"All right, you three, come over and register. We'll verify your identities, and after that, you can come to the Hall of Heroes to train on your own."
"Everyone else, stay where you are."
Wu Zhangkong looked at Tang Wulin and the other two.
Geniuses were often given special treatment.
Ordinary Tang Sect disciples needed contribution points to enter the Hall of Heroes for training. For these three, its doors had already been thrown wide open.
Of course, there was also a touch of buying a thousand gold for a horse's bones—putting on a show for Ji Fengyu and the other three.
"Okay, Teacher Wu."
Tang Wulin and the others were naturally delighted. After all, fighting the heroes of the Tang Sect's history was more than just training.
Still, they felt a little guilty, as if they were being disloyal by keeping the opportunity to themselves.
"Teacher Wu called you. Go on."
Ji Fengyu waved them over. He didn't care about something like this.
People could say that the Spirit Ascension Platform was inferior to the Hall of Heroes, but the Spirit Ascension Platform could help upgrade Spirit Souls. What could the Hall of Heroes do?
It was just a waste of time for the sake of nostalgia.
"Okay, Brother Ji. Wait for us."
Tang Wulin and the other two went to Wu Zhangkong's side. Wu Zhangkong silently sighed to himself again.
His words didn't carry as much weight as Ji Fengyu's.
He'd already been sidelined as their homeroom teacher...
Still, it was a sign of the team's unity. Wu Zhangkong was from Shrek, and compared to Shrek's crooked doctrines, being sidelined wasn't a big deal.
Clack, clack.
Wu Zhangkong strode deeper into the Tang Sect Technology Park, his footsteps ringing out with power. Tang Wulin and the other two followed behind him.
"Are you really that clueless, or are you pretending?"
As they walked, Wu Zhangkong couldn't help asking.
"What do you mean?"
Tang Wulin and the other two exchanged bewildered glances.
Was he calling them stupid?
"Tell me, do you know who Ji Fengyu is?"
"And you still had the nerve to insist on paying for him."
"All three of your fortunes put together probably aren't worth a single hair on his head."
Wu Zhangkong sounded a little aggrieved.
Those three were honestly impossible to describe!
"Teacher Wu, of course we know who Brother Ji is. He's a heaven-blessed genius ranked twenty-eighth on the Youth Genius Ranking, and a member of the Body Sect. What about it?"
Xie Xie sounded a little unhappy.
Wu Zhangkong was basically calling them stupid. They'd made the Tang Sect lose a legendary Spirit Soul for nothing.
But they'd been happy to pay for Brother Ji.
"You really don't know?"
Wu Zhangkong scrutinized the three of them suspiciously. Seeing the bewilderment on their faces, he twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Fine. I suppose it makes sense that you wouldn't know."
"He's extremely popular among women between the ages of twenty and thirty."
"That guy's even richer than you imagine. Don't go making a big show of insisting on paying for him again."
Wu Zhangkong gave them a cool look. He couldn't tell if this was a blessing or a curse.
They'd only just joined the Tang Sect, and they were already throwing money around for him.
Once they grew up, would Ji Fengyu only have to say the word before they handed him the whole Tang Sect on a platter...?
"Extremely popular among women between twenty and thirty?"
Xie Xie slapped his forehead.
"Oh! Wulin, remember when we first met?"
"That senior student who greeted us was a fan of Brother Ji!"
"So many fans were asking Brother Ji for autographs that the two of us couldn't even squeeze through."
That brought the memory back for Tang Wulin, too.
From the moment he'd first met Ji Fengyu, he'd thought he was absurdly good-looking. His features and skin were perfect, giving him a feeling of...
The two of them suddenly looked at each other and blurted out in unison:
"A celebrity?!"
No, more like an idol.
"No wonder Brother Ji is so rich!"
Tang Wulin and Xie Xie blushed. It seemed Teacher Wu was right—they really had been a bit presumptuous.
With Brother Ji's looks and an audience of women in their twenties and thirties, his money-making ability was beyond anything they could even imagine.
