The Lionheart Club Tests the Jade Abacus-and Its Bizarre Leadership

"Notice: Soul Tool Qian Duoduo has sent you a friend request."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He stared at the prompt on the screen, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.

Good grief. They've gone and made WeChat for another world?

Even the friend-request format was identical.

"Teacher, we're standing right next to each other. Do we really need to send messages to test it?" Huo Yuhao looked up at the excited Qian Duoduo, speechless.

"It's called being thorough!" Qian Duoduo clapped him on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "Testing at close range isn't enough. We need to test long-distance communication. Lin'er is over at the Martial Soul Department's Class Zero right now. I just sent her one too, so we can see whether messages stay stable across campus."

The moment he finished speaking, another prompt flashed onto the screen:

"Notice: War God Xian Lin'er has sent you a friend request."

All right, you two certainly work fast.

Huo Yuhao's mouth twitched as he tapped Accept. No sooner had he added her than Xian Lin'er's message popped up:

"War God Xian Lin'er: Little Yuhao, come to the Martial Soul Department's Class Zero when you're done testing. I need to see you."

Huo Yuhao moved his fingertip and replied:

"Everflame Eye-Mage: Okay, Shiniang. I'll be right there."

Only after sending it did he look up at Qian Duoduo, his tone earnest. "Teacher, the Jade Abacus really is useful. I'd like to get a batch for the Lionheart Club's core members first. We'll pay cost price from the club's account."

Huo Yuhao knew exactly where the line lay. Qian Duoduo could give him one for free out of affection for his disciple, and he would remember the kindness. But the Lionheart Club was a collective; it couldn't take advantage of that. Keeping public and private matters separate was a basic principle.

"Sure." Qian Duoduo nodded readily, then pulled an entire box of Jade Abacuses from his Storage Soul Tool—around twenty of them. "I happen to have twenty prototypes ready. Take them and use them first. Forget cost price; consider them my opening gift to the Lionheart Club. But remember, only core members get to try them. Don't spread them around. The technology hasn't been finalized yet."

He had his principles. Huo Yuhao was his personal disciple, and he would gladly give him any number. For Huo Yuhao's sake, he could offer the Lionheart Club conveniences and support—but he couldn't keep handing things over for free.

Even blood brothers kept clear accounts. An academy club needed rules all the more.

"Oh, and Teacher, you could add official verification to the forum." Huo Yuhao tapped the screen. "Give verified academy teachers and club leaders a blue badge, for example. People could recognize them at a glance, and it would stop impersonators."

"A blue badge? That's interesting." Qian Duoduo's eyes lit up, and he jotted it down. "All right. I'll have someone add it."

After saying goodbye to Qian Duoduo, Huo Yuhao tucked the box of Jade Abacuses under his arm and ambled over to the Martial Soul Department's Class Zero building.

As soon as he reached the end of the corridor, he saw Xian Lin'er standing outside an office with a frosty expression. Opposite her, Yan Shaozhe wore a refined, false smile. The air between them was as taut as drawn swords.

"Shiniang. Dean Yan." Huo Yuhao stepped forward and greeted them properly, though every instinct told him to retreat.

With a scene like this, the two deans must be at each other's throats again.

Huo Yuhao had no desire to get tangled in the older generation's grudges, especially the kind that could spark rumors. He'd only end up catching a stray arrow.

"Shiniang, the Jade Abacus passed the test. Messaging is stable. If there's nothing else, I'll head back?" Huo Yuhao decided to make it quick and tried to slip away as soon as he finished speaking.

"Mm. Go on." Xian Lin'er nodded without keeping him, plainly in no mood to waste more time on Yan Shaozhe either.

"Wait."

Huo Yuhao had just turned around when Yan Shaozhe's voice came from behind him, brooking no refusal.

Only after Xian Lin'er's figure had vanished at the far end of the corridor did he speak. "Student Huo Yuhao, regarding Dai Huabin hiring someone to injure you, the academy believes harmony should come first. You're both Shrek students, after all. Making a big affair of it would do neither of you any good."

Huo Yuhao turned to face him and met his eyes. His voice was calm, but he gave no ground. "Dean Yan Shaozhe, I already asked Senior Zhang Lexuan to pass along my position. My conditions haven't changed."

"This is between Dai Huabin and me. Please don't interfere, Dean Yan."

With a slight nod, he walked straight past Yan Shaozhe without stopping.

In the corridor, Yan Shaozhe watched the boy's upright figure recede. His refined smile slowly faded, and his gaze darkened like water on the verge of dripping.

