned to look.

"Holy crap! Gluttonous Cat?! What are you doing in Class One?"

He was stunned.

After the classes were rearranged, only four remained. Class One taught Power Attack System and Control System students, while Class Two taught Defense System and Agility Attack System students.

So why had Gluttonous Cat Ling Nan ended up in Class One?

When he asked, Ling Nan looked just as confused. "I'm not sure either! Teacher Shen Lan told me I'd been assigned to Class One."

Zheng Li was at a loss.

Ling Nan, on the other hand, was delighted...

The clash between Huo Yuhao and Wu Feng, Dai Huabin, and the others over the class monitor position had happened as expected.

Wang Yan was Class One's head teacher, and he initially decided to hold an election.

Zheng Li's name had been on the list, too.

But before anyone could vote, Wu Feng's indignation interrupted the proceedings.

In the end, nothing came of it.

Zheng Li figured he wouldn't have gotten many votes anyway.

Most of the girls in Class One now looked at him with disdain. The only ones who didn't were his former classmates from Class Five. He was close only to Cui Yajie and Su Yunqing, though he also got along well with Xiao Xiao.

Huo Yuhao was all right, too.

Wang Dong was another matter. Whenever he saw Zheng Li, he looked ready to kill him.

As if Zheng Li had stolen all the rice from Wang Dong's family.

In the end, Huo Yuhao became class monitor, while Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Wu Feng were kicked out of Class One.

Dai Huabin's resentment shifted straight from Zheng Li to Huo Yuhao...

Zheng Li couldn't help thinking, Yuhao, nicely done!

Shrek Academy's school year usually lasted eleven months, followed by a month-long vacation.

Today's class was the last one before the break.

After class...

As they walked to the cafeteria, Ling Nan asked, "A Li, what are you planning to do over the break? Want to come visit my house?"

He'd been wanting to ask for a while.

"What would I do at your house?" Zheng Li glanced at him.

"Meet my parents, obviously!"

Ling Nan said it without hesitation.

Zheng Li: "..."

Cui Yajie and Su Yunqing exchanged strange looks. Ling Nan seemed to enjoy saying things that gave them the wrong idea.

If they didn't know him, they probably would have misunderstood.

"I'm not going!"

As if! Why would Zheng Li go home with Ling Nan to meet his parents? If he agreed, the two girls beside him would surely get the wrong idea for good.

"Why not?"

"I don't have time. I have to visit my hometown first, and it's pretty far away. The round trip will probably take ten days. Then I have to go with the Academy's group to the Star Dou Great Forest to get my Second Soul Ring."

This was the Soul Ring he'd earned as the Freshman Assessment champion.

That morning, Wang Yan and Zhou Yi had called him over, along with Huo Yuhao.

Zhou Yi knew Zheng Li was special, and he'd always performed well. Even Zhou Yi couldn't find fault with him, so her favorability toward him had shot up.

They'd called them over for a simple reason: they were both "orphans," so she wanted to ask about their Second Soul Rings.

She said that if they wanted to use the reward from the assessment, they should return to the Academy on the sixteenth day of the break. The Academy would then organize a sizable group to visit the Star Dou Great Forest and obtain their Soul Rings. Powerful teachers would accompany them, so it would be safe.

Zheng Li agreed, saying he'd be back before the sixteenth.

Huo Yuhao only said he understood and thanked her, without giving a definite answer.

Ling Nan counted on his fingers, then his expression fell. "Getting your Soul Ring is important. I guess I'll have to wait until the next break."

He really was persistent.

"What are you two planning to do?" Zheng Li asked Cui Yajie and Su Yunqing.

"Go home and cultivate," Su Yunqing said with a shrug. Her petite stature made her look like a little adult.

"Same as Xiao Qing."

Cui Yajie looked at Zheng Li with the air of a wronged wife.

Zheng Li seemed not to notice. He simply said with concern, "Take care of yourselves. I'm leaving first thing tomorrow morning. See you when school starts."

"Okay! You too, Zheng Li." Su Yunqing gave him a cute smile.

Ling Nan said nothing. He still had the whole night to say goodbye to Zheng Li, so there was no rush.

Cui Yajie's gaze seemed to grow even more aggrieved.

The first installment of the Gold Soul Coins had arrived for Zheng Li and Ling Nan. It was no small amount—they'd received a total of one million.

Zheng Li took eight hundred thousand, while Ling Nan took two hundred thousand.

Zheng Li had gotten the bigger share for the first installment. They'd agreed that Ling Nan would get the bigger share for the second.

They had no idea...

In the Dou Ling Empire.

Inside a lavish mansion...

