Several days later, Suotuo City.
On the Douluo Continent, what was the most likely explanation when a Soul Master gained several levels of Soul Power in a short time?
A Soul Bone!
Any Soul Master with a little knowledge would think so.
Under normal circumstances, after graduating from a junior Soul Master Academy, Lin Kong would enroll in an intermediate Soul Master Academy. When he handed over the relevant documents upon enrollment, whoever read them would take notice. Who knew when they might make a move to test him?
Replace the intermediate Soul Master Academy with any sect or family, and it would be the same. He was merely a twelve-year-old, level-twenty-one talent, with a trash Martial Soul like dark blue silver grass at that. His hundred-year first Soul Ring was passable, but his second Soul Ring was actually a ten-year Soul Ring. They would attack first to see whether he had a Soul Bone!
Joining a faction with those documents in hand would put him in danger from the very first step.
Hide away and cultivate on his own? Hmm... a year later, Tang San would go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and obtain the immortal herbs, then begin soaring to new heights. He would become the Asura God, the Shrek Seven Devils would become gods as well, and no one else would ever be able to become a god!
No one else could become a god!
Lin Kong gritted his teeth, steeling his resolve inwardly. Tang San, there's no other way. To become a god, I have no choice but to oppose you. Besides, I took your mother away and absorbed the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg Soul Bone. There's absolutely no peaceful resolution to our conflict.
So...
He would join Shrek Academy, but he could not go through the normal entrance examination, because that would bring him face-to-face with Tang Hao. He therefore had to join Shrek Academy a day late, which would be the day after Tang Hao left.
Lin Kong entered a shop and found the owner with a sweep of his eyes. The man wore glasses, his most distinctive feature was his hooked nose, and his chin jutted slightly forward. With looks like those, he was naturally Shrek Academy's dean, the Three-Eyed Cat Owl, one of the Golden Iron Triangle: Flender.
Noticing someone enter, Flender gave him a casual glance, formed a rough impression, and passed judgment: A penniless brat!
"Look around yourself. Once you've picked something, just bring it over," he said lazily.
Someone without money did not deserve to have a Soul Saint like him wait on them.
Lin Kong picked through the wares, took up the plate gold hair crystal, and asked the price. "Boss, how many soul coins?"
Flender thought for a moment but could not remember, proving it was nothing valuable, so he could name any price he liked. There were fairly obvious fluctuations of Soul Power around the boy's body. One look told him the boy had just obtained his second Soul Ring and had not had enough time to perfectly control his sharply increased Soul Power. With that, he had his price. "Five Gold Soul Coins!"
Flender thought, After becoming a Soul Grandmaster, you'll definitely register with Spirit Hall and collect ten Gold Soul Coins. It's not too much for me to take five, is it?
What else could one call him but a profiteer? A profiteer through and through!
Lin Kong understood a little of his profiteering nature and remained unmoved. Holding the plate gold hair crystal, he walked over to the tea table, plopped down, and asked, "Boss, I'm thirsty. You don't mind if I have some water to wet my throat, do you?"
"Sure! One Gold Soul Coin per cup of tea!"
"Who does business like that?"
"If you have no money, you can leave."
"Ah!" Lin Kong sighed. "It's not that I'm short on Gold Soul Coins. I'm just afraid that after paying you, I won't have enough left for Shrek Academy's tuition."
If he wanted to enter another academy, sect, or family, he would not get to meet their higher-ups and could only hand his documents to the lowest-ranking staff. But to join Shrek Academy, he could come straight to Flender. Once he had farmed enough favorability with him, everything afterward would be easier.
Sure enough, Flender's eyes lit up at Lin Kong's words. After a little thought, he immediately changed his tone, making it gentler and less stiff than before. "Well, it's only a cup of tea. Drink it if you like!"
"Thanks, boss!"
"You want to join Shrek Academy?"
He took the bait!
Lin Kong rejoiced inwardly. His gaze grew more eager, his pitch rose slightly, and he immediately pressed him with a question. "Boss, you know Shrek Academy? I've been wanting to join. Could you tell me about it?"
That look, that tone, that expectant expression struck Flender right in the heart. He adjusted his glasses, his face seeming to glow as he began leisurely, "Shrek Academy is renowned throughout the continent! Especially its dean-oh-ho, do you know? Even the Upper Three Sects have to show him some respect!"
"Wow! No wonder Shrek Academy is so amazing! So it's because its dean is amazing!" Lin Kong delivered a perfectly timed compliment.
Flender thoroughly enjoyed this flattery, the corners of his mouth spreading into a grin before he knew it. "Exactly, exactly!"
Lin Kong continued to broaden the conversation. "I heard Shrek Academy's entrance requirements are very strict, and lots of people can't meet them. I'm a little worried. I don't know whether I'll make it."
"You'll have no problem!" Flender declared decisively.
"Really?"
"If I'm not mistaken, you're level twenty-one right now, aren't you? That meets Shrek Academy's entrance requirements. Well, one of them."
"That's only one of the requirements? Hiss! As expected of Shrek Academy. Looks like I won't get in." Lin Kong let out a long sigh.
"Well, you could go try your luck at Shrek Academy in a few days!" Flender was growing a little reluctant to let him go. Everything this boy said went straight to his heart. It felt wonderful to hear!
"Thank you for clearing up my questions, senior. That's all I needed, so I'll take my leave." Lin Kong drank a cup of tea, returned the plate gold hair crystal to its original place, and made to leave.
"Wait!"
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Flender's face fell completely. "You're not buying anything, you've freeloaded a cup of tea off me, and you've even gotten information from me. Now you're leaving without paying a single Gold Soul Coin? Brat, what do you take this place for?"
Flender was furious!
He felt his earlier feelings had been toyed with, and deliberately made his tone sound vicious. "Pay up. Five Gold Soul Coins!"
Lin Kong spread both hands. "I have no money."
Flender flew into a rage. "Bullshit!"
"I really don't!"
"Once you become a Soul Grandmaster and register with Spirit Hall, you can collect ten Gold Soul Coins immediately, and you still claim you have no money?"
Lin Kong patted himself all over, then spread his hands again and tilted his head helplessly. "I really have no money."
Flender frowned and thought it over.
Spirit Hall's stipend was paid once a month. If someone was a Soul Master at the start of the month and received one Gold Soul Coin, then became a Soul Grandmaster at the end of the month, they naturally would not receive another ten Gold Soul Coins. They had to wait until the following month.
In that case, it was normal for someone who had just become a Soul Grandmaster to be unable to produce ten Gold Soul Coins. Flender gave ground. "Fine, then. I'll sell you the thing. Just give me one Gold Soul Coin."
"I'll pay you back after I win at the Great Soul Arena and have some money!" With that, Lin Kong walked straight toward the shop's exit, not worried in the slightest. Flender was a profiteer who would do anything for money, but surely not attack a twelve-year-old boy just to snatch the price of a cup of tea.
He still had a bottom line.
The moment Flender heard Lin Kong's words, his tone changed. "You're going to take part in Soul Fighting?"
"Yeah. If you're out of money, you go earn some through Soul Fighting. That's normal, isn't it?"
Flender's mind began working. Twelve years old, level twenty-one, meets the entrance requirements. If he participates in Soul Fighting and demonstrates strong practical combat ability, he can join the academy and become my student.
My own student!
Flender immediately put on a different face. "Hmm... what a coincidence. I was planning to watch some Soul Fighting to relieve my boredom. How about we go together?"
Lin Kong nodded. "Sure!"
He took the bait again!