Shrek Academy’s curriculum was by no means simple. The available lectures spanned a wide variety of topics. However, there were few assessments of learning. The students were responsible for making sure they thoroughly understood the material. The Academy followed an old saying: the master shows the door, but the student walks through it. Every student of Shrek Academy was a genius, so a teaching style fit for geniuses was necessary.

  Everyone spent their afternoons consolidating their knowledge, cultivating, refining their bodies, studying, or practicing their professions. Everyone had their own path, so none of the teachers could tell students how to cultivate. Students could ask a teacher if they had any questions, but this cost contribution points.

  It only took a few days for new students to realize the importance of contribution points. Contribution points could buy the very best cultivation resources that Shrek Academy had to offer, but without them, one would get nothing. In the case of the latter, the only thing students could do was earn points or work hard cultivating the old fashioned way.

  Plant-type soul masters like Tang Wulin could spend their contribution points on entrance to a special cultivation space called the Boundless Forest. This forest was constructed by Shrek Academy, and it was filled with every plant imaginable. It practically pulsed with life. If a plant-type soul master cultivated there, their cultivation speed would double! However, entry came at a steep price. An hour in the Boundless Forest cost five hundred points.

  Back when they first entered Shrek Academy, Yuanen Yehui bought Tang Wulin lunch in exchange for his services. Tang Wulin managed to save points that way, and he later used those points to try cultivating in the Boundless Forest. The effects of that miraculous space had been clear to him. In the time he spent there, both his soul power and bluesilver grass grew far more than they would have in the outside world. Tang Wulin had calculated the cost-efficiency of using the Boundless Forest. He came to the conclusion that, if he continued using it everyday, it would only take him at most three years to reach rank 40, and that was a conservative estimate.

  The Academy offered everything its students could ever need. Even the selection of spirit items here surpassed that of the auctions in the outside world. However, federal coins were useless in the Academy. Only contribution points were accepted. Every student lacked contribution points. The thought of exchanging points for federal coins never crossed their minds.

  Although Tang Wulin was embarrassingly short on points at the moment, he was happy enough that he no longer had to worry about food expenses. He currently devoted all his time to improving his forging skills and had no time to think about making a profit.

  Amidst the hustle and bustle of student life, everyone trudged forward, one step at a time. They all prayed and worked hard, desperate to not be one of the first students facing expulsion.

  Shrek Academy gave the students just as much freedom as it did stress. This was the only way that one’s potential could truly blossom.

  Tang Wulin was busy. Gu Yue was busy. Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie were busy. They understood where they stood among their peers. They knew they couldn’t relax for even a moment. This was clearest to Xu Xiaoyan. Back at Eastsea Academy she had been lazy, and that laziness had compounded. Now that Tang Wulin had surpassed her, out of the four of them, she was the weakest.

  ☀

  “Are you there, Yuanen?” Tang Wulin said as he knocked on the door to her room. They had only two days until their day off. After thinking about things over and over again, he came to the conclusion that Yuanen Yehui was the best person to invite to their group, and he finally found time to come visit her.

  The door opened, and Yuanen Yehui stepped into view with a cold glare. “What do you want? Are you here to pay me the contribution points you owe?”


  “Contribution points?” Tang Wulin nearly choked. “I, uh, don’t have enough just yet.” He smiled meekly.

  Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him and began closing the door.

  “Wait a second!” Tang Wulin thrust his hand toward her, sticking a metallic object into the gap of the door before it could close.

  She opened the door once more and took the metal object in her hand.

  “I’m sorry about the incident from before, Yuanen, but our side was already punished for it. We’re all working students, so we shouldn’t be hostile to one another. I came to make amends. If you have anything to say to me, please say it.”


  “What is this?” Yuanen asked, looking at the metallic stone in her hand. It was cool to the touch.

  Tang Wulin grinned. “It’s a spirit alloy. Have you heard of it?”


  Yuanen Yehui’s eyes shot up to meet his. “This is a spirit alloy?” She clearly wasn’t as knowledgeable as Yue Zhengyu.

  “Yes. This is jade silver. Yue Zhengyu ordered it from me. It’s an alloy made from heavy silver and magic silver. The harmony rate of this piece isn’t too bad. It’s a little over seventy percent, but it’s too low for him, so I was planning on selling it to the Academy.”


  “You can forge spirit alloys?” Yuanen Yehui asked, her tone far more respectful than it had been just moments before.

  Tang Wulin snickered in his heart. Everything was going according to plan. He had suffered countless hardships growing up as a blacksmith, and he knew how to make the best of any situation.

  “Mn. I’m a fifth-rank blacksmith,” he said, rubbing his blacksmith’s badge as he spoke. After the incident with Yue Zhengyu, he didn’t dare to flaunt it as casually as he used to.

  In that instant, a crack formed in Yuanen Yehui’s mask of indifference, but it immediately disappeared. She returned the jade silver to him and said, “Alright. So what did you come here for?”


  Here’s my chance! Tang Wulin smiled. “You were my first client, and I remember my promise to sell you first-grade thousand refined metal at a cheap price. That promise still holds weight, and I came here because of it. I’ll come forge for you whenever you need it. You don’t have to pay me either, just consider it part of what I owe you.”


  His words eased her stern expression. “Mn.”


  “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Tang Wulin continued. “Xu Xiaoyan is ready to get her third ring, but she needs to get a new spirit soul as well. We’re planning on bringing her to the Spirit Pagoda to climb the spirit soul tower and help her get a strong spirit soul. As of now, we still need one more person to round out our team, so we would like you to join us. We aren’t asking you to help for free, of course. I’ll spirit refine a metal or forge a spirit alloy of your choice afterward.”


  “Spirit soul tower?” Yuanen Yehui’s eyes lit up.

  “Yeah, the spirit soul tower. I’ve always wanted to build a good relationship with you. After all, out of everyone in the first and second grades, you’re the strongest. If you’re willing to help us, our chances of success will be far higher. Xiaoyan is weak, and we don’t want to see our comrade get expelled at the end of the year. So…… please. Help us.”


  “Alright, I’ll go with you.”


  “Huh?” Tang Wulin never thought she would agree so easily.

  “I don’t want your spirit refining or spirit alloy though. We can talk about that in the future. I have a different condition for my help.” Yuanen Yehui’s eyes twinkled as she stared at Tang Wulin.

  “A different condition?” he echoed.

  “I want approval for the tower attack.”


  Tang Wulin’s heart thumped, and when he realized the meaning behind her words, and blurted, “You’ve already reached rank 40?”


  Yuanen Yehui had three purple soul rings and two powerful martial souls. The only reason she would want approval for the tower attack was to get another spirit soul. Only the spirit soul tower offered spirit souls suitable for martial souls as great as hers.

  She’s only fifteen, yet she’s now rank 40! I can’t even dream of reaching rank 40 by the age of fifteen! Tang Wulin would turn fourteen in half a year. He didn’t have a shred of confidence when it came to reaching rank 40 in just a year and a half. Even if he spent every waking hour cultivating in the Boundless Forest, he still believed he had no chance of getting to rank 40 in such a short time.