A Show of Force? Are You Giving It to Me, or Am I Giving It to You?

Hearing those words.

Fan Yu fell silent.

"You can't have double standards. Geniuses always have a few unusual quirks."

"Take our Shrek ancestor, Sea God Tang San. When he first arrived at Nuoding Academy, he wanted to kill the gatekeeper just because the man looked down on him."

"Compared to that, Jiang Yang is already exceptionally good-tempered."

Although Dean Qian Duoduo had put it that way, Fan Yu still said, unconvinced, "Even so, we don't need to give him such an obvious leg up, do we? What if he's powerful but has zero talent for Soul Tools?"

"You're a pig, and now you're snorting too?"

Qian Duoduo rolled his eyes at him. "Have you forgotten our Ultimate Soldier Project?"

At the mention of the project,

Fan Yu perked up at once.

"No one has zero talent for Soul Tools. Or, even if Jiang Yang isn't very talented at making them, we can develop high-level Soul Tools for him to use."

"Doesn't Mingde Hall train people who specialize in using Soul Tools?"

"Besides—"

At that,

Dean Qian Duoduo lowered his voice, and it turned much colder. "If that kid makes a dazzling show of himself at the freshman conference three months from now, do you think he'll still end up in our Soul Tool Academy?"

"Huh? Brilliant, Dean! You even thought of that!"

"Cut the flattery. When you see Yan Shaozhe later, keep your wits about you. If we miss out on Jiang Yang, I'll beat your ass black and blue!"

"Yes, yes... I understand, Dean! I'll get the job done!"

"The farce is over."

Jiang Yang looked at Xu Sanshi, who had just been all smiles in front of Qian Duoduo but had gone back to scowling the moment Qian Duoduo left, and smiled faintly.

Then he didn't spare Xu Sanshi a second glance and headed in the direction he'd originally intended to go.

Jiang Nannan and Wang Dong naturally followed close behind.

Wang Dong in particular held her swanlike neck especially high as she walked through the crowd. Clearly influenced by Jiang Yang, she was even more proud than usual, despite already being an extraordinarily haughty girl.

And Jiang Nannan was no different. She had always considered herself Jiang Yang's future wife. Add to that her figure and beauty, which stood head and shoulders above everyone else's, and her long, slender, fair feet,

and every step she took seemed like a crane strolling through a garden. The sight left nearly everyone gaping.

"A beautiful girl on his left, a stunning mature beauty on his right. That's how a real man should live!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? That one's obviously a boy. He just looks like a girl."

"Mind your own business!"

The night passed in a flash.

After enough time to spread, the incident that had happened yesterday outside the freshman dormitory had already made its way across all of Shrek.

Only the versions varied wildly.

There was the ordinary version, where a hero saved a beauty; the bizarre version, where a beauty saved a hero; and the utterly outrageous version, where a freshman kept two pets...

In short, while these rumors were still a long way from becoming legends, they had long since strayed far from the truth.

However,

Jiang Yang didn't take any of it to heart.

He had more important things to do: study Soul Tool theory.

Because the Heavenly Dao was incomplete, the Emperor Armor inheritance had already suffered serious damage by the time it passed to him.

Otherwise, with his body, how could he only summon it for two and a half minutes?

It was precisely because the Emperor Armor had been damaged that every time Jiang Yang transformed, he had to pay dozens of times the price that an ordinary summoner did.

"Brother Jiang Yang, we're here."

"This is the Soul Tool Academy."

With Jiang Nannan leading the way, Jiang Yang arrived at the Soul Tool Department in the Outer Court.

"I wonder who'll be receiving you. Should we wait a little?"

"There's no need to go to all that trouble. Nannan, go back and cultivate. A few days from now, we can go visit the Treasure Pavilion together."

"Mm-hmm, sounds good! If anything comes up, remember to come find me."

Jiang Nannan waved at Jiang Yang, then promptly left, as docile as could be.

Only after she had gone

did the smile on Jiang Yang's face slowly fade. He headed straight for the entrance to the Soul Tool Department.

"Student, you look unfamiliar. You don't seem to be from our Soul Tool Department. Please show us your credentials."

As soon as he walked in,

three youths blocked his way. From the badges on their chests, it was clear that the one leading them was a Level 3 Soul Engineer, while the other two were Level 2 Soul Engineers.

At the same time,

Jiang Yang sensed two other gazes watching from inside the Soul Tool Department.

Clearly,

this was Fan Yu's doing.

He had spotted He Caitou nearby. He Caitou was pretending not to look his way,

but under Jiang Yang's spiritual perception, all that pretense was futile.

The slightest unconscious movement had already exposed what he was thinking deep down.

"My name's Jiang Yang. Dean Qian Duoduo sent me here to study."

Having figured out that this was Fan Yu and Qian Duoduo's arrangement, Jiang Yang smiled faintly.

Since they wanted to test how deep his waters ran, he might as well make them pay for it.

"Jiang Yang? Never heard of him!"

"You're just a freshman. You think you can get special treatment from Dean Qian?"

"Exactly, exactly! Hahahaha..."

The three students burst into laughter.

He Caitou and the others also "seized the opportunity" to turn their gazes toward Jiang Yang and walked over.

"Is that so?"

Jiang Yang asked again.

"Of course! What else? Who do you think you are?"

"Judging by the look of you, you're just a freshman. Since when were freshmen allowed to swagger in here and deceive people?"

"Caitou, you're Teacher Fan Yu's direct disciple. Have you heard that Dean Qian specially recruited a student?"

Seeing He Caitou and the others approach,

the Level 3 Soul Engineer leading the group immediately taunted He Caitou.

However,

though he looked relaxed as he mocked Jiang Yang, he had already gripped the defensive Soul Tool he'd prepared.

The others involved in the provocation had done the same.

They had come at Teacher Fan Yu's command to test Jiang Yang's true abilities.

Was he really as astonishing as Dean Qian suspected?

If he couldn't even pass this test, Fan Yu wouldn't be willing to teach him, much less include him as a candidate for the Ultimate Soldier Project.

Qian Duoduo couldn't talk him out of it. He'd also become a little interested in the bet, so he let Fan Yu do as he pleased.

And so, this scene had unfolded today.

"Teacher hasn't mentioned anything to me."

After He Caitou said that, a faint blush spread across his dark face, but he quickly recovered and said sternly, "Since you're not from our Soul Tool Department, then get out!"

"Fair point."

Jiang Yang nodded.

Everyone was dumbfounded at this.

Wasn't this freshman supposed to be a troublemaker?

How had he turned out to be so easy to talk to?

Could the troublemaker act he'd put on earlier have all been fake?

Or was it...

However,

just as confusion appeared on everyone's faces, they suddenly heard a loud crash.