sneak up quietly.
"Xiao Chen is the smartest person I've ever met."
Wang Sheng said, "Anything he's read, he only needs to see once to recite it backward!"
"He can recite it backward after one look? Seriously?"
Yan looked at Luo Chen in astonishment. The latter nodded and said, "I've had a photographic memory since I was little."
"A photographic memory?"
They had heard of people with good memories, but a photographic memory? That was practically a god-tier skill for theoretical research!
"Because of my poor health, I couldn't go out and play like Brother Wang Sheng. Usually, I could only read to pass the time. As time went on, I finished all the books in our Spirit Hall Branch."
Over those six years, Luo Chen had spent almost every day immersed in a sea of reading.
He had pretty much swept through every book available in Nuoding City.
Combined with his photographic memory, Luo Chen stored all that knowledge in his mind, sorted into categories and ready for him to draw upon at any time.
"That's!"
Yan, Xie Yue, and Hu Liena all looked horrified. "That's just too incredible!"
"Now you know how amazing he is!"
Seeing people admire Luo Chen, Wang Sheng was so proud he nearly started looking at them with his chin.
"No, I admit Xiao Chen is amazing."
Yan gave Wang Sheng a speechless look. "But what are you so proud of? You're not the one with a photographic memory!"
"Huh?"
Wang Sheng said indignantly, "Xiao Chen is my brother. My brother, understand?"
"So what does that have to do with you?"
"Damn it!"
Of course Wang Sheng knew it had nothing to do with him, but couldn't he feel a little proud?
After all, Luo Chen always looked so detached from worldly concerns.
He didn't know how to show off, so as his brother, Wang Sheng helped him do it. Wasn't that perfectly reasonable?
"You really have no shame."
The corner of Yan's mouth twitched. He had never met anyone so shameless.
"Hmph!"
Wang Sheng folded his arms, looking as though he were saying, "What the hell would someone with no brothers like you know?"
He looked so punchable that Yan nearly charged over to fight him for three hundred rounds.
"That's my Xiao Chen for you~~"
Meanwhile, Hu Liena had completely ignored the two little brats and was gazing at Luo Chen with admiration written all over her face.
At that moment, the little fox fully embodied what it meant to be Luo Chen's fangirl.
"Xiao Chen, you're the real genius."
Xie Yue finally understood his sister's assessment of Luo Chen. "Compared to you, we're nowhere close."
Admiring the strong was second nature to the people of Douluo, whether that meant reverence for strength or wisdom.
Luo Chen possessed Innate Full Soul Power, which demonstrated his outstanding talent.
And the knowledge he had just displayed overwhelmed all four of them intellectually, earning their recognition.
During their conversation, Yan and Xie Yue asked why Luo Chen was so frail.
Upon learning that he had suffered severe injuries and was still recovering, unable to move about freely, Yan apologized again for his earlier remarks.
Luo Chen could tell that Yan wasn't bad by nature.
In the original story, he liked Hu Liena, but had never forced her to do anything or overstepped his bounds.
Some people called Yan a simp, thinking his love for Hu Liena was pathetic.
But you couldn't deny the purity of a simp's love for his goddess. In the original story, Yan could even do anything for Hu Liena.
Suppose the person Hu Liena fell in love with hadn't been Tang San, but someone else. Would Yan have chosen to give up?
Luo Chen felt that if Hu Liena and that person loved each other, Yan would leave of his own accord, then quietly wish his goddess happiness.
Yan wasn't fighting alone.
Black Little Tiger, Two-Faced Turtle, and Fei Yangyang were forever watching over him!
What, Yan had never heard of them?
As the saying went, both cast adrift at the ends of the earth, why must we have met before to understand each other?
Alas, to keep you from following the same disastrous path as in the original story, Yan...
Looking at Yan, Luo Chen decided inwardly, I'll make you understand that women will only slow down the speed at which you kill and set fires!
Love was something Yan couldn't handle.
After lunch, thanks to Luo Chen's intervention, Wang Sheng and Yan reconciled.
The two had similar temperaments, and once their conflict was resolved, they soon became good friends.
Xie Yue wasn't much of a talker, but he could get along with them just as well.
The three of them didn't try to bring Luo Chen into their group.
Well, mainly because Hu Liena's gaze was far too icy.
Xie Yue signaled for the other two to take it easy. Whenever he had angered Hu Liena in the past, she had played no shortage of tricks on him.
"She really likes Luo Chen."
Yan felt a little down about that.
Just as Luo Chen had thought, he wasn't someone who couldn't let go.
Fortunately, he hadn't spent much time with Hu Liena yet, so there wasn't much he couldn't let go of.
"Luo Chen really is better than me."
Yan laughed. "There's no shame in losing to him!"