A beautiful woman was eating the same food as ordinary commoners. Her gaze was distant. Suddenly, she slammed her chopsticks down on the table and glared in the direction of Shrek. "That unfilial spendthrift of a daughter!"

All her jewelry and accessories were gone—even the ones made with Soul Tools! Every last piece!

She'd been left with only one set to keep up appearances.

The huge mansion looked splendid, but only she knew that if it weren't for appearances when guests came over, they would have sold it, too.

The handsome middle-aged man beside her smiled sheepishly. "Honey, calm down. We're doing this so our daughter can succeed, aren't we? Think about it. With her talent, once she becomes a Titled Douluo, we'll be living in style. Even the emperor will have to show us some respect..."

"Get lost! By then, the vegetables will have gone cold! How many years do you expect me to wait? Twenty? Thirty? Forty?" the beautiful woman shouted. "You're an idiot, too! They said thirty thousand would be enough for the first installment, but you insisted on rounding it up to a million! You think you're rich? You even want to sell the house? Why not sell yourself instead?"

The middle-aged man gave a sheepish, timid smile.

"We haven't lost the house yet..."

He spoke very cautiously.

The beautiful woman slapped her forehead and gave a bitter laugh. "Are we really that far from it?"

Aside from their family business, they'd sold most of what they owned, including precious heirlooms passed down through the family.

Well, if they lost their business, they might really be ruined.

The middle-aged man fell silent.

Daughter, do your best! Become a Titled Douluo soon, or your mother's going to eat me alive!

The middle-aged man could only hope...

Early the next morning, Cui Yajie set off for the Dou Ling Empire.

At noon, Zheng Li—who had originally planned to leave at dawn—said goodbye to Ling Nan, who had come to see him off, and headed south.

A short while after Zheng Li left, Huo Yuhao walked out of the Academy gates. He glanced in one direction, then started north.

That afternoon, Ling Nan and Su Yunqing set off together. They were headed in the same direction and could look out for each other.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: An Acquaintance He'd Met Only Once

That night, Zheng Li hurried along a desolate road.

His destination was the Xingluo Imperial Capital—Xingluo City.

His supposed trip back to his hometown was just a cover story.

Many people in that "hometown" remembered him, but he had no memories of them!

The system was useless. If it was going to make up a story, it could at least make it convincing.

What if someone asked him about his hometown someday? What could he say? How much could he learn from the recommendation letter alone?

Bored on the road, Zheng Li had naturally asked the system about it.

The system had replied indignantly, This system has no flaws! It simply doesn't have permission to alter its host's memories. If the host wants, just give this system authorization, and it can implant false memories of your "hometown" for you!

Zheng Li had weakly replied, "No need."

From the system's tone, the process would definitely be unpleasant.

He'd only brought it up because he was bored. Of course, he was a little worried about this, but not much. Later, he learned that the system knew the details of those false memories and that he could ask about them at any time. After that, he stopped worrying.

"Man, this road is pretty desolate," Zheng Li murmured, hurrying along and studying the dim surroundings.

It was night, and the weather was terrible. Not even the moon was visible, and only a few stars could be seen faintly.

He shivered involuntarily. "This place would be perfect for a horror movie..."

After making that comment, Zheng Li continued on his way.

He usually stopped to rest at night, but the area was just too desolate.

It wasn't that he was afraid of ghosts. He just wanted to find a decent place to camp.

Xiao Nai gave him a deeply contemptuous look.

Who had taken her to see a horror movie back then, only for her to be fine while that someone got so scared he nearly crushed her hand?

On the afternoon of the fourth day after leaving Shrek Academy, Zheng Li arrived at the east gate of Xingluo City.

"It's magnificent. It's every bit as impressive as Shrek City." Zheng Li gazed at the hundred-meter-high city wall, which was also a hundred meters thick, and exclaimed.

The thickness, in particular, left him stunned.

Damn! If you thought of the thickness as the height, it would be a proper skyscraper!

Naturally, soldiers stood guard at the gate, but they didn't stop ordinary passersby. Of course, they'd detain anyone suspicious.

Zheng Li was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. His clothes were ordinary, nothing out of the usual.

Then he entered the long, arched tunnel.

Halfway through, a green figure suddenly came rushing toward him. Without looking where she was going, she crashed straight into the unsuspecting Zheng Li.

"Hm?!"

He looked down and saw a little girl in a water-green dress—a young...a little girl?

"Ah! Sorry, get out of the way!" The little girl hurriedly stepped aside, apologizing as she spoke.

Why did that sound so weird?

"I'm—wait?"

Zheng Li had been about to say it was all right, but when he saw the little girl's adorable face...

Huh! An acquaintance?

Well, not exactly, but they had met once.