Preparing for a Journey

To He Tao, his boss Jiang Dongjun had left with effortless flair.

A boss so commanding, so generous, and so kind was worth following.

In reality-

As Jiang Dongjun left, all ten of his toes were clawing at the ground, as though he wished he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment. His departure had been swift and decisive only because he wanted to find somewhere deserted to recover.

This is a little awkward, bro.

Shouting a challenge at Shrek Academy would have been perfectly fine-the act of a real man. But this was an Elementary Soul Master Academy, which made it a little too absurd.

What?

So everyone here is actually my age? (Yeah, right.)

With that thought, Jiang Dongjun immediately changed his perspective.

Hey, no big deal!

Besides, it's all for soul liquid!

"This is a necessary experiment!"

"As long as I get soul liquid out of it, what does it matter if I earn an infamous reputation for 'beating up a kindergarten'? Heh heh~"

"Anyway, nobody knows my mental age is much greater than my physical age."

Jiang Dongjun skipped his afternoon class outright and went home.

Human potential was immense. Sometimes, unless you pushed yourself, you would never know what kind of power you could unleash.

Besides, money gave a hero courage.

With twenty gold soul coins already in hand and a hundred-year soul ring no longer beyond reach dangling before him, the timid little pudgy boy who had long endured ridicule finally grew a backbone.

He was flexible in his thinking. From that afternoon until the following morning, he would handle things himself and see how far he could get. If all else failed, he would find his homeroom teacher, Li Qun, and drape himself in his boss's tiger skin to enlist the teacher's help.

His boss had said it himself: he only cared about results, not the process.

He Tao did not dare return to his dormitory. Twenty students shared that room, and too many people meant too many loose tongues.

He was only a Food-Type Soul Master and lacked the ability to suppress any unexpected trouble. Trying to conduct this business in the dormitory would definitely ruin it.

Perhaps... no, definitely. He would definitely lose the twenty gold soul coins in his possession.

At noon, after Jiang Dongjun left, He Tao cleared away his tray and hurried off as well.

During the lunch break, He Tao first booked a room for three days at a hotel near the academy, then ran to a gift shop to buy two hundred invitation cards. He paid a shop assistant to help carry the cardboard box into his hotel room.

Gold soul coins had considerable purchasing power. By the time his preparations were complete, He Tao had spent fewer than six. He exchanged another four gold soul coins for forty silver soul coins, wrapped them in a piece of cloth, tucked them into his schoolbag, and carried it back to the academy.

There was only one class that afternoon. Once it ended, the students were free to spend the remaining time as they pleased.

The work-study students, however, had to collect cleaning assignments from the logistics office to earn their pay.

He Tao was one of the work-study students, but he did not go to the logistics office to compete for assignments that day. Carrying his battered schoolbag, he roamed the campus, approached other work-study students, and built a team by tempting them with tangible silver soul coins.

The people he selected were either girls or students with support martial souls or trash martial souls, making the team easier for him to manage.

With a dozen or so silver soul coins paving the way, he secured helpers in every year group.

Finally, He Tao hurried to the library and found a fifth-year senior from his village who was sorting books.

Ma Liang was already a Soul Master, with a ten-year soul ring and a writing brush martial soul.

He was the central pillar He Tao had found for his makeshift crew. With him on board, the task his boss had entrusted to him would be ninety percent complete!

For that, He Tao was willing to part with five gold soul coins.

If that was not enough, he would keep throwing money at him. No work-study student would turn down gold soul coins.

Things went unexpectedly smoothly.

"You're saying a level-fourteen transfer student joined your class, and he wants to challenge every Soul Master in the academy with a hundred-year soul ring at noon the day after tomorrow?"

"Even the academy's famously stone-faced Cold-Faced Old Li smiled at him and let him fool around with you in class? And you suspect Cold-Faced Old Li even greeted the person who brought him here warmly?"

"Walnut, keep your gold soul coins. Just cover my meals for these two days, and I'll write the challenge letters. But... I have one condition."

He Tao's heart tightened.

He would rather Ma Liang ask for more money-even take every gold soul coin he had-than hear an additional condition like that.

But things had reached this point, and there was no room to retreat.

