Borrowing Influence at the Abyss, Successfully Enrolled!

The heavy redwood door to the Academic Affairs Director's office was tightly shut.

Wu Zhangkong stopped before the door, his hand—accustomed only to holding a sword or simply pushing doors open—hovering in midair for half a second.

His fingers curled slightly before finally landing on the door.

"Knock, knock."

The sound was soft, yet it carried an awkwardness that did not belong to the Cold Arrogant God.

"Come in."

Long Hengxu's somewhat weary voice came from inside.

Wu Zhangkong pushed the door open and entered, with Gu Yue following half a step behind him.

Long Hengxu sat behind his desk, rubbing his temples. Hearing the movement, he looked up. When that iconic figure in white entered his sight, the Academic Affairs Director's hand froze in midair.

His eyes widened as his gaze shifted back and forth between Wu Zhangkong's expressionless face and the door that had just been knocked on.

Did the sun rise in the west? That harbinger of doom actually knocked?

Long Hengxu's expression of seeing a ghost was far too obvious. Wu Zhangkong frowned slightly and strode straight to the desk, blocking the other man's probing gaze.

"Director Long, a new student has reported to our class. She has just passed my test and fully meets the qualifications to join our academy. According to academy rules, students who miss the registration period but are approved for special circumstances can only begin in Class Five. Therefore, please approve her enrollment. This is her student file."

Wu Zhangkong placed the student file on the desk, speaking with concise efficiency.

The familiar icy tone snapped Long Hengxu back to reality. He cleared his throat awkwardly and picked up the form.

"A transfer student? The registration period has long since..."

Long Hengxu's words caught halfway through.

His gaze fixed on a line of information on the form: Soul Power Level, nineteen.

At this age, level nineteen meant she was only one step away from becoming a Soul Grandmaster.

Even in Eastsea Academy's history, that placed her among the most exceptional geniuses.

"Gu Yue..." Long Hengxu murmured the name as his gaze moved lower. "Martial Soul: Elemental Envoy?"

He raised his head, his gaze passing Wu Zhangkong and landing on the girl dressed in white with neat short hair. His brows drew together deeply.

"Teacher Wu, what kind of Martial Soul is this? I have seen countless people, yet I've never heard of a category called 'Elemental Envoy.' Is it a mutated Martial Soul, or some kind of tool Martial Soul?"

Gu Yue was just about to speak when Wu Zhangkong shifted half a step sideways, blocking her from view.

"That isn't important," Wu Zhangkong said coldly. "I'll teach her."

Long Hengxu choked on his reply. His fountain pen tapped against the desk as he spoke helplessly.

"Teacher Wu, I admit that your teaching ability is excellent. But Class Five's current situation is rather special."

He set down his pen and leaned back against his chair. "That Tang Linyuan is an unreasonable little monster, and that Xie Xie from yesterday was one of Class One's best students, yet he insisted on going to your class. And now you want to put another level-nineteen genius in there?"

"Resources need to be balanced, Teacher Wu. Class One is the key class, and Teacher Ye Yingluo has complained to me many times already. I think this Gu Yue would be better suited for Class One."

Wu Zhangkong did not refute him immediately.

He looked at Long Hengxu's businesslike expression and fell silent for two seconds.

"She can't go to Class One."

"Why not?"

"She came because of Tang Linyuan." Wu Zhangkong's face remained unchanged, his voice as steady as if he were stating an academic fact. "They are very close."

Gu Yue, standing behind him, was stunned for a moment.

She had not expected this seemingly cold and aloof teacher to lie without even blinking.

Long Hengxu was also taken aback, and his gaze turned toward Gu Yue again.

As if her secret had been exposed, the girl lowered her head slightly and stared at her toes. An unnatural blush rose at the edges of her fair ears—though Long Hengxu had no idea that it was merely a small act put on to cooperate with the performance.

"This..."

Long Hengxu was an adult. In an instant, his mind conjured up a youthful romance involving childhood sweethearts or a girl who had traveled far in pursuit of love.

He rubbed his brow with a headache.

Tang Linyuan himself was an incomparably proud peerless genius, someone even the academy head had to placate.

If he forcibly assigned this girl to Class One, and that little ancestor made a fuss—or if the girl's body was in Class One while her heart remained in Class Five...

"Fine."

Long Hengxu picked up his fountain pen, signed his name heavily on the form, and stamped it with the official seal.

"Since that's the situation, forcibly separating them really would be detrimental to the student's emotional stability. Class Five it is, then." He handed the form back.

"Collect the dormitory key and school uniform from Logistics. Teacher Wu, this is the last time."

"Thank you."

Wu Zhangkong took the form and turned to leave, his movements smooth and natural, as though that somewhat gossipy excuse had not just come from his mouth.

Gu Yue followed him. Before leaving, she glanced back at Long Hengxu, who was still shaking his head, and a faint smile flashed in her eyes.

After collecting their things from Logistics, the two walked through the corridors of the teaching building.

The noon sunlight poured in through the windows, yet it could not melt the chill around Wu Zhangkong.

"The dormitory is on the third floor. The key has the room number on it. You must wear the school uniform tomorrow."

Wu Zhangkong stopped walking, clearly with no intention of seeing her to the dormitory. "You have half an hour to settle your things. The first class this afternoon is theory. Don't let me see you late."

"Understood, Teacher Wu."

Gu Yue held the uniform but did not leave immediately.

She raised her head, her clear black-and-white eyes staring directly at Wu Zhangkong with an odd look in them.

"What?" Wu Zhangkong asked.

"Nothing." Gu Yue shook her head. "I just think Teacher Wu is rather different from what I imagined."

With that, she hugged her things and ran up the stairs, her footsteps light.

Wu Zhangkong stood where he was, watching the girl's figure disappear around the stairwell corner without moving.

The corridor was empty, with only the occasional sound of students reading drifting through it.

He lowered his head and looked at his palm.

Back in the office, he had said, "She came because of Tang Linyuan," so naturally and so confidently.

When had Wu Zhangkong ever needed to rely on such an excuse to achieve his goal?

"...Is this what it means to borrow influence?"

Wu Zhangkong tugged at the corner of his mouth in self-mockery.

Deep down, he seemed not to regard Tang Linyuan as an ordinary student who needed his protection.

That young man who held the Heaven Propping Token and possessed unfathomable Spear Intent felt more like a peer who had yet to grow in his eyes, or perhaps even...

"Someone the Pavilion Master values..."

Wu Zhangkong withdrew his gaze, his white robes sweeping behind him as he headed toward Class Five.

Perhaps before that young man, his so-called dignity as a teacher had long been pierced clean through by that Tyrant Spear.

And all he could probably do was clear away these trivial obstacles for him before he truly soared into the heavens.