The aura around Ye Xinglan intensified, her eyes twinkling brightly, sword in her hand. The second grade boy felt his entire body tense up as he summoned his own martial soul in response. Three soul rings rose from beneath him, a match for Ye Xinglan’s own!

  Battle? There’s no way I can beat her! He had witnessed the match between the first and second grades, which led to the first grade becoming renowned as the strongest class of new students in the last century. None of the five rankers in the first grade had joined the battle, yet the first grade had won! It was widely known that Ye Xinglan was one of the pillars of that team. She had single handedly taken on Yue Zhengyu, He Xiaopeng, and Ye Xingmo after all! The boy knew that she was out of his league.

  “Aren’t you guys afraid of being punished by the Academy?” the boy asked meekly as he retreated a step.

  “We’ll deal with that when we get back,” Ye Xinglan tapped her foot impatiently. “Besides, this is just a loan. A fifteen day loan! And we’ll even pay you back double when we get back.”


  She took in a deep breath and raised her sword, resplendent starlight gathering around it. She didn’t want to waste anymore time. One hundred thousand credits would be enough to cover all of their travel and food expenses.

  “Fine! I’ll give it to you!” the boy shouted in despair.

  “Wait a minute,” someone said from behind him.

  The boy looked back to see Xu Lizhi holding some buns in his hands, his fat jiggling as he jogged over to the second grade boy. “Senior Brother, if you eat one of my buns, you might not necessarily lose to them! My Bloodthirst Bean Bun is very potent. It can boost your strength by thirty percent. You don’t have to defeat them. You just have to get past them! Do you think they would dare act so arrogantly once you’re on school grounds?”


  The boy looked at Xu Lizhi suspiciously. “If I remember correctly, weren’t all three of you on the same team?”


  Xu Lizhi stuck out his chest indignantly. “No way. We’re not a team right now. Everyone in the first grade is busy with our first semester’s final exam. We might get expelled if we perform badly, so we’re all rivals here.”


  The boy’s heart began to race. He was an agility-type soul master, so he felt quite confident that he could breakthrough if his power were boosted by thirty percent. Furthermore, neither of the two girls were agility-types.

  “Alright. I’ll give it a try. Give me a bean bun and a soup bun. How much are they?”


  “The Bloodthirst Bean Bun is thirty thousand credits and the Agility Soup Bun is ten thousand,” Xu Lizhi answered.

  “How is that offer any better? You’re just trying to rob me too!” The boy rolled his eyes.

  Xu Lizhi looked him straight in the eye. “You would save sixty thousand credits.”


  “Fine! But I get a refund if the buns don’t work!” The boy looked back at Ye Xinglan as if she were a devil. He paid Xu Lizhi and immediately threw the bun in his mouth. As promised, the effects instantly took hold. He felt as lithe as a swallow, his body surging with strength.

  “I’m charging through!” The boy instantly broke into a run, heading straight for the gate. He was extremely swift, just as expected from an agility-type soul master who made it into Shrek Academy. Although his legs didn’t look particularly muscular, every step he took catapulted him forward. He flew like an arrow.

  However, a yellow light suddenly enveloped his body and weighed him down. His entire body felt sluggish now. Then a thread of starlight wrapped around him.

  “Why are you guys ganging up on me?” the boy shouted.

  “We’re here to rob you! Oh, wait. I meant to say we’re here to borrow money. Who would face you by themselves?” Ye Xinglan poked her sword into the boys shoulder, pressing him to the ground. “So, will you lend me money?”


  “I’ll lend you money!”


  Ye Xinglan accepted the money from the boy then counted it. “Yeah. This is one hundred thousand. You can go now,” she said as she put her sword away.

  The boy got to his feet and glared at the two girls before leaving for class.

  “Hold on a second,” Ye Xinglan shouted after him.

  The boy turned back to look at her angrily. “What do you want now?”


  “What class are you in? And what’s your name?” Ye Xinglan asked.

  The boy eyed her suspiciously. “Why do you want to know?”


  “So I can pay you back.”


  “Really?” The boy was dumbfounded.

