Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy!
The gates were festooned with lanterns and streamers, and firecrackers burst into joy all over the ground. Everyone coming and going wore a smile, while the gong-and-drum troupe played without pause, filling the surroundings with festive noise.
"Is the new banner ready?"
"The brush and ink are ready, but... I don't know the specifics of Lord Lin Kong's first Soul Ring. These old hands can't put brush to paper!"
"Let me make something up."
"Huh?"
Wu Yunsheng looked up at the other banners, his eyes rolling as his thoughts began to race.
Shen Zhinian had obtained a three-hundred-year Fire Howling Wolf Soul Ring. Hmm, couldn't beat that, couldn't beat that!
As for Ding Qiuyu-she would do!
Wu Yunsheng perked up and slapped the banner hard, making up his mind. "Three hundred years, a Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring."
Hmph! Luo Enqi! My student Lin Kong is better than your student Ding Qiuyu! Let's see if you still look down your nose at me next time we meet, Wu Yunsheng thought.
And so, when Lin Kong returned to the academy gates, he saw the newly added banner:
"Congratulations to Lin Kong on successfully absorbing a three-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring!"
His expression turned odd, the corners of his mouth twitched, and his body shuddered twice, shedding goosebumps all over the ground.
What on earth was all this?
Who did this?
Come out!
"Lin Kong, I've been waiting ages for you. You're finally back." Wu Yunsheng strode up to him, raised a hand to point at the banner, and claimed credit. "Well? Doesn't it make you look good? This banner will stay up for a month. It won't come down until the new school year starts. Just think, everyone passing by during that time will know your name. How does that feel?"
"Teacher, did you do this?"
"Of course!"
Wu Yunsheng patted his chest, then leaned closer and muttered quietly:
"As of today, your first Soul Ring is a three-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring. Do your teacher a favor and give me some face!"
"Then... all right!"
Lin Kong was speechless. He could only accept it now. He couldn't very well tear the banner down by force, could he?
He made up his mind. At the celebration banquet later, he would just keep his head down and eat, speaking as little as possible.
"Come on, come on. Let's go inside and find somewhere to sit."
"All right."
The banquet was held in the school auditorium, with a dozen or so tables set out for the academy's teachers and administrators, graduates who had obtained their first Soul Rings, and Nuoding City's various well-known Soul Masters, the city lord, the city guard commander, the Spirit Hall branch master, and others.
Lin Kong followed Wu Yunsheng and found a seat. The other teachers and students around them were all familiar faces, so there was no need to be too reserved.
Ten people sat at the main table: the dean, the director of studies, outstanding teacher Zhao Pengfei, outstanding student Shen Zhinian, the city lord, the city guard commander, the Spirit Hall branch master, the Shen family head, and the Fang family head.
The Fang family head started the conversation. "Old Shen, Zhinian is quite something, getting a three-hundred-year Fire Howling Wolf Soul Ring. Which intermediate Soul Master Academy is he planning to attend next?"
Graduating from a junior Soul Master Academy and obtaining one's first Soul Ring met the requirements for entering an intermediate Soul Master Academy. A twelve-year-old student at rank eleven had almost no chance of cultivating to rank twenty within six years, obtaining a second Soul Ring, and successfully graduating from an intermediate Soul Master Academy. Under normal circumstances, only students who reached rank eleven at eleven years old would consider attending an intermediate Soul Master Academy.
Shen Zhinian was ten this year and rank eleven, graduating from the junior Soul Master Academy two years early. Only when a student had decent talent and would go on to study at an intermediate Soul Master Academy would the academy put extra effort into finding a Soul Ring, for the sake of the child's future.
The Shen family head smiled so happily that his eyes narrowed almost out of sight. "You flatter him, you flatter him," he replied cheerfully.
Beside him, Shen Zhinian could not hide the pride and self-satisfaction on his face either. He held his head high and puffed out his chest, showing himself off. His gaze occasionally swept over the graduates at the other tables, his chin unconsciously raised as he looked faintly down on them.
