He had no choice. This dean was simply too eager to improve himself. He couldn't exactly crush the man's enthusiasm for self-betterment, could he?
Just as Xue Bingchen nodded in agreement, Snow Empress's clear, pleasant chuckle suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Hehe... Chen'er, this human Soul Master isn't bad. He's quite sensible, much more pleasing to the eye than that so-called Grandmaster."
Hearing Snow Empress's assessment, Xue Bingchen nodded inwardly in complete agreement.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the dean, who was desperately eager to improve, settle them in before striding aggressively toward the guest quarters where Yu Xiaogang lived.
As for whether the dean would choose to squeeze in with Yu Xiaogang, or throw that freeloader out onto the streets in order to curry favor with Xue Bingchen...
That was no longer something Xue Bingchen cared about.
After all, every villain had his nemesis.
Over the next few days, Xue Bingchen noticed something that left him thoroughly puzzled.
He had clearly given Tang San a storage ring filled with Gold Soul Coins. Even if Tang San did nothing from then on and lived like a spoiled young master, that money would have been enough for him to spend comfortably in Notting City for years.
Yet aside from attending the academy's basic academic classes, Tang San still ran to the Blacksmith Shop in Notting City whenever he had free time, bare-chested as he hammered away with a clanging ding-ding-dang-dang to earn money!
Did the Bottom-level Code of supporting his family through blacksmithing in his past life kick in? Does he feel awful if he goes a day without forging?
Standing in the distance and watching Tang San sweat profusely inside the Blacksmith Shop, Xue Bingchen couldn't help mocking him inwardly.
Still, puzzled as he was, Xue Bingchen could not be bothered to interfere.
At least in this regard, Tang San was someone down-to-earth who insisted on making a living through his own craftsmanship. That steady, unassuming temperament suited the persona of the future powerhouse he was meant to become.
Meanwhile, something interesting was also happening in Dorm Seven, the work-study student dormitory at Notting Academy.
Although Tang San, as a work-study student, had been accepted as Xue Bingchen's disciple, his student registration was still assigned to Dorm Seven.
On his first day reporting to Dorm Seven, its boss, Wang Sheng, followed tradition and tried to give this newcomer a show of force, demanding to know Tang San's background.
Then Tang San calmly said, "My teacher is a six-ring Soul Emperor"...
The entire Dorm Seven instantly fell silent!
The fierce looks in Wang Sheng and the others' eyes instantly became even clearer than the dean of Notting Academy's!
"A... a Soul Emperor?!"
Wang Sheng swallowed in fright. The fist he had raised immediately turned into a head-scratching gesture, while an honest, simple smile spread across his face.
"Hehe... Brother Tang San, your luck is insane! You actually got to take a Soul Emperor as your teacher!"
At this point, Wang Sheng seemed to remember something. Lowering his voice, he said with a gossiping look on his face,
"You don't know this, but at noon today, I saw that theory Grandmaster named Yu Xiaogang again! Relying on his good relationship with the dean, he went to the second floor of the cafeteria to freeload again. He didn't even pay!"
"I saw him hanging around the school gates before, and I thought a newcomer like you might get tricked into taking him as your teacher by those theories of his! Good thing you didn't fall for it!"
Tang San's brows immediately furrowed tightly upon hearing Wang Sheng's words.
"Yu Xiaogang? Freeloading? Eating without paying?"
A deep disgust and relief flashed through Tang San's eyes.
Good thing I stayed rational and wasn't bluffed by his claim about Twin Martial Souls!
If I had really taken someone like that as my teacher, and he dragged me around eating without paying in the future, wouldn't I, Tang San, lose all my dignity in my later years and be mocked by Wang Sheng and the others for the rest of my life?
Master was right. That sort of person is worse than a clown!
Tang San's admiration for Xue Bingchen rose to yet another level.
While Tang San forged in the Blacksmith Shop and established his authority in Dorm Seven,
Xue Bingchen was lying on the soft bed in the dean's private villa with his eyes closed, resting, when Snow Empress's voice suddenly rang out in his mind once more.
This time, however, Snow Empress's voice contained less laziness and more surprise and intense interest.
"Hm? This is..."
Snow Empress's voice echoed through Xue Bingchen's mind.
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoing Transformation? And... it seems to be a Soft Bone Rabbit? Interesting, truly interesting..."
Xue Bingchen abruptly opened his eyes upon hearing those words!
Of course he knew whom Snow Empress had sensed!
The Hundred-Thousand-Year rogue rabbit, Xiao Wu!
However, in order to maintain his image before Snow Empress as a well-behaved son who was extraordinarily talented but knew little about the continent's hidden secrets, Xue Bingchen decided to put on a small act.
"Mother, what did you just say? A Soul Beast undergoing Transformation?" Xue Bingchen asked inwardly in a curious tone.
Snow Empress replied softly,
"Yes. My Mental Power just swept over this academy, and I discovered a very interesting little one.
Judging from the aura around her, she should have only recently broken through the hundred-thousand-year threshold, yet she impatiently chose Transformation to cultivate anew..."
At this point, Snow Empress's tone carried a trace of emotion.
"Little Chen, the little place you chose to settle down in really is quite interesting.
A few days ago, we came across the exceedingly rare Twin Martial Souls. Today, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast undergoing Transformation has appeared as well..."
Hearing Snow Empress's remark, Xue Bingchen could not help silently mocking things in his heart.
Of course. This is Douluo Continent's ultimate beginner village, the spawn point of the favored son of fate and the female lead. How could it not be full of hidden talents?
"Chen'er, I'm rather curious about this little one."
Snow Empress's voice rang out again, carrying the authority of a mother.
"Take me to see her. A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast choosing Transformation is embarking on a path where survival is all but impossible. I want to know what exactly she is doing it for."
"Alright, Mother."
Naturally, Xue Bingchen would not refuse Snow Empress's request.
The next moment, his figure flashed, and he vanished from the room like a ghost.
At this moment, on the tree-lined path leading to Dorm Seven at Notting Academy,
A little girl dressed in pink, wearing her signature rabbit-ear hair ornaments and looking delicate as a carved doll, was kicking pebbles along the path while muttering angrily to herself.
"What kind of bullshit Grandmaster is he?! Just because I didn't agree to become his disciple, what gave him the right to point at my nose and say I was hopeless? I'm so mad!"
Xiao Wu puffed out her rosy little lips, growing angrier the more she thought about it.
"He was clearly the one who got it wrong because his skills were lacking! Yet he insisted on acting all profound and mysterious, insisting that I had Twin Martial Souls!"
"And he even shamelessly claimed that my Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul was too weak to possibly support Innate Full Soul Power! Pah! This young lady is a hundred-thousand-year... Hmph! Can't this young lady simply be extraordinarily talented?"
Before you continue