Eastern Emperor!

Speaking of today's biggest windfall, to put it humbly, he really ought to kowtow to Qian Duoduo.

This challenge against the entire academy had been a private affair. If any senior academy official with real authority casually said, "Private bouts don't count," then even if he beat every soul master student into submission, the fortune he ultimately harvested would shrink considerably.

He had never experienced that before, so it was hard to judge exactly how much he would lose.

When he defeated Chen Zifeng, he had effectively declared that the fifth-year division, the strongest in the academy, had been beaten into submission. With the final two-fifths of the fortune in hand, he had brought all the fortune gathered above the Elementary Soul Master Academy under his control.

Yet it was loose and insubstantial, giving Jiang Dongjun a sense of unreality, as though it might turn into bubbles and vanish at any moment.

Every portion of fortune in Shrek City ultimately had an owner. A single private contest was not enough to swallow it all up completely.

But when Qian Duoduo, one of those "owners," spoke, the situation changed instantly.

The fortune above the entire academy, already under Jiang Dongjun's control, rapidly grew solid and tangible, and its total quantity even rose a notch.

With Qian Duoduo's endorsement, a private contest had become an officially recognized competition, complete with a genuine title...

It could be described like this-

Previously, Jiang Dongjun had been secretly, slowly digging at Shrek's foundations with his bare hands;

Suddenly, Qian Duoduo handed him a shovel and let him dig away at Shrek's foundations openly and with all his might.

Qian Duoduo was a Sea God Pavilion elder, one of Shrek City's owners. He had every right to decide the ownership of any portion of fortune within Shrek City with a single word.

In fact, if Yan Shaozhe or Mu En had done the same thing, Jiang Dongjun would have gained even more fortune.

At the same time, Jiang Dongjun was absolutely certain that becoming Qian Duoduo's disciple would earn him a share of Qian Duoduo's fortune-and an ongoing "dividend," at that, for as long as their master-disciple relationship lasted.

This was also why Jiang Dongjun felt so conflicted.

He coveted Qian Duoduo's fortune, yet did not want to settle for Qian Duoduo's share alone, since several other people offered something even better.

But-if you took a share of that fortune, had you decided whether you were willing to shoulder the corresponding karmic ties?

Drip, drip, drip-

"300 drops!"

The little metal bottle, which had nearly hit bottom, filled up again. An irrepressible smile spread across Jiang Dongjun's face.

And-

"This is only the one-time payout. As long as I keep attending the Elementary Soul Master Academy and hold the chief student position, I can harvest a steady stream of fortune. Judging by the current harvesting rate, I can condense three drops of soul liquid a month?"

"Without doing anything, I'll get thirty-six drops of soul liquid a year, or 216 in six years... Tsk. Better than nothing. Once I have two more soul rings, I'll still have to become the chief student of the Shrek Academy Outer Court. I imagine both the one-time payout and the ongoing returns from that title will be numbers that delight body and soul."

Taking this opportunity, Jiang Dongjun attuned himself to the Light of Time and Space. Following the gathered fortune back to its sources, he took stock of the "ongoing returns" currently attached to him.

-Shrek resident status (soul master), 2 drops/year;

Before he awakened his martial soul and obtained his soul ring, it had only been one drop a year. This was a rigid allocation of fortune; it would not grant him more simply because his talent and strength far surpassed those of an ordinary one-ring soul master.

-Son of two Soul Kings, son of Shrek Academy Soul Tool Department Outer Court lecturers, 1 drop/year;

-Innate full soul power, Title Douluo potential, 1 drop/month;

-Chief student of Shrek City Elementary Soul Master Academy, 3 drops/month;

That was all for now.

As his strength increased and he completed more "achievements," there would naturally be more.

Jiang Dongjun checked the amount of soul liquid in the little metal bottle once again.

"415 drops!"

A memory flashed through his mind.

-Fire element control: Advanced (623/1000)

"With just 377 drops of soul liquid, my fireball martial soul can join the ranks of genuine top-tier martial souls!"

"It already has top-tier density. All it lacks is top-tier elemental control!"

"Once a fire-attribute martial soul reaches the top tier, perhaps it'll produce its own unique core flame? Like the Golden Crow's Golden Crow True Fire, or the Evil Fire Phoenix's Phoenix Fire, or the sun's... Huh, Xu Tianzhen's sun martial soul in the original novel seemed more inclined toward light? All her soul skills manifested through light. Of course, she also had Sun True Fire, but how she produced it was questionable, and it was utterly pathetic. Wang Qiu'er turned the tables on her and made it fuel for her own advancement. The explanation was that the golden dragon had inherited the sun's radiance and wouldn't fear the sun, yet in Douluo IV, even the supergod Tang Wulin-the Golden Dragon King, progenitor of golden dragons-could barely manage a swim inside a star."

Thinking of the benefits of top-tier fire element control, Jiang Dongjun could no longer contain his eagerness.

Upgrading brought all sorts of benefits.

