"I'm twelve," Su Yunqing said casually, clearly not caring.
Well, this girl was about as tall as Xiao Nai.
Xiao Nai suddenly spoke up. "Xiao Li, I suspect you're thinking something inappropriate."
"No, no." Zheng Li shook his head. He couldn't admit to that.
Speaking of which, Zheng Li looked around. It seemed the three of them were the shortest in the class.
"What about you?" Su Yunqing asked in return, just as casually. Most of Shrek's new students were eleven or twelve, so she assumed Zheng Li was too.
"I'm ten."
"Oh, ten. Still younger than—"
Wait, ten?
"Good grief! You're only ten?" Su Yunqing exclaimed.
Zheng Li became the center of attention. All the students in the class looked over, and even Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who was beside him, couldn't help giving him a second look.
"What's your Soul Power Level?"
If Zheng Li's Soul Power Level was high, then Su Yunqing might as well forget about her own twenty-one levels of Soul Power!
"I've just barely met Shrek's minimum entrance requirement," Zheng Li said.
Su Yunqing breathed a sigh of relief. She felt like she could hold her own again! In two years, when Zheng Li reached her age, he would probably only be a few levels above her. That was within an acceptable range.
Some of the others who'd overheard them also lost interest in Zheng Li at that moment.
Just as Su Yunqing had thought, it was within their acceptable range.
Ling Nan, on the other hand, had plenty to say to Zheng Li after returning. He also got to know Su Yunqing along the way.
The two of them hit it off.
A few minutes later, the class bell rang, and the Class Five homeroom teacher walked in right on time. She was a woman in her thirties.
As soon as she entered, she swept her gaze across the class, pausing briefly on Dai Huabin and Zheng Li.
Especially Zheng Li.
Yesterday, the dean of studies, Du Weilun, had come to see her in person and told her a little about Zheng Li.
An orphan with Twin Martial Souls?
They were both sensible people. How could she not understand the obvious implication?
Of course, it was still necessary to observe his temperament. That was Du Weilun's intention as well. If Zheng Li's temperament was poor, that didn't mean they would give up on him. He was still young and had plenty of room to grow.
Then Shen Lan went up to the podium and introduced herself.
Afterward, she didn't ask the students to introduce themselves. She simply said a few encouraging words before beginning the lesson on theory.
Shen Lan wasn't Zhou Yi, nor was she as strict as Zhou Yi.
In fact, she disliked strict teachers. Her younger brother had been expelled because of Zhou Yi's harshness.
That didn't mean her brother had been blameless. As a teacher, she naturally understood that sometimes a little strictness was better.
The lesson lasted all morning.
Zheng Li listened attentively. After all, he had only just arrived in the Douluo World, and there was a lot he didn't know.
He'd learned quite a bit that morning.
When the morning class ended, Mu Jin looked over all the students and said, "Get ready. This afternoon, I'll have you do some practical combat. I'll choose the class monitor based on your performance in combat and your entrance test results. Class dismissed!"
"Zheng Li, come on, let's eat!" As soon as Shen Lan left the classroom, Ling Nan stood up, grabbed Zheng Li, and pulled him outside.
Some of the people watching them whispered among themselves. Those who knew Ling Nan was a boy looked rather uncomfortable.
Anyone would have been taken aback if a cute girl suddenly spoke to them, only for it to turn out she was a boy!
Zheng Li didn't mind the gossip, but he still felt rather helpless. "Ling Nan, are you that hungry?"
"No, the food in the cafeteria is just delicious. I've been craving it all morning." Ling Nan walked along as he spoke, a yearning look on his face.
A Gluttonous Cat?
Looking at Ling Nan, Zheng Li couldn't help thinking that.
They had just left the classroom and walked a short way when a voice called out from behind them. "Zheng Li, Ling Nan, wait for me! Let's go together!"
Zheng Li was puzzled. They didn't seem to know anyone else.
He turned around and saw Su Yunqing, the lively little girl bouncing toward them.
"Am I cute enough to make you fall for me?"
"A little," Zheng Li admitted with a nod.
"Do you want to pick me up and pat me on the head?"
"I do—hell no!"
Zheng Li patted his forehead and changed his answer.
"Dream Xiaonai! Are you asking for it? How come I never noticed this about you before?"
Xiao Nai spoke calmly from within the Sea of Consciousness. "Before, there was no one who could threaten me. Even if there had been, they would have been children. I didn't think you'd stoop that low!"
"And now you're a child too!"
Zheng Li was speechless.
What exactly were you trying to say?
"Xiao Nai, are you jealous?"
"It hasn't gotten to that point," Xiao Nai said evenly.
So it could happen, then. Zheng Li was still quite pleased to hear that, but—
"Don't worry. What you're imagining won't happen."
"Tang San also told Oscar that he and Xiao Wu were just friends," Xiao Nai retorted.
Zheng Li: "..."
Wait!
"Good grief! Dream Xiaonai, didn't you say you'd never watched Douluo? How do you know that much?"
He hadn't expected that at all.