"What?"
Wang Jinxi was utterly bewildered. What were those two going on about?
"Teacher Wu, do you know anything else?"
Tang Wulin asked eagerly.
"Look it up yourselves when you get back."
"You're young. You should be focusing your energy on cultivation. It's fine to follow celebrities in moderation..."
Wu Zhangkong's answer was rather cold.
"Ah, it looks like we'll have to attend classes separately from Tang Wulin and the others from now on."
Gu Yue sounded rather sad.
If she could only keep the corners of her mouth from curling up, she might have looked more convincing.
"There's nothing we can do. We're not members of the Tang Sect."
Ji Fengyu was curious about how Wu Zhangkong would arrange things for them.
After all, the East Sea Spirit Pagoda had blacklisted them, too, and they couldn't enter the Hall of Heroes.
It wasn't as if Wu Zhangkong could personally train them by beating them up every day, was it?
Without Tang Wulin, the Five Dragons wouldn't be easy to handle.
"Gu Yue, are you serious?"
"If you want to laugh, then laugh. What's the point of holding it in?"
Na'er rolled her eyes.
Her brother was gone, but she was still here. The Great Demon King Gu Yue wasn't allowed to act so high and mighty.
"Whatever."
Gu Yue couldn't be bothered with this clone.
The group was getting bored as they waited. A few minutes later, Tang Sect sect master Yang Haofeng came over again.
"Actually, even if you don't join the Tang Sect, you can still enter the Hall of Heroes for trials."
"We welcome everyone."
Yang Haofeng smiled warmly.
"That good a deal?"
Ji Fengyu raised an eyebrow. Since when had the Tang Sect been so generous and selfless?
That didn't sound like the Tang Sect's style.
"Of course, there is one little condition. As long as student Ji Fengyu joins our subsidiary company, Tang Sect Xuanshi Entertainment Company..."
Yang Haofeng handed Ji Fengyu a contract.
"I'll consider it when my contract with my current company expires."
Ji Fengyu accepted the contract, then sat cross-legged and began meditating, clearly unwilling to continue the conversation.
Seeing this, Gu Yuena, Na'er, and Lan Xuanyu began meditating as well.
"Well, student, please give it some thought. I won't disturb you."
The mood was a little awkward. Yang Haofeng scratched his head and left the meditation room.
Not long after,
Wu Zhangkong returned with Tang Wulin and the other two. He brought Ji Fengyu and the others along, and the group headed back to Eastsea Academy.
"Those three can go to the Hall of Heroes by themselves from now on. I'll personally train the four of you."
As expected!
Since Ji Fengyu and the others couldn't enter the Hall of Heroes, all they could do was spar with Wu Zhangkong.
"You're at three rings now. What's the plan?"
"Should you upgrade your first Spirit Soul to ten thousand years before reaching four rings, or look for a new Spirit Soul?"
"What should the next Spirit Soul be?"
Ji Fengyu worked out his cultivation plan.
Cultivation might get a little difficult after the Rainbow Dragon reached seven rings. Perhaps he should switch to focusing on his Skin Martial Soul with his next Spirit Soul.
Ji Fengyu already had the ideal candidate for the Rainbow Dragon's Spirit Soul in mind: Aromatic Silk Beauty!
As for his Skin Martial Soul,
if he could get his hands on a Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, that would be wonderful...
"Brother Ji, Na'er, Lan Xuanyu, and Gu Yue."
"These are the Thousand-Refined Cloud Titanium Vests I forged for you."
"Your next course is sparring with Teacher Wu. These vests will be a big help."
After Tang Wulin had returned from the Hall of Heroes last time, he'd been going out early and coming home late.
He kept thinking: what if that situation had really happened? What would he have done?
What if Brother Ji hadn't been by his side?
So he forged a Thousand-Refined Cloud Titanium Vest to protect Ji Fengyu.
To keep it from seeming too deliberate, he'd simply forged one for Na'er and the other two as well.
Before you continue