Elation, Enrollment

The gates of Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy were more imposing than Luo Yan had imagined.

Two iron-gray gates stood wide open, with the eight characters "Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy" carved above them. The handwriting was neat, though hardly artistic.

Xiao Wu stood on the street outside the gates without going in.

Luo Yan followed her gaze.

To one side of the entrance, a hunchbacked old man holding the hand of a thin, small boy was being stopped outside by a young gatekeeper in his twenties.

The gatekeeper stood with his arms folded and chin slightly raised, his lips moving rapidly. Though Luo Yan could not make out what he was saying, judging from his sneering expression, his words were probably filthy.

The old man kept his back bent, nodding and smiling apologetically. He clutched a crumpled letter of recommendation in his hand, but every time he offered it, the gatekeeper casually brushed it aside.

The little boy stood beside the old man, his expression obscured from view.

"Oh~ A classic case of a gatekeeper bullying people."

The more the gatekeeper spoke, the more worked up he became. He poked the old man in the shoulder with one finger, making him stagger back a step and nearly fall.

"Hmph!"

Xiao Wu snorted coldly.

Before Luo Yan could turn his head, a pink-and-white figure had already flashed past him.

Her skirt drew a clean arc through the air, and the rabbit-ear accessory in her hair gave a sharp twitch in the morning sunlight.

She crossed the distance to the gate in three steps, planted her left foot, and launched herself into the air. Her right leg swept out in a perfect semicircle, her heel striking the gatekeeper squarely in the lower back.

Bang—

The gatekeeper flew away like a ragged sack, tracing an utterly graceless arc through the air before slamming hard onto the bluestone pavement three meters away. He bounced once, then landed face-first with a muffled groan.

The surroundings instantly fell silent.

Whoa~

Luo Yan's eyelid twitched violently. He seemed to have seriously underestimated a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast's transformed "youngling."

Could a Soul Master barely above level ten really unleash that much power?

Why couldn't I? Because I was some gimmick build?

Damn Aha. Couldn't he have made my Martial Soul's stats a little higher? What was the point of awakening an Elation Mask?

Did he really think I was some Masked Fool?

Still, that bastard Aha did not seem to give Masked Fools any proper combat power.

But looking at it another way, stat monsters were everywhere, while gimmick builds were one in ten thousand.

That bastard had decent taste after all.

His first Spirit Skill, "Pledge of Delusional Joy," came from a four-hundred-year Illusion Fox.

The essence of the Spirit Skill was a one-sidedly beneficial contract. He could establish rules without summoning his Martial Soul or displaying his Soul Ring, and its Spirit Power fluctuations were so faint as to be nearly nonexistent. Once the contract was fulfilled, he could obtain a random laugh point.

Luo Yan had not yet figured out what exactly these laugh points were for.

For now, he guessed that one of his future Spirit Skills might be a special Elation skill triggered by laugh points.

But that was a matter for the future. Right now, all he had was this "contract."

Yet a contract was still a contract. Someone had to trigger it before the punishment would descend.

When forming the contract, he could secretly slip in one tiny condition favorable to himself. That was his trump card.

For example, earlier, he had set the rule as whoever laughed first lost, while the tiny favorable condition he slipped in was that his own definition would prevail.

So Scarface's lackeys baring their teeth and laughing counted as laughter, while the corners of his own lips curling up did not.

Who the referee was did not matter. Xiao Wu's judgment had merely been part of putting on a show. The true referee was the contract itself, and he determined its terms.

Of course, he could only add one such hidden clause, and for now, it had to be minor.

He could not directly make the rule, "No matter what, I win." That exceeded the limits of his Spirit Skill.

He could freely choose the punishment, though. Spirit Power disruption was what he used most often, because it had the best visual effect and was perfect for establishing authority.

But he could choose other punishments too, such as making the violator suddenly laugh uncontrollably, giving them a sudden stomachache, making them hiccup madly, or causing their limbs to disobey them.

He had not used those much yet. He had only obtained his Soul Ring recently.

Against a stat monster like Xiao Wu, he could only circle around and take her down with underhanded tricks.

He looked at the rabbit ears ahead of him, a smile tugging at his lips.

