Seeing Dong Qianqiu fuming with reddened eyes as she wiped her tears away, Lan Xuanyu’s heart couldn’t help but soften. It seemed that he had really gone a little overboard.
“Sorry!” Lan Xuanyu whispered.
Dong Qianqiu glared at him fiercely.
Lan Xuanyu went over and sat next to her. “Why don’t you hit me back to vent your anger?”
Dong Qianqiu pushed him hard, making him fall to one side, then threw a few punches at him. With choked sobs, she said, “How am I going back to school? How are my classmates going to look at me?”
“I only thought of getting back at you at that time,” Lan Xuanyu said with embarrassment. “This… I don’t know what to do either.”
Dong Qianqiu glared at him fiercely; she felt conflicted too.
That little aggrieved look was simply too lovely, and there were even beads of tears on those long eyelashes of hers.
Lan Xuanyu lifted his hand unconsciously and wiped the tears off her eyelashes.
Dong Qianqiu was stunned by his sudden intimacy and hurriedly pushed his arm away. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing, nothing. What can I do? I can’t even defeat you, anyway,” Lan Xuanyu said pitifully.
Dong Qianqiu wasn’t sure why, but she felt like kicking this chap when he acted pitifully.
“Why don’t you be my girlfriend when we grow up? I’ll take responsibility for you,” Lan Xuanyu said carefully.
“Who wants to be your girlfriend in the future?” Dong Qianqiu stood up, kicked him a few more times before turning and running away.
Lan Xuanyu got up from the ground, his body still soaking wet, and he shook his head. What happened today had offended her badly! It probably wouldn’t be easy to summon her next time.
Back in the dormitory, after showering and changing came the interrogation.
“Tell us, what happened?” Nan Cheng and Lan Xiao looked at their son curiously.
Lan Xuanyu shook his head in embarrassment but still told them what happened.
After listening to him, Nan Cheng smacked him on the shoulder. “You brat, how could you do that? How important is a girl’s reputation, huh! You did this to her in front of everyone, so how could she not be mad? You deserve to be beaten.”
Lan Xiao, who sat at the side, added fuel to the fire, “That’s right, you deserve it.”
“Cough cough. Daddy, Mommy, how could you guys side with an outsider? She wanted to take revenge on me. I was just fighting back, right? And I got beaten by her too!”
Nan Cheng scoffed. “Don’t give me that. I took a glimpse when you were showering, and you don’t have a bruise on you at all. She probably didn’t use any force to beat you.”
Lan Xuanyu’s eyes widened. “Mommy, I’m already so big, yet you still peeped at me when I was showering?”
Nan Cheng blushed. “Hai, I’m your mother, and I always will be, no matter how old you are. What’s wrong with looking at you in the shower? It’s only because I care for you, right?”
Lan Xuanyu felt somewhat wronged this time. Dong Qianqiu’s beatings were painful; it was just that his skin was a bit thicker and he was meatier. Was it his fault?
Nana returned, and the moment she entered, she looked at Lan Xuanyu weirdly. He didn’t have to ask and already knew that Dong Qianqiu had definitely complained.
“Teacher Nana, I was wrong.” Lan Xuanyu quickly walked over to her and admitted his mistake honestly.
Nana merely rubbed his head gently. “It’s just a small misunderstanding. Oh right, do you really want to date Qianqiu when you grow up?”
“Ah?” Lan Xuanyu was taken aback by her question. Dong Qianqiu also told Teacher Nana about that?
Nana didn’t wait for his reply and smiled. “Qianqiu is very outstanding and also very hardworking. If you really want to court her, you have to work hard to catch up to her. She will be enrolling in Shrek Academy next. If you want to be with her in the future, you must strive to enroll there too.”
Hearing the words ‘Shrek Academy’, Nan Cheng and Lan Xiao became stunned. The former got so excited that she even stood up.
“Shrek Academy? Is it that Shrek Academy?”
