"Sister Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Lin Mo..."
Wang Sheng's call pulled Lin Mo's thoughts back to reality. "It's almost lunchtime. Do you want to come with me?"
"No, thanks." Tang San shook his head lightly. "I brought dry rations in my bundle. I'll just eat some of those."
His family was so poor their pockets jingled with nothing. The meager change Tang Hao earned from occasionally forging ironware all went toward alcohol.
To keep from going hungry, he could only bring some coarse flatbreads he had made beforehand.
"Does eating at the cafeteria cost soul coins?" Xiao Wu blinked her large, limpid eyes and asked curiously.
"Sure. Sorry for the trouble, but please lead the way this once. It'll give me a chance to familiarize myself with the academy, too," Lin Mo said with a smile and a nod.
Tang San's and Xiao Wu's reactions clearly caught Wang Sheng off guard.
However, he soon realized why. These two new bosses were strong, but their pockets were painfully light.
No, it would be more accurate to say they were penniless.
Wang Sheng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go, then. This meal is on me! I'll cover your meals for the next two days, too. Tang San, Sister Xiao Wu, Lin Mo, come along.
"Starting today, we're all roommates. At worst, you can treat me when you have money!"
"No need to cover mine." Lin Mo shook his head lightly. "I have enough money for meals."
Before he left, the village chief had prepared some money for him. It was not much, but it would cover half a month's food expenses.
Lin Mo was the village chief's adopted child, and the only child in Soul Emperor Village in recent years to possess Soul Power.
Although his Martial Soul seemed to be a trash Martial Soul, at least he had a chance of becoming a Soul Master.
Hearing Lin Mo's words, Wang Sheng cast him a rather grateful look. Covering food expenses for four people at once would have been a considerable expense for him, too.
After all, he had yet to become a Soul Master. As a work-study student, he received the same pay as newly enrolled work-study students like Lin Mo.
Xiao Wu readily agreed upon hearing this. After a moment's hesitation, Tang San agreed as well.
The academy cafeteria.
Surrounded by the other work-study students, the group of twelve arrived at the academy cafeteria.
The cafeteria was inside the teaching building and had two floors. Meals on the second floor cost far more than those on the first.
As expected, the work-study students and the other students began arguing again. As the work-study students' new boss, Xiao Wu took it upon herself to speak for them and started arguing with Xiao Chenyu's group.
In the end, the argument fizzled out. Inside the cafeteria, trading verbal blows like this was about as far as either side could go.
If they actually came to blows, the academy would not let them off lightly.
Lin Mo followed behind the group and quietly lined up for food. During this time, he encountered another familiar figure-Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, known as "invincible in theory."
During this time, Wang Sheng's plain speaking greatly displeased Tang San, who had just become Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang's disciple.
He flatly rejected Wang Sheng's kindness and returned to the dormitory alone to drink plain water and gnaw on coarse flatbread. After finishing, he returned to a corner of the cafeteria to wait for Yu Xiaogang.
Lin Mo quietly watched this little drama, playing the role of spectator to perfection, without the slightest intention of stepping forward.
Whether it was Tang San or Yu Xiaogang, he was better off staying as far away from those two as he could.
Both could be considered people he could not afford to provoke at present.
Behind Tang San followed Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao, while Yu Xiaogang was even more outrageous. Standing behind him was Spirit Hall's current Supreme Pontiff, Bibi Dong.
Yu Xiaogang held an extremely important place in Bibi Dong's heart.
One could say that although Yu Xiaogang's strength was nothing special, his ability to live off women was truly impressive. Both Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong were utterly devoted to him.
All he could say was that it truly lived up to being the Continent of Romance. Until he had sufficient strength, he was better off avoiding provoking those two as much as possible.
After eating, Lin Mo was in no hurry to return to the dormitory. After saying goodbye to his roommates, he wandered around the academy on his own.
He familiarized himself with the academy's surroundings in advance, mainly the classrooms and the area they had been assigned to clean: the garden south of the sports field.
After all, this was where he would be living for a long time, so it was better to familiarize himself with it beforehand.
This advance stroll brought Lin Mo an unexpected discovery. Nuoding Academy had a rear hill. It was not particularly large, but it was secluded enough to make a good spot.
Although he had no intention of adding a Soul Ring to his second Martial Soul ahead of time, he still needed to investigate how to cultivate it beforehand.
Lin Mo was confident that his second Martial Soul was sufficiently concealed. Even if he used it in front of most people, the chances of anyone discovering it were extremely small.
But the chances were not zero, and Tang San happened to have a rather powerful "street loafer" following him: Clear Sky Douluo.
This meant that if he wanted to study his second Martial Soul, he would be better off avoiding Tang San and Tang Hao, father and son.
The rear hill resolved his pressing need.
Half a year later.
Lin Mo had finally grown completely accustomed to studying and living at Nuoding Academy, and his days were very fulfilling.
In the mornings, they studied theoretical knowledge in the classroom; the afternoons were reserved for independent cultivation.
Of the two morning theory classes, one taught general knowledge, while the other covered Martial Soul knowledge.
However, although the first morning class was supposed to teach general knowledge, for six-year-old children like them, these lessons mostly taught them to read.
Shortly after awakening the memories of his past lives, Lin Mo had consciously begun learning the native writing of the Douluo Continent in advance.
With the foundation of three lifetimes, and with the village chief being one of the village's few "educated people," Lin Mo had not taken long to master the vast majority of the Douluo Continent's written characters.
After passing the academy's test in this area, he was exempted from the general knowledge classes and also gained permission to borrow books from the academy library.
The content taught in the Martial Soul classes was even simpler.
They taught the students how to cultivate using the Basic Soul Power Calm Mind Method distributed by the academy, along with some relatively simple knowledge about Soul Masters and Soul Beasts.
However, after switching to the Basic Soul Power Calm Mind Method he had been longing for, Lin Mo found the results somewhat disappointing.
His Soul Power cultivation speed was indeed a little faster than with the crude Soul Power circulation route he had worked out himself, but not by much.
Compared with his initial expectations, it fell considerably short.
Aside from that, there was also a minor incident.
The students led by Xiao Chenyu clashed with the work-study students again. However, before Xiao Wu could act, Xiao Chenyu lost outright to Tang San, who had returned after obtaining his first Soul Ring.