Classroom of Class Four.
"Good morning, class rep. Good morning, Sister Nan Nan." The students of Class Four greeted Zhu Ziyang warmly. Over the past month, he had established a great reputation in the class. Jiang Nannan, too, had earned the respect of most students with her perfect five-win streak in practical lessons.
The two smiled and responded to each greeting.
The school bell rang, and Xia Yu walked into the classroom.
"A new month has begun. I hope those of you who are still here will continue working hard," Xia Yu began as usual, then officially started the class.
After five rounds of combat assessments, Class Four was now down to ninety-five students. Four had been expelled due to losing all their matches. The dismissals created a sense of urgency among the remaining students.
No one blamed Xia Yu—compared to the other class teachers, he was practically an angel. Class Two expelled the fewest students, just seven. Class One expelled the most—seventeen in a single day, terrifying the others.
It really was scary!
The morning class ended quickly, and Zhu Ziyang went to find Xia Yu.
"So, Tang Ya went to hunt her second soul ring? Alright, then I won't mark her as absent!" Xia Yu said with a smile. He handed a paper to Zhu Ziyang and instructed, "This is the group list for this month. Announce it this afternoon. You can remove Tang Ya's name—any student who breaks through a realm doesn't need to participate in combat practice."
"Understood," Zhu Ziyang replied as he accepted the list.
"Here's the item you asked for." Xia Yu took out a soul guide ring and tossed it to Zhu Ziyang. "Don't forget to return it."
"You got it already?!" Zhu Ziyang said, surprised and pleased. "I will. Thanks, Brother Yu!"
"Alright, go on then!" Xia Yu chuckled and waved him off. "If you manage to refine pills, be sure to show me. I want to see if this side project of yours is actually worth it."
"Hehehe!" Zhu Ziyang laughed and left the office.
"Brother, did Teacher Xia scold Xiao Ya?" Jiang Nannan asked as she wrapped her arm around his.
"Nope. Brother Yu is actually pretty easygoing," Zhu Ziyang answered.
"Mm-hmm, I think so too! Teacher Xia is such a nice person!" Jiang Nannan nodded and smiled.
If Xia Yu knew such a cute girl called him a "nice guy," he'd definitely be delighted.
Evening.
Freshman Dormitory Building.
"See you tomorrow, brother. I'm going back to cultivate," Jiang Nannan said.
"Alright. Go ahead," Zhu Ziyang nodded.
Over the month, not only had Tang Ya made progress, but Jiang Nannan had also advanced from level 25 to level 26. Zhu Ziyang, with his higher cultivation realm and twin extreme martial souls, required more soul power to progress, making his advancement slower. But thanks to the Great Radiance Technique, his soul power grew steadily. He was now at level 35.
After Jiang Nannan left, Zhu Ziyang returned to his dorm.
Inside, he took out the spatial ring Xia Yu had given him and began removing its contents—aside from the alchemy ingredients he'd requested, there was nothing else.
Yes, alchemy ingredients.
After a month of preparation, Zhu Ziyang had mastered all the theoretical knowledge of pill refining—only practice remained. Once he found a formula for a pill that aided cultivation, he went straight to Shrek City to buy the materials.
He had done his research—Shrek City had over ten major trading firms. Apart from the super-powerful Treasure Pavilion, the five major firms were the Jiubao Guild, the Tianhun Guild, the Douling Guild, the Xingluo Guild, and the Liuyun Guild. The Jiubao Guild was a branch of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. The Tianhun, Douling, and Xingluo Guilds were supported by royal or noble families from the three great empires. The Liuyun Guild appeared to have no backing.
But how could that be possible? Any firm that could stand alongside the likes of the Treasure Pavilion and the others must have strong support. And sure enough, Zhu Ziyang heard a rumor: the founder of the Liuyun Guild was said to be the illegitimate child of a former headmaster of Shrek Academy.
Whether the rumor was true or not, one thing was certain: the Liuyun Guild was backed by Shrek Academy.
So as a student of Shrek Academy, Zhu Ziyang had every reason to choose them. Besides, they were the most affordable of the five major firms. Their average prices were the lowest—this alone made them his best choice.
When he went to the Liuyun Guild to purchase alchemy ingredients, he happened to run into Xia Yu.
Yes, Xia Yu—his class teacher. Zhu Ziyang then learned that Xia Yu wasn't just a teacher at Shrek Academy—he was also the heir to the Liuyun Guild! He knew Xia Yu was rich—but not that rich.
Xia Yu was surprised to see him and asked what he was doing. Zhu Ziyang, not thinking much, told him about his plan to make money through alchemy. Xia Yu became very interested and immediately offered to sponsor the whole endeavor—for free.
Zhu Ziyang was surprised and suspicious. Free often meant costly. So he asked why—and Xia Yu simply said: it just sounded fun.
Zhu Ziyang could only marvel—this guy's loaded.
Thanks to Xia Yu, he saved 100,000 gold soul coins and got a free soul guide alchemy furnace plus a ton of ingredients.
Back to the present, Zhu Ziyang began inspecting the materials.
"This is a thousand-year Huìyuán flower?!" he gasped, holding a pale white flower with yellow speckles. "Didn't I ask for a hundred-year version? This one's at least 5,000 gold soul coins each!"
"Thousand-year jade ganoderma, thousand-year astragalus, hundred-year Shengyuan fruit, thousand-year Qinghe beast blood…" He examined the rest in awe and joy.
All the ingredients were one or two tiers above what he planned. Their total value was five times his budget! Originally, they would have cost 50,000 gold coins—but now, at least 250,000!
"This favor just got a lot bigger…" Zhu Ziyang muttered, eyes glowing with calculation.
Then he looked at the pill furnace beside him, face calm, eyes resolute.
Time to refine pills!