Wulin's Call, Borrowing Money?

After leaving the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Fire Elemental Sprite fell into a brief slumber.

Absorbing spiritual energy always took time.

At the time of their fusion, the Fire Elemental Sprite had already been among the very best at the hundred-year level.

Her spiritual energy cultivation had exceeded nine hundred years.

During this trip to the Spirit Ascension Platform, even with two Spirit Rings,

she had gained over three hundred years of cultivation.

Advancing to the thousand-year level would be effortless.

Yet the greatest gain had been the Dark Gold Dreadclaw.

In truth, many staff members had seen that scene through the Spirit Ascension Platform's surveillance footage.

However, even they could not easily know the secret that the Spirit Ascension Platform Guardian was constructed from Soul Bones.

Thus, the commotion it caused was actually less significant than Lin Jin killing the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear and the Man Faced Demon Spider.

Only Meng Canglan had maintained an extremely low-pressure aura around himself from beginning to end.

He did not even show Mu Chen a pleasant face.

The instant Mu Chen saw the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Palm Bone appear, he understood what Meng Canglan's congratulations had meant.

Therefore, faced with Meng Canglan's sour expression, he merely smiled brightly and paid it no mind.

The days that followed temporarily returned to their original routine.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those two months, the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform seemed as though nothing unusual had happened and remained open as usual.

Lin Jin and Mu Xi entered it twice more as well.

Between those two visits, Lin Jin gained another five hundred years of spiritual energy cultivation for the Fire Elemental Sprite.

By then, the two Spirit Rings provided by the Fire Elemental Sprite had reached eighteen hundred years.

Her two soul skills had also received a certain degree of enhancement.

Mu Xi, on the other hand, absorbed very little.

Given Mu Chen's resources, when her two Spirit Souls had first absorbed spiritual energy, they had already reached the limit her body could endure.

Although her Soul Power was steadily increasing now,

she was still temporarily unable to withstand three thousand-year Spirit Rings.

Back at the academy,

three months had passed since Lin Jin enrolled in the Eastsea Academy Intermediate Division.

Something that all first-year teachers and students valued greatly had begun.

The Class Promotion Tournament!

Class Six would begin by challenging the classes above it.

The other classes could likewise challenge those ranked above them.

However, Lin Jin's class was Class One, so naturally, all they needed to do was prepare to be challenged.

But because of what had happened at the start of the school year,

Lin Jin had become somewhat isolated.

Lin Yingluo disliked him, and under the deliberate or subtle influence of class monitor Wang Jinxi, the others disliked him as well.

Wang Jinxi's burns had actually been treated within a week of the incident.

It was said that Lin Yingluo had paid part of the cost.

But since Lin Jin had used Lotus Fire to ignite Wang Jinxi's body, Soul Power, and Spiritual Power, he naturally would not treat Wang Jinxi as he had Wang Tao and Mu Xi.

Thus, Wang Jinxi received only negative effects.

All three aspects had suffered damage.

Even after three months, he had not fully recovered.

If Lin Jin had not been Mu Chen's disciple, the Wang Family naturally would not have let the matter rest.

But now, they could only swallow their bitterness in silence.

And the outcome of the Class Promotion Tournament was just as expected.

Under Wu Zhangkong's leadership, Class Six's team of Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie fought their way north.

They defeated Jialong's trio from Class Four, Gu Tian, Ri, and Ming from Class Three, as well as Class Two's trio.

They were about to face Class One, where Lin Jin was.

Of course, Lin Jin knew his own limits and understood that this Class Promotion Tournament had little to do with him.

Thus, he did not take it to heart.

He devoted more of his energy to cultivating his Soul Power.

Still, over these past three months, Lin Jin had interacted with Tang Wulin quite a bit.

Tang Wulin was not an arrogant person.

When he had first arrived at the East Sea Blacksmith Association, he had truly taken Cen Yue's words to heart.

Whenever he had questions about blacksmithing, he genuinely and humbly asked Lin Jin.

As a result, the two became quite familiar with each other.

Tang Wulin could be considered Lin Jin's first friend his own age apart from Mu Xi.

Beep, beep, beep!

Just after class ended, his Soul Guidance Communicator suddenly rang.

Lin Jin picked it up and saw a look of surprise in his eyes.

The caller was Tang Wulin.

He answered suspiciously.

"Wulin, what is it?"

Tang Wulin's somewhat nervous voice came through the receiver.

"Brother Jin, um, are you free?"

"I have something particularly important to tell you in person."

Lin Jin raised an eyebrow, a faint guess forming in his mind.

Still, he nodded and said,

"Sure."

"Great! I'm outside Class One's classroom."

Lin Jin froze for a moment. When he walked out of the classroom, he indeed saw Tang Wulin, whose clothes had changed somewhat.

The unease and uncertainty he had worn when they first met were gone from his face.

In their place was the confidence of a young man.

"Brother Jin."

Tang Wulin came forward and scratched his head, seeming a little embarrassed.

"Let's go."

Lin Jin smiled faintly, then left Eastsea Academy with Tang Wulin.

At the same time, he sent Mu Xi a message.

A grilled fish restaurant.

A private room.

Tang Wulin's eyes gleamed as he ate with gusto.

Although Lin Jin's physique was now strong, without the Golden Dragon King's power tormenting him, his appetite was naturally nowhere near as terrifying.

Thus, he finished quickly. By the time Tang Wulin was done eating, evening was approaching.

"Hahaha, sorry to keep you waiting, Brother Jin. My appetite..."

Tang Wulin looked somewhat embarrassed.

Lin Jin waved a hand.

"I understand."

"Go on. What did you want to see me about?"

Tang Wulin's face flushed slightly at his words.

"Actually, there are two things I wanted to ask you about."

"First, I wanted to ask about the specific members of Class One who will be competing in the Class Promotion Tournament."

Lin Jin looked at Tang Wulin with some amusement.

"You know I'm in Class One, yet you're asking me about it?"

Tang Wulin scratched his head again.

"Haha, I did ask around. I heard about your glorious deeds in Class One, Brother Jin, and learned that you were somewhat... unconventional."

He was too embarrassed to say that Lin Jin was unpopular.

Lin Jin rolled his eyes and said without thinking,

"Give it up. Whatever I can find out, Wu Zhangkong can find out too."

Tang Wulin froze.

"Brother Jin, you know Teacher Wu?"

Lin Jin paused slightly, only then realizing that he had let Wu Zhangkong's name slip in front of someone else.

But he quickly shifted Tang Wulin's attention.

"Lin Yingluo once pursued him and got rejected. Do you think I know him or not?"

Tang Wulin's eyes widened, gossip blazing in them.

"That happened?"

Hearing Lin Jin call Lin Yingluo by name, Tang Wulin was not surprised. He also understood why Lin Jin had called Wu Zhangkong by name.

Perhaps...

He hated everything associated with the person he hated.

"The second thing?"

Lin Jin did not continue the topic.

Tang Wulin's cheeks reddened again, and he raised his hand to scratch his head.

Lin Jin shot him a glare, stopping his hand midair.

"Stop making those habitual movements. They could become a fatal weakness someday."

Tang Wulin's expression sharpened, and he immediately looked at him gratefully.

Taking a deep breath, he finally explained why he had come.

"Brother Jin, I want to borrow some money from you..."