The First Stop After Returning to the Academy

A year flew by!

The Star Dou Great Forest!

Pfft! A longsword pierced a Soul Beast nearly nine thousand years old! A Soul Ring slowly emerged!

"System! How many have I killed?" Yang Que asked.

"Ding! Over the past year, the host has killed 2,016 Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, 232 Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, and 5 Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts! Total Gold Coins: 22,520!"

Yang Que rubbed his chin. "I've killed that many already? My training is almost over! There's only a month left before I head to Suotuo City to enroll at Shrek Academy. I need to prepare!"

"Zhuqing, it's been a year. Are you well..." Yang Que looked toward Suotuo City.

Over the past year, Yang Que had hunted Soul Beasts relentlessly, constantly honing his current abilities. His level had not risen, but he had grown stronger!

He had also trained himself to split his attention in two—the Dual Sword Style! His strength had soared!

Yang Que took an antique-looking box from his backpack and poured Soul Power into it.

Boom!

"Huff! Huff! Huff! What did my parents leave me? This seal is so strong!"

"Forget it. There's no use rushing. Once I'm strong enough, I'll be able to open it..."

Three days later!

Nuoding City Academy!

"Grandmaster, do you think Que is still alive? He still hasn't come back!" the dean said, his face full of worry.

"There's still time, isn't there? It won't be exactly five years for another three days. Why are you so anxious?" Yu Xiaogang said calmly. In truth, he was worried sick too.

"You told Tang San that Yang Que had gone ahead to Suoer City. If—if Yang Que doesn't come back, how hard will that hit Tang San?"

"I said from the start that the boy shouldn't go, but you approved it anyway! Look where that's got us!" The dean pressed a hand to his forehead, his face clouded with distress.

"..."

"If Que really doesn't come back, we'll have to take things one step at a time." Yu Xiaogang sighed.

Bang, bang, bang!

A frantic knocking sounded at the door!

The dean and Yu Xiaogang frowned.

"Come in!"

"Dean, there's trouble! A young man in white robes is fighting the students from White Deer City Academy who just arrived for the academy match!" An instructor hurried in and spoke in a rush.

"That's right, we have an academy match today! You sent Tang San off so quickly. Otherwise, we could've won a good sum for academy expenses from them, and some pills too!"

"..."

"Wait! What did you say? A young man in white robes is fighting them?" The dean's eyes widened.

Yu Xiaogang and the dean exchanged a look, then hurried to the training arena!

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!"

Noise filled the spacious training arena!

Two youths lay on the platform, while a young man in white robes stood above them!

Judging by his clothes, one of the fallen youths was clearly a Nuoding City Academy student. The other, who could not get up, must have belonged to White Deer City Academy!

"Who is he? He knocked down that One-Ring Soul Master with a single punch!"

"No idea. I've never seen him before! Could he be an instructor the academy just hired?"

"No way. Wouldn't that break the rules?"

The students in the stands whispered among themselves!

A middle-aged man from White Deer City Academy heard them and said darkly, "Boy! This is a match between academies. Isn't it against the rules for an instructor like you to step onto the platform?"

The young man in white was Yang Que. After so long fighting Soul Beasts and eating their meat in the Star Dou Great Forest, he now stood six feet tall! At a glance, he looked eighteen or nineteen!

"Heh! I'm a student, not the instructor you're talking about!" Yang Que looked at him with disdain and smiled.

"Impossible! How could you be a student?" The middle-aged man stared at him in disbelief.

"He says he's a student? Has anyone seen him before?"

"I don't think so! I don't think our academy has anyone like him!"

"Right! I've never seen him either!"

After all, the students from Yang Que's year had already graduated. It was only natural that no one recognized him!

The students in the stands kept talking!

Yu Xiaogang and the dean had just reached the training arena. They looked up at Yang Que on the platform!

"Is that him?" the dean asked, delighted.

"He looks like him. His features haven't changed, but he looks a little older," Yu Xiaogang said.

"Then it must be him. The Star Dou Great Forest is a place where people die. It's only natural he'd change so much after coming out of there."

"We were just talking about the boy, and here he is! What timing!" The dean beamed.

"Impossible. If you say you're a student, do you have any proof?" The middle-aged man refused to believe him.

"Heh, what proof would I have? But since you came to our academy for a match, you must have brought an Age-Testing Stone. Why not take it out and test me?" Yang Que said without a care.