"..."
Walking behind them, Luo Chen heard Yan's words and couldn't help pressing a hand to his forehead.
He had already lost count of how many times he had complained about how precocious the people of Douluo Continent were.
What the hell did a bunch of six-year-old brats know about love?
But this time, Luo Chen really was overthinking things.
Yan's thoughts weren't that complicated.
He merely had a favorable impression of Hu Liena. At most, he wanted to be friends with her and play together.
However precocious the people of Douluo were, they wouldn't start courting each other at six.
That really would have been a little too much.
"Xiao Chen, we have physical training this afternoon. Are you leaving now?"
"I'll go in a little while."
After returning to the classroom, Luo Chen didn't leave immediately.
"I want to see how you train."
Luo Chen said, "Although I can't join you right now, I will sooner or later."
Meanwhile, upon hearing that Luo Chen didn't need to participate in physical training, the other students in the class had quite a few complaints.
However, under Hu Liena, Wang Sheng, Xie Yue, and Yan's suppression, those voices were immediately silenced.
Luo Chen was their group's darling.
Anyone who dared target him was showing no regard for the four of them.
"Xiao Chen, you'll get better soon."
Hu Liena's sharp gaze toward the other students changed completely as she looked at Luo Chen with eyes as gentle as water. "When that happens, I'll train with you."
"Sure."
Smiling, Luo Chen patted the little fox's head, and she immediately looked delighted.
The sight made all three boys shake their heads.
Even Yan thought the little fox was terrifying.
One second, she looked like a vicious fiend, and the next, she turned into a soft, adorable creature.
"Xiao Chen was right."
Yan swallowed. "Creatures like women really are beyond what I can handle right now."
Soon, the afternoon training class began.
Just as the four little ones had said, the teachers of the elite class assigned the students physical training.
"Uh..."
"That's it?"
Luo Chen watched for a while, shaking his head the whole time.
"Running, running with weights..."
Luo Chen honestly didn't know what to say. This sort of physical training was simply too rudimentary.
"I think Yu Xiaogang trained Tang San and the others this way after arriving at Shrek, too."
"And I seem to remember a fellow netizen saying that Shrek Academy was still using this same routine ten thousand years later."
So even after ten thousand years, the training Soul Master Academies gave their students was still running and carrying weights!
"Far too backward."
Luo Chen sighed, feeling that he ought to suggest to Bibi Dong that they reform the students' training regimen.
"Teacher, I'll be leaving now."
Having seen everything he wanted to see, Luo Chen stayed no longer. It was time to head to the library and learn something new.
"All right, go ahead."
The physical training teacher wasn't Andrew, but a female teacher of around thirty named Mo Lan.
She was a rank 72 healing-type Soul Saint whose Martial Soul was Lily of the Valley.
Physical training for the students naturally required appropriate healing support.
Otherwise, lingering hidden injuries would not only hinder their cultivation but also sow the seeds of all kinds of future problems.
Mo Lan's Martial Soul compensated for that very well. It could not only restore the students' stamina but also heal injuries from the inside out.
Lily of the Valley's healing ability wasn't outstanding. Its strength lay in detecting extremely minute hidden injuries, discerning even the finest autumn hair and attending to the smallest detail.
In addition, while Luo Chen had been unconscious from his injuries, Mo Lan had also been summoned to treat him.
Thus, Mo Lan knew about Luo Chen's condition, and understood even better just how much Bibi Dong cared about this child.
"After being afflicted with such a terrifying poison, surviving at all was a miracle."
"Poor child."
Mo Lan's impression of Luo Chen remained that he had little time left, which was also why she didn't mind him leaving early at all.
"Be careful on the way. Do you need me to take you?"
Mo Lan's tone was extremely gentle, completely at odds with her image as an iron-blooded female instructor.
This wasn't just because of the Supreme Pontiff's attention, but also her own pity for Luo Chen.
Such an adorable little boy had suffered so terribly that even Mo Lan's heart ached for him, making her instinctively want to give Luo Chen more care.
"Xiao Lan'er, you don't need to worry about him."
"That voice! Elder Ju?"
Mo Lan's pupils contracted slightly. She remembered the owner of that voice: Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan.
Just who is this child...?
Towering waves surged in Mo Lan's heart. She truly hadn't expected a mighty Titled Douluo to follow a child around, protecting him personally.
"Keep this quiet."
Chrysanthemum Douluo transmitted his voice again. "This child's status is distinguished. You must take good care of him in your daily dealings."
"Yes!"
Mo Lan had awakened a Plant-type Martial Soul, and back then, Chrysanthemum Douluo had been the one to bring her into Spirit Hall.
Although they didn't bear the titles of master and disciple, their relationship was that of master and disciple in practice.
