Future Plans

First came his academic life.

From the notice board he had passed by at the Academic Affairs Office earlier, Lu Yuan learned that he had been assigned to Freshman Class Nine.

In his memories, the class teacher was called Mu Jin. She was a minor antagonist positioned to serve up Gold Soul Coins and Soul Bones for the protagonist group. Speaking of which, she was also a victim of the Ten-Turn Love Gu. When she was young, she had gone through a classic Douluo Continent-style love triangle with Zhou Yi and Fan Yu. Unable to win the one she loved, she later saw her younger brother retaliatorily expelled by Zhou Yi, and love turned into hatred.

But none of that had anything to do with Lu Yuan. He only needed to attend class properly.

Then there were two supporting characters from the original story: Ning Tian and Wu Feng from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Those two were also a model pair of ill-fated lovers. Ning Tian, a straight woman, had faced Wu Feng's pursuit and been directly turned into a man by Tang Buddha in Qiankun Questioning Love Valley. What utterly thunderous, gutter-tier writing.

Still, one was an auxiliary-type Soul Elder, while the other was a level-twenty-five assault-type Soul Grandmaster. During the upcoming Freshman Assessment, Mu Jin would most likely arrange for him, a control-type Soul Elder, to team up with them to improve their chances of taking first place.

If that happened, he could make an effort to build a good relationship with the two of them. After all, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy and powerful. If Lu Yuan had resources he wanted to liquidate in the future, he might need to seek out Ning Tian, this little rich girl.

In addition, Lu Yuan intended to visit the library whenever he had time. The Seven Monsters in the original story had all been genuine warriors, but after Shrek's ten-thousand-year legacy, the library was undoubtedly a treasure trove overlooked by many. Even Sea God's Pavilion had a special elder's seat reserved for a seven-ring Soul Sage skilled in theory.

Then came opportunities.

With Elder Yi's help, opportunities from the original story such as the Soul-Eating Dagger and Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, whose locations and times of appearance were clearly known and which could be purchased directly with Gold Soul Coins, were Lu Yuan's first choices.

The Soul-Eating Dagger was the highest priority among them. This Ranked Engraving Knife, which had appeared at the Starlight Auction House and failed to sell several times, was actually a large piece of Gold of Life. As one of the top opportunities on The Ultimate Douluo's must-obtain list, Gold of Life had numerous uses. Besides nurturing Elder Yi's Divine Sense as it had in the original story, it could open a Second Sea of Consciousness and strengthen the body, allowing one to absorb Soul Rings beyond their normal age limit. It could even break down an object's life force and grant its host traits such as an "undying body" and "regeneration of severed limbs."

This dagger would be Lu Yuan's primary target during the next holiday. In the original story, it had sold for one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Although the assets left behind by Lu Yuan's parents were not enough to purchase the dagger outright, Mu Jin and Zhou Yi's later wager would involve a secret-method Soul Bone, while the reward for first place in the Freshman Assessment would also be a Soul Bone. As long as Lu Yuan won both the wager and the assessment, with Ning Tian and Wu Feng as his teammates, he could directly exchange his share for Gold Soul Coins through Ning Tian. That should bring him close enough to one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Then there was the second piece of Gold of Life.

Besides the Soul-Eating Dagger, the original story contained traces of Gold of Life in two other places—one deep within Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest, where the Silver Dragon King was using Gold of Life to recover from injuries inflicted by the God Realm War; the other inside a Golden Tortoiseshell with one hundred thousand years of cultivation.

Lu Yuan did not have the nerve to steal the Silver Dragon King's Gold of Life, but he certainly had the nerve to rob the Golden Tortoiseshell. Not only did he have it, he had plenty of it!

Before Elder Yi and the Great Tortoise Shell Technique, the ultimate ancestor-level existence of all tortoises, Lu Yuan believed that the Golden Tortoiseshell would surely understand the saying that heavenly treasures belonged to the virtuous.

If things went smoothly, perhaps even his fourth Soul Ring and first Soul Bone would be settled.

After roughly planning out his future path, Lu Yuan emptied his mind and began cultivating on his bed.

The meditation method Lu Yuan currently practiced had been independently created by Elder Yi after he recently sorted through his memories and combined them with his former cultivation arts. Its unique quality was that while cultivating, it could draw in light elements to nourish the body and temper spiritual power at the same time.

