Rewards! Punishment?

A few days later.

The entire first-year student body of Eastsea Soul Master Academy was gathered on the playground.

Unlike the start of the term a few months ago, Class Five now stood in the position originally occupied by Class One, with the remaining classes each shifted down by one.

Tang Wulin stood at the very front of the formation as the class monitor, with his homeroom teacher, Wu Zhangkong, standing beside him.

Having recovered well enough after these few days of rest, Xie Xie stood behind Tang Wulin alongside Gu Yue.

However, the new Class Two formation seemed to be missing two people.

It was none other than Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi. After taking a hit from Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw-infused Eight Extremities Collapse a few days ago, they still hadn't recovered and were likely lying in some soul master hospital in Eastsea City.

Ye Yingluo, standing at the very front of Class Two, looked ghastly, her gaze toward Wu Zhangkong suggesting she would have liked nothing more than to devour him alive.

At this moment, the dean of the lower division, Yu Zhen, stepped onto the podium and spoke in a deep voice.

"Fellow future elite soul masters, this lower division Class Promotion Tournament has come to a successful conclusion. I believe you have all gained significant insights from this competition, which will surely prove to be of great help on your future paths of soul master cultivation."

"Of course, since it is a competition, there are naturally rewards."

"Starting from today, the first place of each grade—that is, Class One of each grade—will be provided with a free Grade A Meal every day until the next Class Promotion Tournament ends. Class Two will be entitled to one free Grade B Meal daily."

Hearing that there would be a Grade A Meal every day, Tang Wulin's eyes brightened considerably. Although he was quite wealthy now and a Grade A Meal didn't mean much to him, his ingrained habit of frugality reminded him that he could save another sum of money.

"Finally!" Yu Zhen added, "The students who participated for Class One in each grade will each receive a Spirit Pagoda Primary Spirit Ascension Platform Pass provided by the academy."

Immediately, the crowd below began to buzz with discussion.

"The academy is being so generous this time! They're actually rewarding us with Spirit Ascension Platform Passes, and there must be dozens of them in total! Can the academy really afford this?"

"What a pity, only Class One gets this reward. Sigh, for me, what difference does this so-called Grade B Meal reward make?"

"Do you think Spirit Ascension Platform Passes are just something you can ask for? It's already quite impressive that the academy could produce so many."

"What is a Spirit Ascension Platform Pass?"

"No way! You don't even know that?"

"Teacher Wu, what is a Spirit Ascension Platform Pass?"

Tang Wulin had the same question. He knew what the Spirit Pagoda was, but he truly had no idea what this primary pass was.

"Wulin, you don't even know what the Spirit Ascension Platform is? I thought your Century Soul Ring was upgraded through the Spirit Ascension Platform," Xie Xie asked curiously.

Gu Yue slapped Xie Xie on the head and said, "So what? I don't know either."

Wu Zhangkong looked down at Tang Wulin and said slowly, "The Spirit Ascension Platform is the most groundbreaking research of the Spirit Pagoda in the last hundred years. It is true that many people don't know about it, so there is nothing strange about that. However, the Spirit Ascension Platform is indeed a good place, and its greatest benefit is the ability to increase the age of a soul ring!"

"Increase the age of a soul ring?" Tang Wulin was shocked. After all, his own soul ring had progressed from a ten-year ring to a century ring, and finally to his current millennium ring. This was a huge part of why he was so stunned, as his own ring age had been increased through Yao Lao and the absorption of the Golden Dragon King's essence—a method no ordinary person could replicate. Now, he had suddenly heard of another way to achieve this.

"Teacher Wu, if the Spirit Pagoda can really increase soul ring age, wouldn't that significantly boost a soul master's combat power?" Gu Yue asked.

Wu Zhangkong shook his head. "It's not that simple. Not to mention how difficult it is to obtain a Spirit Ascension Platform Pass, high-level passes are held by major factions and are generally inaccessible to ordinary soul masters. Furthermore, even if you enter the Spirit Ascension Platform, increasing your soul ring age relies heavily on opportunity. I have entered it several times, but my luck wasn't great, and my soul ring age only increased by a little."

"I see." Tang Wulin nodded thoughtfully.

"Hey, regardless, it's still an opportunity. You have to know how hard this stuff is to get; I've never been there in all my years!" Xie Xie said with a smile.

"I hope you all have good luck!" Wu Zhangkong said indifferently.

"Alright!"

At this point, Yu Zhen changed the subject and said, "The rewards have been announced; now, I must address the punishments."

"Punishments?"

"What punishments?"

Many students were confused upon hearing this.

"Naturally, these punishments only concern Class One and Class Two of the first year," Yu Zhen continued.

Immediately, a multitude of gazes turned toward the direction of the first-year classes, especially toward Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue.

"Before the tournament began, I believe Director Long emphasized that no one should intentionally harm others."

"However, in the final match of the first-year tournament, Class Two students Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi first intentionally harmed Xie Xie, and subsequently, Tang Wulin severely injured Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi. Therefore, all three of you will be punished."

"No way! What is this old geezer trying to pull? It was clearly the other side who tried to kill us first!" Xie Xie said indignantly.

Tang Wulin grabbed Xie Xie's arm and shook his head, signaling that it didn't matter.

"Since Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi are still in the hospital due to their severe injuries, the decision regarding their punishment will be made after they recover."

Yu Zhen's gaze swept across the crowd and finally settled on Tang Wulin.

"After deliberation by the academy's senior management, it has been decided that Class One monitor Tang Wulin used an extremely overbearing soul skill against his classmates during the tournament without the slightest intention of holding back, resulting in severe injuries to both opponents, with the possibility of permanent damage to their martial souls."

"Normally, the academy would have expelled a student for this level of injury, but since Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi were the first to act and severely injured Xie Xie, there are certain extenuating circumstances."

"The academy hereby issues the following punishment: If Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi's martial souls have sustained lasting damage, Tang Wulin must forge enough rare metals for them to design their One-Word Battle Armor before graduating from the lower division as compensation. If there is no lasting damage, this will not be required. Additionally, for the remainder of his semesters, Tang Wulin must refine one piece of Hundred Refinement metal for the academy every month."

Yu Zhen had clearly investigated Tang Wulin, even knowing his proficiency in forging, though these punishments were truly nothing to Tang Wulin.

On the contrary, Xie Xie, standing to the side, was quite unhappy.

"What is this? Isn't it obvious the academy is just using this as an excuse to get Wulin to forge for them for free? If they keep this up, won't it affect Wulin's ability to forge mecha parts for me in the future?"

Tang Wulin smiled and patted Xie Xie on the shoulder, saying, "It's fine. The academy has been very fair. Providing one piece of Hundred Refinement metal a month is nothing to me; it won't affect my ability to forge mecha parts for you later."

"That's good, that's good." Xie Xie couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.

"Is your mecha the only thing you care about, you guy?" Gu Yue kicked Xie Xie hard in the backside and said irritably.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! I haven't fully recovered yet, Gu Yue!" Xie Xie hopped forward, putting on a crying face.