Benefactor

Feng Piaoling spotted Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao from a great distance.

Jiang Nannan's appearance, however, was rather unexpected.

Back then, he had left the Sun Moon Empire to change this lingering regret from the original story.

At the same time, he had wanted to come to the Star Dou Great Forest and hunt an Earth Armored Dragon for its Spirit Ring.

He found Jiang Nannan near the Mysterious Underworld Sect.

To avoid arousing Xu Tianran's suspicions, he left medicine to treat Jiang Nannan's mother's heart condition and enough money for her mother's recuperation.

Thinking that she had already joined Shrek Academy and that the Mysterious Underworld Sect shouldn't make things too difficult for her, he hurriedly left.

Afterward, Xu Tianran assumed Feng Piaoling had simply had a sudden fit of kindness and didn't look into it any further.

He had never expected Jiang Nannan to wait for him at the gates of Shrek Academy.

"Benefactor, it's been so long."

Perhaps she realized she had lost her composure, or perhaps she feared she would make Feng Piaoling uncomfortable. After hesitating briefly, Jiang Nannan reluctantly stepped away from him.

Then she gave him a graceful bow.

"Indeed. A few years have passed in the blink of an eye. How is your mother's health?"

Feng Piaoling looked at Jiang Nannan's exquisite face, so close to his, and sighed softly.

If this had happened right after he transmigrated, he wouldn't have minded building a harem in this world full of beauties.

But after experiencing his parents' deaths and spending more than five years treading on thin ice in the Crown Prince's Mansion,

he was no longer the inexperienced newcomer he had been when he first arrived.

He had more important things to do.

Perhaps she noticed Feng Piaoling's change in mood. A trace of sadness entered Jiang Nannan's gaze as she looked at him.

"Thanks to the precious medicine and money you gave me back then, my mother is out of danger. I, Jiang Nannan, will never forget your kindness in saving her."

"That's good." Feng Piaoling nodded.

Just then, Xu Sanshi walked over with a brocade box and a gold card in his hand. "So you're the young man who helped Nannan's mother back then. I have ten thousand Gold Soul Coins and a Mysterious Water Pill here. Consider them my way of repaying Nannan's debt of gratitude."

The sight of what Xu Sanshi held caused an uproar.

After all, there were no Soul Master subsidies in this era, ten thousand years later.

Soul Masters were generally poor.

Even Shrek's students received subsidies from the Three Douluo Kingdoms, but those barely kept them above the poverty line.

That was enough to show how valuable ten thousand Gold Soul Coins and a Mysterious Water Pill—worth its weight in gold—were.

Commoners weren't the only ones stunned by Xu Sanshi's lavish offer. Even the nobles were taken aback.

And it unquestionably angered Jiang Nannan. She glared at Xu Sanshi, her beautiful eyes wide with fury. "Xu Sanshi, what do you mean?"

After receiving Feng Piaoling's help, Jiang Nannan had refused the Mysterious Underworld Sect.

Naturally, the sect had retaliated against her.

In the end, however, they found a new substitute, and the matter was dropped.

But somehow, this young master of the Mysterious Underworld Sect had learned that she had nearly sold herself to save her mother. He said he admired her.

That was how his three-year campaign of relentless pursuit began, driving her to distraction.

"Nannan, don't be angry. I'm just thanking this young man on your behalf. Whether he accepts or not is up to him."

Xu Sanshi's intention was simple. Since he couldn't have Jiang Nannan for now, neither could anyone else.

If this pretty boy accepted the Mysterious Water Pill and Gold Soul Coins, he could forget about ever getting involved with Jiang Nannan.

At that, Jiang Nannan was furious, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Feng Piaoling not to accept. She already owed her benefactor so much; she had no right to make demands of him.

She could only look at him apologetically, feeling uneasy and nervous.

"I, Feng, act according to my own wishes. You should take the Mysterious Water Pill and Gold Soul Coins and use them to help those who truly need them."

After speaking, Feng Piaoling paid Xu Sanshi no further attention and walked alone toward the eastern gate.

"Benefactor..." Jiang Nannan hurried after him.

"Your Martial Soul is good. Work hard at your cultivation from now on, and don't abandon your path of practice."

Feng Piaoling merely raised a hand and, with his back to her, offered that parting advice.

Then he took out a letter of recommendation prepared for him by the Crown Prince's Mansion, written by the lord of a major city in the Dou Ling Empire.

He showed it to the Shrek students on duty at the gate.

A city lord's recommendation was one of the necessary conditions for joining Shrek Academy without special treatment.

With the letter in hand, the students didn't stop him. They directed him to a nearby area to take the entrance examination.

Watching Feng Piaoling walk away, Jiang Nannan's expression, which had been clouded with worry that he might misunderstand her, turned resolute.

She murmured, "Benefactor, don't worry. From now on, I'll work hard at my cultivation and won't let you down."

Just then, Tang Ya came over. "Nannan, you and him..."

She had heard their conversation earlier, and couldn't help recalling what Feng Piaoling had said in the Star Dou Great Forest: that he had once seen a female genius Soul Master forced to sell herself to save her mother.

By now, she had already figured it out.

At the same time, she finally understood why Jiang Nannan had remained unmoved by Xu Sanshi's pursuit.

If someone like that had appeared when the Tang Sect fell into disaster, saving her parents, perhaps she, too, would have fallen in love with him from the bottom of her heart.

"Xiao Ya, you know my benefactor?" Jiang Nannan asked, looking at her good friend in surprise.

Tang Ya nodded. "Yes. His name is Feng Piaoling. We happened to meet in the Star Dou Great Forest earlier, so I'd say we know each other."

"Feng Piaoling..." It was the first time Jiang Nannan had learned her benefactor's name, and her beautiful eyes lit up.

"Xiao Ya, thank you for telling me my benefactor's name. I'm going to cultivate now. We can talk again when we have time."

After saying goodbye to her companions, Jiang Nannan walked alone through the eastern city gate that marked the entrance to Shrek Academy.

Bei Bei said from nearby, "Xiao Ya, we should go in."

Tang Ya nodded, and the two of them led Huo Yuhao, who was extremely displeased by Feng Piaoling's arrival, through the eastern gate.

Afterward, Jiang Nannan's companions left too, but they weren't going into the academy.

They were going to watch the entrance examination.

They wanted to see just how capable this new student was—the one who had captivated their Outer Courtyard's number-one beauty.

Before long, only the second- and third-year students on duty and Xu Sanshi remained at the eastern gate.

"Hmph, what a show-off. Telling Nannan to work hard, when you're nothing but a new student. Let's see what you can do."

Xu Sanshi scoffed in annoyance and went over to join Jiang Nannan's companions.

In truth, there wasn't much to see in the entrance examination.

It had only three requirements.

First, the applicant needed a recommendation letter from the lord of a major city in one of the Three Douluo Kingdoms.

Second, they had to be no older than twelve.

Third, their Soul Power had to be at least level fifteen.

Besides these, there was an unspoken rule: Soul Ring Configuration.

Applicants with a white Ten-Year Soul Ring as their First Soul Ring wouldn't be accepted either—unless they had an exemption, like the Tang Sect.