Early the next morning.
In the first-year Class Five classroom at Eastsea Academy, Tang Wulin arrived early.
He sat down by the window and put his schoolbag on the desk. Just as he settled in, Xie Xie wandered through the door, yawning.
Xie Xie plopped down beside him and sprawled across his desk, looking listless.
"Wulin..."
He drew out the word. "I didn't sleep well at all last night."
Tang Wulin turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Don't even ask." Xie Xie waved a hand. "I tossed and turned all night, thinking about what happened yesterday."
"Why can't I get my Soul Power up? I'm already working so hard."
Tang Wulin shook his head helplessly.
"You call that working hard? Didn't you run off to play again yesterday? You only cultivated for two hours at night. You'd better start working harder. With your talent, breaking through to level 20 shouldn't be a big problem."
Tang Wulin hadn't slept very well last night either.
But he wasn't as outspoken as Xie Xie. He just sat there, looking out the window.
The schoolyard lay outside.
It was empty except for a few students who had gotten up early to run laps.
As Tang Wulin gazed out the window, he thought again of that older brother from yesterday.
The one who had given him that "kind" smile.
...Strange, really.
He had only met the man a few times and barely exchanged a few words with him.
But for some reason, every time he saw him, he felt something very strange.
He couldn't put it into words.
It was just... a feeling of familiarity.
As though they had known each other a very, very long time ago.
What Tang Wulin didn't know was that...
That feeling hadn't come out of nowhere.
Qing Linyun had a Million-Year Golden Dragon Torso Bone. Back then, buying that Soul Bone had taken him an enormous amount of effort.
It had nearly driven his company into the ground.
As the saying went, anything produced by the system was bound to be a fine product.
The Million-Year Golden Dragon Torso Bone was naturally no exception.
What surprised Qing Linyun most was that the Golden Dragon Torso Bone was unaffected by dragon king-level dragon bloodlines. Instead, it could suppress them.
On top of that, the Golden Dragon Bloodline and the Golden Dragon King Bloodline were already as close as could be.
And the Golden Dragon King's bloodline flowed through Tang Wulin.
So the bloodlines of those two things were very close.
That was why Tang Wulin was naturally drawn to Qing Linyun.
It wasn't time for class yet, so the classroom was still a little noisy.
Just then.
Soft footsteps sounded at the classroom door.
Gu Yue walked in.
She wore the same black uniform today, her long hair tied in a high ponytail, neat and crisp.
She was tall and slender, with delicate features, but the moment she stood in the classroom, her cold, distant bearing seemed to lower the temperature around her by several degrees.
She gave the classroom's layout a cursory glance, then looked over the students in their seats.
Then her gaze landed on Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin was staring blankly out the window when he suddenly felt someone looking at him. He turned and met Gu Yue's eyes.
Tang Wulin froze for a moment.
...What's wrong?
Gu Yue merely gave him an expressionless look. Her eyes were icy, showing little emotion.
Then she looked away.
She picked an empty seat at random and sat down. Her cold presence was simply too strong.
Several girls nearby who had been about to come over and greet her looked at one another, but none dared approach.
Xie Xie leaned close to Tang Wulin's ear and lowered his voice, looking helpless.
"Did you see that?"
"She has to be some family's young miss, right?"
"Look how arrogant she is. She doesn't think anyone's worth her time."
"Tsk, tsk. In this young master's experience, girls like that are bad news."
Tang Wulin shook his head without a word.
He didn't tell Xie Xie.
The moment Gu Yue had fixed her eyes on him, goosebumps had swept across his back.
That feeling...
It was as though a raging female dragon had set her sights on him.
The class bell rang.
Wu Changkong walked in through the door.
He wore the same white clothes today, his lake-blue hair falling to his waist, his face expressionless.
The moment he entered, the rustle of conversation in the classroom stopped.
Wu Changkong walked up to the lectern and made a pressing motion with both hands.
Only when the classroom had fallen completely silent did he speak.
"Today, I'm introducing you to a new teacher."
He turned sideways and looked toward the door.
"Come in."
Qing Linyun walked in through the door.
He wore casual clothes today, his hands in his pockets as he strolled in with a smile on his face.
In the classroom.
Tang Wulin and Xie Xie's eyes widened at the same time.
"Holy crap!"
Xie Xie nearly jumped out of his chair. He hurriedly covered his mouth and lowered his voice. "No way?!"
"That older brother who was with Teacher Wu yesterday?!"
Tang Wulin was dumbfounded too.
He stared at Qing Linyun on the platform, his mind buzzing.
...That man?
The one who smiled at me yesterday?
He's a teacher? If he's a teacher, why was a security guard chasing him?
Gu Yue, meanwhile, had frozen in place.
Sitting in her seat, she stared wide-eyed at the man on the platform as he introduced himself.
...Him?
He came to Class Five?
And he's a teacher?
Qing Linyun stood at the lectern and smiled at the dumbstruck students below.
"Hello, everyone."
"My name is Qing Linyun."
"I'm from Shrek Academy."
The moment the name "Shrek" came out, the classroom erupted.
Most of the students didn't know much about Shrek, but they had at least heard the name.
"Holy crap! Shrek?"
"Shrek, the number one academy on the continent?"
"Seriously? He's so young!"
Xie Xie was dumbfounded too.
He stared at Qing Linyun on the platform, unable to recover for a long moment.
Then he abruptly leaned close to Tang Wulin's ear and spoke in a rush:
"I knew it! I knew there was more to him than met the eye!"
"Shrek! The number one Soul Master Academy on the continent! The Soul Masters who come out of there are all the cream of the crop!"
"Do you know how many people fight tooth and nail to get in and still can't?"
"He actually came from there..."
Xie Xie clicked his tongue twice. "He only looks a few years older than us, right? How did he do it?"
Tang Wulin didn't speak.
He was shocked too.
He's so young... and he's already graduated from Shrek?
He's really amazing.
If only I had talent like that. Then Mom and Dad wouldn't have to work so hard.
Qing Linyun waited until the discussion below had mostly died down before continuing.
"For the time being, I'll be assisting Teacher Wu in teaching you."
"To put it simply, I'm your teaching assistant."
"From now on, if you need anything, you can come to me or Teacher Wu."
He smiled. "Of course, you can also come chat with me if there's nothing you need. I'm pretty easy to talk to."
Gu Yue sat in her seat, occasionally raising her eyes to meet Qing Linyun's gaze.
Then she quickly looked away again.
She curled her lip.
Her gaze was as disdainful as could be.
As though she were looking at some small fry.
Zago. Zago.