Changes

In a corner Tang Wulin hadn't noticed, Tang Ziran and his wife watched him clash with someone and then narrowly avert disaster thanks to the bracelet. Both let out sighs of relief. A smile appeared on Tang Ziran's face. "Thank goodness. Anyone with decent worldliness couldn't possibly fail to recognize what that bracelet means. That puts my mind at ease." It wasn't as if they were abandoning Tang Wulin, so how could they truly feel comfortable letting him travel alone? It was just that their child had grown up into an independent Soul Master. It was time to gradually let go and allow him to walk his own path. And it would start with going to school in the big city all on his own! Tang Wulin's adoptive mother, Lang Yue, looked at her husband with mixed emotions upon hearing this. "Are you certain you want to go to the Mecha Master Association?" Both of them had once been Federation Mecha Designers and pharmaceutical researchers. It was only due to certain unforeseen events that had drawn the attention of certain factions that they had been forced to conceal their identities under assumed names and abandon their past accomplishments. Coming to East Sea City this time, her husband intended to return to his old profession—both to secure a well-paying job and to help shoulder Wulin's burdens. Yet doing so carried risks. If those factions took notice of them, trouble would follow. "Luck won't always favor us. If the Spirit Pagoda hadn't offered Wulin a chance, he might have ended up with nothing more than a defective Soul Spirit." Tang Ziran's gaze hardened with resolve. "Mang Tian said Wulin already possesses the skill of a Rank Two Forging Master, breaking the record at the Forging Master Association. The boy is forging farther and farther ahead, yet we're standing still, unable to lend him even a bit of help. What kind of parents does that make us? "At the very least, when it comes to the money for that Hundred-Year Soul Spirit and his next one, we can't pile all that pressure onto his shoulders!" Graduating from the intermediate academy would take six years. With him and his wife returning to their former trades, that would certainly be enough time to earn it. Besides, Wulin was now valued by the Spirit Pagoda. Even if something went wrong with them, he wouldn't be dragged down by their troubles. What was left to fear? Lang Yue gave a gentle nod. "I'll follow your lead." *** Riding a Soul Tool Car all the way, Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena arrived at East Sea Academy. Stepping inside the academy grounds, what greeted their eyes was an expanse of lush greenery. A wide transverse avenue stretched out to the left and right, paved with quaint bluestone slabs that gave off a rich air of history. East Sea Academy was a massive institution, holding accreditation for both intermediate and advanced academies. Its intermediate division lay in the eastern sector, occupying fully two-thirds of the grounds. Instead of reporting to the academic affairs office beside the teaching building, Huo Yuhao led Gu Yuena up to the top floor of the main administrative office building under the curious gazes of the faculty, knocking on the principal's office door. "The door's unlocked. Come in." Yu Zhen paused his work drafting a speech and looked toward the doorway. The moment he saw Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena enter, his eyes lit up, and he rose to his feet. "Student Huo Yuhao, welcome!" Not seeing the boy report earlier had left him somewhat uneasy. Now Huo Yuhao had not only arrived in person, but had also brought... Huh? Who was this black-haired, black-eyed girl? Where was Student Gu Yuena? The smile vanished from Principal Yu's face. Where had the other Spirit Pagoda prodigy gone? She was supposed to report as well! Just then, Huo Yuhao spoke up. "Principal Yu, sorry to trouble you with issuing replacement identification. This is Student Gu Yuena." "No trouble at all." Yu Zhen glanced at Gu Yuena's radically altered appearance, a strange glint flitting through his eyes as he wondered if the Spirit Pagoda had also taken up false photo advertising. "It's just registering the details on the network, nothing to make a fuss over. Student Gu Yuena, hello." "Hello, Principal." Gu Yuena stepped forward and offered a soft explanation. "I used a specialized Soul Tool to conceal my appearance. I may need you to explain this to the teachers." "So that's how it is. A trivial matter," Yu Zhen chuckled. "I'll make sure the teachers understand." Another prodigy hailing from the Spirit Pagoda! Now they could truly vent their frustrations at the Skysea Alliance Tournament. The only pity was that neither of these two would be staying at the academy forever... The group made small talk for a while, mostly consisting of Yu Zhen introducing various aspects of the academy. When the time felt right, Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena took their leave and headed toward the dormitory buildings. Watching the pair depart, Yu Zhen sat back down with a sigh of