An Age-Testing Stone was exactly what it sounded like: a stone that measured age! It showed white for those under ten, green for ages ten to fifteen, purple for fifteen to twenty, and red for anyone over twenty!

"Of course we brought one. Let's see if you dare take the test!" The middle-aged man sneered.

"Why wouldn't I? Go on!" Yang Que said.

The middle-aged man took a black stone from his Soul Tool!

"Come on, put your hand on it!" He gave Yang Que a cold smile.

Yang Que stepped forward and placed his hand on the stone.

The stone suddenly flashed green...

"How is that possible? No! You must have used some crooked trick to hide your real age!" The middle-aged man's eyes widened.

"No way! He really is a student? How come we've never seen him?"

"Exactly! None of us have seen him! But the Age-Testing Stone can't lie!"

The stands erupted in chatter!

"That's enough!"

A booming voice rang out!

"I can vouch for him. He's a student at my academy." The dean and Yu Xiaogang came down from the stands.

"Grandmaster! Dean!"

"Hahaha! Good lad, you've changed so much I almost didn't recognize you! I knew you'd make it back alive!" The dean clapped Yang Que on the shoulder and laughed.

Who was it just now who said Yang Que might not come back? Yu Xiaogang thought.

"Dean!"

Yang Que smiled. As long as he stayed out of the deepest parts of the Star Dou Great Forest, it posed little danger to him!

"Vice Dean Lu, will my word do? He was a student here five years ago, then took an extended leave to train," the dean said to the middle-aged man.

"If Dean Chen says so, then of course I believe him!" The middle-aged man smiled.

"Then the match between our academies can continue. Why don't we put a wager on it, as we do every year?" Yu Xiaogang stepped forward.

"Oh? What kind of wager does Grandmaster have in mind?" the middle-aged man asked generously.

But inwardly, he was thinking that Nuoding City Academy had produced a monster this year. He could not afford to wager too much against them!

"Let's wager a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins and a hundred Spirit-Gathering Pills! How about it?" Yu Xiaogang named the stakes outright!

Spirit-Gathering Pill: Once taken, it accelerated the absorption of Soul Power from the surrounding world, increasing cultivation speed!

"Hiss!"

The entire crowd sucked in a breath!

"Grandmaster's betting that much? If we lose, won't our academy have to tighten its belt?" the students whispered among themselves.

"Grandmaster?!" Even the dean was startled!

Yu Xiaogang waved a hand and gave the dean a reassuring look!

Fine, have it your way! I'm staying out of it!

The middle-aged man had clearly been startled by Yu Xiaogang's lion-sized demand too!

"Isn't that a bit much? This is only a friendly match!" he said.

"Can't you afford it?" Yu Xiaogang asked, his face full of scorn.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth. "No!"

"Heh! What if he lets every student you brought fight him at once?" Yu Xiaogang dropped another bombshell!

This time, even the dean could not hold back. "Grandmaster!"

Yu Xiaogang glanced at him and smiled. "Don't worry!"

Good grief, and you're telling me not to worry? How can you be so calm? The dean pressed a hand to his forehead, helpless.

"Well? Do you dare take the wager?" Yu Xiaogang pressed.

The middle-aged man fell into thought. How much confidence does Grandmaster have in this young man? Could he be a Soul Elder? Impossible. A place this small couldn't produce a genius like that! But even if he is a Soul Elder, I'm not afraid. We have two Soul Grandmasters on our team! With eighteen Soul Masters supporting them, defeating him will be easy!

What arrogance! All the better. I can win a fortune for the academy!

"Fine! I'll take the wager!" The middle-aged man slapped his thigh and shouted.

Yang Que stood to the side, speechless. Neither of you even asked me before making me the stake in your wager! Forget it. I suppose they want to test my strength!

"Good! Then let's step down and leave the arena to these young people!" Yu Xiaogang smiled.

As he left the platform, he patted Yang Que on the shoulder. "Don't let me down. If you lose, our academy will have to tighten its belt!"

Yang Que rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Grandmaster!"

Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction and soon returned to the stands!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Twenty young students quickly stepped onto the platform!

"Boy, I hear you're the same age as us, yet you want to challenge all of us at once. Aren't you being a little arrogant?" said a student in blue as he stepped forward. He was clearly the group's captain!

"Fight me and find out!" Yang Que smiled.

To tell the truth, fighting these students would be as easy for Yang Que as fighting Hundred-Year Soul Beasts!

The battle was about to erupt...