"I wonder whether this child will take part in training someday."
"With a body like that, he probably won't get the chance, will he?"
Thinking this, Mo Lan turned her attention back to the other students. Upon spotting a student slacking off and running slowly, the devil instructor's rage instantly soared. "You little brat over there! Didn't you eat? Run faster!"
"If you don't finish your assignment," Mo Lan said, "you won't be having dinner tonight!"
"And that goes for the rest of you, too!"
Without giving the others a chance to gloat, Mo Lan upheld equality for all living beings. "If you don't finish your assignment, none of you are leaving!"
"Aww~~~"
Someone wanted to point out that Luo Chen had left.
But upon seeing Mo Lan's murderous gaze, they obediently shut their mouths and kept their heads down as they ran.
Mo Lan: Was that child one of the ordinary living beings?
With the Supreme Pontiff and Chrysanthemum Douluo valuing him so highly, and being so adorable, he might well have been a reincarnated god.
Gods naturally stood above all living beings!
"Grandpa Gui."
Meanwhile, after leaving the arena-like training grounds, Luo Chen called out into the empty space, "Could you take me to Spirit Hall's library?"
Whoosh!
The moment he finished speaking, Gui Mei appeared before Luo Chen.
He circulated his Soul Power to lift Luo Chen, then turned into a streak of black light and flew toward the library with him.
Bibi Dong had assigned Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo to remain at his side and protect him personally.
Luo Chen knew about this.
Besides, the two had clearly defined roles.
Ghost Douluo was not good with words, so whenever Luo Chen needed anything, he could ask him to take care of it.
As for Chrysanthemum Douluo, a peacock like him naturally had to handle external affairs, such as taking Luo Chen to register for school, speaking with Mo Lan, and so on.
"Your Highness, we have arrived."
"Your Highness?"
Luo Chen froze for a moment, looking at Gui Mei in confusion. "Grandpa Gui, you don't need to be so formal. Just call me Xiao Chen."
"Those were His Holiness the Pope's instructions."
"Uh..."
Luo Chen knew Gui Mei's temperament. Once he set his mind on something, it was hard to change it. "Then I'll still call you Grandpa Gui, just like I call Grandpa Ju. That's fine, right?"
"Your Highness, according to the Pope's wishes..."
"I'll talk to her!"
Luo Chen cut Gui Mei off outright.
Bibi Dong might have been imposing outside, her domineering presence spilling out in all directions.
But at home, Luo Chen was the head of the household!
Luo Chen: Bibi Dong, are you telling me how to do things?
"I'll escort Your Highness upstairs."
Gui Mei said nothing about it, but a warm current welled up in his heart.
"All right. Sorry for the trouble, Grandpa Gui."
Spirit Hall's library was exceptionally magnificent. The entire building was constructed primarily of stone, with dozens of pillars supporting the hall, light entering from above, and colonnades running around it.
All around the hall, the niches and colonnades were decorated with lifelike sculptures, murals, and portraits of people Luo Chen did not recognize.
Tall bookcases and shelves lined the walls, stretching beyond the eye's reach.
And this was merely the library's first floor.
"Come to think of it, that makes sense. With tens of thousands of years of history, there couldn't possibly be only that little bit of material from the original novel."
The library's collection was as vast as a sea. Even with Luo Chen's photographic memory, he could not finish reading every book without spending several hundred years.
"What a wonderful place."
Luo Chen thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere here, inwardly thinking that Spirit Hall truly lived up to its name. "With reserves like these, it certainly lives up to being a power with a legacy spanning tens of thousands of years on the Douluo Continent!"
"I'll start here."
Luo Chen had not forgotten his question. He wanted to investigate Na'er's true form first-that peculiar kind of Soul Beast called a Silver Dragon.
Soon, Luo Chen found books such as Geographical Environment of the Star Dou Great Forest, Soul Beast History and Population Distribution, and Beast Martial Soul Illustrated Compendium.
He chose a secluded spot, piled the books he had found onto the table, then drew one out and began leafing through it.
"Where is he?"
Meanwhile, a blonde girl in a white dress strolled through the library.
Her lively, amethyst-like eyes searched her surroundings, and soon, she spotted Luo Chen.
"Found him."
Little Angel quietly hid behind a stone pillar, then poked her head out, cautiously observing Luo Chen.
"Mm, it looks like his injuries have mostly healed."
Studying Luo Chen carefully, Qian Renxue noticed that the boy's complexion was much better than when they first met yesterday. "Could he be my little brother? If he is, would it be a little wrong of me to do this?"
Last night, Qian Renxue had spent the entire night thinking beneath her covers, coming up with dozens of perfect plans she believed would work.
Yet now that the moment had arrived, Little Angel grew a little nervous again.
(End of chapter)