Do You Wish to Be My Student?

In a suburb of the Heaven Dou Empire, a school that looked particularly modest was officially completed.

On the wooden plaque hung above, a few characters with quite a bit of flair were carved: Phantom Star Academy.

Chen An sat in his office, his face dark. He was worried—truly, deeply worried.

"I thought things would get better, but there isn't a single student."

Looking at the empty academy, Chen An muttered to himself, his face full of helplessness.

Since being reborn and scraping by until now, his greatest cheat was the library located within his own sea of consciousness.

Relying on this library, his level had risen rapidly, he had opened an academy, and he had mastered various martial arts.

But fortune and misfortune are intertwined; now his level was capped, and he hadn't recruited a single person.

The library's next task was still to recruit one fated person, as well as several students...

"When will these days ever end?"

Besides waiting, he had also distributed recruitment flyers. At first, some people came, but upon seeing such an empty academy and asking around to find there were no teachers, they ran off at top speed.

He had thought about revealing his spirit rings, but that would be too flashy. It was better to avoid doing so until he found his first student.

This situation was like a hand of Asura cards; riding the wave or hitting a perfect hand was possible, but if you defied fate, you wouldn't even know how you died.

"Sigh, another day of wasted effort. No, I must treat myself!!"

He had been sitting for hours. During these days of waiting, he had been cultivating, but he hadn't made the slightest bit of progress—simply put, he was stuck at a bottleneck.

Watching the sunset, he packed up some things, grabbed his equipment, and ran out to the wilderness to have a barbecue.

For some reason, he just wanted to go out into the wild to grill today; even the back mountain wouldn't do.

By the time he set everything up, night had fallen. Accompanied by the darkness, he lit a fire by a small lake, listening to the meat sizzling and smelling the aroma—it was truly a wonderful thing.

"Grilled chicken wings, I love to eat them."

Humming a little tune, he grilled meat and chicken wings, brushing them with honey sauce.

"Swish, swish."

Chen An's ears were not deaf, nor was his perception blind.

While he was grilling, he had already sensed someone running through the wilderness, with others chasing behind. His location just happened to be the only way through.

He vaguely felt that his fated person was about to arrive. This damn feeling of predestination, this damn sense of excitement.

Damn it, I've been professionally trained; I won't laugh no matter what happens. Damn corners of my mouth, stop curling up.

"Those few over there, it is better to forgive when one can. How about you let this child go?"

Chen An didn't stop his grilling, nor did he lift his head; he simply channeled his internal energy to project his voice.

Their expressions became quite spectacular, as if they were using their faces to articulate a question.

Who is using the Lion's Roar?

"Eh."

The little girl stumbled a few more steps, and upon hearing this voice, she couldn't help but stop. With that pause, she began to pant heavily, as if the breath she had been holding had finally dissipated.

"Captain, what do we do?"

Seeing this, the pursuers behind were delighted, but thinking of what Chen An had said, they hesitated.

"What can we do? Retreat! We make a few thousand coins a month, you want to throw your life away? If you want to catch her so badly, go catch her yourself."

The leader didn't hesitate. He had the highest strength among the group and had seen many experts.

He couldn't even fathom the technique used for that voice projection. The mission was just for show anyway; he could give an excuse when they returned.

But if he were to be stubborn and charge forward, and it wasn't just a bluff... cough, cough, he wasn't stupid enough to fail to calculate the risks and rewards.

So, after speaking, he took the lead and left. The few people following him shared the same mindset, leaving only the black-clad man who had asked the question standing there, dumbfounded.

"Hey, wait for me! I haven't left yet."

Watching the group chasing her just leave like that, the little girl stood there in a daze, but she also let out a sigh of relief.

Then, she thanked him loudly, "Thank you, Senior."

After speaking, she was just about to leave when she smelled that outrageously fragrant scent, and her little stomach growled unceremoniously.

