Academy's Top Student

"From today onward, you're our boss!"

Yang Li climbed to his feet, rubbing the spot where Lu Yi and Magikarp had struck him. With a serious expression, he said to Lu Yi,

"Forget it. I didn't come here to be anyone's boss. Besides, this is an academy—cut out all that flashy nonsense!"

Hearing Yang Li's words, Lu Yi simply waved a hand.

"The academy's strongest student is called the top student. How about we call you Top Student from now on?"

"Greetings, Top Student Lu!"

After giving Lu Yi's words some careful thought, Yang Li spoke to him.

As he spoke, he even bowed respectfully to Lu Yi.

"Greetings, Top Student Lu!!!"

Seeing Yang Li's actions, the group of lackeys around him heaved huge sighs of relief. They all bowed to Lu Yi and shouted.

Compared to calling a child several years younger than them Boss, Top Student was a title they could more or less accept.

"Fine, fine. Call me whatever you want. Just don't bully the Work-Study Students anymore!"

Hearing them, Lu Yi waved his hand helplessly. He had figured it out by now—these guys were determined to stick some kind of title on him today. If they did not, they probably would not feel right all over.

But none of that mattered. As long as these guys did not disturb his cultivation in the future, it was fine. After what happened today, they probably would not dare bully the academy's Work-Study Students again.

"Hehe, Top Student, was that a Self-Created Soul Skill you used just now?" Seeing that Lu Yi had accepted the title, Yang Li immediately asked with a grin.

Lu Yi glanced at Yang Li in surprise. So that was why Yang Li had backed down so quickly—he was interested in his Tackle and Splash.

"You want to learn?"

Lu Yi thought it over, then gave Yang Li a sidelong look.

"Really? I can?"

Yang Li's face lit up with delight.

"Sure. Ten Gold Soul Coins. Whenever I cultivate my Self-Created Soul Skills, you can observe from the side. But I don't guarantee you'll learn them. Whether you want to learn is up to you!"

Looking at Yang Li's delighted expression, Lu Yi named his price outright.

After today's fight with Yang Li, he had confirmed that the Tackle and Splash Magikarp shared with him were roughly comparable to Soul Skills granted by ten-year Soul Rings. However, unlike Soul Skills naturally granted by Soul Rings, the Soul Power routes of Splash and Tackle could be altered, giving them a broader range of applications.

So there was not much of a problem with teaching these two skills to others. After all, Magikarp was his true foundation.

But Lu Yi did not have the time to teach Yang Li and the others in detail. At most, when he cultivated Splash and Tackle and developed more applications for them, he could let them observe and learn from the side.

After all, Splash and Tackle were still two Self-Created Soul Skills that could be passed down through generations. If he taught them step by step until they mastered them, the price would be far higher than this.

Besides, Lu Yi was curious what kind of development these guys would have in the future after learning Splash and Tackle.

"Ten Gold Soul Coins is a little expensive. How about three, Top Student? After all, you don't guarantee we'll learn them!"

Yang Li looked troubled as he bargained with Lu Yi.

"Fine!"

Lu Yi agreed without the slightest hesitation. He had only thrown out ten Gold Soul Coins casually in the first place. If he could make money without even needing to teach them himself, then what was there to joke about? Forget three Gold Soul Coins—even one Silver Soul Coin would have been enough for him to agree.

Still, Yang Li had money. He did not even blink before spending three Gold Soul Coins.

"Thank you, Top Student!"

Yang Li bowed deeply to Lu Yi, his face full of joy as he shouted his thanks.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yang Li pulled three Gold Soul Coins from his pocket and handed them to Lu Yi.

"Hey, we're all brothers here. Why be so polite?"

Looking at the Gold Soul Coins in his hand, Lu Yi put on a friendly expression and patted Yang Li on the shoulder.

Time was like a wild donkey—once it started running, it never stopped.

Three months had passed since Lu Yi's battle with Yang Li. During that time, nearly every non-Work-Study Student at Nuoding Academy who knew Lu Yi was selling his Self-Created Soul Skills spent three Gold Soul Coins to buy a chance to observe him cultivating.

After all, three Gold Soul Coins were not much to them. Though they might not necessarily learn the two Self-Created Soul Skills while observing Lu Yi cultivate, spending three Gold Soul Coins to befriend a genius capable of creating Soul Skills was not a loss.

Lu Yi earned several hundred Gold Soul Coins from this. But because of it, every time he cultivated and developed Splash and Tackle, a huge crowd would gather beside him and watch with complete concentration.

At first, Lu Yi was somewhat unaccustomed to so many eyes on him, but before long, he got used to the feeling.

At night, beside the small pond at the back of the mountain, Lu Yi woke from meditation.

"Finally, level four!"

Feeling the abundant Soul Power within his body, Lu Yi spoke with some emotion.

Ever since the Gold Soul Coins from selling his Self-Created Soul Skills had come in, Lu Yi had not hesitated at all. He went through every apothecary in Nuoding City and bought up all of their Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

However, because this aphrodisiac was so potent that apothecaries rarely stocked it, even after visiting every apothecary in Nuoding City, Lu Yi only managed to buy seven fist-sized pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

To soften the Whale Rubber for easier consumption, he had even gone to a blacksmith shop and had a furnace made.

But after consuming just three fist-sized pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, he felt that the improvement it brought to his physical condition had already become negligible. If he wanted any greater improvement, he would probably have to consume higher-quality Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

But that stuff was almost as rare as hundred-year Whale Rubber—perhaps even rarer.

After all, one might still encounter and hunt a few hundred-year whale Soul Beasts that had wandered away from their group to play. But even if one encountered a ten-thousand-year one, it might not be possible to kill it.

Thousand-year whales were different. At that age, they were just heading out into the world to find wives, making it easier for Soul Masters to encounter and hunt them alone.

It was precisely because of this peculiar trait that Thousand-Year Whale Rubber was far more common on the market than hundred-year or ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber.

Still, even though Thousand-Year Whale Rubber brought only negligible physical improvement, Lu Yi did not stop taking it. After all, something was better than nothing.

Of the seven pieces of Whale Rubber, Lu Yi ate five himself. Including the one he had eaten earlier, he consumed six in total, only stopping once the Whale Rubber no longer had any effect on him at all.

After eating six pieces of Whale Rubber, Lu Yi felt that with his current physical condition, he might even be able to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring as his first Soul Ring.

But considering that Wang Dong, the little princess of the Clear Sky Sect from the original second novel, ate Whale Rubber like food yet could only add a hundred-year Soul Ring as her first Soul Ring, Lu Yi decided to play it safe and match his Soul Rings according to Wang Dong's first two Soul Rings in the second novel.

After all, she had two divine officials watching over her, yet her first two rings could only be a hundred-year and a thousand-year ring. Lu Yi, who could only rely on himself, had better not think about doing anything special.

"Brother Yi, did you break through?"

Just then, Wang Shu, who had finished meditating beside the pile of firewood, looked at Lu Yi. Normally, Lu Yi would meditate for an entire day whenever he cultivated, yet today he had finished even earlier than Wang Shu. Wang Shu's brain finally turned for once, and he asked Lu Yi with delight.

"Yeah, level four. Tonight, we'll go to the second floor of the cafeteria. My treat!"

Lu Yi smiled at Wang Shu's delighted expression.