Returning to Normal Life

Spirit Hall Academy.

Dormitory.

Duan Fan took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and sat by the window, letting the evening breeze blow over him.

Recalling the events of the night, he still felt as if he were in a dream.

After Golden Crocodile Douluo left, it was Qian Daoliu himself who escorted Duan Fan back.

Before leaving, Qian Daoliu had even given Duan Fan some gentle instructions.

"Live your life exactly as you have before; there is no need to change. If you encounter any problems you cannot solve, you may take this Consecrated Token to the Consecrated Hall."

Duan Fan let his thoughts wander: This is fine, too. If they had kept me in the Consecrated Hall, I wouldn't have been able to stand it.

My current strength is still far from enough. Even if Golden Crocodile Douluo were to teach me, what could he possibly teach?

Was I actually naive enough to think about what Golden Crocodile Douluo could teach me?

Wasn't tonight's apprenticeship just the result of the Consecrated Hall and the Pope Palace fighting over me?

Looking at it now, the Consecrated Hall clearly came out on top.

Just by Golden Crocodile Douluo stepping in, he snatched me away, leaving Bibi Dong to watch helplessly, like an incompetent Pope.

Regardless, I'm the one who ended up with the benefits.

Duan Fan looked at the black ring on the index finger of his left hand.

That was one of the gifts Golden Crocodile Douluo had given him: a Space Soul Tool.

Duan Fan had already injected his soul power to inspect it, and to his surprise, this ring possessed a massive space of one hundred cubic meters.

It was completely empty inside.

He supposed Golden Crocodile Douluo either owned more than one Space Soul Tool, or he truly had no worldly possessions left, just as he had claimed.

But clearly, the former was much more likely.

How could an old monster of a peak ninety-eighth-level Douluo have no collection to his name?

Duan Fan was just habitually letting his mind wander; he never actually expected Golden Crocodile Douluo to hand over his entire fortune.

Being able to obtain this one-hundred-cubic-meter Space Soul Tool was enough to make Duan Fan very satisfied and happy.

One had to realize that before obtaining this, Duan Fan had been planning to successfully acquire his second Soul Ring so he could participate in the New Student Soul Fighting Competition, win the championship, and take the Space Soul Tool prize offered by the Spirit Hall Academy.

Now, it seemed there was no longer any need for that.

Duan Fan didn't believe for a second that the Space Soul Tool awarded for the New Student Soul Fighting Competition could be better than the black ring Golden Crocodile Douluo had given him.

If one were to convert such a Space Soul Tool into Gold Soul Coins, it would be a case of having a price but no market.

Besides this Space Soul Tool, there was also a Consecrated Token.

With a thought, Duan Fan retrieved the Consecrated Token from the black ring, and it landed in his palm.

The token was entirely gold, crafted from an unknown material, and featured the emblem of the Spirit Hall, some special patterns, and the character "Two" engraved upon it.

With this Consecrated Token, I can walk sideways through the Spirit Hall, but if I actually do that, I'll probably be buried vertically in the ground before long.

This thing is mainly for solving trouble at critical moments. Its most important function is to prevent Bibi Dong from playing dirty against me. With it, I'll be much safer.

Duan Fan moved his mind, and the Consecrated Token returned to the black ring.

Aside from the token, Duan Fan had already placed all his important belongings inside, which naturally included his parents' Spirit Hall token, his soul coins, and his guns.

Over the past two months, Duan Fan had acquired three more M1910 pistols, bringing his total to four, including the one he had crafted initially.

Furthermore, Duan Fan had already begun working on manufacturing a Kar98k rifle.

Compared to pistols, the parts for a rifle were much more complex and required higher manufacturing precision, so progress was currently quite slow.

However, Duan Fan was not in a hurry. If he couldn't build it in two months, he would take half a year; if not half a year, then a year.

In any case, he wasn't in a rush to use a gun right now.

As for the expenses of building the guns, the soul coins Duan Fan had were more than enough; he had only used a small portion of the Gold Soul Coins his parents had left him.

As his strength increased, he would also receive a monthly soul coin subsidy, so he wouldn't be lacking in funds for quite some time.

"Time to sleep. I have class tomorrow. I wonder if I can really return to a normal life."

Duan Fan gently stroked the black ring, then set his thoughts aside and climbed into bed.

He wouldn't cultivate tonight; the last few days had been too exhausting, so he decided to give himself a break and get a good night's sleep.

The next day.

At dawn, Duan Fan was awakened by his internal clock.

After washing up, he went to the cafeteria for breakfast and then hurried to the classroom.

Just like in the past, when Duan Fan arrived at the classroom, most of his classmates had already arrived.

But unlike in the past, today Duan Fan seemed to be glowing with a golden light.

The moment he stepped into the classroom, he immediately drew the gaze of every student.

Even Wen Xiyue, who rarely looked his way, stared straight at him.

"It's Duan Fan, he's back!"

"He must have successfully obtained his second Soul Ring. That's incredible, to reach two rings so quickly!"

"Duan Fan is back, does that mean Teacher Li is back too?"

Duan Fan didn't pay much mind to these gazes and discussions, taking his seat to wait for class to begin.

Showing off in front of a bunch of kids was interesting at first, but it gradually became dull; Duan Fan had long since become indifferent to 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 ears.

Her voice was kept very low, barely audible if one didn't listen closely.

"Huh?"

Duan Fan hadn't heard her; to be precise, he hadn't heard her clearly.

Wen Xiyue asked again, this time leaning a little closer to Duan Fan.

Once he heard her clearly, Duan Fan asked with a smile, "Did your grandfather tell you?"

Wen Xiyue was stunned, then nodded.

Duan Fan hadn't expected Ghost Leopard Douluo to inform Wen Xiyue of his latest status so quickly. It seemed that, just as Ghost Leopard Douluo had said, Wen Xiyue often brought him up in front of her grandfather.

Thinking of how Ghost Leopard Douluo must have looked while telling Wen Xiyue about him, Duan Fan couldn't help but want to laugh.

The grandfather and granddaughter were both quite interesting.

Seeing that Wen Xiyue, who was usually cold, had taken the initiative to speak to him today, Duan Fan chatted with her for a couple more sentences.

Just a couple, though.

Wen Xiyue seemed hesitant to speak, clearly wanting to hear more.

Soon, the teacher arrived in the classroom.

The teacher who came to teach was naturally not Li Ruolan, but a substitute teacher she had found.

Li Ruolan and Li Yi were likely still on their way back to Spirit City.

It took time to travel back from the Star Dou Forest.

This substitute teacher was a middle-aged man; although his teaching wasn't as good as Li Ruolan's, it was still easy to understand.

The theory class only lasted half an hour and passed quickly.

Immediately after, it was time for the practical combat class.

Duan Fan skipped class and went straight to the Mimicry Cultivation Area.

In Duan Fan's view, there wasn't much point in attending a practical combat class with a substitute teacher.

Because he had already heard from Wen Xiyue that this substitute teacher was only a Soul Exalt.

With a soul power level of thirty-nine, he was still just a Soul Exalt.

Duan Fan was worried that his Nine-Tails Black Flame Demon Fox wouldn't be able to fight to its heart's content.