The Miserable Austin Griffin

As night deepened, Leng Yaoyu returned to Spirit Pagoda Headquarters with Ziyang and Na'er.

The elevator rose silently, the numbers ticking upward until it finally stopped at Leng Yaoyu's private floor.

The doors opened once more.

Leng Yaoyu's floor was quiet. At the end of the corridor stood a floor-to-ceiling window, beyond which the city's lights spread out like another sky full of stars.

Upon entering the living room, Leng Yaoyu turned around and looked at Ziyang and Na'er. Her gaze was not heavy, yet it carried a tangible pressure.

Ziyang instinctively straightened up and silently moved behind Na'er, placing her in front of him protectively.

Na'er noticed nothing and did not realize that anything was wrong with the atmosphere.

"You had quite a bit of fun today. You sure knew how to talk," Leng Yaoyu said evenly, her emotions unreadable.

Na'er nodded, looking proud as she was about to say something, only for Ziyang to tug at the hem of her clothes from behind.

She turned around and saw sweat on Ziyang's forehead.

"Teacher." Ziyang's voice was a little dry, and he was somewhat afraid. Something suddenly came to mind—what he had said earlier had practically been a fatal blow to his teacher.

"Well... actually, I was just following a formula..."

"Starting tomorrow," Leng Yaoyu cut him off, still angry inside, "your training volume will double."

The air froze for a moment.

Then came two cries of despair in perfect unison.

"No, Teacher!"

Ziyang and Na'er nearly pounced at the same time, each grabbing one of Leng Yaoyu's legs.

Na'er's eyes were watery and wide, while Ziyang's face was scrunched into a ball. The two looked like people on the brink of death, clinging desperately to their final lifeline.

"Teacher, I was wrong."

"That's right, Ziyang already knows he was wrong. Punish him, but don't punish me."

"I'll never talk nonsense again."

Leng Yaoyu looked down at the two children hanging from her legs. Just how terrified were these two of lessons?

In the end, she sighed, her sigh full of helplessness.

After all, ignorance was no sin. These two children surely did not know about such things.

She reached out and rubbed both children's heads, one with each hand.

"Only this once," Leng Yaoyu said.

Ziyang and Na'er looked at each other and sighed in relief. If their lessons increased any further, they would be finished.

Truly finished.

"Go back and rest early." Leng Yaoyu withdrew her hands and turned toward the window.

At that, Na'er skipped toward her room, her steps light as a bird finally freed from its cage.

Ziyang trailed behind and headed for his own room as well.

Ziyang's room was large and clean, but its furnishings were extremely simple.

A bed, a desk, and a north-facing window. Moonlight leaked in through the window, spreading a silver-white carpet across the floor.

He pushed open the door and saw that black bundle curled up on his pillow.

Austin Griffin had already run over here in advance. Since it was not human, it did not need to attend class at all.

The more Ziyang looked at the little beast, the more he felt something was off. How could he let Austin Griffin have it so easy? Starting tomorrow, it would attend class with him. Even if it could not understand, it still had to listen.

Even as a beast, it had to be the most cultured beast.

Austin Griffin had absolutely no idea what it would face tomorrow. At this moment, it had curled itself into a ball, its scales glimmering with a dark sheen beneath the moonlight.

It glanced at Ziyang, its purple vertical pupils flashing once in the darkness before lazily closing again.

But very soon, it would have nightmares.

In the future, it would train in all four professions.

It would help Ziyang design, forge, manufacture, and repair Battle Armor.

Someone might ask: didn't a Soul Master have to complete one profession before becoming a Battle Armor Master?

But didn't a Soul Master's martial soul take care of everything?

Ziyang silently lay down, staring at the ceiling. Then he sat cross-legged and began his meditation for the day.

This was the daily routine of a Soul Master. Once meditation exhausted one's spiritual power, one would naturally fall asleep.

In the darkness, he sensed that black bundle twitch. It seemed as though it was about to grow a brain.

Meanwhile.

Shrek Academy Inner Court, Sea God Island.

The Golden Ancient Tree stood at the heart of the island, its branches towering into the sky. The patterns in its bark resembled countless overlapping faces.

Tonight, it radiated golden light. It was not dazzling, yet it pierced through layers of night and illuminated the entire island like golden amber.

Elder Jin stood beneath the tree, his hunched silhouette stretched long by the light. His gaze crossed the lake and the streets, landing in the distant direction of the Spirit Pagoda.

He could sense it.

One aura. No, two. They balanced and entwined with one another, like a yin-yang fish.

Destruction and genesis, death and birth—two extreme powers had reached a strange equilibrium there. When one side grew stronger, the other became even stronger.

Yet the side of genesis completely suppressed them all.

"What pure Destruction aura," he spoke again, his voice slightly hoarse. "What pure Genesis Power."

The Golden Ancient Tree's branches and leaves rustled, as though responding.

Elder Jin raised his hand and sensed the direction from which that aura came. A glimmer of light flashed through his clouded eyes.

"Perhaps I can still be saved. Perhaps this continent still has hope."

The golden light trembled slightly, then became even more radiant, suppressing a hint of blue-gold within the tree.

For the moment, he did not concern himself with why such pure Genesis Power had been born in this world. His foremost task now was to preserve himself and prevent this world from being devoured by another plane.

Far away, in a room at Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, Ziyang sensed something during meditation and continued cultivating through meditation.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the next morning arrived.

Ziyang opened his eyes. Outside the window, the sky was still gray-blue. Austin Griffin was curled up beside his pillow, still deeply asleep.

Ziyang looked at Austin Griffin, reached out, and dragged it directly by the tail. "Come on, let's go to class."

"Ah, why are you bringing me along when you go to class?"

Austin Griffin struggled a little, but did not dare resist at all.

The classroom was on another floor. Leng Yaoyu was already waiting there, dressed in a long red gown with her back to the door as she flipped through a thick volume.

Hearing the footsteps, she said directly, "Why are you so eager for class today?"

"I even brought a study companion today." Ziyang said excitedly, leading Austin Griffin along by its tail.

Leng Yaoyu glanced at Austin Griffin but said nothing more. It was merely one more beast listening to class.

Ziyang placed Austin Griffin on the floor beside him, then sat down at the desk.

The little beast sat on the floor. The moment the lesson began and the voice started, its eyelids began to droop. Once, twice, its head bobbed like wheat stalks stirred by the wind.

Ziyang naturally saw this and immediately punched down. "Listen properly. I work this hard every day, so you can't loaf around either."

"Awooo—" Austin Griffin's eyes flew open, but it did not dare resist at all. It could not win. It could not win. It really could not win.

Leng Yaoyu took in the entire scene and wondered whether she had taught Ziyang wrong somehow. Something felt off.

Outside the window, the morning light gradually grew fiercer, bringing the city's outline into clear view.

Austin Griffin's hell had only just begun. Awaiting it were four professions at rank nine.