When one focuses on a task, time always passes quickly.
Grrrrr~
In the silent forest, an untimely sound rang out.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face as he glanced left and right.
After confirming there was no one nearby, he let out a long breath, patted his somewhat empty stomach, and muttered to himself, “I can’t believe I forgot about lunch because I was so absorbed in cultivation.”
Ever since awakening his martial soul, Lu Yuan had noticed a sharp increase in his appetite.
Before, a single adult-sized portion of food would fill him up, but now he needed twice that amount.
Of course, the increased appetite came with some benefits.
Namely, the more he ate, the more he found his physical constitution improving.
Looking up at the sun slowly drifting westward, Lu Yuan said regretfully:
“It looks like lunchtime has already passed.
The cafeteria’s closed, so I guess I’ll have to head back to the dorm and snack on some jerky for now.”
Standing up and brushing the dust off his backside, Lu Yuan jogged back to the dormitory.
Pushing open the door, the first thing Lu Yuan saw was Wang Sheng and the others sitting together, whispering among themselves.
They looked like they were conspiring over something secretive, and each of them had a bundle placed beside them.
At the sound of the door opening, they sprang up from their beds like startled kittens, almost as if they’d been shocked out of their skins.
When they realized the newcomer was Lu Yuan, they quickly trotted over and stood on either side of the aisle, looking at him with respectful gazes.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan pointed at his own handsome face and smiled.
“What’s with all of you?
Am I really that scary?”
“N-no, not at all.” They hurriedly shook their heads in denial.
Exchanging glances with one another, as if they had come to some decision, they stepped forward and called out respectfully:
“Boss!”
The sudden shout from Wang Sheng and the others startled Lu Yuan.
In an instant, Lu Yuan understood what they meant.
Waving at them, he said with a smile:
“Hey, hey—no need to be so formal.
In the future, we’ll all be dormmates, and I’m not some kind of demon.”
“However—” His tone shifted as he glanced at Wang Sheng, who was standing at the front and had now recovered his composure.
Lu Yuan continued, “Since you’ve chosen to acknowledge me as boss, I’ll lay down a few rules.”
Hearing this, they all raised their heads, their hearts pounding with apprehension.
They had no idea what rules their newly recognized boss would impose, and they silently prayed in their hearts.
Without wasting any words, Lu Yuan said directly: “First, the rules of Seven Dorm are: don’t actively stir up trouble, don’t bully the weak, be united and friendly, and help each other out.” This chapter is updated first at novelping . com.
Hearing this, the weight in their hearts instantly lifted.
“However—”
“If someone bullies us, you fight back.
If you really can’t beat them, come find me—I’ll handle it for you.”
With that, Lu Yuan clenched his right fist and threw a punch forward.
A gust of wind accompanied his fist, producing a sharp crack in the air.
“Yes, Boss!”
Their faces lit up with joy.
The rules Lu Yuan laid down were virtually irrelevant to them anyway.
After all, they were the ones who got bullied at the academy—they never had the nerve to cause trouble themselves.
But it was Lu Yuan’s final assurance that truly filled them with excitement and elation.
They had already witnessed Lu Yuan’s strength.
One punch had been enough to make Wang Sheng question his very existence—that level of power was absolutely unmatched across the entire Notting Spirit Master Academy.
All their former dejection and fear vanished in an instant.
From today onward, they would no longer have to grovel before anyone in this academy.
After their emotions had steadied, Lu Yuan voiced a question that had been on his mind:
“By the way, since it’s the holidays right now, why haven’t any of you gone home?”
“Are you all planning to stay at the academy to cultivate?”
On his way to Notting City, Lu Yuan had assumed that the Seven Dorm residents would all be home for the holidays, meaning his plan to interact with those NPC-like figures would have to wait until the semester started.
After all, they were just children too, and unlike Lu Yuan, they weren’t orphans.
A whole semester away from home should have made them quite homesick.
Facing their boss’s question, Wang Sheng stepped forward first and said somewhat sheepishly:
“Well, Boss, we were actually planning to go home today.”
“But because you showed up, we had to delay a bit.”
Speaking of this, Wang Sheng fidgeted awkwardly: “After all, since you became the new boss of Seven Dorm, it would’ve felt a bit…
off if we just left without saying anything.”
Wang Sheng didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone present understood his meaning.
They were simply afraid that their new boss might think they were being disrespectful by leaving without even greeting him properly.
“Alright, I get it.” After their explanation, Lu Yuan finally understood why they were still in the dorm.
Looking at Wang Sheng, he sighed inwardly:
“So it’s because they were worried I might give them a hard time later on.”
“Still, Wang Sheng does have pretty good social awareness.
In the original work, he was the one who offered to take Tang San and Xiao Wu to the cafeteria.”
Meanwhile, Wang Sheng and the others looked at their new boss—handsome, always wearing a smile, yet extraordinarily powerful—and mustered up their courage: This chapter was taken from novelping.com without permission.
“Um…
since we’ve explained everything to you, Boss, we’ll be heading off now.”
“Mm-hmm, stay safe on the road, and see you when the semester starts!”
The other students followed suit: “See you at school, Boss!”
Waving at them, Lu Yuan watched as they filed out of Seven Dorm.
Grrrr~
As the door slowly closed, Lu Yuan’s stomach let out another dissatisfied growl.
Rubbing his belly, Lu Yuan said coaxingly, as if soothing a child: “I got so caught up talking with them that I forgot about you.”
“Time to eat!”
Without further delay, Lu Yuan quickly went over to his luggage and pulled out the chicken leg and meat buns that Uncle Li had given him that morning.
“They’re cold now, but they’ll do.
In this day and age, being able to eat meat—what’s there to complain about?”
After all, his “Third Brother” was still at home drinking watery porridge.
In no time at all, three large meat buns and a big chicken leg were polished off clean.
After washing his face outside, Lu Yuan left the dormitory once more and headed toward the library.
Over the next three months, Lu Yuan needed to read as much as possible about the types of spirit beasts, their habits, their habitats, and related topics.
This was all preparation for his future travels across the continent and his solo hunts for spirit rings.
And with the holiday ending soon, he would need to go hunt for his first spirit ring—time was running out.
After all, Lu Yuan had no intention of spending six years in Notting City like Tang San.
Walking into the library, with the librarian’s help, Lu Yuan found where the books like Illustrated Guide to Spirit Beasts of the Hunting Spirit Forest and Anecdotes and Curiosities of the Hunting Spirit Forest were located.
Grabbing the books he planned to read today, Lu Yuan quickly made his way to the spot he had chosen when he walked in.
Opening the topmost book, Lu Yuan flipped through it page by page, line by line, reading carefully.
Unlike the textbooks from his past life—filled with definitions and formulas—the books in his hands were more like encyclopedias for children, packed with examples and illustrations.
…
And so, time flew by.
One month later.
Today, as usual, after finishing his lunch, Lu Yuan went to the library.
Walking over to a shelf in the middle section, Lu Yuan quickly scanned past the books he had already read.
As his gaze drifted downward along the shelf, he happened to notice a book sticking out halfway.
Its cover was worn, clearly indicating it had been frequently flipped through.
Driven by curiosity, Lu Yuan crouched down and pulled the book from the lowest shelf.
Looking at this book, which was twice the size of his head, Lu Yuan’s eyes fell upon its cover.
On the Ten Core Competitivenesses of Martial Souls and the Influence of Martial Soul Quality on Spirit Masters