The plan! (Please invest! Please send recommendation votes! Please send monthly votes!)

The next day.

The Young Heaven Class had two lessons that morning: Tian Zilai's "Basic Martial Soul Knowledge and General Theory," and another teacher's "Soul Beast Studies." Both were purely theoretical subjects, and they would form the class's main curriculum for the year.

For a group of children who were only six years old, these long-winded theoretical lessons were nothing short of torture. But there was no helping it; this foundational knowledge could not be skipped.

Once the second lesson ended, almost everyone rushed headlong out of the classroom. If they stayed any longer, they might actually throw up. At the thought of spending an entire year on these two subjects, quite a few students' faces darkened.

"Let's go too." Qin Xu stood up and spoke to Vielvi, Xue Zhao, and Ye Guyi, who sat on either side of him.

The three girls looked no happier than anyone else. Still, as vice class monitors, they behaved much better than the other students. At least they had not rushed out of the classroom to breathe some fresh air and clear their heads.

"Oh, okay." Xue Zhao's head felt heavy and muddled. She agreed to Qin Xu's invitation without hesitation, completely forgetting the righteous declarations she and Ye Guyi had made the previous night about keeping their distance from him.

Ye Guyi had likewise put the matter out of her mind—or rather, she had never cared about it in the first place.

Just as they had yesterday, the four walked shoulder to shoulder to the dining hall, went up to the third floor, entered a private room, and began ordering.

"Better to arrive at the right moment than to arrive early!"

Just then, Zhang Lexuan pushed open the door and entered with a smile, followed by two students in intermediate division uniforms.

"Sister Lexuan, you're here." Qin Xu's gaze fell on the two students behind her. Anyone Zhang Lexuan brought to meet him was certainly no ordinary person.

The two students were a boy and a girl, both fifteen or sixteen years old. The boy was handsome and looked familiar, while the girl was pretty. They entered holding hands, seemingly a couple, and looked well matched.

"Yang Feiyue pays his respects to Your Grace!"

"Hong Wenwen pays her respects to Your Grace!"

As soon as they entered the private room, the two bent their knees in salute to Qin Xu and called out.

"So it's Cousin Feiyue!" Qin Xu immediately realized who the boy was, sounding both surprised and enlightened.

Zhang Lexuan explained at just the right moment, "I went to the intermediate division today to select team members and happened to run into Feiyue. He asked for an audience with Your Highness. Since he's your older cousin, I brought him along."

"That's wonderful. I was just thinking of meeting my cousin." Qin Xu smiled and looked at Yang Feiyue and the girl named Hong Wenwen. "Cousin, have a seat, both of you. You can eat with us."

"Yes." Yang Feiyue looked rather excited. He quickly pulled out a chair and sat down, while Hong Wenwen sat close beside him.

Zhang Lexuan walked over to Qin Xu and took the empty chair between him and Xue Zhao. Xue Zhao looked at her and furrowed her brows, but said nothing.

The education Yang Feiyue had received since childhood had instilled in him an almost fanatical reverence for the Black Dragon Duke. Under Qin Xu's gaze, he appeared nervous and ill at ease—not at all how a sixteen-year-old boy should have behaved before a six-year-old child.

However, as he and Qin Xu talked, they gradually grew more familiar. His nervousness and unease faded, replaced by excitement.

During their conversation, Qin Xu confirmed that Hong Wenwen was Yang Feiyue's girlfriend and an elite fourth-year student. The fact that Zhang Lexuan had brought her along meant she had the qualifications and ability to be selected for the academy team.

She was a fifteen-year-old, rank thirty-nine Agility Attack System Soul Elder whose martial soul was the Extreme Shadow Blade.

After lunch, Yang Feiyue and Hong Wenwen bid Qin Xu farewell and left, thoroughly satisfied. They had gained a great deal.

"Wow! I never thought I'd get to see the Black Dragon Duke in person one day. I'm so lucky!" Hong Wenwen exclaimed. "What do you think, Feiyue?"

"Grand Duke, not Duke!" Yang Feiyue first corrected her mistake solemnly, then said with excitement written all over his face, "Of course I'm thrilled too! I get to be classmates with the Grand Duke, and I might even get to compete in the Soul Fighting Tournament with him. My dad's going to die of envy! Hahaha!"

"Exactly~" Hong Wenwen, too, was filled with visions of what lay ahead.

Meanwhile, Qin Xu and the others had yet to leave the private room.