Xiao Nai said, "I happened to see some short videos, and you told me the general plot."
"...All right."
"What are you following us for, shorty?" Ling Nan teased Su Yunqing.
"Shorty?" Su Yunqing froze, then snapped, "Ling Nan, are you trying to die? I just haven't finished growing yet!"
She hated it when people commented on her height.
As she spoke, she stretched out her right hand. A flash of dark blue light appeared, then turned into a large, entirely dark blue hammer. Its head was simply made up of a cylinder, a cone, another cone, and another cylinder. There were two rings on the cylindrical sections at either end, and they were earthy yellow.
The hammer handle was over a foot long. It looked pretty heavy.
Su Yunqing gripped the handle in one hand and swung at Ling Nan's left side!
Zheng Li didn't intervene. He wasn't very strong, and taking the hammer head-on would probably be rough.
Besides, Ling Nan wouldn't get hit. A Martial Soul user with a cat-type Martial Soul wouldn't lack agility.
Just as Zheng Li had expected, Ling Nan dodged with a sidestep, while Su Yunqing abruptly stopped her hammer after it missed!
Just as Su Yunqing was about to pursue him, a gentle voice came from behind her. "What are you doing?"
The speaker was a teacher around forty years old. He had an unremarkable appearance and no imposing air about him. He smiled warmly, just as his voice sounded gentle.
Su Yunqing froze, then ran off without even putting away her Martial Soul. She didn't look back, and even with the huge hammer in hand, she moved pretty fast.
Seeing what Su Yunqing had done, Ling Nan froze too. Then he ran as well... and he was incredibly fast!
Only Zheng Li remained.
The corner of Zheng Li's mouth twitched. You were just fooling around! Why was running your first instinct?
By then, the teacher had walked up beside Zheng Li. He glanced at Ling Nan and Su Yunqing's retreating figures and asked, "Student, were you with them?"
"Yes, teacher."
"Don't be nervous. I saw what happened. I just wanted to remind you. Oh, let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Yan." Wang Yan smiled warmly.
"Teacher, I'm not nervous." Zheng Li smiled slightly. "My name is Zheng Li. I'm in Freshman Class Five."
Wang Yan's smile faltered slightly at Zheng Li's words, but he recovered in an instant.
"Zheng Li is a nice name. You're going to eat, right? Go ahead. I won't keep you. Remember to remind them not to use their Martial Souls to mess around in the teaching building corridors again. They should find somewhere more open."
Wang Yan patted Zheng Li on the shoulder, then left.
"Is this Wang Yan the senior disciple of Xuan Zi?" Xiao Nai asked.
"Probably."
Zheng Li was rather surprised to run into Teacher Wang Yan.
Chapter Eleven: The Butterfly Effect Changes the Practical Combat Lesson
Outside the cafeteria, Ling Nan and Su Yunqing waited for Zheng Li after running off.
As soon as Zheng Li arrived, Su Yunqing came over, grabbed his hand, and asked nervously, "Zheng Li, what did the teacher say? Is he investigating us? I don't want to get expelled!"
Ling Nan looked nervous too.
Zheng Li rolled his eyes at Su Yunqing. You didn't want to get expelled? Then why had you been so impulsive?
"It's fine. Teacher Wang Yan just told me to remind you not to mess around with your Martial Souls in the teaching building corridor."
"Oh, good. As long as he's not pursuing it." Ling Nan and Su Yunqing both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come on, since we're fine, let's go eat! That smell... is making my mouth water!" Ling Nan sniffed the air and said.
"Your mouth is watering? What?" Su Yunqing tilted her head, puzzled. Was it his catchphrase?
"His Martial Soul is cat-type." Zheng Li looked at Ling Nan, who had already gone into the cafeteria, and explained to Su Yunqing.
"Oh," Su Yunqing said. "No wonder he runs as fast as the Soft Bone Rabbit?"
Zheng Li: "???"
Leaving aside whether rabbits could outrun cats, wasn't there something off about a "Soft Bone Rabbit" being fast?
Forgive his ignorance, but shouldn't a Soft Bone Rabbit be good at flexibility?
Look up Xiao Wu's "Explosive Kill Eight-Stage Throw"!
"Let's go in too," Su Yunqing said, and went inside.
Zheng Li and Ling Nan still bought lunches that cost a little over one Gold Soul Coin each.
When they returned to the table, they saw that Su Yunqing's lunch was very simple.
Neither Zheng Li nor Ling Nan said anything. They could naturally guess that Su Yunqing's family wasn't very well off.
If Zheng Li hadn't had the ten thousand Gold Soul Coins given to him by the system, he'd have been in an even tighter spot than Su Yunqing.
Seeing this, Su Yunqing's yellow eyes couldn't help showing a flicker of emotion.
After lunch, they each returned to their dorms. There was plenty of time for an afternoon nap.
After chatting with Ling Nan for a while, Zheng Li began cultivating.
After Zheng Li, Ling Nan began cultivating too.
Cultivation didn't just fall out of the sky.
That afternoon, at Shrek Square.
Before you continue