"If I'd known the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform couldn't handle it, I shouldn't have used the Specium Ray..."
Remembering how he'd been forcibly logged out of the Spirit Ascension Platform, Lan Kai felt even more annoyed.
"Yeah. You didn't need to fire a beam to defeat that group of Hundred-Year Soul Beasts.
"Even if you hated Gu Yue more than that guy who loved denying other people's lives, you still shouldn't have fired a beam just to show off, right?"
Juggler watched Gu Lie with glee. Although he'd made the virtual space of the Spirit Ascension Platform more stable, the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform wasn't all that sturdy because of the cost.
After all, Juggler hadn't expected an opponent in the Primary Spirit Ascension Platform to make Lan Kai fire a beam.
Still, Juggler didn't disapprove of Lan Kai's attitude toward Gu Yue.
Whenever he watched Lan Kai interact with Gu Yue, he couldn't help imagining Lan Kai as himself and Gu Yue as Asuka Shin.
Watching Asuka Shin repeatedly come off worse in front of him—and even need him to step in and save his life—was enough to make Juggler's grin impossible to suppress, even if it was only a fantasy.
"Can't be helped. Gu Yue actually came to beg me for help, after all.
"If it were you, Teacher, and Asuka Shin kowtowed in front of you and begged you to forgive him, then..."
"Then I'd cut him without mercy and see how that Warrior of Light would deal with it."
Though Juggler's words were merciless, the corners of his mouth lifted even higher. He was already starting to look like he had the exaggerated facial expressions from the Ultraman Orb TV series.
"By the way, Teacher, since you've already met the powerful people from all the major factions, why did you ask me about some of those things?"
Lan Kai remembered what Juggler had told him at the Spirit Pagoda, along with the questions Juggler had asked him when they first met. The contradiction between them had become clear.
If Juggler had already dealt with the top experts of all the major factions, why had he asked Lan Kai about those things—and even looked like he couldn't accept the answers?
"Because although I sensed that some of them were off, I never expected them to be that outrageous.
"Besides, at first I focused my efforts on the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult. I didn't expect there to be so many people who might possess a Dark Ring. They were even less selective than Beliarok.
"Vice Pagoda Master Leng seemed more normal than the others. And the Spirit Pagoda could easily gather information on Soul Masters around the world, which could be of some help to me.
"So I accepted her invitation and became the Spirit Pagoda's Fifth Spirit Envoy.
"Looking back, it really was the right choice."
Recalling his encounters and experiences with the famous experts on the continent, Juggler shook his head.
Compared with his time on the Earth of Ultraman Z, his experiences in the Douluo World had been even more colorful—and more complicated.
But Juggler wasn't willing to talk about it yet, so Lan Kai didn't press him.
There was just one more thing Lan Kai was very curious about, but didn't dare ask: Juggler's secretary, Yan Yu.
If Lan Kai's memory was right, Juggler's former disciple had been named Mugen.
Was that really just a coincidence?
Lan Kai had no memory of what Mugen looked like. He'd only watched a few clips of Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga—no, Origin Saga—and scenes related to the "King of Force" opening the sea and to Evolute. But he didn't believe the name was just a coincidence.
Still, Mugen must have been a lasting source of pain for Juggler, and Lan Kai didn't dare bring it up.
Perhaps one day, he could learn the truth from Yan Yu herself or from Vice Pagoda Master Leng.
Eastsea Academy.
Although Grade One Class Five hadn't defeated Grade 1 Class 1 in the Class Promotion Tournament and created the so-called "Black Five Miracle," the strength the first-year students had shown had earned the approval of Eastsea Academy's administrators.
Besides, whether it was Grade 1 Class 1 or Grade One Class Five, if they kept challenging the upper grades, they would probably steamroll the upper-year students in the intermediate division.
So Eastsea Academy's administrators unleashed their peerless wisdom: they gathered the best first-year students together and assigned them the academy's finest teachers.
If these students could achieve results, they would completely turn Eastsea Academy's awkward standing around and send the entire academy soaring.
In the end, a new class appeared at Eastsea Academy, with the academy's top expert, Wu Zhangkong, as its homeroom teacher and Lan Kai, Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie as its members.
Sadly, Wei Xiaofeng should have qualified for Class Zero too. But since Lan Kai had cut his Soul Spirit in half with an Ultra Slash, he couldn't demonstrate the abilities Eastsea Academy needed to see. He was unfortunately excluded at the nomination stage.
As for the contract students had to sign to join Class Zero, there wasn't one for Lan Kai.
Come on, Lan Kai might be an orphan, but the person who'd adopted him was the Spirit Pagoda's Fifth Spirit Envoy, whose status was second only to the Pagoda Masters. Eastsea Academy wasn't Shrek Academy. Even if the academy had lost its mind, it wouldn't dare use a contract full of loopholes, once you looked closely, to bind Lan Kai!
The classroom for Grade 1 Class 0 was no different from the others, but with only six students, the room felt especially spacious.
Lan Kai chose a seat relatively close to the front door. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi sat beside him, while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie sat distinctly apart on the other side. Clearly, they still hadn't gotten over their loss in the Class Promotion Tournament.
Gu Yue's seat, meanwhile, left everyone confused.
She sat right in the middle—and right at the midpoint between Tang Wulin's seat and Lan Kai's, as if she'd measured it with a ruler in advance.
Gu Yue: As if! The Silver Dragon King's eyes are the ruler!
When Wu Zhangkong entered the classroom and saw the strange arrangement, he didn't quite understand it. But it was only a seating arrangement, and it shouldn't affect his lessons, so he didn't care.
"Starting today, your classes will change.
"Today's theory lesson will cover mechs and Battle Armor, followed by practical training.
"The practical training will cover the most basic combat techniques."
Before you continue