If he gave up on Ma Liang, he would not have time, and he was even less likely to find another reliable writer.

"Brother Liang, tell me your condition."

"Afterward, I want to meet this boss you've pledged yourself to."

"Uh, even if he loses? Brother Liang, I think you'd be better off just taking the money for the job and cutting ties if things go wrong."

"Heh, trying to play little mind games with me now, are you? Even if your boss loses horribly at noon the day after tomorrow, I still want to meet him. Someone favored by Cold-Faced Old Li can't be bad."

"Ah, all right, Brother Liang. All I can promise is to try. My boss skipped class outright this afternoon. Whether he'll even show up tomorrow is still a question. If he puts on a brilliant fight the day after tomorrow, we probably won't get many chances to see him again."

"I understand. But put some effort into it, brat. Don't forget how often I helped you out when you first arrived at the academy."

"..."

Toward evening, the work-study students finished their jobs one after another, and the hastily assembled team gathered.

He Tao had recruited people from every year group, mainly to provide information about the targets and deliver the challenge letters afterward. He let the girls leave before the dormitory buildings locked their doors.

"Walnut, you should head back too. You're still young, and room checks are strict. Staying out overnight has serious consequences.

"Once those people you hired return to their dormitories, there'll be no hiding the fact that your boss wants to challenge every Soul Master in the academy. I have to finish the challenge letters before tomorrow morning, then have the girls deliver all of them that morning.

"If we drag our feet, the pressure gathering around us will be terrifying. Teachers might even intervene and nip the whole thing in the bud.

"On the other hand, once every challenge letter has been delivered, the wood will already have been made into a boat. It won't have much to do with errand runners like us anymore.

"Even if the teachers confiscate every challenge letter afterward, as long as your boss stands on the Playground at noon the day after tomorrow, will everyone who received and read one really shrink back and refuse to fight?"

He Tao was deeply worried. "Brother Liang, will teachers interfere?"

Ma Liang smiled reassuringly. "Relax. The academy encourages competition. Aren't matches on the Playground a regular occurrence? There are even Soul King teachers on duty there to referee. I imagine the academy's higher-ups would also love to see a new student sweep the entire field. Still, that's far too difficult. Let's hope your boss makes it a good way through the challenges."

He Tao was taking action.

After returning home, however, Jiang Dongjun holed up in the Soul Tool Workshop.

He did not care whether He Tao could pull it off.

At worst, he would act a little more outrageously at noon the day after tomorrow, throw etiquette aside, and follow Tang Wulin and the others' example by showing up to challenge them on their own turf. Nothing could stop his determination to hammer every little Soul Master in the academy once.

Such crude, overbearing behavior actually suited Shrek Academy's ethos and motto.

When his father, Jiang Ming, returned from work, Jiang Dongjun worked with him to improve several important soul tools he owned.

Listening to his son's requests, Jiang Ming caught the scent of an impending adventure. He said nothing, however, and simply prepared to demonstrate everything he had learned recently.

Thanks to Jiang Dongjun, Jiang Ming's primary focus had shifted from fire-type soul tools to mental-type soul tools.

There were pitifully few researchers in this obscure field. By taking the results Jiang Dongjun had optimized with soul liquid, dismantling them, and copying them, he had risen to become a leading expert in the industry.

"Dongjun, there's no need to touch the Fantastical Fox. At your current level of spiritual power, a sixth-rank soul tool will still be just right even if you improve further. Besides, the Fantastical Fox is already perfect. I'm not capable of modifying it, and neither are Fan Yu or Dean Qian. Any future maintenance and upgrades will have to be done by you, using that special resource of yours."

"I'll reforge the Golden Light Sword. As you requested, the new sword will still be powered by spiritual power, with enhanced dazzling light, sharpness, flight, penetration, sword energy, and other effects, pursuing the ultimate in close-quarters combat. It will be fifth rank."

"As for a long-range mental attack soul tool, I already have a design in mind and have verified its feasibility. All that remains is to produce the finished item. Its final form will be the Revolver you like."

"The mental defense-type soul tool you want for continuous use is the simplest. Our predecessors in the Soul Tool Department have already researched it, so I can copy their homework directly."

"It won't take long. In three days, you'll be able to see them."