Life at Notting Academy was quite simple. Classes were held every morning, and the students trained on their own in the afternoons.
The academy generally scheduled two classes each morning: one on general knowledge and one on Martial Soul Theory.
For new students like them, general knowledge amounted to little more than lessons in reading and writing.
As for the writing and language of the Douluo Continent, Lin Mo had mastered them all after awakening the memories of his past life, spending some time learning what he needed.
The day after returning from Soul Hunting, Lin Mo and the others ran into a group of upperclassmen led by Xiao Chenyu in the cafeteria after their morning classes.
When Xiao Chenyu provoked them, the work-study students naturally had no intention of putting up with it now that Lin Mo and a few other strong reinforcements had joined them.
The work-study students played weak to lure their prey, then coaxed the upperclassmen into going along with them to the field.
A crowd had already gathered around the field.
Several of Xiao Chenyu's lackeys were the first to step forward.
Tang San stood before them with his feet slightly apart, assuming the most basic opening stance.
In no more than a few breaths, the first few upperclassmen to surround him were all sprawled on the ground.
The onlookers let out a low murmur of surprise.
Xiao Chenyu, the city lord's son, could no longer keep up appearances.
He gritted his teeth and stepped forward. A white ring of light flared beneath his feet.
A ten-year Soul Ring.
"Kid, you think knowing a few moves makes you so great?"
Xiao Chenyu growled. As his Soul Ring lit up, a faint green glow appeared over his body, and his hands turned into wolf claws.
His Martial Soul was a wolf.
Xiao Chenyu drove off with both legs and pounced at Tang San like a starving tiger.
Tang San's response was as simple as could be.
A Soul Ring glimmered beneath his feet, and clumps of Blue Silver Grass appeared out of thin air, swarming toward Xiao Chenyu.
Caught completely off guard, Xiao Chenyu had no time to dodge.
In the blink of an eye, Blue Silver Grass had coiled tightly around his legs, arms, and torso.
He was bound like a giant silkworm cocoon, with only his head sticking out.
The lackeys behind him fared even worse. Before they could react, Blue Silver Grass dragged them to the ground and bound them fast, one after another.
Every muscle in Xiao Chenyu's body tensed as green Soul Power flickered violently across his skin.
He struggled with all his might.
The Blue Silver Grass showed no sign of breaking.
"How is this possible?!" Xiao Chenyu's face flushed bright red.
Even after obtaining a Soul Ring and becoming a true Soul Master, he couldn't break free from the Blue Silver Grass's restraints, even while using his First Soul Skill.
Blue Silver Grass was the famous Trash Martial Soul!
Looking at Xiao Chenyu, bound like a silkworm cocoon, Tang San shook his head slightly.
Only Soul Masters of the same rank who excelled in strength could probably break free from his Blue Silver Grass by brute force.
He glanced at Lin Mo without thinking. Someone like Lin Mo, for instance.
Tang San had never considered trying to restrain Lin Mo with Blue Silver Grass.
From what he had witnessed in the Soul Hunting Forest, even if his Blue Silver Grass were twice as thick as it was now, it probably still couldn't stop someone as violently powerful as Lin Mo.
After fighting alongside Lin Mo in the Soul Hunting Forest and witnessing his fearsome combat strength firsthand, Tang San now genuinely respected him.
And Lin Mo had helped Tang San a great deal in the Soul Hunting Forest, too.
Tang San withdrew his gaze and recalled his Blue Silver Grass.
Xiao Chenyu and his lackeys hit the ground. The arrogance had vanished from their faces, replaced by deep wariness.
The work-study students watching them erupted into cheers. Wang Sheng excitedly slung an arm around Tang San's shoulders. "Tang San, you're incredible!"
"Exactly!"
Another work-study student joined in. "Let's see if they dare bully us again!"
The work-study students had banded together and chosen a leader mainly because they were being oppressed by upperclassmen like Xiao Chenyu.
Now they had finally held their heads high!
But just as the work-study students, led by Lin Mo, were about to leave, Xiao Chenyu stopped them.
"Wait."
The work-study students came to a halt and turned around.
Xiao Chenyu's gaze swept across the group, finally settling on Lin Mo.
"Is Tang San the strongest among you?"
Something the work-study students had said earlier had left him puzzled.
If Tang San was the strongest, why did they call Lin Mo Brother Mo and Xiao Wu Sister Xiao Wu?
"Let me tell you," Wang Sheng said, puffing out his chest with pride. "Tang San's pretty strong among us work-study students, but he's only third."
His tone was especially smug.
Xiao Chenyu's pupils shrank.
Wang Sheng held up two fingers and waved them. "Sister Xiao Wu and Lin Mo are both stronger than Tang San. Especially Brother Mo. He can beat you without even using his Martial Soul!"
At Wang Sheng's boast, Xiao Chenyu's lackeys were so furious their teeth ached.
They couldn't exactly deny it, seeing as Xiao Chenyu had just lost to Tang San.
Xiao Chenyu fell silent for a few seconds, his eyes lingering on Lin Mo.
"Let's go." Xiao Chenyu beckoned to his lackeys and turned toward the edge of the field.
The work-study students' laughter rang out behind them.
After this little incident, the upperclassmen led by Xiao Chenyu took over the work-study students' jobs of their own accord.
From then on, they would find people to do all the work for the work-study students. Lin Mo and the others only had to lie back and collect their money.
Time flew, and a year passed.
Throughout that year, Lin Mo led an extremely regular life at Notting Academy.
Thanks to Tang San's earlier showing, along with Lin Mo's astonishing feat of defeating a two-ring practical-class instructor with the strength of a One-Ring Soul Master during a hands-on lesson,
the upperclassmen never came looking for trouble again.
The story of that practical lesson was talked about around the academy for a long time.
As a side note, thanks to Lin Mo's outstanding performance, the four-ring Academy Head of Notting Academy gave him a great deal of leeway in his academic life.
Lin Mo considered the morning classes unnecessary, so he simply skipped every one of them.
Aside from reading in the library, he spent all his free time training.
The library didn't have that many books, but it had enough to keep Lin Mo occupied.
He browsed books on the continent's geography, types of Soul Beasts, and the history of Soul Masters. From time to time, he also read research on Martial Soul Theory.
But most of the time, he trained.
Lin Mo could be seen almost everywhere: in the dormitory, cafeteria, academy's rear hills, and on the field.
That was one of the advantages of the Body Martial Soul, he supposed. It wasn't picky about its cultivation environment, unlike other Martial Souls that required a specialized Mimicry Cultivation Environment.