Nana nodded gently.
Shrek, such a simple name, yet it had dominated the land for tens of thousands of years. In the past, when mankind was still on the Mother Planet, Douluo Planet, it was the first school in the land. Its history even dated back to over 30,000 years ago. It was undoubtedly the oldest school in the Federation’s history.
A sacred place for Soul Masters, it was where all Soul Masters headed to, and if one was able to enroll in Shrek Academy, even just attending class for a day would be the greatest honor.
Also, there were legendary god-rank elites in Shrek Academy!
When Lan Xiao and Nan Cheng heard the words ‘Shrek Academy’ from Nana, how could they not be stirred up?
Nan Cheng said in a disheartened tone, “But Xuanyu’s cultivation is too weak. How could he get in?”
Nana shook her head. “I heard someone from our academy mentioning that the requirement for Shrek Academy was to reach rank 20 below the age of 12, then he or she will be able to go to various major planets to begin basic assessments. Although most participants taking part in the assessment are rank 25 or even rank 30 and above, students who are rank 20 are definitely qualified to apply. This time, Lan Xuanyu is here and I will help him reach rank 20; he will then be able to apply for it. Further, he is a Twin Spirit Martial Soul and his Martial Soul is very unique, so he might stand a chance. Let him give it a go.”
Lan Xuanyu suddenly said, “I think we will have to go through a test when school reopens next semester. It’s a preliminary test, but could it be this test?”
Nana smiled. “Your Elite Junior Class was probably established to select gifted students to try and enroll them into Shrek Academy. But to stand out among all the students of the same age on the planet should be quite a challenge. Are you confident?”
Lan Xuanyu looked at her and said, “No! I’m only on my first ring while the rest are already on their thirds—there is quite a big gap.”
“That’s not definite,” Nana said. “We’ll see if there are any changes after you reach your second ring. Let’s eat first, and then we’ll begin.”
Nana was the one who prepared the dishes. Honestly speaking, they tasted average and were cooked with very basic methods. However, the ingredients were definitely top-notched and all were rare.
Lan Xuanyu ate quite a lot of rare ingredients too, but there were still some that he had never seen before.
Initially, Dong Qianqiu was supposed to have dinner with them, but Lan Xuanyu made her so mad that she refused to come over.
After dinner, Nan Cheng helped Nana clear the dishes and Nana brought Lan Xuanyu to the cultivation room.
“Are you full?” Nana rubbed Lan Xuanyu’s head gently.
Seeing her gentle gaze, Lan Xuanyu couldn’t help but hug her waist. “I’m full, I’m full. Thank you, Teacher Nana.”
Nana smiled. “Let’s begin then. Let me see if you’ve been idling during these few years.”
Lan Xuanyu said with a frown, “I could have already broken through rank 20, but the teacher just refused to give me a break, so I delayed till now.”
He himself was getting a little anxious too. Seeing all his classmates breaking through to rank 20 and even rank 30, how could he not be anxious? Soul Power was the foundation of a Soul Master; without the strong support of a Soul Power, he wouldn’t be able to become an elite even if he was strong in other aspects.
“As the saying goes, ‘Grinding a chopper will not delay the work of cutting firewood. [1]’ This isn’t a bad thing actually,” Nana said. “Sit down, let me feel the changes in your gold and silver vortex.”
“Okay.” Lan Xuanyu sat cross-legged obediently.
Nana sat behind him, raised her right hand, and pressed on his back gently.
The moment her palm plastered onto Lan Xuanyu’s back, her refined brows raised slightly and she had a look of surprise. Nana closed her eyes to further confirm things and felt the changes in Lan Xuanyu’s body silently.
Lan Xuanyu only felt a warm sensation on his back. The golden and silver vortex in his chest slowed down, the feeling cozy. There was an indescribable comfort.
After quite some time, Nana finally retracted her palm and said, “Very good.”
[1]: More preparation may quicken the speed in doing work