Soft Technique, the Work-Study Student's Mysterious Wages

"Boss!"

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"Boss!"

After silently watching Wang Sheng get kicked around like a ball several times, the people of Dorm Seven chose to pledge their loyalty to Xiao Wu, each of them calling her Boss. Because the pronunciations were similar, hardly anyone found anything strange about it.

Only Chen Ming's face had tightened to the extreme, barely keeping him from laughing out loud.

Yet with everyone else shouting "Boss," one person staying silent was rather conspicuous. Xiao Wu marched up to Chen Ming aggressively and sized him up from head to toe.

Xiao Wu knew about Heavy Armored Earth Dragons.

There had once been a ninety-thousand-year Heavy Armored Earth Dragon in a mountain mine near the Lake of Life. This Spirit Beast had apparently survived its hundred-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation more than two thousand years ago, then vanished into the depths of the Star Dou Forest. No one knew where it had moved to.

Xiao Wu only had two impressions of this type of Spirit Beast.

First, they were lazy. Once they found a suitable place, they often stayed there for decades, centuries, or even millennia. When hungry, they ate ore. When thirsty, they drank underground water. Other than eating, drinking, relieving themselves, and sleeping, they rarely moved.

Aside from occasionally leaving their territory to mate, they normally stayed as motionless as rocks. They had none of the Dragon Clan's violent temperament and were more like turtles. Even when attacked, they ignored it so long as their defenses were not breached.

Second, they were tough. These Spirit Beasts consumed ore over long periods, melting metallic substances into their bones and scales. Though they lost speed and agility, they gained extremely powerful physical resistance.

The older a Heavy Armored Earth Dragon was, the more metal it had consumed and the stronger its defense became. It was said that after breaking through one hundred thousand years, its metal scales would compress, granting it greater defense while restoring a certain degree of agility.

If that Heavy Armored Earth Dragon from back then had not moved away after breaking through one hundred thousand years, Xiao Wu would have wanted to lure Spirit Hall's bad women to it when they attacked, using its defenses to buy time.

Seeing Chen Ming trying to hold back his laughter, Xiao Wu planted her hands on her hips and spoke directly. "What, are you looking down on me? If so, let's have a match."

"I'm not. I was just born unable to control the corners of my mouth..."

Before Chen Ming could finish, Xiao Wu pounced at him. With a tap of her toes, she flashed behind him, stepped on his tail, and latched onto him like a lock. Her legs clamped tightly around his neck as she tried to use a joint lock to bring him down.

But Chen Ming was not a stone just because he had been attacked. His reaction speed was certainly inferior to Xiao Wu's, but he was not Tang San. He could not just take a beating for free.

Enduring the pressure around his neck, Chen Ming slipped both hands through the insides of Xiao Wu's legs and restrained her. Then he slapped his tail against the ground, spun around, and slammed straight toward the floor.

Chen Ming was thick-skinned and tough; he would not be the one hurt by hitting the ground. But Xiao Wu had no intention of becoming a human cushion.

Xiao Wu's flexible body twisted into a strange shape. She kicked off Chen Ming's neck, twisting herself directly in front of him. Then her legs suddenly exerted force, clamping his cheeks as both knees smashed into either side of his temples.

Taking advantage of the opening, Xiao Wu twisted her waist and slipped off Chen Ming's body. Using the chance created by his impact with the ground, she locked him down again with another joint technique.

Strength and defense were not Chen Ming's weak points, but after Martial Soul Possession, his agility was even worse than before. Like a heavily armored soldier, he had gained defense at the cost of far too much agility.

Especially around his joints, where the scales restricted his range of motion even further. For a moment, Xiao Wu really did manage to lock him down.

Xiao Wu's legs clamped around Chen Ming's neck as she twisted one of his arms behind him, leaving him unable to move.

Chen Ming was not actually in much pain, only slightly dizzy. If he kept competing with Xiao Wu in endurance, it was not certain that he would lose. But after several failed attempts to struggle free, he still sighed, slightly twisted his head, and turned his mouth away from Xiao Wu's calf.

"Fine, fine, I lost. Is that enough?" Chen Ming felt the warmth brushing against the tip of his nose and could only feel helpless.

Only after seeing Chen Ming admit defeat did Xiao Wu release him. She straightened her slightly rumpled clothes and stockings, then planted her hands on her hips again.

"Good. Then I'm the Boss here. Call me Sister Xiao Wu."

"Fine, fine, Sister Xiao Wu, Sister Xiao Wu." Chen Ming climbed to his feet and dismissed his Martial Soul. As he casually answered, he pondered how to make up for his lack of agility.

Xiao Wu grew angry at that, but she had no good solution.

If Chen Ming prepared in advance for her joint techniques, Xiao Wu truly did not dare say that she could take down such a big guy again without using Spirit Skills.

Like an NPC from a story, Wang Sheng, Dorm Seven's former former former Boss, stepped forward to explain the situation in Dorm Seven to the three of them.

Simply put, Work-Study Students had to clean the academy while attending classes. The academy only held classes in the morning, with two lessons total: one on general knowledge and one on Martial Souls. The rest of the time was theirs to arrange freely. Work-Study Students could also take on extra jobs in the afternoon to earn money for meal expenses.

Chen Ming asked about the pay, and the answer startled him.

A Work-Study Student could earn ten Copper Soul Coins just by cleaning the garden.

In this era, one Gold Soul Coin was worth ten Silver Soul Coins, or one hundred Copper Soul Coins. A single Gold Soul Coin was equivalent to several months of normal expenses for a family of three.

10 Copper Soul Coins = 1 Silver Soul Coin = 0.1 Gold Soul Coin. If someone worked only twenty days a month, that would be two Gold Soul Coins.

As everyone knew, Spirit Hall's subsidy for Spirit Masters was one Gold Soul Coin a month...

Was this really just sweeping?

Chen Ming estimated that even if someone with Soul Power entered the academy and did not cultivate, instead spending six years doing odd jobs, they could save one hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins over six years if they put aside only twenty Gold Soul Coins a year. Once they left, that would already be enough to establish a fairly substantial household.

But seeing the utterly matter-of-fact expressions on everyone around him, Chen Ming had no way to complain. He could only treat it as preferential treatment for potential Spirit Masters.

Just as Chen Ming was thinking, the door was pushed open again. A teacher in his thirties entered, carrying a set of bedding.

"Which one is Tang San?"

"That's me." Tang San stepped forward.

"My name is Mo Hen. You can call me Teacher Mo. Tang San, this bedding is from Grandmaster for you."