At the very least, when he faced Wu Ming or Ma Xiaotao in the future, their Golden Crow True Fire and Phoenix Fire would not suppress him through their attributes, and he could fight at his full strength.

"415 minus 377 leaves thirty-eight drops!"

"That's enough. I'm going all in!"

Jiang Dongjun decided to go into seclusion for a while.

Before that, he needed to tell his parents so they would not worry, and there were a few other matters to handle as well.

The next day, Jiang Dongjun went to school as usual.

To ensure that his legend endured in the academy and that he kept controlling and harvesting its fortune, he felt it necessary to show his face every so often. While he was there, he could also instruct a few unlucky souls in his capacity as chief student, displaying his power and keeping them in awe of him.

"Quick, look! Isn't that 'Demon Sun'? He actually came to school."

"What 'Demon Sun'? That sounds awful. It's 'Eastern Emperor'!"

"It's 'Demon Sun.' He can beat opponents with a single glare. A title with 'Demon' in it suits him best."

"Eastern Emperor! Eastern Emperor! Eastern Emperor! You're just trying to demonize our great Lord Eastern Emperor. We won't let you get away with it!"

"..."

The chatter along the way made Jiang Dongjun feel as though needles were pricking his back.

He had only fought yesterday, and today he already had nicknames?

Hmm, "Eastern Emperor" is better. I'll tell Walnut to steer the conversation later.

"Sigh, it's all for controlling and harvesting fortune. I don't like nicknames. They're far too childish. Hmph!"

Jiang Dongjun had no intention of serving a whole morning's sentence in the classroom. He simply called He Tao out to skip class. With Jiang Dongjun backing him, He Tao had plenty of courage and answered the call immediately.

The teaching building's rooftop terrace.

Looking at the challenge letter in his hand, Jiang Dongjun nodded in satisfaction.

"Walnut, this challenge letter was well written. The wording is courteous without losing its proud backbone and commanding air. I especially love the line, 'The academy must have only one sun'!

"The person who wrote these challenge letters for me only asked to meet me?

"Walnut, what do you think he wants from me? He's your friend from the same village. Can you guess what's on his mind?"

He Tao thought it over carefully, then said timidly, "Boss, Ma Liang wants to enter Shrek Academy and finish his studies there. That's been his greatest dream ever since his martial soul awakened. He heard from me that your family has a lot of influence, so his wanting to meet you probably has something to do with that."

Jiang Dongjun's eyes widened. "What do you mean, my family has a lot of influence? Hasn't everyone at school already heard? My parents are just Outer Court lecturers in Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department. My family doesn't run Shrek Academy. I can't interfere with its student admissions or expulsions."

"Boss, maybe Ma Liang only wants to ask you for some inside information about Shrek Academy and get your help planning his studies after he gets in, so he can make the right choices at crucial moments and avoid being expelled."

He Tao braced himself and put in a good word for his fellow villager.

"Fine, fine. Walnut, tell me about him first," Jiang Dongjun said, waving a hand.

He Tao brightened at this, pleased for his fellow villager, and hurriedly laid out everything he knew about Ma Liang.

"Boss, Ma Liang is eleven years and four months old. He had innate rank-four soul power, and his martial soul is a writing brush. He's now cultivated to rank sixteen and has a sixty-year soul ring-"

"That's enough." Jiang Dongjun stopped He Tao. "I won't meet him for now. Go find him and ask. If it really is what you said, ask him whether he's willing to work with soul tools. If he isn't, I won't be able to do much to help him fulfill his wish of finishing his studies at Shrek Academy. If he is, I'll meet him the next time I come to school. Let him think it over properly while I'm skipping school."

"Oh, and Walnut, you handled this beautifully. If anything important comes up in the future, go to the Fireplume Soul Guidance Workshop in the city for help. It's my family's business. Unless I have plans to go away, I'll be living there too."

"Also, when you need to hunt for a soul ring, come find me at the Fireplume Soul Guidance Workshop. Even if I don't have time, I'll have my family help you hunt for a hundred-year soul ring."

After leaving his deskmate a way to contact him, Jiang Dongjun left.

On his way downstairs, he stopped by the second-year division on the second floor to look for Bei Bei. He wanted to pound him again and see whether he could squeeze out any more fortune. Unfortunately, Bei Bei had skipped class that day.

Hmm, Chen Zifeng would work too... Forget it. He's still injured. I'll wait.

Helpless, Jiang Dongjun could only wait a while before testing his conjecture again.

When he got home, his father, Jiang Ming, was making soul tools in the Soul Tool Workshop. Jiang Dongjun told his mother, then returned to his bedroom to begin his seclusion.

He took out the little metal bottle.

He released his fireball martial soul.

Jiang Dongjun gritted his teeth. With a thought, 377 drops of soul liquid flew out of the little metal bottle that had only filled up yesterday, leaving it nearly empty again.

-Fire element control: Advanced (623/1000)

↓

-Fire element control: Top tier (1000/10000)

Boom!

He revisited familiar ground, paying homage to the blazing sun once more.

Visualization! Visualization!