Spirit Hall Academy.
Dormitory.
Duan Fan had taken a shower and changed into clean clothes. Now he sat by the window, feeling the evening breeze.
As he thought back on everything that had happened tonight, it still felt like a dream.
After Golden Crocodile Douluo left, Qian Daoliu personally escorted Duan Fan back.
Before leaving, Qian Daoliu had also gently advised him.
"Keep living as you did before. You don't need to change anything. If you run into a problem you can't solve, just bring the Consecrated Token to the Worship Hall."
Duan Fan let his thoughts wander. That's not bad. If they kept me at the Worship Hall, I'd probably feel stifled.
My strength is still nowhere near enough. Even if Golden Crocodile Douluo taught me, what could he teach me?
How could I have been so naive as to think Golden Crocodile Douluo would teach me something?
Wasn't tonight's apprenticeship ceremony just the Worship Hall and the Pope Palace fighting over me?
From the looks of it, the Worship Hall came out on top.
Golden Crocodile Douluo only had to show up to snatch me away. Bibi Dong could only watch helplessly, like a powerless Pope.
No matter what, I came away with something good in the end.
Duan Fan looked at the black ring on the index finger of his left hand.
It was one of the gifts Golden Crocodile Douluo had given him: a Space Soul Tool.
Duan Fan had already infused it with Soul Power and inspected it. The ring actually held an enormous space of one hundred cubic meters.
There was nothing inside.
Perhaps Golden Crocodile Douluo owned more than one Space Soul Tool. Or perhaps, as he'd said, he really didn't have many worldly possessions.
But the former seemed far more likely.
How could an old monster of a Level 98 Peak Douluo have no collection?
Duan Fan was only letting his thoughts wander out of habit. He hadn't expected Golden Crocodile Douluo to hand over his entire fortune.
He was already more than satisfied and delighted to have obtained this hundred-cubic-meter Space Soul Tool.
After all, before receiving it, Duan Fan had been hoping to obtain his Second Soul Ring without a hitch, compete in the New Student Soul Fighting Competition, win the championship, and claim the Space Soul Tool offered by Spirit Hall Academy as a prize.
Now, there was no need for that anymore.
Duan Fan didn't believe the Space Soul Tool awarded in the New Student Soul Fighting Competition could be better than the black ring Golden Crocodile Douluo had given him.
If you tried to convert a Space Soul Tool like this into Gold Soul Coins, you could only call it priceless and impossible to buy.
Besides the Space Soul Tool, there was also a Consecrated Token.
With a thought, Duan Fan took the Consecrated Token out of the black ring and let it fall into his hand.
The token was gold all over. He had no idea what it was made of. It bore the emblem of Spirit Hall, along with some unusual patterns and the character "Two."
"With this Consecrated Token, I can practically throw my weight around in Spirit Hall. But if I actually do, I'll probably be buried in the ground before long."
"This thing is mainly for getting me out of trouble when it matters. Most importantly, it'll keep Bibi Dong from making a move against me in secret. With it, I'll be a lot safer."
With another thought, Duan Fan put the Consecrated Token back into the black ring.
Besides the token, Duan Fan had already stored all his important belongings inside, including his parents' Spirit Hall tokens, his Soul Coins, and his guns.
Over the past two months, Duan Fan had gotten his hands on three more M1910 pistols. Including the one he'd made at the beginning, he now had four.
He had also begun working on a Kar98k rifle.
Compared with a pistol, a rifle had far more complicated parts and required more demanding craftsmanship, so progress had been rather slow.
But Duan Fan wasn't in a hurry. If he couldn't make it in two months, he'd take half a year. If half a year wasn't enough, he'd take a year.
Besides, he had no pressing need for guns now.
As for the cost of making them, the Soul Coins he had were more than enough. He'd only used a small portion of the Gold Soul Coins his parents had left him.
As his strength improved, he could also collect a monthly Soul Coin allowance. He wouldn't be short of Soul Coins for quite some time.
"Time to sleep. I have class tomorrow. I wonder if I really can go back to normal life."
Duan Fan gently rubbed the black ring, then put his thoughts aside and climbed into bed.
He wouldn't cultivate tonight. The past few days had been exhausting, so he'd give himself a break and get a good night's sleep.
The next day.
At dawn, Duan Fan woke to his body clock.
After washing up, he went to the cafeteria for breakfast, then headed to the classroom.
Just like always, most of the class had already arrived by the time Duan Fan got there.
But unlike usual, today Duan Fan seemed to have a golden glow about him.
The moment he entered the classroom, he drew every student's gaze.
Even Wen Xiyue, who rarely looked up at him, stared straight at him.
"It's Duan Fan. He's back!"
"He must have successfully obtained his Second Soul Ring, right? That's amazing—he has two rings already, and he got them so quickly!"
"Duan Fan's back. Does that mean Teacher Li is back too?"
Duan Fan didn't pay much attention to the looks and whispers. He sat down and waited for class to begin.
Showing off in front of a bunch of kids had been fun at first, but it had gradually grown boring. Duan Fan had long since stopped being impressed by it.
"I heard your Second Soul Ring is a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"
As soon as Duan Fan sat down, Wen Xiyue's voice reached his ear.
She spoke so softly that it was impossible to hear unless you listened carefully.
"Huh?"
Duan Fan hadn't heard her—or rather, he hadn't caught what she said.
Wen Xiyue asked again, this time leaning a little closer to him.
Once he'd heard her, Duan Fan smiled and asked, "Did your grandfather tell you?"
Wen Xiyue paused, then nodded.
Duan Fan hadn't expected Ghost Leopard Douluo to tell Wen Xiyue about his latest news so quickly. It seemed Ghost Leopard Douluo was right—Wen Xiyue often mentioned him in front of her grandfather.
Just thinking about Ghost Leopard Douluo telling Wen Xiyue about him made Duan Fan want to laugh.
That grandfather and granddaughter were both pretty amusing.
Seeing Wen Xiyue, who was usually so cool and distant, take the initiative to speak to him today, Duan Fan chatted with her a little longer.
Only a little longer.
Wen Xiyue seemed to want to say more, clearly not yet satisfied.
Before long, the teacher arrived.
The teacher taking the class wasn't Li Ruolan, of course, but a substitute she had found.
Li Ruolan and Li Yi were probably still on their way back to Spirit City.
It took some time to return from the Star Dou Forest.
The substitute was a middle-aged male teacher. His lectures weren't as good as Li Ruolan's, but they were still clear and easy to understand.
The theory lesson lasted only half an hour and was over in no time.
Then it was time for practical training.
Duan Fan skipped class and went straight to the Mimicry Cultivation Area.
In Duan Fan's view, there was little point in taking practical training with a substitute teacher.
He'd already heard from Wen Xiyue that the substitute was only a Soul Elder.
At Soul Power Level 39, he was still a Soul Elder.
Duan Fan worried his Nine-Tailed Black Flame Demon Fox wouldn't get a satisfying fight.
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