Honorary Teacher [Please Recommend, Invest, and Collect!]

There were plenty of empty seats in both the front and the back.

He glanced around casually, then picked an empty seat near the window in the back. By Blue Star standards, it was probably a VIP seat.

After sitting down, Su Luoheng began observing the class.

The second-year classroom was huge. Judging by the number of desks, there were more than sixty students in Class One. He had glanced at the class assignments in the hall earlier; there were ten second-year classes in total. At sixty students per class, that meant more than six hundred students.

Six hundred didn't sound like all that many.

But they had another identity to consider: Level 1 Soul Engineers.

How many first-year Soul Engineers under fifteen were there across all the academies in the Douluo Three Kingdoms each year? Could their total even reach half the number at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy?

Even with Shrek Academy included, they still fell far short in this regard.

And this was only one academy in the Sun Moon Empire.

There was no denying it: whether in Soul Guidance Technology or its reserves of talent, the Sun Moon Empire had far surpassed the insular Douluo Three Kingdoms.

Su Luoheng thought of the not-so-distant future.

In fact, the Sun Moon Empire had nearly succeeded. If a certain God King hadn't insisted on sticking his nose into things, they would have unified the Douluo Continent long ago. Bloodshed and war would have been unavoidable in the process, but the empire was the only power capable of bringing an end to the fighting that had dragged on for nearly ten thousand years and ushering in a truly peaceful future for the continent.

But because Tang God King had intervened, the unification of the continent had been postponed indefinitely...

Honestly, Su Luoheng couldn't see the point of his baffling stunt.

Especially since he only stepped in when the war was nearly over and the Sun Moon Empire had almost conquered the entire Douluo Continent. He even dressed it up as protecting peace on the continent. You'd need a decade of brain clots to pull off something that bewildering. Unless he had some other motive, there had to be something wrong with his head.

The war was over, and suddenly you got fired up.

The car had to hit the wall before you remembered to turn.

The snot had to reach your mouth before you remembered to wipe it away.

If you really cared about the Douluo Continent, why didn't you step in earlier?

Was it all just so you could be praised as its savior?

Still, setting aside the criticism...

You could call Tang San a polished egoist, a show-off, a scumbag, and all sorts of other things, but he definitely wasn't stupid!

There was probably another reason he'd stopped the Douluo Continent from being unified.

Could it be that he...

Su Luoheng narrowed his eyes, suddenly thinking of something. What if Tang San really did have designs on the Douluo Continent? Then all those brain-dead moves seemed to make sense.

Let's make a bold guess: Tang San wanted the power of faith.

After resolving the Sun Moon Empire crisis, he would surely be praised even more by the continent's ruling class.

The people of the Douluo Continent would provide him with a vast supply of faith.

Given his character, it wasn't impossible...

Tsk, tsk... What a brilliant play!

The people of the Douluo Continent saw him as their savior, while he treated them like a crop of leeks, harvesting them again and again.

As expected of you, the pure and spotless Tang God King!

He'd really mastered the art of sustainably recycling resources.

Classes at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy began at the hour of the Snake.

Su Luoheng had gotten up early, and there were still two quarters of an hour to go.

During that time, the students of Second-Year Class One arrived one after another, and the classroom gradually grew lively.

New students like Su Luoheng, who had passed the advancement assessment upon entering the academy, were in the minority. Most had advanced from the first year, and after spending more than a year together, they were already familiar with one another. They gathered in groups of two or three, chatting animatedly.

As the remaining seats in the classroom dwindled, someone soon sat beside him.

Chapter 37: Honorary Teacher [Please Recommend, Invest, and Collect!]

"Hello."

A clear, bright female voice sounded beside him. Su Luoheng raised his eyes to look at the girl next to him. She was sweet-looking and smiling, with a friendly air. Though she wore the academy uniform like everyone else, she had a distinct presence. Her every gesture betrayed an air of arrogance and privilege.

One glance was enough for him to form an impression of her.

"Mm."

Su Luoheng nodded politely, then turned his gaze away without saying anything more.

"You must be Su Luoheng, right?" The girl greeted him with a bright smile, as if she already knew him. "Let's get acquainted. I'm Xu Yu."

"..."

Su Luoheng studied the girl in front of him more carefully.

A look of realization crossed his eyes. "Were you at the new student advancement assessment too?"

"Mm. I saw your name on the class list, then looked around for you. You happened to have an empty seat next to you. I didn't expect you to arrive so early~"

"There are only two of us new students in Class One. Let's look out for each other from now on!" Xu Yu said half-jokingly.

"Mm."

"Su Luoheng, you're amazing! You actually came in first~"

"I was lucky."

"..."

Xu Yu was lively and outgoing, and Su Luoheng was bored sitting there by himself, so the two chatted on and off. They soon grew much friendlier than they'd been at first.

The other students were doing the same, gathering in pairs or threes to chat.

The classroom grew livelier by the minute.

