Eastsea Academy, Wu Changkong's office.
Wu Changkong is grading students' assignments on Soul Master theory.
His style of grading homework was just like him—meticulous, with dense red marks.
There were two stacks of homework notebooks on the desk, one stack already corrected and the other untouched.
Wu Changkong was somewhat troubled. Tang Wulin and the others' basic knowledge was really too poor. Damn it, they couldn't even memorize all the types of Soul Beast.
In other words, they no longer hunt Soul Beast to obtain Soul Ring. If this were ten or twenty thousand years ago, Tang Wulin would have been whipped into Wu Changkong.
There was a knock on the office door.
"Come in."
The door opened, Qing Linyun peeked in, followed by Gu Yue.
Wu Changkong raised his head, his eyebrows twitched slightly when he saw Qing Linyun, and rose even higher when he saw Gu Yue.
"Why are you here?"
Wu Changkong put down his pen and glanced back and forth between Qing Linyun and Gu Yue.
"Why did you bring her here?"
" Teacher Wu."
Qing Linyun pulled up a chair with a grin and sat down, with Gu Yue standing obediently behind him. Her well-behaved demeanor was completely different from her usual aloofness in class.
"I'd like to take Gu Yue out for a while, so I need to ask for leave."
"Go out."
Wu Changkong frowned. The student had asked for leave without reason, yet the teacher still took him out. Now it seemed more like the student and teacher were planning to skip school together.
Where to?
"Her aunt is here."
Qing Linyun said in a very serious tone.
" Gu Yue's aunt came from out of town to visit relatives and happened to arrive in Eastsea City today. I figured she's just a little girl without an adult to accompany her, so as her relative, I should take her to meet her."
Wu Changkong's gaze shifted to Gu Yue.
Gu Yue lowered her head, her hands neatly placed in front of her, her face flushed, and her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes.
That appearance.
It looks pretty convincing.
But in reality, Gu Yue had already cursed Qing Linyun to the core.
"You damned Qing Linyun, what nonsense are you spouting? What aunt did I have?"
Wu Changkong raised an eyebrow inwardly.
'relative.'
Having worked with Qing Linyun for so long, he roughly knew what kind of background this kid had.
He came from Shrek Academy and worked as a teaching assistant there. He hadn't asked about his family background in detail, but he figured he must have started as an orphan.
Although Gu Yue didn't know the details, Wu Changkong felt that something was amiss.
These two are not related at all.
Moreover, Gu Yue's blushing face clearly indicated that she had been temporarily pulled in by Qing Linyun to cooperate in the act. This girl is usually Bingbing in class, but now standing behind Qing Linyun, she doesn't even dare to lift her head, as if she has become a completely different person.
Who is Wu Changkong?
Having taught for so many years, he can see right through his students' little schemes.
But he didn't point it out.
Qing Linyun a sensible guy. If he says he's taking Gu Yue out, then nothing will happen.
Last time, this kid came to him with a grin to ask for leave, and ended up raising Tang Wulin's First Soul Ring from ten years to a hundred years, which Wu Changkong was quite satisfied with.
But the matter was handled perfectly in the end, and Tang Wulin's Soul Power is now very stable.
Wu Changkong sighed inwardly.
Students these days...
Each one of them is more troublesome than the last.
"For how long."
Half a day is enough.
Qing Linyun held up one finger, "I'll bring her back this afternoon; she won't be late for class tomorrow."
Wu Changkong was silent for two seconds, then nodded.
"Okay, I'll sign the leave slip for you."
He took a sick leave slip from the drawer, quickly signed his name, and pushed it to the side of the table.
"Thank you, Teacher Wu."
Qing Linyun picked up the leave slip, turned to Gu Yue and said, "Go outside and wait for me for a moment. I need to say a few words to Teacher Wu."
Gu Yue looked up at him, then at Wu Changkong, nodded obediently, turned and left. The door closed gently behind her.
Only two people remained in the office.
Qing Linyun's smile faded somewhat.
He took a small porcelain bottle out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
" Teacher Wu, this is for you."
