"Then, Brother Bei Bei, would you be able to introduce me to Teacher Wang?"
"Please don't laugh, Brother Bei Bei, but I'm sort of a distant relative of Teacher Wang Yan's-the kind so distant you might not reach him with eight bamboo poles."
"I wanted to seek out Teacher Wang Yan today because I've truly been driven into a corner. I only want a chance at a future, so I hoped he might trouble himself to put in a word for me and spare me the hassle of a recommendation letter."
"Our Coiling Dragon Sect wasn't exactly a small sect once, but an attack by a band of evil soul masters left me as its only survivor."
"With my innate level 2 soul power, it would be next to impossible to approach the local major city's lord on my own merits and ask for a recommendation."
"But as for using my family's influence to have the local major city's lord write a recommendation so I could polish my credentials at Shrek, that foundation no longer exists."
At this point, Chen Ping let out a long sigh, a complicated look in his eyes.
This wasn't an act. His feelings really were complicated.
With a garbage starting hand like his, he truly had to seize every opportunity and make use of every powerful figure he could reach.
Bei Bei might only have been a Soul Elder at present, but his family connections really did reach all the way to the heavens.
Perhaps Bei Bei's status couldn't compare to Wang Dong'er's as the daughter of a God King, but if Chen Ping couldn't get into Shrek Academy, he might never come into contact with anyone of that caliber again for the rest of his life.
Honestly, if the Holy Spirit Cult hadn't stuck its nose in and the entire Douluo Continent hadn't turned into a boiling pot of chaos later on, Bei Bei would have become at least a senior elder of Shrek Academy in the normal course of events.
A Super Douluo at minimum, with a chance of pushing for level 98. If Mu En gave Bei Bei the purified, refined Dragon Core, Bei Bei would have a guaranteed ticket straight to Limit Douluo.
Compared with his own current circumstances, one really was in the heavens and the other in the dirt.
At his words, Bei Bei looked thoughtful.
As for Chen Ping's claim that he and Teacher Wang Yan were distant relatives who couldn't be connected even with eight bamboo poles, he simply thought Chen Ping was joking.
Would someone know a relative beyond the five mourning generations-not just their name, but even where they worked?
Never mind relatives beyond the five mourning generations; Bei Bei wouldn't dare claim he knew every relative even within them.
So Bei Bei simply felt that Chen Ping was worried Teacher Wang Yan might be difficult to approach and was giving himself an excuse in advance.
Even if the route through Teacher Wang Yan fell through, he could brush it off by saying their relationship was too distant, rather than lose face in front of Bei Bei.
This young Brother Chen hadn't had it easy!
Bei Bei sighed softly, but he thoroughly approved of Chen Ping's approach.
For an ordinary person, getting into Shrek to polish their credentials was absolutely a chance to defy the heavens and change their fate.
Even if they couldn't graduate successfully, the experience of studying at Shrek for a few years could make the rest of their life much easier.
After all, Shrek's elimination rate had always been high. From enrollment to graduation from the Outer Court, anywhere from thirty percent to fifty or sixty percent of students failed to receive a diploma.
Thus, failing to graduate from Shrek had never been a stain on anyone's record. Graduating from Shrek wasn't something to take for granted, but a tremendous honor.
"Leave this to me. Once Xiaoya finishes absorbing her soul ring, come back to Shrek City with us, Brother Chen."
"Teacher Wang Yan has a lot to deal with every day, but we can definitely catch him at the Outer Court library in the evening. That's a daily habit of his, come thunder or lightning."
Bei Bei thumped his chest and took the matter upon himself.
For Bei Bei, if Chen Ping really did get into Shrek Academy with Teacher Wang Yan's help, he would naturally be happy for him.
It would also repay part of the favor Chen Ping had done them by flipping the Touch Dragon King over in the nick of time and helping them obtain its soul ring.
If Teacher Wang Yan was unwilling to help, he could take the opportunity to ask again about the matter Xiaoya had entrusted to him and see whether this young Brother Chen was willing to join their Tang Sect.
Either way, all he had to do was run an errand. He stood to lose nothing.
Hearing this, Chen Ping hurriedly stood as well and cupped his fist toward Bei Bei.
He owed a huge favor now.
Even if it was only a simple gesture for Bei Bei, Chen Ping understood very clearly that he couldn't treat a favor as insignificant just because it was easy for the person helping him.
"Haha, it's nothing, nothing at all. No need to be so formal, Brother Chen."
Bei Bei hurriedly stood. "Oh, right. Now that you've absorbed your first soul ring, Chen Ping, what soul skill did you get?"
"That Touch Dragon King's soul ring was quite high-quality, so the soul skill it produced shouldn't be bad. Of course, if you'd rather not say..."
"I don't mind. Why would I?"
Chen Ping interrupted before Bei Bei could finish.
Perhaps the details of everyone's soul skills were something people kept under wraps in the soul master world, but Chen Ping didn't particularly mind revealing the specifics of a first soul skill.
Ultimately, Bei Bei wasn't his enemy.
They might even compete in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament together someday. What was wrong with getting to know each other's abilities?
But when Chen Ping sank his awareness into his soul ring and sensed his soul skill, he froze, his expression turning somewhat strange.
Poison Staff Dancing the Heavens or Blinding Sneak Attack-he had originally thought his soul skill would be one of those two.
Just because the Touch Dragon King hadn't used either its darkness-attribute or poison-attribute soul skills when Chen Ping dealt with it didn't mean it lacked those abilities.
The main reason was that Chen Ping's tactic of hiding and throwing incendiary bombs was simply too underhanded. The Lesser Touch Dragon King hadn't known where to spit its poison.
If the Lesser Touch Dragon King's spray had actually hit him, it would have eaten through his bones and melted his flesh, eroding body and soul alike.
Yet his first soul skill ended up completely defying Chen Ping's expectations.
[Poison Stacking: Applies random types of poison to both ends of the martial soul. When the number of distinct poisons on an enemy exceeds five, Poison Explosion automatically triggers, splashing the poisons on the enemy into the surrounding area. The higher the user's cultivation level, the greater the splash radius.]
The soul skill's effect made Chen Ping's eyes widen in an instant.
One glance at the skill description was enough to tell him that this soul skill had an outrageously high ceiling and an equally abysmal floor.
In the hands of someone who didn't understand how to use it, its effect might be worse than that of a soul ring from an ordinary soul beast that had only just reached a hundred years.
But if he could master it, this would be a top-tier shit-stirring soul skill.
It was a soul skill he could use at level ten or level thirty, one that wouldn't become obsolete at level fifty or seventy, and might even enjoy a second spring and live a second life at level 90.
Most importantly, this soul skill was better suited than Poison Staff Dancing the Heavens or Blinding Sneak Attack to fighting in conjunction with his Movement Meditation.
Running around and spreading poison-with a fighting style like this, hadn't I been punted straight into Zaun?
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