The Golden Dragon's Crushing Defeat at the Silver Dragon's Hands, as the God of Death's Disciple Slowly Approached

Li Luo got the receipt, said goodbye to Su Xiaotao, then left the Spirit Pagoda with the Beauty Badge and returned to Red Mountain Academy.

The first thing he did was head to the principal's office.

"Oh, Xiao Luo, you're back so quickly. The Spirit Pagoda just called to confirm with me. I didn't expect you to return so soon."

"Were you satisfied with the Soul Spirit you picked out this time?"

"Don't worry. The academy promised to give you a Century Soul Spirit, and we'll make good on that promise."

Li Luo thanked him sincerely. "Thank you, Principal."

"It's nothing. If you achieve great things in your studies someday, just don't forget the academy." Principal Gao reminded him.

Li Luo thumped his chest. "Principal, in life, I'm a Red Mountain person; in death, I'll be a Red Mountain ghost."

"Hey, that's a bit much." Principal Gao waved his hand, but it was clear Li Luo's attitude had made him feel good from head to toe.

He declared boldly, "Bring me the bill. Red Mountain will reimburse you."

Li Luo respectfully handed over the bill.

Principal Gao took it.

He looked at it.

He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

He rubbed his eyes hard. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."

"Seven zeroes."

"Two ones."

"Eleven million Federation Coins."

"Thump!"

Principal Gao's high blood pressure flared up. Dizzy and reeling, he collapsed to the floor.

"Huh?!" Li Luo shouted. "Principal, what's wrong?"

"Don't scare me!"

"Quick! Call a Soul Guidance ambulance! The principal's fainted!" Li Luo yelled toward the office door.

The principal's health was way too poor.

He prayed devoutly.

He hoped the principal would be healthy.

And live to a hundred.

Just as Li Luo was about to start reciting words of remembrance and mourning, Principal Gao slowly came to, his gaze fixed on Li Luo.

Li Luo immediately asked with concern, "Principal, are you all right?"

"You're the backbone of Red Mountain."

"You're the sky above Red Mountain."

"You absolutely mustn't let anything happen to you!"

Principal Gao felt another rush of blood surge to his head. He nearly fainted again. Whenever he heard Li Luo speak now, his chest started to ache.

He didn't know why.

Maybe he was getting old.

Li Luo helped Principal Gao up. "Principal, do you need to go to the hospital for a checkup?"

"No need."

Principal Gao refused. Hospital or no hospital, for a while he wouldn't even be able to bring himself to buy an extra couple of blocks of tofu—let alone go to the hospital.

He asked shakily, "It really cost eleven million Federation Coins?"

"It really did." Li Luo waved the receipt in his hand.

Principal Gao felt dizzy again. "X-Xiao Luo, take... take it farther away."

To Principal Gao, that bill was practically a death warrant.

"Sure thing," Li Luo replied.

Principal Gao felt a little better. He had been the one who'd confidently promised that the academy would cover any Century Soul Spirit.

He'd just taken a careful look at the Spirit Pagoda's receipt.

The purchased item was a Century Soul Spirit, the Beauty Badge.

Li Luo hadn't lied to him.

The Spirit Pagoda hadn't lied to him, either.

He simply hadn't considered that a Century Soul Spirit could cost eleven million Federation Coins—more than some Thousand-Year Soul Spirits.

Principal Gao silently howled with fury. Damn the Spirit Pagoda! You could have just robbed me outright.

But instead, you came here pretending to do business.

Why did you have to fleece me?

Life's long regrets flowed east like water.

He'd sown the fruit himself.

He'd have to eat it himself.

Principal Gao felt helpless. For a long time now, I won't be able to properly study foreign languages.

I'll have to work to pay off the debt and fill the hole in the academy's accounts.

When Li Luo left the principal's office, he still felt that Principal Gao wasn't in the best of health.

He asked him again if he needed an ambulance.

Principal Gao told him to get lost—and to stop hanging around in front of him.

Sigh. Li Luo felt that Principal Gao no longer liked him, his good student.

Maybe it was because the principal had been worrying about Red Mountain's enrollment lately.

He was afraid other academies would snatch away Red Mountain Academy's students.

Red Mountain Academy might not be able to recruit anyone.

Li Luo muttered to himself, "I love Red Mountain, and Red Mountain loves me. Red Mountain has already given me a Century Soul Spirit."

"I should do something for it, too."

"Red Mountain Academy needs more students, so I'll help recruit some."

Li Luo opened his City Circle on his Soul Guidance Communicator, took a photo of himself,

and added the caption: [Hey, all you lovely older and younger sisters, I'm Li Luo. I'll be waiting for you at Red Mountain Academy. Don't miss out.]

He also reposted the promotional video for Immortal that he'd filmed earlier.

City Circle was best at creating trending topics. Li Luo had been verified by City Circle, and the platform immediately realized that another wave of traffic had arrived.

As time passed, the post Li Luo had published was pushed all the way to the top of Aolai City's trending list.

In Eastsea City, Mu Xi of the Mu family—the leader of the Mu Luo Support Group—was instantly thrilled.

She shouted to the fans in the Mu Luo Support Group:

"Li Luo himself has appeared!"

Then Mu Xi reposted Li Luo's post.

With all the fans boosting it, the promotional video for Immortal, which had begun to fade from view, became popular again.

On Xie Family Island in East Sea, Xie Xie was not convinced.

Never mind. He didn't have a part to play yet.

Xie Xie was still strongly unconvinced...

In an abandoned factory somewhere in East Sea, a middle-aged man was teaching a class.

There was only one student beneath the podium.

But the middle-aged man taught with great dedication.

"One sulfur molecule, two carbon-hydrogen compounds, then add Soul Power with an explosive attribute—that's a perfect work of art."

"As the saying goes, learn Soul Guidance, physics, and chemistry well, and you'll never fear traveling the world."

"Apprentice, have you memorized that?"

"Teacher, I have."

Ba Jiushi was very pleased. His student, Wu Liuqi, was quite gifted. He'd already learned three or four tenths of Ba Jiushi's explosive art.

"Good. That's all for today's lesson." Ba Jiushi continued, "Next, let's pray together."

He pressed his palms together. "May the Holy Spirit be with us."

Wu Liuqi followed suit.

Only after the prayer was over did Wu Liuqi speak. "Teacher, haven't we joined the Holy Spirit Cult yet?"

"Soon. Once we finish this job, the great Dark Phoenix will surely take us under his wing."

"Oh, Teacher, do you mean Immortal?"

"That's right, him. A genius who raised his Soul Power Level from three to ten in three months. He's worthy of our art."

"Teacher, could there be danger?"

"No problem. Aolai is a small city with no powerful people. With my nine-ring strength, I can walk through the place unchallenged."

"Okay." Wu Liuqi nodded. He still had some questions, such as why they had to pledge themselves to the Dark Phoenix, but he didn't ask any more...

In some unknown place, Di Tian, King of Ten Thousand Demons, and Bi Ji sat together in a circle.

They were still trying to figure out what Gu Yue had meant by "Aolai Speed Arrival."

As for Xiong Jun, he was secretly playing with his Soul Guidance Communicator.

Di Tian spoke first. "We've been puzzling over this for a whole day. Let's hear everyone's thoughts. What did our lord mean by 'Aolai Speed Arrival'?"