First Encounter with Na'er

"Given the grudge between you and the Spirit Pagoda, Father, no matter whether that person had climbed to a high position or not, at most I could only be an ordinary participant within the Spirit Pagoda. Every step would be difficult, and walking on thin ice would be the norm," Lin Yu said calmly to Lin Qingye.

"Besides, to be honest, I really dislike the Spirit Pagoda's beastly practices. In a tiny backwater city like Aolai City, they charge one million for a randomly selected hundred-year soul spirit. My take is that if they think us country bumpkins can't afford it, they could simply choose not to offer it. There was no need to put out such a disgusting price."

Those who could afford to spend ten thousand on a hundred-year soul spirit in Aolai City would never spend one million here to buy one, because they could absolutely afford to go to a better city and purchase it there.

As for the vast majority of Aolai City's residents, even if they emptied all six of their family's wallets, they would struggle to scrape together one million to buy a soul spirit.

The monetary system of this era was already fairly similar to that of his previous life, but the cost of living was drastically higher.

Seeing Lin Yu mention the Spirit Pagoda with his teeth clenched in hatred, Lin Qingye assumed his own experiences had stirred something in him. He nodded and stopped trying to persuade him, instead saying to Lin Yu,

"Just tell your father things like that. Don't speak carelessly outside. The Spirit Pagoda isn't a Federation organization—they don't need to care about their reputation. If their people hear you, they might kill you just because they feel like it."

Lin Yu nodded, while Lin Qingye continued, "Aolai City's educational resources are relatively poor. There are only two schools: Red Mountain Junior Soul Master Academy and Ziwei Private Noble School. Which one do you want to attend?"

At that question, Lin Yu fell silent again, weighing the differences between the future paths the two options offered.

Ziwei Private Noble School was essentially a private academy established by the remnants of the three former nations native to Douluo Continent. After the Sun-Moon Empire unified the continent, the Xu family fell from power and the government shifted to a federal parliamentary system. Those old remnants had contributed to that as well.

The advantage of attending that academy was that, if one wanted to take things easy, one could receive an internal recommendation and enter its affiliated intermediate and advanced academies. Almost one's entire educational career, from now until adulthood, could be covered that way.

Moreover, from the perspective of a junior academy, the school did not use the Federation's standardized textbooks. Instead, it had compiled new teaching materials by selecting and editing books collected by the nobility.

In terms of breadth of knowledge, its curriculum was far richer than the junior-level materials used by Federation public schools.

But its disadvantage was equally obvious. Because the Federal Parliament knew exactly how the Xu family had fallen from power, it did not recognize the student status of the noble private schools under Ziwei Academy when conducting examinations for the Federation's civil service system.

In other words, once one entered that academy, one would essentially be cut off from the Federation's public service system. Unless one had exceptionally strong connections to force through a recommendation, only one or two such special cases emerged each year.

Shrek Academy likewise did not accept students from academies run by such old remnants.

The students of that academy were basically people who entertained themselves while maintaining their family businesses.

If one intended to coast through life, it was not necessarily a bad choice.

The Lin family was not particularly wealthy, but they could barely squeeze in and buy a lower-middle-tier position from those people.

But if he went that route, whether it was the future abyssal war or other matters, many things would no longer be his to decide.

If he followed Red Mountain Academy into the public-school system, there was only one downside for Lin Yu: the risk of coming into contact with Tang Wulin and, in turn, drawing Tang Hao's attention.

After all, Lin Yu possessed innate full soul power. The Spirit Pagoda might not necessarily value someone at that level, but the Federation certainly would.

If it came to recommendations and the like, Lin Yu would definitely be given priority.

After careful consideration, Lin Yu ultimately chose Red Mountain Academy.

Although Ziwei Academy could be considered a possible path, Lin Yu did not want to give up the vast majority of opportunities on Douluo Star just to choose that rugged, narrow road.

Lin Qingye did not object to Lin Yu's choice. In truth, he had also leaned more toward Lin Yu choosing the former. But as a father, he ultimately wanted Lin Yu to make his own decision.

A few days later, after entering Red Mountain Academy, Lin Yu naturally was not placed in the same class as someone like Tang Wulin, who possessed only innate third-rank soul power.

That put Lin Yu somewhat at ease. However, although they were not in the same class, they were on the same floor. They would still run into each other while fetching water, eating, and so on.

Lin Yu had no intention of making things difficult for Tang Wulin. He simply treated him like air.

Naturally, Lin Yu's class was the elite class for this cohort. Although Lin Yu was the only student with innate full soul power, the others were all around the seventh rank as well.

The overall quality could be said to be fairly high. Lin Yu also came to understand just how strict the Spirit Pagoda was in small places.

Even someone with innate ninth-rank soul power would not be invited into the Spirit Pagoda so long as their martial soul had no distinctive traits.

Life at Red Mountain Junior Soul Master Academy was not difficult either. Every morning, Lin Yu meditated and cultivated alongside everyone else, then spent some time in the afternoon studying basic cultural subjects.

With the support of his 118 points of spiritual power, learning these foundational courses was not difficult for him. It could even be called easy and pleasant.

Day after day passed. When school ended that day, Lin Yu got out an hour earlier than Tang Wulin because of his class schedule.

As he walked down the street, he happened to spot a highly distinctive figure.

It was a little girl who looked even younger than him, yet she had a head of short silver hair. Sunlight shone on that rare hair color, reflecting naturally from it.

Beyond that silver short hair, she also possessed a pair of extraordinary eyes.

Her eyes were large, their pupils like two clear purple crystals, while her long lashes curled naturally upward.

With that appearance, Lin Yu could guess who she was without even trying: Na'er, one half of the Silver Dragon King.

At that moment, Lin Yu was not the only one watching Na'er. Several young men were also observing her movements.

Lin Yu clapped his hands, and four figures emerged from four directions, taking their places beside and behind him.

The one standing beside Lin Yu was clearly someone like the leader of the operation team. He lowered his voice and asked, "Young Master Lin, what are your orders?"

Lin Yu pointed at the young men who were also watching Na'er. With a curl of his lips, he said, "Those people don't look like decent fellows to me. Go investigate them. See whether they have criminal records or anything like that. If they do, deal with them strictly according to the law."

The operation team leader froze for a moment, then looked in the direction Lin Yu indicated. He nodded and gave the two suited men behind him a meaningful glance...