Sixth~ My Sixth

"Oh, right. Are you three enrolling here too?"

Nan Qiuqiu looked Cannon Bro, Four Wood Bro, and Beard Bro up and down, puzzled.

These three look young. Maybe they're this year's new students.

Four Wood Bro stepped forward to stand beside Cannon Bro and put a hand on his shoulder. "We came with our families to do business here, so we can only study here."

Compared with Cannon Bro's handsome air, Four Wood Bro looked more like a delicate scholar. His silvery-white hair was cut short in a tousled fringe, and black-rimmed glasses sat on his face.

His Martial Soul was a kind of spider—a wolf spider. It was poor at spinning webs but exceptionally good at pouncing on prey at close range, and it possessed considerable Spiritual Power.

"Then let's go together. Judging by your clothes, business must be tough for your families too."

Nan Qiuqiu looked at the simple clothes Cannon Bro and the others wore, made by the Thirty-Person Group, and assumed they were poor souls who had come to Dragon City to scrape out a living in this frozen wasteland.

"From now on, you three are my underlings. I'll look after you. No one will dare bully you."

Hands on her hips, Nan Qiuqiu surveyed the three of them standing together with satisfaction.

Beard Bro and Four Wood Bro exchanged glances. Well, they had acquired a new boss just by going out. They would have to watch themselves when they went to sleep tonight.

Dragon City's Junior Soul Master Academy followed the same closed-campus system as the vast majority of Soul Master Academies across the continent.

Fortunately, things were much better than they had been ten thousand years ago. Cannon Bro slipped ten Gold Soul Coins to the teacher in charge of assigning dormitories, securing a four-person room for the three of them, with one bed to spare.

After they settled in and took everything out of their shared Soul Tool, the three collapsed onto the large beds on the upper bunks.

Dorms with beds above desks were among the finest accommodations in Dragon City, reserved for rich young masters.

"Never thought we'd get this kind of treatment. The Main Body Old Rogue did well this time. He didn't make us cram into a communal dorm."

Beard Bro shuddered at the thought of the communal dormitories they had passed earlier.

Dozens of children lived in a huge, church-like room. Even through the windows, they could see bed after bed lined up from one wall to the other. And with winter keeping the air stagnant, the smell inside was easy to imagine...

"Yeah, but you'd better get studying. If you can't learn Soul Tools or master Soul Beast lore,

"the Main Body Old Rogue might throw you out. Forget the communal dorm—you'd be sleeping under a bridge until you learned enough to come back."

"Don't worry. I definitely won't let the Main Body Old Rogue down. Besides, my talent rivals the Grandmaster of theory."

"The Grandmaster only broke through to level thirty at fifty. I'm even more outrageous—I broke through to level twenty at six. That tells you everything about my talent."

"Oh, enough bragging, you three." Jiang Hao's voice suddenly sounded in their minds.

Realizing the Main Body Old Rogue had caught them bragging in the dorm, all three sprang to their feet. "Sorry, Main Body Old Rogue! We'll get to work right now and plunge headfirst into the sea of knowledge."

Cannon Bro snapped a salute, grabbed his satchel, and strode toward the library.

"The books the Main Body Old Rogue borrowed at Shrek were basically children's books. They wouldn't let him borrow anything more advanced."

"The books here aren't as high-quality as Shrek's, but they're practical. They're much more useful than those documents at Shrek."

Four Wood Bro leafed through a book, sifting through its contents again and again and memorizing whatever was useful.

For now, Dragon City's Junior Soul Master Academy could offer students only theoretical classes on Soul Tools, not practical ones.

The materials and manpower needed for practical training were simply too great for a small Junior Soul Master Academy to bear.

Jiang Hao absorbed the Soul Tool knowledge the three were reading. It was less extensive than the books he had borrowed at Shrek,

but it filled the gaps in his foundational knowledge perfectly.

Jiang Hao poured everything he had learned about Soul Tools into Master's Bro's mind. Knowledge a scholar could use was better off circulating.

Jiang Hao had not been idle during this time, either. He had promoted Baozi Bro to manager of Wanmin Hall,

setting off an initial wave of excitement across Dragon City.

For one Gold Soul Coin, customers could eat anything they wanted. For ten, they could even go upstairs and have a dedicated chef serve them. Jiang Hao was soon raking in money hand over fist, with a net profit of ten thousand Gold Soul Coins nearly every day.

"Main Body Old Rogue, when are you going back to Shrek?"

"I'll go with you when you do. This place is pretty much running smoothly, and Baozi Bro can handle it. How about we take another group to Shrek City and open a branch?"

Pot Bro wiped the water from his hands, sat down beside Jiang Hao, and stretched.

The past few days had worn him out. He had spent every day cooking without pause, tossing his wok, and his Soul Power had improved tremendously.

Yet he had a faint feeling it still was not enough. He could keep going. This had not drawn out his full potential. His Martial Soul talent was extraordinary, and this level of exertion could not satisfy him.

"In the next couple of days. Things here are pretty much on track, so I'm planning to take a third of the brothers back.

"Owl Bro's been gathering intelligence on the Xuanming Sect, and the camp outside is up. We've established a foothold here.

"If I stay away from Shrek too long, people might get suspicious." Jiang Hao touched his Soul Tool as he spoke.

Between the compensation Shrek Academy had paid him and his allowance, he officially had five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

That was enough to rent a tiny storefront in Shrek City. Anything bigger would arouse suspicion.

He might have money now, but he still could not be too flashy. After all, aside from the five or six hundred thousand Shrek had given him, where would he have gotten the money to open a shop?

"Approved. We'll establish a branch in Shrek City and use it as a Stronghold!

"Baozi Bro and the other food-type Soul Masters can set up an outside organization to earn money for us.

"The more organizations, the better. The more masks we have, the better. If one gets exposed, we can just put on another.

"Starting a new one only after the first is exposed would draw suspicion. Having several operating at once is actually safer."

Jiang Hao considered it carefully. Stuffing all his Clones into one organization would be difficult, and its growing membership would invite suspicion.

He would divide them among several organizations: the Thirty-Person Group, Soul Hall, the Fatui, and Baozi Bro's future organization, Wanmin Hall.

Once their people were spread out, each organization would appear smaller, making them safer and less conspicuous.

Thinking about it, Jiang Hao counted on his fingers. It had been almost three months since he left Shrek City.

He could leave everything here to Owl Bro, so there was little point in his staying.

He took stock of his Clones. His last awakening had been a few days ago, and those Clones had no special abilities, so he had kept them in his Spiritual Sea.

This time, he would leave them here and arm the ones in his Spiritual Sea to the teeth.

Fire Dragon Bro, Blade-Pointing Bro, Sand Bro, and the other Clones whose Martial Souls had awakened the time before last had all acquired Soul Rings.

Fire Dragon Bro had gained a dragon-flame projectile and the ability to fly, giving him formidable offensive power. Sand Bro had gained the ability to shape and control sand. He could change his form through sand art and no longer turned into a heap of sand whenever he used his Martial Soul.

Blade-Pointing Bro's abilities were rather excessive. His First Soul Skill sent out a blade of light that destroyed every living thing along its path. His second Soul Skill let him split his blades and control them with his mind, making his attacks much more precise.

He would take those three with him this time. Quite a few earlier Clones had awakened good Martial Souls too, and Jiang Hao planned to bring some of them along as a precaution.

The most outstanding Clones were stationed in Dragon City, where security ought to be strongest. He would take the team's second tier and leave everyone else here.

"And me! Don't forget me, Sixth! I want to go with you too~"

"Sixth? Where have you been?"