Spiritual power was one of the most important measures of combat ability in Douluo Continent 1, 2, and 3 alike. In a Soul Master's later cultivation, whether condensing dual Soul Cores or absorbing high-age Soul Rings or soul spirits, one needed powerful spiritual strength as support. Yet in Douluo Continent 2, apart from the Tang Sect's Purple Demon Eyes barely qualifying as a method for tempering spiritual power, every other force on the continent lacked systematic spiritual cultivation methods. They could only allow their spiritual power to slowly grow alongside their cultivation.

When Elder Yi had learned that Lu Yuan had no method for cultivating spiritual power and had forced his spiritual power to this level through sheer talent, he had been mildly shocked. After all, he found it difficult to imagine that a world with so many inheritances and protections from deities did not even possess a systematic method for cultivating spiritual power.

Thus, drawing on the cultivation arts of the Holy Demon Continent, he had tailored this unique meditation method specifically for Lu Yuan.

Just as Lu Yuan was preparing to cultivate, the noisy discussion rising from below the dormitory building interrupted his thoughts—

Whoa! Someone's fighting!

He swiftly left his dorm and headed downstairs. With his outstanding physical condition and powerful elbows, Lu Yuan successfully squeezed through the glares of countless bystanders and secured himself a fine spot to watch the show.

As expected, it was the dormitory war between Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.

Lu Yuan had no interest whatsoever in Wang Dong, the fusion material formed from three soul fragments to create a five-star Tang Wutong. That Buddha-customized dog collar could stay for Yuhao to enjoy.

Let Yuhao suffer; I'll bear the infamy!

"Little classmate, what do you think about the outcome of this match?"

Just as Lu Yuan was eagerly watching the spectacle, an aged voice sounded beside his ear.

After peering around for a while, Lu Yuan quickly noticed that Mu En, lying there with a cheerful expression, was secretly winking at him.

Heh, this rotten old man was wicked indeed. Sneaking a look at the excitement, and he still wanted to debate it.

After opening a path with several iron elbows, Lu Yuan quickly elbowed his way into the corner where Mu En was lying, once again amid the furious stares of the bystanders.

"Old sir, if you ask me, I think Yuhao will win. The little classmate with one Soul Ring." Lu Yuan sat beside Mu En and muttered quietly.

"Oh? Why?" Mu En clearly had not opened his mouth, yet his interested voice still appeared beside Lu Yuan's ear.

"If you ask me—" Lu Yuan rubbed his chin and added, "To use an inappropriate analogy, a biting dog doesn't bark."

"Uh, of course, I'm not saying Yuhao is a dog. What I mean is..." Seemingly realizing that his analogy was inappropriate, Lu Yuan began explaining himself to Mu En.

There was an old saying: coarse words could still hold sound reasoning. But weren't his words a little too coarse?

Lu Yuan's thunderous language system rendered Mu En speechless. Still, he knew that Lu Yuan was right—

There was a fierceness in Huo Yuhao's eyes, a viciousness that said even if he died, he would still tear a chunk of flesh from you!

After a moment, Mu En changed the subject and asked, "Then what if he were replaced by you?"

"Replace Yuhao with me?" Watching Wang Dong's movements, he tried to put himself in his opponent's place.

"Her lead hand lacks finesse, her rear hand has no strength, her footwork is unsteady, and her reactions are slow. Not a single movement is worth mentioning. Before me, she is nothing more than a head stuck on a spear for sale!"

"Oh? You're that confident?" Mu En could not help laughing at Lu Yuan's words.

"Absolutely! My strength is just that top-tier!"

"Then this old man will wait to see your performance in the Freshman Assessment~ Let's see whether you're really as top-tier as you claim!"

Looking at the confident and spirited Lu Yuan before him, Mu En seemed to see himself when he had first emerged into the world—equally high-spirited, equally in the prime of youth.

"Then just watch closely, old sir!"

As his words fell, the contest between Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong also reached its conclusion. Just like in the original story, Huo Yuhao ultimately claimed victory through that desperate ruthlessness of his.

As the match ended, Mu En closed his eyes and became that drowsy old dorm manager once more. Lu Yuan cheerfully walked out of the crowd and accompanied Huo Yuhao to the Outer Court infirmary to treat his superficial injuries.

The two tacitly refrained from mentioning Mu En's true identity.