She had been on the run for so long and hadn't eaten anything. After hesitating for a moment, she wanted to continue acting cold and aloof, but her body disobeyed, and she walked toward Chen An.

"Oh? Interesting."

Seeing the girl appear and taking a simple look, he roughly knew who she was.

She hadn't fully removed the accessories of the Star Luo nobility, she was wearing black clothes, and her face looked very much like a kitten.

Combining this with the current timeline, it wasn't hard to guess that it was that girl, Zhu Zhuqing. But this was much earlier than expected, and what was the situation with her being chased out? This didn't happen in the original plot, Chen An thought, feeling puzzled.

He didn't expose her, nor did he say much. He silently divided a portion of the barbecue, set it aside, and then went back to grilling more meat for himself.

"Mmm, delicious."

As she ate the grilled meat, Zhu Zhuqing looked completely satisfied, almost as exaggeratedly as those depicted in Food Wars.

Chen An quite approved of this expression; after all, what chef wouldn't want their cooking to be praised, especially when the person eating it looked so utterly intoxicated?

After Chen An finished eating, the young girl bowed and said.

"Thank you, Senior."

Her manners were elegant and refined, truly befitting a child from a prominent family.

Chen An wiped his mouth, waved his hand, and said with a smile.

"Child, looking at you, you must have come from a very far place."

His tone was gentle; he wanted to get to the point quickly, but just like the saying goes, one must lower the other party's guard first.

"Yes, that's right."

As Zhu Zhuqing helped tidy up, she didn't know why, but Chen An gave her a very gentle feeling, making her willing to say a few more words.

"Then, do you have a place to go?"

Zhu Zhuqing thought of the purpose of her journey, then shook her head and said.

"No."

Hearing this, Chen An was stunned. If he remembered correctly, this girl was supposed to be looking for a certain scumbag to supervise him.

What was going on with her saying she had nowhere to go? Not dwelling on it, an idea formed in his mind.

He then feigned a serious expression, though he couldn't help but let out a mischievous smirk at the end.

"In my opinion, you must come from the nobility of Star Luo. I have heard of the internal affairs of those families.

Do you truly pin your hopes on another person, entrusting your fate to him?

Do you want to become stronger? Do you want to take control of your own life?"

Zhu Zhuqing was startled. When she heard the first half, she trembled all over, feeling as if she had been seen through, and the fear hidden deep in her heart welled up.

When she heard the second half, she felt a glimmer of hope. With such a contrast, she didn't have much capacity for thought and, by a stroke of coincidence, nodded.

Seeing this, Chen An struck while the iron was hot.

"I feel a connection with you; would you be willing to take me as your master?"

At this moment, he fully displayed the demeanor of an immortal master, striking the pose he had prepared for so long, exuding a sense of being peerless under the heavens.

Faced with this, Zhu Zhuqing calmed down.

Being told this, she was indeed moved and touched.

Her journey was certainly to escape her family, find her fiancé, and follow and supervise him.

But hearing this, she felt shaken.

"Master, I want to control my own destiny and not rely on others, but I see no hope."

Inadvertently, Zhu Zhuqing called Chen An "Master."

Chen An was not surprised by Zhu Zhuqing's reaction; the only slight surprise was the way she addressed him.

Thinking about what he was about to do next, he couldn't help but smile.

"Very well, then take a look at this 'hope'."

After using some methods to conceal the area, his aura shifted slightly, and he gave a light shout.

"Spirit Manifestation!"

Threads began to emerge around Chen An; this was his spirit, named Myriad Silk, which had the unique ability to transform into various weapons.

Seeing Chen An reveal his spirit rings, Zhu Zhuqing covered her small mouth, stunned and unable to believe her eyes.

Eight spirit rings were not unusual to her, but what was truly shocking was their color.

A sea of crimson!!!!

Chen An, however, remained composed, saying calmly:

"Chen An, Level 89 Spirit Douluo."