In Chen Ming's eyes, neither Wang Sheng nor Xiao Wu was human.
Even if they could only earn one Silver Soul Coin every two days, several Work-Study Students could pool their money and order daily meals from a restaurant in the city.
With so many people in Dorm Seven placing an order together, they could drive down the average price, and someone would definitely be willing to deliver. They might not have meat at every meal, but they could at least eat it regularly.
That was without even considering cooking for themselves.
What, was there not a single kid from the countryside among them who knew how to cook? Forget stir-frying dishes—was it really that hard to knead some dough, steam buns or flatbread, and make a few dishes themselves?
If they were not allowed to cook in the dormitory, they could go to the back mountain. Could the academy possibly regulate that too?
And Xiao Wu as well—were you afraid people would not notice how strange you were? You could have at least asked how much it cost. Why did you ask whether it cost money at all?
How exactly did you get a Work-Study Student identity and sneak into the academy? Don't tell me that identity had just spawned! Since you had entered human society, you should at least have put some points into common sense!
Chen Ming felt powerless to complain, but he still followed Wang Sheng to the cafeteria.
Although Nuoding Academy only had around three hundred people in total, including teachers, students, and various miscellaneous staff members—Yu Xiaogang included—its cafeteria was surprisingly large. It had two floors, and a single floor could accommodate three hundred diners.
The moment they entered the cafeteria, an unpleasant voice rang out.
"Aren't these Wang Sheng and his bunch of paupers? Paupers will always be paupers. You'll never get to eat on the second floor." From the stairs, an upperclassman mocked the Work-Study Students.
Xiao Wu immediately cursed back in anger, but Wang Sheng leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Sister Xiao Wu, the second floor is where you order dishes. We can't afford it."
Xiao Wu's reaction caught the upperclassman's attention. Seeing her appearance, the student who had mocked them immediately brightened. "What a pretty little girl. Too bad she's a Work-Study Student. Forget it, Wang Sheng. I'm here to eat, so I'll let you off this time."
"You!" Xiao Wu stomped her feet in rage. Just as she was about to chase after him, Tang San stopped her.
"We came here to eat." Tang San spoke seriously to Xiao Wu, while she merely snorted and looked at him with utter contempt.
After that little episode, the group began lining up to collect their food. Tang San then noticed a familiar figure entering through the main doors. When he saw Yu Xiaogang, he hurried over in delight.
No one knew what Yu Xiaogang said to Tang San, but in the end, Chen Ming saw Yu Xiaogang lead Tang San step by step toward the second floor, separating him from the other Work-Study Students.
Watching this, Xiao Wu spat. "I knew he wasn't a good person."
At first, Xiao Wu had sensed a familiar, gentle aura of life from Tang San, and instinctively felt some goodwill toward him—or perhaps appetite.
Because a Transformed Spirit Beast needed contact with humans in order to cultivate before stabilizing, she had originally wanted to build a good relationship with Tang San. But after seeing him act like that, Xiao Wu felt furious and had no desire to pay attention to him anymore.
Wang Sheng treated Xiao Wu to this meal. He had originally wanted to pay for Chen Ming as well, but Chen Ming waved him off and took out Soul Coins to pay for his own lunch.
As they ate, Chen Ming took out the little pickled vegetables he had brought and distributed them among everyone. Although each person only received a small amount, they were all quite happy. They could not exactly be called friends yet, but they were no longer as distant with one another as they had been at the beginning.
When Tang San returned to Dorm Seven, he felt that the atmosphere of the entire dormitory had changed. The people around him seemed to look at him with an indescribable sense of distance, as if he were the one who did not belong there.
Although Tang San believed that, as a former Tang Sect disciple, he did not care what these children in their early teens thought of him, he was actually rather displeased inside. Especially after discovering that Xiao Wu was ignoring him, his irritation grew even heavier.
Work-Study Students often cultivated harder than ordinary students. By evening, everyone had begun sitting in their places with their eyes closed, cultivating. The entire night remained peaceful, and nothing unusual happened. Early the next morning, Tang San silently pushed open the door to Dorm Seven and left.
Knowing the original story, Chen Ming knew that Yu Xiaogang had taken Tang San to hunt for a Spirit Ring.
If nothing unexpected happened, then by the time Tang San returned, he would have absorbed a Datura Snake over four hundred years old as his Spirit Ring. He would use it to verify Yu Xiaogang's so-called Ten Core Competencies of Spirit Masters, then start racing down the wrong path at full speed.
Only because Tang San's Martial Soul possessed the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline did it later awaken into a true Blue Silver Emperor. He also replaced several of his earlier Spirit Rings in order to resurrect Xiao Wu. Otherwise, if Tang San had truly been a Blue Silver Grass Spirit Master, he would have been crippled long ago.
For now, though, those matters had little to do with Chen Ming. After waking up in the morning, the first thing he did was sit cross-legged and cultivate. This time, the Soul Power gathered inside his body finally reached a certain threshold, breaking through the small bottleneck he had been facing.
"Level nine. Still a little slow." Chen Ming muttered to himself in dissatisfaction. In his view, Tang San had already gone to obtain a Spirit Ring, while he had not even caught a glimpse of his first one. The gap was simply too large.
Although Chen Ming had AI Thinking that could simulate deductions and let him enter a state of deep meditation free of distracting thoughts, the AI's processing power depended on his own condition, and its knowledge was limited by his understanding. In the short term, Chen Ming had no particularly good way to improve himself quickly.
It was not until Xiao Wu sat up from the bed beside him and began drowsily braiding her hair that Chen Ming had an idea.
A Spirit Master's cultivation depended on the quality of their Martial Soul and their Innate Soul Power. As a Transformed Spirit Beast, Xiao Wu was undoubtedly near the very best in both aspects. Moreover, as a Transformed Spirit Beast, she was certain to possess traits different from ordinary human Spirit Masters before reaching the Maturity Stage.
Perhaps he could obtain more data from Xiao Wu. By observing her condition and origin, he could quickly acquire knowledge that would otherwise be difficult for him to obtain.
At this moment, Tang Hao had already left Dorm Seven and followed Tang San to Soul Hunting Forest to keep watch over him. If Chen Ming wanted to build a good relationship with Xiao Wu, today might be the most suitable day to begin.
Chen Ming's mind was filled with thoughts, but none of them showed on his face.
During the day, guided by the Work-Study Students of Dorm Seven, Chen Ming brought Xiao Wu to the first-year classroom to learn about Spirit Masters. Throughout the entire day, Chen Ming tried to quickly integrate into the environment of Nuoding Academy and gather information from it.
It was not until the afternoon free period that Chen Ming finally voiced his idea to Xiao Wu.
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