Shrek Outer Court.
First grade, class one.
Yu Longyue had hurried back, but he had never expected to miss the first lesson anyway.
The moment he stepped over the classroom threshold, every eye in the class turned toward him.
A moment later, a synchronized rustle rang out.
As though guided by an invisible conductor's baton, more than half the students in the class rose at the same time, moving in unison with the well-trained coordination of a group accustomed to working together.
They stood straight, their eyes fixed on Yu Longyue as he entered. Each wore a different degree of respect on their face. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they lowered their heads and bowed deeply to him.
"Hello, Brother Yue!"
Yu Longyue: "?"
What was going on?
What he didn't know was that, during the assessment, well over half of them had already come to regard the scene of him going head-to-head with Cai Yue'er as a legend.
Without that clash, who knew how many of them would have failed to get into Shrek?
As a result, this first-grade class had an unusually large number of students: at least seventy.
"Please sit down, Brother Yue!"
"Are you thirsty, Brother Yue? I'll get you some water."
"Are you tired, Brother Yue? Let me give you a massage."
The one offering the massage was a young girl. Her eyes had practically turned into hearts as she looked at Yu Longyue, and she could hardly wait to get her hands on him and cop a few feels.
"N-no need." Their enthusiasm left Yu Longyue at a loss. He raised his hands repeatedly to turn them down. "Everyone, there's no need for this. Since fate brought us together to study and further our training in the same class, there's no need for ranks among us, or to thank me like this."
"Brother Yue, we couldn't have gotten into the academy without you."
"Exactly!"
"Then cultivate hard and improve yourselves, so you can stay at Shrek, continue your studies, and grow stronger." Yu Longyue smiled gently and stressed the point to everyone. "If you really want to thank me, that's the best way to do it. Improve yourselves and grow strong enough that Shrek Academy wants to keep you of its own accord. All right?"
Everyone froze for a moment, then their blood boiled with excitement and they shouted in unison:
"All right!"
They were all young. Who didn't like to indulge in a little wish fulfillment?
If that day really came, it would feel incredible. Just imagine: they shouldn't have been able to get into Shrek, but they improved and grew strong enough through their own efforts that Shrek Academy wanted to keep them.
Wasn't that the perfect template for a wish-fulfillment novel protagonist?
Seeing that their blood was up, Yu Longyue said no more. He glanced around, only to find that the sole remaining seat was in the front row, by the window on the right.
Gu Yue was sitting on the inside, with a seat beside her. It seemed everyone had tacitly left the seat next to her for Yu Longyue.
With no other choice, Yu Longyue went over and sat down.
"Popular as ever."
Gu Yue spoke out of the blue.
The corner of Yu Longyue's mouth twitched. Why did that sound so familiar? She and Na'er really were the same person.
"While you were gone, a few senior girls came looking for you. When they saw you weren't here, they asked me to take a picture of you for them."
Gu Yue spoke calmly, her face expressionless.
"Even some girls from the inner court came."
"Uh... what did you do?" Yu Longyue asked tentatively.
Gu Yue suddenly snatched up the camera and slammed it hard on the desk. "Take your swear word picture. That's how I turned them down."
"..."
Jealous girls were really scary.
Tang San was having a miserable time.
A day's classes had ended, mostly covering Battle Armor and related topics. The class monitor and committee members had also been chosen. The class monitor was Huo Yuhao, and the deputy monitors were Wu Siduo, ranked tenth on the Young Geniuses List, and Tang Wulin.
Yu Longyue was the mecha manufacturing committee member, Gu Yue was in charge of design, and Tang Wulin was also in charge of forging.
Huo Yuhao was the repair committee member as well.
As for Tang San?
Tang Wulin had given him a thorough beating in the class committee selection match.
It was unclear whether some of the Golden Dragon King's strength-related traits still lingered in Tang Wulin and had been retained, but his innate divine strength was certainly still there. He was also an excellent blacksmith and immensely strong; neither Huo Yuhao nor Tang San could match him.
But with the help of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection, the two Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls clashed, and Tang San came off worse. Tang Wulin had hammered him with his forging hammer until he couldn't take care of himself.
Yu Longyue hadn't understood that fight, anyway. Maybe Tang San had gone easy on his son?
He had even less of a chance at being class monitor. With those two Soul Ancestors, Huo Yuhao and Wu Siduo, standing there, Tang San had been eliminated outright-and by his own son, at that.
Although he was also skilled at forging, he couldn't match his son in that field. He was only at the fourth rank...
As for why neither Yu Longyue nor Gu Yue was class monitor, it was because neither of them wanted the job at all, and neither had taken part in the selection.
But the class basically took it for granted that the two of them were the strongest in the first grade. Both were Soul Kings, to say nothing of Yu Longyue's terrifying combat power-even Cai Yue'er had come off worse against him.
That was why Tang San had sat lifelessly in his seat all day.
He had thought his combat power defied the heavens, but he had never imagined there would be people stronger than him in the same grade.