Wu Changkong picked up the porcelain bottle, uncorked it, and smelled it. A faint medicinal fragrance wafted out, carrying a warm spiritual energy.
"This is."
"Healing pills."
Qing Linyun said.
"I got this prescription from out of town through someone. It promotes blood circulation, removes blood stasis, and repairs meridians. It's much better than what the pharmacy staff at the academy make. Your previous injury hasn't fully healed. Take one pill a day for seven days, and your old meridian injury should be completely cured."
Wu Changkong held the porcelain bottle in his hand, his eyes flickering slightly.
He does indeed have old injuries to his meridians.
On rainy days, my meridians ache slightly, and when I try to breathe, I always feel like I'm missing that final push.
He had prepared the medicine himself, and the college pharmacy had also prescribed it, but both only provided temporary relief and did not cure the root cause.
"And this too."
Qing Linyun then took out a brocade pouch from his bosom and handed it over. The pouch was dark blue with simple patterns embroidered on it.
Wu Changkong opened the brocade pouch, inside which was a pure white Soul Spirit, shaped like a small fox, with its eyes closed and its breathing even. The fluctuation of ice-attribute Soul Power overflowed from the brocade pouch, causing the temperature in the entire office to drop several degrees.
" Icefield Snow Fox "
Qing Linyun nodded.
"A friend of mine helped me get it."
"Ice element, good bloodline, should be quite suitable for your Seventh Soul Ring. Haven't you been waiting to break through to the seventh ring? This should be usable."
Wu Changkong's hand paused.
He raised his head and looked at Qing Linyun.
Ten-Thousand-Year Ice-Attribute Soul Spirit.
He's been looking for this thing for years.
He had inquired with the Spirit Pagoda several times, but either they didn't have a suitable one, or the price was outrageously high. He asked around for half a year before he learned that the Spirit Pagoda had a ten- Ten-Thousand-Year Ice-Attribute Soul Spirit, but the price was several hundred years' salary for him.
His lips moved.
"This thing."
Don't be so polite with me.
Qing Linyun waved his hand.
"I know what I'm doing, keeping an eye on Tang Wulin for me at the academy. This little thing is nothing. Tang Wulin is talented, but he's too stubborn. I feel at ease with you watching over him."
Wu Changkong held the brocade pouch, remaining silent for a long time.
He's not good at expressing his feelings.
But his eyes said it all. There was something new in his gaze as he looked at Qing Linyun.
"Alright."
Qing Linyun stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
"I've signed the leave slip, I'm leaving now. Gu Yue is still waiting outside."
Wu Changkong nodded.
Qing Linyun turned and left the office.
Gu Yue leaned against the wall in the corridor, arms crossed, and only straightened up when she saw him come out.
"Are you done talking?"
"That's all."
Qing Linyun waved the signed leave slip in his hand.
Let's go.
Qing Linyun grabbed Gu Yue's wrist.
Before Gu Yue could react, the scene before her blurred for a moment. Spatial power swept over the two of them like ripples on water, distorting and spinning the surrounding scenery before freezing in an instant.
When she could see clearly again, the two of them were already standing on the top floor of a silver-white tower.
The floor-to-ceiling windows offer a panoramic view of the entire Shrek City.
The sunlight slanted in from the east, gilding the entire city with a golden hue.
In the distance are the Shrek Academy's teaching buildings, and further still, the commercial district of Shrek City, with its densely packed rooftops arranged like scales.
"This is."
My office.
Qing Linyun released her wrist and walked to the table to pour two glasses of water.
"The entire top floor of the Heaven-Supporting Pillar is mine. Over there is my desk, over there is my lounge, and over there is my Simulation training room. Feel free to use it whenever you come to class."
Gu Yue walked to the window and glanced down.
The ceiling height is frightening.
Although she wasn't afraid of heights, the height still made her legs go weak. Cars on the ground looked like tiny beetles, and pedestrians moved like ants.
'That madman, living so high up.'
Gu Yue mentally muttered a complaint.
The Little Silver Dragon Fish was actually scared by the higher-ups! That's hilarious! Besides, dragons can fly, right? How could they be scared?