I'm going to an intermediate Soul Master Academy. Your talent isn't good enough to qualify you to study like me, so you can only leave the academy and find a job. Why shouldn't I stand above you?
The Fang family head's eyes shifted. "Oh! I remember there was a Lin Kong on one of the banners. He got a three-hundred-year Soul Ring too!"
The Shen family head's expression changed!
Shen Zhinian's expression changed!
You're trying to pull the rug out from under me, are you?
Blunt and outspoken, Shen Zhinian chose to question and refute him. "Who is Lin Kong? Where did he suddenly pop up from? I looked over the banners several times earlier, and he wasn't there! Could there be a mistake?"
The Fang family head stressed his point again. "No, there's absolutely no mistake. I saw it perfectly clearly. Lin Kong, a three-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring."
"But he really wasn't there before!" Shen Zhinian said. "I can guarantee it!"
The Shen family head reached beneath the table and patted his son, signaling him to stop talking.
Questioning the banner meant questioning the academy, not the Fang family head. The Fang family head certainly would not tell a lie riddled with holes. Continuing to pick at this matter would be a slap in the academy's face!
That would never do!
"A Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring!" The dean's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, I remember now. Lin Kong's Martial Soul is Dark Blue Silver Grass. It's quite reasonable that he could absorb a three-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring."
With the dean having spoken, the others naturally chose to believe it.
"Your fine guidance has produced another outstanding student, Dean."
"Yes, yes. It's all thanks to the dean."
"A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and a Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring-a match, a fine match!"
At that moment, there was another outstanding graduate: Lin Kong!
Shen Zhinian abruptly spoke up. "Lin Kong-where is he? Why don't I remember anyone like that in the Soul Hunting party?"
Everyone froze for a moment, then looked ready to enjoy a good show. A child's temper, unable to stand someone else stealing his limelight. Interesting, interesting!
The dean explained, "Lin Kong didn't participate in the Soul Hunting Operation. He went with an older relative to hunt a Soul Beast and obtain his Soul Ring."
There was the explanation. Surely he couldn't keep harping on it now?
Yet Shen Zhinian really did keep harping on it. "Nobody saw it. Who knows whether his Soul Ring is three hundred years old? Maybe it's two hundred years old?"
Hmm... all one could say was that those words were very much on the level of a ten-year-old child!
The atmosphere at the main table grew somewhat stiff.
The dean thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, why not bring him over and ask? Lin Kong, hmm, his class teacher is Wu Yunsheng. Call them both over."
"Qiuyu, fight this brat. Knock him flat, and you'll prove his first Soul Ring isn't a three-hundred-year Blue Silver Grass Soul Ring."
"You surnamed Luo, you want a fight? Let's spar, you and me! Egging your own student on to brawl-what kind of behavior is that? Do you act anything like a teacher?"
"You didn't act like a teacher when you lied, either!"
"Who lied? Don't sully my good name out of thin air!"
Wu Yunsheng and Luo Enqi bickered noisily, arguing without pause.
Lin Kong shook his head and met Ding Qiuyu's gaze. Both gave helpless smiles, leaving their teachers to argue away. It had little to do with the two of them. She took the initiative to fill Lin Kong's drink to about eight-tenths full and asked, "Are you going to continue studying at an intermediate Soul Master Academy?"
"Depends, I suppose? What about you?"
"My family wants me to keep studying, work hard to graduate successfully, then go on to an advanced Soul Master Academy and try to reach rank thirty before graduation. But I feel like I might not manage it even if I work hard."
That meant cultivating to rank thirty before twenty-five, obtaining a third Soul Ring, and becoming someone who stood above other Soul Masters. That was the dream of the vast majority of Soul Masters.
"I hope it goes well!" Lin Kong said.
In his heart, he was thinking of another path.
First, he would find Ah Yin, obtain the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor right leg Soul Bone, and absorb it. From that moment on, if he had no particular dreams to pursue, he could simply find somewhere to hide away and would definitely reach rank thirty before twenty-five.
Just then, a teacher came to their table and called, "Wu Yunsheng, Lin Kong, the dean wants to see you both!"