Leaving Yu Longyue and Gu Yue aside, Wu Siduo's Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill had made him suffer a serious setback. And what was with that Huo Haodong?
His surname was Huo, and his name was Haodong. Surely it couldn't be such a coincidence?
Tang San frowned deeply and remained silent, thinking it over.
It was unlikely. He was certain that when they fell into the Spatial-Temporal Turbulence, he had killed Huo Yuhao. Huo Yuhao couldn't have been any deader.
But because of that, he himself had paid an enormous price, leaving only a remnant of his will. Being able to return and take over a body was already quite good.
He had confidence in his own strength as a God King, and he really had killed Huo Yuhao. There was no way Huo Yuhao could have survived that.
It should be a coincidence.
The Spirit Eyes were a spiritual Martial Soul. The seed that belonged to Huo Yuhao ten thousand years ago had also been passed down, so it wasn't too strange for it to still exist. He should be Huo Yuhao's descendant.
Thinking of it that way made Tang San's face burn.
In the Divine Realm, Huo Yuhao had suddenly erupted with power and beaten him into his current state. Then, after coming down here, his descendant had taken the class monitor position from him.
A nemesis sent specifically to oppose him?
Just before class ended and school let out, Tang San took a deep breath and prepared to leave the classroom. But at the very front, Yu Longyue suddenly stood up and said:
"Everyone, we've all just arrived in Shrek City together, so I imagine hardly any of us have many contribution points."
Tang San stopped and listened intently.
After all, he had indeed realized that he was very short of contribution points.
"As it happens, I'm fortunate. My family does business in Shrek City, so we'll also be offering a benefit to students at Shrek Academy: exchanging Federation Coins for contribution points. Loans are available too."
Yu Longyue smiled broadly and cupped his hands.
"One hundred thousand Federation Coins for one contribution point. For loans, I'll waive the interest, exclusively for classmates. There's no interest and no processing fee of any kind. You only need to repay the money on the date agreed upon by both parties. You can also repay in contribution points, still at the rate of one hundred thousand Federation Coins per point."
One hundred thousand Federation Coins for one contribution point?
They could get loans too?
No interest?
Everyone who had gotten in came from a family with a bit of money, but once they entered Shrek, they had all become penniless. None of them were quite used to the difference.
"Is that true? No interest? We just have to pay it back on the agreed date?" Wu Siduo was the first to stand, her eyes shining as she looked at Yu Longyue.
"Yes. You just need to apply for approval, and once a few documents have been reviewed and approved, that's it. It's very convenient." Yu Longyue enthusiastically promoted the service to his classmates. "And our company's staff will handle that process. In other words, once the loan has been processed, you only need to wait for the contribution points to be deposited into your card."
"Our company also guarantees security. There definitely won't be any loopholes or mistakes. If any problem does occur, the company will pay one hundred thousand contribution points in compensation."
One... hundred thousand?!
Everyone was instantly filled with respect.
Say what you would, even Tang San was tempted.
"If you're interested, just scan the code, get in touch with our company's staff, and submit an application." Yu Longyue offered a helpful smile and held up the code in his hand. "Just scan it with your phone."
Soul communicators had now gone through a generational overhaul. In just two or three years, they had already become popular and widely recommended among people across the continent.
In particular, the long and short videos on various platforms catered to different kinds of people and gobbled up traffic. They met Soul Masters' needs for communication, discussion, resource exchanges, and information about resources.
They also let non-Soul Masters watch all kinds of Soul Master competitions, among many other things.
With the development of Yu Longyue's company, information was now exploding across the Douluo Continent, transforming internet development and more. The company had even partnered with the Spirit Pagoda and was making money until it was fit to burst.
Two million turned into two hundred million in three years?
Once the groundwork had been laid, it was no exaggeration to say they made two hundred million a day, and that two hundred million was money made from money.
Even Yu Longyue himself was struggling to calculate exactly how rich he was.
In any case, he couldn't spend it all. He simply couldn't.
This had also earned him an excellent reputation within his clan. A large number of people had disliked Yu Longyue a few years ago, but now they had fallen silent.
Most of the class came from money, so nearly everyone used a phone. With a communicator this useful, anyone who didn't use one would be left behind and discarded by the new era.
With a phone, they could learn more, making it easier to cultivate, improve, and grow stronger.
Almost everyone scanned the code, and Yu Longyue smiled in satisfaction at the sight.
Only Gu Yue, beside him, was somewhat speechless. She leaned close to his ear and whispered:
"The boss behind a company personally coming down to work and promote its services. You really are down-to-earth."
Yu Longyue blinked and said in a small voice, "How did you know I was the boss behind it?"
"Don't forget, your family's company works with the Spirit Pagoda." Gu Yue looked innocent as she spoke at a volume only the two of them could hear. "I happened to hear from my teacher that the company's boss was from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, so I figured you were pulling the strings behind the scenes."
"...What makes you say that?"
Gu Yue lifted her chin.
"A woman's intuition."
Yu Longyue: "6."