"A genius with an Ultimate Attribute... What a pity you're so ungrateful." He gave a quiet, cold laugh. "You keep rejecting my goodwill. Do you really think you're irreplaceable? If you won't join the Martial Soul Department, I'll raise an opponent for you myself. Let's see whether you regret today's decision when Dai Huabin surpasses you!"

That afternoon, in the Lionheart Club's private meeting room.

Twelve core members sat in a neat row, staring curiously at the little silver-gray block in Huo Yuhao's hand at the head of the table.

"I know you're all wondering. There's just one item on today's agenda—giving you something new." Huo Yuhao smiled and laid the Jade Abacuses from the box on the table. "This is the latest Communication Soul Tool developed by the Soul Tool Department. It's called a Jade Abacus, and you use it by feeding it Soul Power. It's still in the testing stage. You're getting them partly to make everyday communication easier and partly to help test their stability. Wu Feng, hand them out for me."

Wu Feng took the box and distributed them one by one. Everyone turned their Jade Abacus over and over, examining it with fresh curiosity.

After handing out eleven, Huo Yuhao had nine left. He planned to put them in the Club storeroom later and make them redeemable with points as rewards for ordinary members.

"Yuhao, what's your nickname? I'll add you." Ning Tian was first to feed Soul Power into hers and light up the screen.

"Everflame Eye-Mage," Huo Yuhao answered offhandedly.

His friend list only had Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er on it anyway. Neither knew it was a reference to Finger's nickname for Chu Zihang. It suited his Heavenly Eye Martial Soul, too, and sounded cool.

Of course, Huo Yuhao would never admit he was making a reference.

"Not your real name?" Ning Tian sounded a little surprised.

"It's an alias I made up for browsing the forum," Huo Yuhao explained with a straight face. "Besides, my Martial Soul is an eye. It fits, doesn't it? Doesn't it sound good?"

"It's all right. Pretty cool." Ning Tian nodded and looked down to operate hers.

The next second, Huo Yuhao's Jade Abacus vibrated furiously as friend requests popped up one after another:

"Notice: Ning Tian of the Glazed Pagoda has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Gu Yue has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Red Dragon Wu Feng has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Time Management Grandmaster has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Won't Eat Bean Pods has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Milk Tea Every Meal has sent you a friend request."

"Notice: Debt-Ridden Pauper has sent you a friend request."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

He stared at the string of nicknames, each more bizarre than the last, and couldn't stop his mouth from twitching.

The girls' names were still fairly normal. They used either their Martial Soul names or their real names. The boys, on the other hand, were something else—

Cao Jinxuan was Time Management Grandmaster, Zhou Sichen was Won't Eat Bean Pods, Xie Huanyue was Milk Tea Every Meal, and Long Xiangyue was Debt-Ridden Pauper.

Wearing a complicated expression, he accepted them one by one, then immediately created a group chat. The name came to him in a flash: Lovey-Dovey Lionheart Club.

The instant the group chat was created, the first message appeared:

"Time Management Grandmaster: ??? Who named this group? It's so tacky."

"Milk Tea Every Meal: I think it's pretty good."

"Won't Eat Bean Pods: +1. Better than anything I could come up with."

"Everflame Eye-Mage: What's the point of messaging? I'm right here."

Huo Yuhao couldn't help laughing as he watched the messages flash across the screen. Then he looked at everyone, at a loss for words.

Sure enough, different world or not, people were still ridiculous.

P.S. Excerpts from the records of Legend of the Dragon King (incomplete)

According to the Douluo Xianzhou Empire: Lionheart Club Biography, this was the first time the following people used Jade Abacuses: the Cloud Knights' Temporal General Cao Jinxuan, Heavenly Owl General Zhou Sichen, Dragon-Steed General Wu Feng, Boulderfall General Xie Huanyue, Imperial Martial General Long Xiangyue, Fallen Steed General Nanmen Yun'er, Jade Martial General Gu Yuena, the Divination Commission's first Diviner Ning Tian, the Ten-Lords Commission's first Prison Warden Lan Luoluo, the Sky-Faring Commission's first Helmsman Wu Meng, the Earth-Balance Commission's first Balance Officer Lan Susu, and the Xianzhou Empire's Commander, Heavenly Sovereign Huo Yuhao.

It was the first gathering of all departments save for the Alchemy Commission's first Cauldron Master Meng Hongchen and the Artisanship Commission's first Anvil Master Xiao Hongchen. Its influence on later generations was immense.

—Recorder of Douluo Xianzhou's Earth-Balance Commission, 999th President of the Lionheart Club, Yuanen Yehui