admiration. "Neither Pagoda Master Hua nor these two core Spirit Pagoda disciples show any hint of arrogance." Clearly destined to become figures who shook the world, yet they weren't insolent or dismissive of others, making them very pleasant to be around. Unlike a certain someone at their academy... Yu Zhen's gaze shifted toward a faculty dossier resting on his desk, bringing on quite a headache. Others might not know the man's background, but as principal, he knew it all too well. Wu Zhangkong—a six-ring Soul Emperor from Shrek Academy, a Two-Word Battle Armor Master, exceptionally handsome, coldly aloof, and the strongest expert in the entire academy. The man certainly possessed the capital to be proud, but if he was going to work at an academy, couldn't he rein it in just a little? Giving everyone the cold shoulder as if the whole world owed him money. Yu Zhen let out a weary sigh. Right now, the teachers over in the advanced division were quite dissatisfied with him—mainly the male teachers—which left Yu Zhen no choice but to reassign him to the intermediate division. "I'll have him teach First-Year Class Five first to see if it grinds down that temper of his. Later, I can reassign him to Class Zero to instruct those prodigies alongside Teacher Luo." Although Huo Yuhao had said he required no special treatment, how could Yu Zhen actually take that at face value? East Sea Academy grouped students into classes based on talent. This year, there would likely be five classes. Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena would naturally enter the top-tier Class One, though only temporarily. He intended to wait a while and then gather the standout students, including Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena, into a single class to pour all the academy's resources into them. Only then could East Sea Academy achieve the best possible results at the Skysea Alliance Tournament. At the thought of his plan, the corners of Yu Zhen's mouth curled upward slightly. Just then, Long Hengxu, the director of academic affairs for the first year, knocked and walked in with a tight furrow between his brows. "Principal, there's a problem. Two students got into a brawl in their dormitory and caused some damage to public property." Pulling his thoughts back, Yu Zhen asked, "Is there anything unusual about those two?" If there hadn't been something out of the ordinary, Long Hengxu would have handled it himself instead of coming here. "One of them is named Tang Wulin... He possesses a spatial storage Soul Tool from the Spirit Pagoda, but his Martial Soul is Bluesilver Grass." Yu Zhen raised an eyebrow, surprised. Ordinary people might not understand such an arrangement, but as someone who ran an academy, Yu Zhen was somewhat familiar with the situation. Special students bearing Soul Tools marked with the Spirit Pagoda's emblem had appeared in the past. Those were unique talents identified through unknown means by the Spirit Pagoda; their soul power and Martial Souls might look unremarkable on the surface, but they excelled in certain areas, or perhaps possessed special bloodlines. The last student of that kind to pass through their academy had supposedly held a trace of dragon bloodline. Funded by the Spirit Pagoda with a powerful dragon-type Soul Spirit, the boy's Martial Soul had evolved, and he was now a seven-ring Soul Saint. Yu Zhen had met him a few years ago. With that in mind, Yu Zhen asked, "What caused the conflict? Did Tang Wulin start it?" "No, it was bullying. A student named Zhou Changxi saw that Tang Wulin was dressed plainly, demanded that he clean the room, rifled through his luggage without permission, and even tried to take the spatial Soul Tool to play with. An argument broke out and turned into a fight. In the end, a student named Xie Xie stopped them." Hearing that, Yu Zhen inquired about a few more details, pondered for a moment, and ultimately made the final call. "In that case, assign Tang Wulin to Class Two and Zhou Changxi to Class Five." Hearing the decision, Long Hengxu raised no objection. Zhou Changxi's Martial Soul was decent, and based on talent alone, he could have entered Class Three. But his character was lacking—bullying a classmate on the very first day of school meant placing him under Teacher Wu was indeed appropriate. Just looking at that cold face of Teacher Wu's sent chills down Long Hengxu's spine. As for Tang Wulin... with the passage of time, the Soul Master families in and around East Sea City had gradually acquired some heirloom Soul Spirits, meaning more students possessed Hundred-Year Soul Spirits than in the past. Where before students with Hundred-Year Soul Spirits could only fill a single class, now virtually all the Soul Masters in both Class One and Class Two had one. Tang Wulin's Martial Soul might be Bluesilver Grass, but he possessed a Hundred-Year Soul Spirit. Placing him in Class Two was entirely reasonable: it wouldn't make the academy appear overly biased, nor would it make a student who might well join the Spirit Pagoda feel undervalued.