"Qin Xu, was that boy really your older cousin? Why did it feel like you were his older cousin?" Xue Zhao, who had remained silent throughout the meal, finally could not hold back her complaint. "Look at the way he fawned over you. He was just like that Meng Xin. It makes me want to laugh."

"A Liang, I don't want to hear you say anything like that again!" Qin Xu's expression immediately turned stern, his words carrying a hint of warning. "They are loyal retainers of my Qin Family. You shouldn't speak of them like that!"

"I..." Xue Zhao was startled by his stern expression. In the two days she had known him, this was the first time she had seen him look like that. Feeling a little guilty, she muttered, "Fine, I won't say it again. What are you being so fierce for?"

Qin Xu's expression softened. "All right, let's go too."

Unable to sit still any longer, Xue Zhao immediately rose, grabbed Ye Guyi, and rushed out of the private room, hurrying toward the dining hall exit. Her voice echoed through the room and corridor. "We're going to cultivate."

"Little Xu, is that white-haired girl Xue Zhao? She's quite amusing." Zhang Lexuan covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Right? Right? Sister Lexuan, I think A Liang is really interesting too," Vielvi answered before Qin Xu could speak, grinning as she continued, "She clearly wants to play with Xu, but she just won't admit it. It's so funny."

Qin Xu smiled as well. "Little girls are all like that. She'll be fine once she's a few years older."

"No, they aren't! I'm not like that. Your big sister Vielvi always says whatever's on her mind!" Vielvi retorted.

"But Vielvi, you're clearly a mature woman, not a little girl anymore. Of course you aren't like that!" Qin Xu spouted this nonsense with a perfectly straight face.

Listening beside them, Zhang Lexuan simply could not hold back her laughter.

Talking and laughing, the three left the dining hall and walked back to the dormitory.

After returning to the dormitory, Qin Xu went to the third-floor terrace to meditate and cultivate, just as he had yesterday. The weather was lovely again, leaving him in a pleasant mood as he cultivated. Zhang Lexuan continued reviewing the intermediate division students' records and selecting members for the academy team.

Meanwhile, in the dean's office.

Tian Zilai, the Young Heaven Class's homeroom teacher, was reporting to Dean Li Wei.

"After these first two days of teaching, have you gained any new insights into the Young Heaven Class, Teacher Tian?" Li Wei asked.

"Dean, it's still too early to discuss that," Tian Zilai said. "These children are still adjusting, and so are we. We need time to get familiar with one another."

"Mm." Li Wei nodded. "Surely you've had some new thoughts. Speak freely. No one else will hear about it."

"Dean." Tian Zilai rubbed his hands together in front of him and said solemnly, "My view remains the same as before. We should focus the Young Heaven Class on students of commoner birth. Only then can we achieve the greatest results.

"Students of commoner birth have no family legacies or elders supporting them. But they are more moldable and more receptive to new things and new ideas."

"Haha." Li Wei smiled, his expression a mixture of gratification and helplessness. "Zilai, you really are persistent! Still, you're quite right, and I'm willing to support your idea."

Delight immediately appeared on Tian Zilai's face. However, Li Wei had not finished speaking.

"But you should understand that, at its core, the Young Heaven Class exists to provide study companions for the Grand Duke. Every plan we make for it must receive the palace's approval and the Grand Duke's support.

"What do you think the chances are that the palace will agree to direct more of the Young Heaven Class's resources toward the commoner students?"

Tian Zilai lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked up. "I believe they're ninety percent!"

"Haha, ninety percent," Li Wei said. "And your reasoning?"

"It's simple." Tian Zilai's eyes were full of confidence. "The duchy's establishment of the Martial Soul Awakening Conference shows that the palace wants to nurture commoner Soul Masters. That makes the commoner Soul Masters in the Young Heaven Class a showcase of its achievements. The more outstanding they are, the more they prove that the palace's decision was correct!"

Li Wei's expression did not change, but his gaze softened a little. "All right, Zilai. Write up a proposal, and I'll sign it. Then I'll submit it to His Eminence Black Dragon."

"Dean, I've already prepared it." Tian Zilai immediately took out a thick sheaf of papers and handed it to Li Wei.

Looking at the thick proposal, Li Wei visibly froze for a moment before giving a helpless smile. He pointed at Tian Zilai. "You rascal, you came prepared! Were you already planning to persuade me before you came?"

"Teacher, I want to make progress so badly!"

Tian Zilai gazed at Li Wei, his eyes filled with longing.