Despairing Gap (I)

"One credit, one hundred Gold Soul Coins." On the way out of the teaching building and toward the training grounds, Ning Rongrong repeatedly counted on her fingers, her face filled with disbelief at life itself. "Three credits means three hundred Gold Soul Coins..."

"Dragon Spine Meat sells for five thousand Gold Soul Coins outside." Dai Mubai looked dazed. Without noticing, he stabbed Ning Rongrong in the heart again. "That's a tenfold price difference..."

"No, it's a sixteenfold price difference." Even the taciturn Zhu Zhuqing had been rendered speechless, but she was still very interested in correcting the discrepancy in the figures. After all, the difference between tenfold and sixteenfold was more than just a little. "And it's a bit more than sixteenfold, almost seventeenfold."

Qin Ming opened and closed his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

He recalled the introduction given by the Dean of Studies just now.

His heart ached so badly he could hardly breathe.

As a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the leader of the Royal Fight Team, his salary was not low. Whenever he received his monthly pay, he would go to the Spirit Cuisine Room and buy a bowl of Spirit Cuisine, such a nourishing delicacy.

Thinking back on it now, how much money had he wasted?

The price of one bowl outside could buy more than sixteen bowls at Blue Tyrant Academy!

Blue Tyrant Academy, had you ever considered the feelings of Soul Masters from outside?

Moreover, according to the Dean of Studies, most Spirit Cuisine was sold at ten times its cost. For example, Dragon Spine Meat sold for five thousand Gold Soul Coins per bowl outside, while its cost was only around five hundred Gold Soul Coins.

It was one thing for Blue Tyrant Academy students to receive discounts based on the cost price, but you had raised the external price of Spirit Cuisine to more than ten times its cost, shifting all the losses from your internal discounts onto the external prices. Wasn't that a little too shameless?

Everyone knew that no merchant was honest.

But someone like you, who had no bottom line at all, was truly a first for us!

While the members of Shrek were silently cursing Blue Tyrant Academy, Ye Qingcang had already led them onto an expansive training ground two hundred meters long and two hundred meters wide. He stopped and turned around.

"Blue Tyrant Academy has many training grounds."

"The Soul Tool Department has a total of one hundred and seventeen training grounds."

"The Soul Master Department has a total of one hundred and nineteen training grounds."

"There are one hundred private training grounds."

"There are also some other training grounds."

Pointing at the training ground beneath their feet, Ye Qingcang continued his introduction. "The one beneath our feet is one of the public training grounds. If you believe this place is unfair and won't allow you to display your strength perfectly, there are other training grounds for you to choose from. Well, are you all ready?"

"What are the other training grounds like?" Ma Hongjun's eyes rolled as he cut in with a question. "Can we choose the venue ourselves?"

"All the training grounds are divided into two categories."

"One is professional."

"The other is non-professional."

"You can't enter the professional ones. They're filled with all kinds of equipment. The non-professional ones are like this place and can be further divided into five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth."

"The Metal Training Fields are built entirely from metal."

"The Wood Training Fields are lush forests."

"The Water Training Fields are farther away, consisting of lakes and rivers."

"The Fire Training Fields are even farther away, located in the Volcanic Zone."

"The Earth Training Fields are the most common. The one beneath my feet is one of them. However, some Earth Training Fields contain various rocks and natural cover. This one is simply open terrain. That's all."

Ye Qingcang stood in the middle of the training ground, his gaze sweeping over the members of Shrek. As expected, he did not find Yu Xiaogang. "As for the right to choose the venue, of course you have it. Providing challengers with an environment suited to displaying their abilities is a privilege Blue Tyrant Academy grants to the brave. Every challenger has this right!"

Ye Qingcang's answer was magnanimous.

It was precisely this magnanimity that made Dai Mubai and the others feel a heavy pressure.

Ye Qingcang's magnanimity did not come from looking down on them.

It was the confidence of someone saying, "No matter how you choose, I will be the one who wins in the end."

"At present, excluding the teachers who need to be assessed, as well as the students who meet the requirements or entered through backdoor connections, there are four people who need to enter through a special route..." Ye Qingcang called their names one by one. "Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu. Let me confirm this with you once more: taking the special route means that you are unwilling to give up your original identities while still insisting on joining Blue Tyrant Academy. Is that correct?"

Flender had originally intended to deny it.

But Tang San spoke first. "Yes!"

Dai Mubai, loyal to his friends, followed close behind.

Since Dai Mubai had nodded, Zhu Zhuqing could only nod hesitantly as well.

The two of them were now tied together.

If Dai Mubai died, she would not survive either.

In an instant, only Xiao Wu remained on the field.

Feeling everyone's urging gazes, Xiao Wu could not help trembling.

She raised her head hesitantly and looked at the young man opposite her, who exerted an extremely strong attraction on her. Enduring her body's instinctive reaction, she asked weakly, "If I don't join Blue Tyrant Academy, will you kill me?"

"Yes." Ye Qingcang toyed with his prayer beads. His tone was clearly casual, yet it sent chills through everyone who heard it. "I said it in the carriage before: my Soul Power rank is forty. I wasn't lying to you. The only reason I won't kill you now is that you've expressed your intention to apply to Blue Tyrant Academy. If you don't join Blue Tyrant Academy, whether because you don't want to apply or because you fail the assessment, I'll kill you. Even a Titled Douluo would find it difficult to restrain himself from obtaining a 100,000-Year Spirit Ring without lifting a finger, right?"

"Ha!"

"I knew long ago that you weren't a good person!"

With a Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Tang San flashed in front of Xiao Wu. Without hesitation, he brought out his Clear Sky Hammer and pointed it at Ye Qingcang, shouting sternly, "If you want to hurt Xiao Wu, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"

With that, Tang San slowly turned around.

"Xiao Wu, don't be afraid. I..." Seeing Xiao Wu, who had retreated two steps at some point and opened the distance between them, an indescribable fury surged into Tang San's heart. "You don't believe me?"

Xiao Wu looked at Tang San's familiar yet unfamiliar face.

She wanted to deny it, but she could not deceive her own heart.

She wanted to admit it, but she could not open her mouth.

She really wanted to ask him: Were all those vows of eternal love you made to me back then nothing more than sweet lies you fabricated to trick me into sacrificing myself?

But she also knew that if she asked this, the answer she received would certainly be a denial.

A good person would not emphasize that he was a good person.

Because there was no need.

A bad person would not emphasize that he was a bad person either.

Because it was nothing to be proud of.

The moment she thought about how she had spent six years with the son of a Titled Douluo under that Titled Douluo's watch, she suddenly felt a chill around her neck. Especially since that Titled Douluo's wife had been a 100,000-Year Transformed Spirit Beast who had ultimately sacrificed herself to him. Even though she was not someone who advocated conspiracy theories, after personally experiencing such a thing, she could not stop herself from growing suspicious.

So...

"I'm not saying I don't trust you, Third Brother..." Xiao Wu's answer made Tang San beam with joy. However, her next words froze that smile on his face. "I'm saying that I don't dare trust anyone. Right now, I just want some peace and time to sort out my thoughts. Don't come near me. I just want to be alone for a while..."

(:з"∠)