  Ye Xinglan frowned. “What nonsense are you thinking about? Just hurry up and tell me. Stop wasting my time.”


  “I’m in the second grade. My name is Xia Yuekong,” he answered in embarrassment before running off.

  Seeing that the matter was settled, one of the students that had been watching walked over. “Junior sisters, are you still borrowing money?” This upperclassman smiled courteously.

  “No. We have enough now.” Ye Xinglan didn’t even look at him as she left with Gu Yue.

  When the two girls passed by Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan turned to him. “You only managed to sell your buns because of us, so you’re responsible for one third of the debt.”


  “Fine, fine.” Xu Lizhi beamed. Although he had a big appetite, forty thousand credits would be more than enough for the entire trip if he dieted. He had asked the teachers beforehand if he could team up with another student since he was a support-type soul master, and they had agreed. He had originally been eyeing Tang Wulin, but after some thought, he chose Ye Xinglan. However, the number of opponents they had to defeat together doubled to twenty.

  “So they were actually working together!” The spectating students were dumbstruck as they watched the trio leave. There really are all sorts of people in this world!

  “Those juniors are really creative! How come we never thought of this back then?”


  ☀

  Tang Wulin stood outside of the Blacksmith’s Association of Shrek City. However, Mu Xi stood in his way.

  “Hm?” Tang Wulin looked at her curiously. “What are you doing here, Senior Sister?”


  Mu Xi smiled. “I heard you had an exam, so I’m here to see you off!”


  A hint of anxiety crept into Tang Wulin’s heart. “Why are you seeing me off? I don’t have much time. I want to go take some forging missions to earn some money.”


  “Forget about it,” she replied. “The Academy has already contacted us and every other association in the city. None of us will lend any of you help. You’re all forbidden from earning money at the associations, so you’ll have to think of another way to make money. You can still make money by forging, just not in this city. By the way, the Tang Sect is also cooperating with this. Hehe.”


  Tang Wulin’s jaw dropped. “I can’t believe this!”


  Mu Xi shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do about it. If you don’t want to waste anymore of your time, then quickly think of some other way to make money.”


  Tang Wulin couldn’t retort. He really was wasting his time here. What else can I do?

  A moment later, his eyes lit up. I got it!

  Tang Wulin waved goodbye to Mu Xi then ran straight for Shrek City’s train station. When he arrived, Tang Wulin looked around and was certain that he was the first of his class to come. Everyone else was still busy with earning money.

  Tickets were checked before the train could be boarded. Tang Wulin casually walked over to the departure schedule and examined it. He soon found what he was looking for. According to his plan, the first city Tang Wulin would visit was Heaven Dou City, which lay north-west of Shrek City. It was a major city, so he wouldn’t have any problems finding a suitable opponent. There were also many trains from Heaven Dou City to Bright City.

  Tang Wulin quickly found his way to the right platform. There were still five minutes left before ticket checking would commence, yet there was already a long line at the ticket checking window.

  This time, truly everything had been confiscated from him. Even his student ID and blacksmith’s badge had been taken. He was completely empty-handed.

  He walked over to the back of the line and took his place.

  The ticket checking soon began and the line started moving forward. One by one, people had their tickets checked then passed into the next area. His turn soon arrived.

  “Please show me your ticket,” said the clerk.

  Tang Wulin moved his hand to his pocket, reached in, and rummaged around for a moment. Then he looked off to the side and suddenly pointed.

  “Snake! There’s a snake!”


  His shout frightened the people around him and they all where he was pointing. Sure enough, there was a golden snake about one meter long sitting on the wall. It swiftly slithered over to the crowd. Several frightened shouts rang out and a portion of the crowd went into a panic. A moment later, a golden flash of light filled the area, and the snake disappeared.

  “Huh? Where’d the snake go?” The panicked passengers and staff members searched everywhere for the snake, but it was nowhere to be found.

  Tang Wulin had also long since disappeared. He had taken advantage of the distraction to leap past the ticket checking window. He then ran off to find a corner to hide in and retrieve Goldsong. He had succeeded in getting past the train station’s checkpoint.

  Tang Wulin boarded his train and went to find some seats that weren’t tied to a ticket.