Just the array of Star Soul Stones glittering overhead in the classroom-though the stones were on the small side, there were so many of them. A cursory glance revealed at least several dozen. The price, the cost...
Gulp.
He swallowed again.
As someone whose family owned a Star Soul Stone shop, Zuo Xiaoduo knew very, very well how much these Star Soul Stones were worth!
Judging by their appearance, these Star Soul Stones were all of fairly good quality. Perhaps they were not truly high-end, did not qualify as premium goods, and fell far short of the very best-but this was only the cultivation environment of a Martial Warrior class!
More importantly, Star Soul Stones could only sustain consumption for a certain period. Once their energy was exhausted, they had to be promptly replaced. With so many Star Soul Stones being used up and replaced year after year, and more than a dozen classes in the entire grade, what would the total come to?
And above them, the academy also had Martial Master classes, Dragon Gate Classes, and others... How much more would all of those consume together?
At least, by Zuo Xiaoduo's rough calculations, the annual total had to be astronomical!
A colossal sum that ordinary people would not even dare imagine.
If... if all the Star Soul Stones for this one Phoenix City Martial Academy were supplied by his family, his family would have struck it rich long ago!
Zuo Xiaoduo instinctively pictured just such a scenario!
Meanwhile, all thirty-five Martial Warrior students were watching this outrageously bold newcomer with curiosity filling their eyes.
A transfer student who kicked the door open the moment he arrived was a rare sight indeed.
It had to be said that, after being held back for five years, Zuo Xiaoduo was older than the vast majority of the students in this classroom. Only one or two looked about his age. Well, they most likely only looked about his age.
Hearing Qin Fangyang speak, Zuo Xiaoduo paused in surprise, then agreed without any awkward hesitation.
"Yes."
"Come up to the podium and give a proper, formal introduction."
Qin Fangyang's voice was as detached as ever.
Then he stepped down himself, yielding the podium.
He gestured with one hand. "Now, it's your time to perform. Every Martial Warrior student who enters my class receives the same treatment, without exception."
He watched Zuo Xiaoduo's face.
Most students were a little nervous at this stage. After all, not every youngster could stand above a crowd and address them. Plenty stammered or could not get a single word out.
Over all these years, few of the students Qin Fangyang had taught had been able to walk up and speak with composure.
In truth, that was nothing unusual. This was only a Martial Warrior class, after all. Most of them were still children and could hardly have much experience.
Zuo Xiaoduo nodded, strode forward, and reached the podium in two steps.
Completely at ease.
As everyone looked again at Zuo Xiaoduo, standing straight in his long gown, they actually felt that the fellow cut quite a tall, dashing figure.
What mattered more to Qin Fangyang, however, was that Zuo Xiaoduo showed not the slightest nervousness and looked entirely composed. He could not help nodding inwardly.
The next moment, Zuo Xiaoduo formally began.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Zuo Xiaoduo. I may be just a little older than every student sitting here, so from now on, you can call me Big Brother, or Boss, or anything along those lines. I won't mind."
Qin Fangyang's head snapped up.
Below, the thirty-five boys and girls also raised their heads at the same time, staring at the bastard on the podium in astonishment.
Had they heard that right?
A transfer student, a guy who had been held back for five years, wanted to be their boss the moment he arrived?
Wasn't he afraid a gust of wind would wrench his tongue out of place?!
Zuo Xiaoduo smiled. "Everyone, I have many strengths, and there are many things I can do. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask. I think I can teach you a thing or two."
"..."
Everyone, Qin Fangyang included, was speechless.
"As you all know, I've been held back a few times. But precisely because I was held back, I also learned quite a few things beyond martial arts."
"For example... that amazing specialty I emphasized earlier: face reading!"
"Let me tell you a secret. This amazing face-reading ability of mine has quite a pedigree." Zuo Xiaoduo looked utterly serious. "According to my extensive research and verification, this Physiognomy is a direct-line inheritance of the Heavenly Secrets Way, which has been lost for thirty million years."
"..."
At this earth-shattering declaration, everyone was speechless.
Even their homeroom teacher, Qin Fangyang, detached and worldly as he was, very nearly blurted out, "Holy fuck!"
Naturally, what shocked him was not that so-called inheritance, but the sheer thickness of a certain person's skin and the sky-shattering heights of his boasting!
Just how thick did someone's skin have to be to make a boast like that?!
He was boasting with the floodgates thrown wide open!
Thirty million years? Why not just say three billion!
Why didn't he simply say he could see life and death at a glance and decree fortune and disaster with a few words?!
A chubby boy below could not help curling his lip and was the first to challenge him. "Student Zuo, just how miraculous your Physiognomy is can wait. But I've very carefully collected, sorted, and compiled historical records covering over a hundred million years of our Star Soul Continent several times. I'm confident I know all the super sects that once existed-or at least have some idea of them. Yet I've genuinely never heard of any Heavenly Secrets Way. Did you get it wrong, or is my learning too shallow, and I've overlooked something?"
The other students all wore strange expressions as well.
Faced with the challenge, Zuo Xiaoduo's expression did not change. He argued calmly, "My fellow student, you shouldn't speak in such absolute terms. The Star Soul Continent has weathered hundreds of millions of years of wind and frost. How radiant and resplendent its past inheritances and civilizations were! Sects that once reached the height of glory, only to be submerged in the long river of history, are as countless as the sands of the Ganges... Who can say they know them all? Who would dare say they know them all? How can you claim to have some idea of them?"
Unconvinced, the chubby boy retorted, "Human abilities have their limits. Naturally, I wouldn't dare claim my knowledge has no omissions or that I'm familiar with the inheritances of every super sect. But I also know that not one of those lucky people who obtained a secret inheritance would openly spell it out in public. They're all terrified of anyone finding out and keep it tightly hidden. They would absolutely never introduce themselves by brazenly declaring it the way you have!"