Zhu Shen pushed open the window and looked down.
In the open space in front of the dormitory, seven or eight students dressed in fine clothes formed a circle, shoving around a skinny boy in the middle.
The boy wore a work-study uniform washed nearly white. His face was bruised purple and blue, and blood still streaked the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were stubborn as he glared at the fat boy leading the group.
The fat boy was twelve or thirteen, broad and sturdy, dressed in finely tailored silk. He had one foot planted on the skinny boy's backpack and stood with his arms folded, looking smug.
"Wang Sheng, you're just a work-study student, and you dare talk back to Boss Xiao? Tired of living?" The fat boy ground his foot into the backpack, and something inside cracked. "Notting Academy is for proper students like us. You poor, broke losers should be cleaning the latrines. Got it?"
The students around them joined in.
"Exactly! Since when do work-study students get to throw their weight around at the academy?"
"Boss Xiao's father is a councilman in Nuoding City. Killing you would be as easy as crushing an ant!"
Wang Sheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "Xiao Chenyu, don't get cocky! The academy rules say work-study students and regular students are equals! If you keep bullying people, I'll tell the headmaster!"
"Tell the headmaster?" Xiao Chenyu burst out laughing. "Go ahead! Let's see whether the headmaster believes a poor wretch like you or me. My dad donates so much money to the academy every year. You think the headmaster would offend me for your sake?"
He bent down and patted Wang Sheng on the cheek. "If you know what's good for you, you'll kowtow three times, call me Boss Xiao, and wash my socks every day from now on. Then I'll let you off. Otherwise..."
Wang Sheng clenched his teeth, his knuckles turning white around his fists.
Zhu Shen leaned on the windowsill and watched for a while, then turned to Tang San. "Little San, did you know this Xiao Chenyu back when you lived in Nuoding City?"
Tang San shook his head. "This disciple lived in Nuoding City for six years, but never left home."
"True. Your father kept you hidden like a treasure." Zhu Shen nodded, then looked down at the scene. "Come on. Let's go take a look."
The two of them went downstairs and walked over to the open space.
The students were still shoving Wang Sheng around. When they saw someone approaching, they stopped. Xiao Chenyu turned to Zhu Shen, looked him over, then glanced at his gray clothes and sneered.
"Who are you? Here to stick your nose in?"
Zhu Shen ignored him and walked over to Wang Sheng, crouching down. "Are you all right?"
Wang Sheng stared at Zhu Shen in a daze, then shook his head.
Zhu Shen pulled a handkerchief from his robes and handed it to him. "Wipe the blood off your face."
Wang Sheng took it, looking unsure what to do.
"You're a work-study student?" Zhu Shen asked.
"Y-yes." Wang Sheng nodded. "My name is Wang Sheng. I'm eight years old, my Martial Soul is War Tiger, and I'm at level fifteen."
"Level fifteen at eight years old. Not bad." Zhu Shen patted him on the shoulder. "Stand up and talk."
Wang Sheng braced himself against the ground and got to his feet. His legs were a little unsteady, but he still did his best to stand straight.
Xiao Chenyu had been left to one side, and his expression grew darker by the second. "I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"
Only then did Zhu Shen turn around and look him over. "So you're Xiao Chenyu?"
"You know my name and still dare act tough?" Xiao Chenyu puffed out his chest. "Who are you? A new teacher? Let me tell you, nobody in Nuoding City dares interfere with my business!"
"Oh?" Zhu Shen smiled. "Did your father never teach you to mind your manners?"
Xiao Chenyu froze, then flew into a rage. "Who do you think you are? You think you can lecture me?"
As he spoke, he released his Martial Soul. The phantom of a white tiger appeared behind him, with two Yellow Soul Rings revolving around him.
"See that?" Xiao Chenyu proudly swung his Soul Rings. "My dad is a councilman in Nuoding City and a Five-Ring Soul King! If you so much as lay a finger on me, my dad won't let you get away with it!"
Zhu Shen looked at the ignorant child who had no idea how vast the sky was and sighed.
With a thought, he released his Dragon God Martial Soul.