When this violent rabbit discovered the truth, would she beat him up first, or would she first be curious about how he had done it?

Hmm, given how her mind worked, the latter was more likely.

"Little brat! You're courting death!"

"Enough, stop." At that moment, a somewhat hoarse voice rang out, stopping the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper froze for a moment. Then the rage on his face immediately turned into fawning flattery. The change was so fast it was unbelievable. He bowed and scraped before the newcomer. "Grandmaster, you're back."

Luo Yan, who had been preparing to have a little fun with the gatekeeper, quietly dispersed his Spirit Power and looked toward the voice.

A man of average height and slightly thin build stood before the gatekeeper.

He looked to be around forty or fifty, with short black hair and an ordinary appearance. His hands were clasped behind his back, yet he carried an indescribable air about him. A sense of desolation lingered in his half-lidded eyes.

So this was Xiaogang? How did Bibi Dong ever fall for him?

Luo Yan walked over to Xiao Wu's side and caught a brief glimpse of him.

Thin, small, dark.

Those were the first three words that came to mind when he saw Tang San.

"Sir, could I take a look at the Spirit Hall certificate?"

Yu Xiaogang came before them and extended his hand toward Old Jack.

Old Jack froze, then hurriedly pulled the crumpled Spirit Hall certificate from his clothes and presented it with both hands.

His hands trembled slightly. Luo Yan did not know whether it was from the fright earlier or because this man's arrival had given him hope.

Yu Xiaogang accepted the certificate, unfolded it, and glanced over it before turning his gaze to Tang San.

His eyes lingered on Tang San's face for several seconds. In those somewhat desolate eyes, a faint glimmer seemed to flash by.

"No problem. What about these two children?"

Tang San looked toward them, his fingers twitching beneath his sleeve.

"This young lady and this young man aren't from our village. They spoke up for us just now."

Yu Xiaogang nodded.

Yu Xiaogang returned the certificate to Old Jack, his gaze lingering on Tang San for another moment before turning to Luo Yan and Xiao Wu. "Are you two here to enroll as well?"

Xiao Wu nodded righteously. "Work-study students. We have certificates."

Luo Yan nodded too, looking completely harmless.

"Then come in with me. I'll take you to register."

"Grandmaster, then I'll leave this child to you. Little San, go in with Grandmaster, and make sure you behave."

Tang San nodded to Old Jack, then nodded to the other two before following Yu Xiaogang through the gates.

Xiao Wu noisily grabbed Luo Yan and pulled him along.

"Teacher!"

"Little San!"

"Teacher!!"

"Little San!!"

"Ahem! Sorry, you two. I understand your joy and excitement, but shouldn't we register first?" Luo Yan asked tentatively.

"Ahem." Tang San stopped himself, and a faint flush crept onto the tips of his ears.

Xiao Wu, on the other hand, confidently released Luo Yan's sleeve, raised her head, and strode ahead. "Right, right, registration comes first! There'll be plenty of time to take a master later!"

Yu Xiaogang scratched his head. "Ahem! Follow me!"

First floor of the main teaching building.

Yu Xiaogang placed the certificate on the desk and said to the older teacher, "Director Su, this is the work-study student sent from Holy Soul Village this year. Please help him register."

Director Su smiled broadly. "Grandmaster, what brings you here? A rare visitor indeed! Would you like to sit for a while?"

"You're too polite. I still have matters to attend to. Little San, stay with them. Oh, and these two, um..."

"My name is Xiao Wu. This is my certificate."

"This is mine."

Yu Xiaogang nodded to the teachers and walked out.

The three accepted the school uniforms and keys handed over by the teacher, then headed toward the work-study dormitory.

Along the way, Tang San hesitated several times, as though he wanted to say something.

Xiao Wu hopped along without a care, while Luo Yan pretended not to notice.

"Hello, my name is Tang San. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. We'll be classmates from now on."

Xiao Wu stopped walking. "My name is Xiao Wu, the Wu from dancing. My Martial Soul is Soft Bone Rabbit, so don't get it wrong."

"My name is Luo Yan. My Martial Soul is... Elation Mask."