Just then, an elderly man walked in through the classroom door. His white hair was neatly groomed, and he wore a dark gray Soul Engineer's robe. He was of average height, with a straight back and a resolute face. He looked to be around seventy. Most striking were his deep-set eyes, their dark brown irises gleaming. He carried himself with composure and projected an imposing presence.

"Hmm?"

Su Luoheng raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

He knew this teacher!

It was Elder Ran, the instructor who had assessed him and given him a Level 3 Soul Tool during the entrance examination!

He couldn't possibly mistake him with that Soul Tool.

Still, he hadn't expected to run into Elder Ran again. The odds of an admissions instructor becoming his class teacher were about as low as running into Zhen Reqing again.

"..."

Before entering the room, Elder Ran swept his gaze over the classroom. When he saw Su Luoheng, a flicker of satisfaction passed through his eyes. Then he discreetly looked away and walked in.

"Why is it him!" Xu Yu exclaimed excitedly, covering her mouth.

"You know this teacher too?"

Su Luoheng turned his head, intrigued, and asked.

"Of course I do~"

"He's Teacher Ran Yuming!"

"Is he famous?" Su Luoheng asked without thinking.

"Of course!"

Xu Yu calmed herself a little, then leaned closer and whispered, "Although Teacher Ran is only a Level 7 Soul Engineer in terms of strength, he's widely regarded as one of the top three teachers at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. In the more than thirty years he's taught here, nearly all his students have been halfway through the door to Mingde Hall. Even our dean once studied under Teacher Ran."

"If he takes a liking to us, there's an eighty percent chance we'll get into Mingde Hall in the future!"

Xu Yu's voice grew excited. It was clear from her words how much she admired the old man.

"But..."

Her tone shifted, and she murmured to herself.

"I heard he hadn't taught students for five years, so I thought he'd retired~ I never expected him to come out of retirement this year."

"..."

Hearing this, Su Luoheng narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought.

He'd already vaguely suspected this teacher was no ordinary man, but he hadn't expected him to hold such a high standing at the academy.

Xu Yu suddenly remembered what Su Luoheng had asked earlier and turned to him curiously.

"Do you know this teacher?"

"Mm, I've met him once." Su Luoheng nodded and explained, "He was the one who assessed me when I took the entrance test."

"Oh~"

Xu Yu suddenly had an idea and teased, "Hey, do you think he came here for you?"

Su Luoheng countered, "What do you think?"

"Who can say~" Xu Yu replied with a shrug and a smile.

She was about to say something else when she saw Elder Ran step onto the platform and gesture for silence.

The noisy class gradually quieted down once the teacher arrived.

All the students focused their attention on Elder Ran. But when they met his deep gaze, each felt as though he could see right through them, and an invisible pressure settled over their hearts.

"I'm Ran Yuming. Starting today, I'll be the homeroom teacher of Second-Year Class One. Being assigned to Class One proves your talent surpasses that of your peers, so I have only one requirement: follow my teaching arrangements. If you can't do that, leave my class now."

"Understood?"

Ran Yuming swept a cool gaze across the room, then spoke evenly.

"Understood!"

Everyone sitting in Class One was an elite. Though Ran Yuming's teaching style was forceful and uncompromising, not a single student questioned him or left. Experience had taught them that the teachers assigned to Class One were never ordinary. Besides, quite a few of them recognized Elder Ran.

Seeing the students' reaction, Elder Ran stroked his long beard in satisfaction.

"Now, let's begin class."

"I'm sure you've all started learning about Level 2 Soul Tools. To make a Level 2 Soul Tool, you first need to understand the difference between them and Level 1 Soul Tools..."

Ran Yuming quickly settled into his lesson, explaining Level 2 Soul Tools in detail.

He had spent the last two days preparing and organizing the material.

Although he'd come to teach the second year because of Su Luoheng, now that he was homeroom teacher of Second-Year Class One, he naturally had to take on the responsibilities that came with the position.

A monk must perform his duties as long as he's in the temple.

At the very least, he had to take responsibility for the other students while he was in charge.

As long as they followed his instructions, he couldn't guarantee anything else, but becoming Level 3 Soul Engineers wouldn't be much of a challenge.

"..."

Su Luoheng was listening attentively in class too.

But whether intentionally or not, he noticed that Teacher Ran's gaze kept drifting toward him from time to time.

Su Luoheng couldn't help thinking of Xu Yu's teasing from earlier.

Could he really have come for him?

At that thought, Su Luoheng still shook his head and told himself, I'm probably overthinking it.

Teacher Ran was a renowned Level 7 Soul Engineer, while he was just a new student who had only just enrolled. Even if he had some talent, that wasn't enough to make the old man personally step in.

It was probably just a coincidence~

Once he'd thought it through, Su Luoheng stopped worrying about it and focused on the lesson.

Truly, no reputation was undeserved.

Elder Ran's explanations of Level 2 Soul Tools, from theory to their construction, were remarkably comprehensive. Su Luoheng noticed several issues he'd overlooked before.