Golden light flashed. A Golden Dragon phantom circled behind him, and two purple and two black Soul Rings revolved at his side. Its dragon might pressed down like something tangible, and a deep dragon's roar seemed to rumble through the air.
Xiao Chenyu's smile froze on his face.
The White Tiger Martial Soul behind him let out a sharp, mournful whine. Its entire phantom curled into a ball and flattened itself against the ground, trembling. The two Soul Rings around him shook violently, their light flickering.
"W-what is that...?" Xiao Chenyu's voice quavered. His legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees.
The students behind him fared even worse. Several sprawled on the ground, not daring to lift their heads.
Zhu Shen looked down at Xiao Chenyu. "You said your father was a Five-Ring Soul King?"
Xiao Chenyu nodded mechanically, his face deathly pale.
"Then go back and tell your father my name is Yu Xiaogang, and I live at Notting Academy." Zhu Shen withdrew his Martial Soul. "If he wants trouble with me, he can come find me anytime."
Xiao Chenyu scrambled to his feet and ran off with the other students, stumbling over himself in his haste. After running a dozen steps, he still turned back to shout a threat. "Y-you just wait! My dad won't let you off!"
Zhu Shen couldn't be bothered with him. He turned to Wang Sheng.
Wang Sheng was completely dumbfounded.
"What are you staring at?" Zhu Shen waved a hand in front of him.
"Huh?" Wang Sheng came to his senses. "S-sir, are you really Master Yu?"
"Do I not look like him?"
"It's not that you don't look like him, it's..." Wang Sheng swallowed. "I heard Master Yu's Martial Soul was Luo Sanpao, and his Soul Power was only level twenty-nine. And...and he didn't look like you."
"My Martial Soul evolved, and my Soul Power broke through. As for my appearance..." Zhu Shen touched his face. "Maybe that was a side effect of the evolution."
Wang Sheng looked utterly confused. He clearly didn't understand.
Behind them, Tang San's mouth twitched.
"Enough. Don't waste time thinking about all that." Zhu Shen patted Wang Sheng on the shoulder. "First, get your injuries treated, then take me to the work-study dormitory."
"You want to see the work-study dormitory?" Wang Sheng asked, surprised.
"Yes. My disciple is a work-study student too, so he'll be living there from now on." Zhu Shen pointed at Tang San. "His name is Tang San. He's six years old, has Innate Full Soul Power, and his Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. He's just obtained his First Soul Ring."
Wang Sheng looked at Tang San, surprise flashing through his eyes. Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power? He had never heard of such a thing. But after seeing Zhu Shen's strength, he didn't dare ask.
"Right this way, sir." Wang Sheng slung his crushed backpack over his shoulders and limped ahead.
The three of them crossed the academy's teaching area and came to a run-down dormitory building. It was several grades below the teachers' dormitory. The walls were mottled, several panes of glass were broken, and the hallway reeked of mold.
"This is it." Wang Sheng looked a little embarrassed. "The conditions for work-study students aren't very good."
Zhu Shen frowned.
"Wang Sheng, how many work-study students are there?"
"Twelve, counting me," Wang Sheng said. "Most of us are kids from villages near Nuoding City. Our families are poor, but we have decent talent. The academy says work-study students can have their tuition waived, but we have to work it off. We usually clean and put the equipment away."
"What about the regular students?"
"There are more than fifty regular students. Most of them come from wealthy families in Nuoding City." Wang Sheng's voice fell. "They look down on work-study students and bully us all the time. Xiao Chenyu leads them. His dad is a councilman in Nuoding City, so the teachers turn a blind eye."
Zhu Shen nodded.
When he had read the original story in his previous life, he had known about the conflict between work-study students and regular students at Notting Academy. Back then, he had thought it was just something in a novel. Now that he had experienced it firsthand, he could see just how serious the discrimination was.
"Sir..." Wang Sheng hesitated. "Are you really going to teach at the academy?"
"Why?"
"If you become a teacher, Xiao Chenyu's father might come after you." Wang Sheng lowered his voice. "His dad is a powerful figure in Nuoding City. Even the headmaster has to show him some respect."
Zhu Shen smiled. "Do you think I'd be afraid of him?"