Refusal

He woke up this morning and nearly overslept.

He almost missed his first match, having to be dragged out of the classroom by Wu Zhangkong.

Yet, Tang Wulin's expression at this moment could only be described as bizarre.

This was because he hadn't awakened any special bloodline, just as Old Tang had said.

He hadn't awakened the power of some terrifying creature either; instead, he had awakened a very strange Martial Soul.

How to put it? He recognized this Martial Soul, yet he didn't quite dare to be certain.

If his memory served him correctly, this Martial Soul was the legendary Clear Sky Hammer.

It was a hereditary Martial Soul, famous even among the top-tier ones.

In particular, this combination of Blue Silver Grass and Clear Sky Hammer was identical to the Martial Soul possessed by that legendary ancestor from twenty thousand years ago.

While this left Tang Wulin feeling joyful, he also felt a sense of peculiarity.

Because not only had he failed to sense that power this morning.

The bigger issue was that Old Tang, whom he could previously summon, had vanished.

The other party seemed as if he had never existed in his memory; no matter how he called out, there was no answer.

This left Tang Wulin feeling genuinely bewildered.

Before he could dwell on it, Xie Xie's voice came from the side.

"Let's go, Wulin, let's go grab some food."

"By the way, where did Li Ang go? I didn't see him in Class One's lineup."

"Huh?"

Hearing Xie Xie's words, Tang Wulin was even more stunned.

He opened his mouth, then replied with some hesitation: "Brother Li Ang seems to have taken leave to go home. He told me I wouldn't need to run errands or bring him food for the next few days."

"I see, that's fine then. Let's go eat."

"Since we finished our match so quickly today, I heard they've scheduled another one for this afternoon!"

"We've already taken down Class Four, so I feel like Class Three shouldn't be too hard either."

As Xie Xie spoke, he smiled, a rare trace of pride on his face.

His strength as a two-ringed master was already considered quite formidable; even he hadn't expected to break through to the two-ring level so quickly.

Especially since he had fought Tang Wulin before the start of the term.

He had originally been capable of entering Class Two or Three, only to be kicked straight to Class Five.

The thought of fighting his way back up from Class Five and effectively slapping Long Hengxu in the face made Xie Xie exceptionally excited.

Tang Wulin merely blinked at Xie Xie's words before nodding.

The two of them headed off to eat.

As for what was happening at Eastsea Academy, Li Ang was completely unaware—or rather, even if he knew, he wouldn't care.

Following the end of the morning's hunt, he grabbed a bite to eat outside.

This place was actually a buffet.

The reason he asked Ming Yue to proactively add dishes was that the cafeteria sometimes didn't prepare certain things he liked to eat.

The food provided by the cafeteria was relatively random; even Shen Ming usually ate there because the taste was genuinely good.

However, given his status and position, it didn't really matter if he made requests for what he wanted to eat.

For instance, he preferred meat, so he would ask the cafeteria to prepare more of the meat dishes he liked, such as certain deep-sea fish.

No one here would think he was a picky eater; after all, he was the Young Pagoda Master, and no one had the qualifications to correct him on such a matter.

After finishing his meal, Li Ang spent the afternoon busy with work.

At dusk, as Li Ang emerged from the Spirit Ascension Platform and prepared to return to his room to continue his research and rest, Ming Yue walked over.

"Young Pagoda Master, your teacher Ye Yingluo called you this afternoon, saying she couldn't get through."

"She asked me to relay this matter to you, hoping you could return tomorrow."

"Because Class Five has already defeated Class Four and Class Three, and they are set to challenge Class Two and Class One tomorrow."

"According to Teacher Ye Yingluo's projections, Class Two might not be able to hold them off, and they may need to face Class One."

The woman's voice was gentle, and every word was articulated clearly.

Listening to Ming Yue, Li Ang paused for a moment, though there was no great surprise in his eyes.

However, the fact that the original four-day tournament schedule had been compressed into a single day left Li Ang feeling somewhat dazed.

He had actually guessed that he might have to participate in the matches, but originally, it was supposed to be four days later, allowing him to enter directly with a thousand-year Soul Ring.

But this time, Little Butterfly's Soul Ring age had only increased to six hundred years.

Even counting tonight, it could at most be raised to seven hundred years.

It might take until tomorrow morning to barely reach a thousand-year cultivation level.

This made Li Ang furrow his brows deeply.

He actually wanted to refuse.

But the problem was, among the top combatants currently in Class One, besides him, there was only Na'er.

And it was highly likely that Na'er would not participate.

After all, Gu Yue's purpose in coming here was to observe Tang Wulin, so it was highly probable that Na'er would not take the stage.

In this situation, if he didn't step up, then just like in the original timeline, Wei Xiaofeng, Zhang Yangzi, and Wang Jinxi would easily be defeated.

But the issue was, that had nothing to do with him, Li Ang.

So, he looked at Ming Yue with a calm gaze: "Please tell Teacher Ye that I have matters to attend to and likely won't be able to return for a few days. Please have her arrange for someone else to compete; I don't have the time."

After saying this, Li Ang turned and walked away.

Li Ang truly did not care whether Class Five would become Class One, or if their current Class One would be demoted to Class Two.

After all, once this tournament concluded, they would all be pulled together to form the Grade One Zero Class.

Li Ang didn't actually have much interest in the Grade One Zero Class, because he could already access its greatest benefit, the Spirit Ascension Platform, every single day.

Therefore, Li Ang was not interested in this aspect at all.

Watching Li Ang return to the Spirit Ascension Platform once more, Ming Yue stood there, hesitating.

She had originally thought Li Ang would be very anxious to return and participate in this Class Promotion Tournament, as it was, after all, a matter of collective class honor.

But seeing Li Ang's completely indifferent expression, Ming Yue fell silent for a moment before turning around to make a phone call.

In the blink of an eye, three days flashed by.

The final outcome was as expected.

Relying on the strength of Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin, there was no difficulty in taking down Wei Xiaofeng, Zhang Yangzi, and Wang Jinxi.

Following the defeat of Grade One Class One and their demotion to Grade One Class Two, the Zero Class officially began to form.

Naturally, Li Ang was on the roster for the Zero Class, but he simply hadn't returned.

It wasn't until he had raised Little Butterfly to a thousand-year cultivation level that he took a vehicle back to Eastsea Academy.

In the office, looking at Li Ang, Long Hengxu's brows furrowed slightly.

"Student Li Ang, are you certain you don't want to join the Grade One Zero Class?"

"All the benefits of the Grade One Zero Class are beyond what you can imagine; they would provide you with a significant boost as well."

"Although you are from the Spirit Pagoda, the resources provided by the Zero Class would still be of great help to you."

Long Hengxu looked at Li Ang, speaking very earnestly.

He genuinely wanted this child to remain in the Grade One Zero Class.

However, looking at Long Hengxu, Li Ang shook his head very calmly.

For Long Hengxu, every entry into the Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform required spending 500,000 Union Credits.

That was an astronomical price, an opportunity that ordinary people could hardly obtain.

But for Li Ang, he could practically stay there every single day.

To him, it held absolutely no attraction at all.