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A few days later, at Nuoding Elementary Spirit Master Academy. The sun of the new semester shone down on the clean flagstones as students gathered in small groups. They wore their academy uniforms, held textbooks, and excitedly discussed their holiday experiences and the upcoming cultivation courses. It was a lively scene.
At the same time, inside the academy's office building, Grandmaster sat in his office, reading a thick book. His brow was furrowed with his usual solemn and focused expression.
"Bangâ!"
Suddenly, a loud sound broke the quiet in the room. The office door was abruptly pushed open from the outside. Grandmaster was slightly startled and looked up to see a middle-aged man rushing in, panting. It was Director Su of the academic affairs office.
"Grandmaster, I apologize for the intrusion," Director Su said, faintly sweating from walking so quickly.
Grandmaster frowned, put down his book, and slowly stood up, a hint of impatience in his voice. "Director Su, why are you in such a panic?"
Director Su wiped his sweat and spoke urgently. "Grandmaster, I wanted to ask if you've seen Tang Chuan? He... he hasn't returned to school to register."
"Tang Chuan?" Grandmaster was slightly taken aback, then his brows furrowed tightly, and he let out a displeased snort. "He's a Blue Silver Grass Spirit Master with only rank one innate spirit power. What does his return to school have to do with me? Why are you asking me?"
Director Su quickly waved his hand to explain. "No, no, Grandmaster, you've misunderstood. I just asked Tang Chuan's younger brother, Little San. He said that before he went home, his brother told him that in a few days he would go to the Spirit Hunting Forest with an academy teacher to get a spirit ring."
Grandmaster's brows moved slightly, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, but he remained silent.
Director Su continued. "But our academic affairs office never arranged for Tang Chuan to go get a spirit ring, and no teacher took him. I even thought you might have given him some special treatment... after all, he is your disciple Little San's older brother."
"Tang Chuan has not come to see me." Grandmaster's eyebrows immediately furrowed even more tightly. After a moment of silence, he replied faintly. However, he thought to himself, "Could it be... this kid secretly went to the Spirit Hunting Forest by himself?"
"With his strength, it's unlikely any spirit hunting team would want him. Even if a team was willing to take him, they would most likely treat him as a liability once they were in the forest. If danger arose, he would probably be the first one they used as a shield."
Thinking this, Grandmaster's lips couldn't help but curve into a slight smile. "This kid... could it be that he saw Little San's spirit power increase so quickly and became competitive, making him impatient to hunt spirit beasts and get a spirit ring?"
"Oh..." Director Su sighed, becoming even more anxious. He said angrily, "This kid wouldn't have gone to the Spirit Hunting Forest alone, would he? That's simply reckless!"
Just then, hurried footsteps came from the stairs. Before Grandmaster and Director Su could react, the office door was pushed open with another bang. A young man in blue stood in the doorway, the sunlight behind him casting a faint golden halo around his body. This person was Tang Chuan.
"Director Su, I heard you were looking for me?"
Hearing this, Director Su's eyes widened. He took two steps at a time to approach Tang Chuan, looking at him from head to toe, then immediately started scolding him. "You brat! You're finally back! Where did you run off to? The whole academy has been in class for half a day! And I've been looking for you all morning."
Tang Chuan scratched his head sheepishly, smiling awkwardly. "Sorry, Director Su, I... I went to the Spirit Hunting Forest to hunt a spirit beast."
Director Su's expression changed dramatically. "You went alone?!"
"Yes."
"Are you hurt? You don't even have a permit, how did you get into the forest?!"
Seeing Director Su bombard him with questions, Tang Chuan simply confessed. "I snuck into a fairly large spirit hunting team. The people didn't know each other; they were a temporary group. Once I was in, I found a suitable spirit beast... well, I got lucky and managed to have a breakthrough."
After he spoke, he slowly raised his right hand and opened his palm. A stalk of Blue Silver Grass, glowing with a faint blue-gold luster, emerged from his palm, emitting a soft aura of vitality. At the same time, a white light flashed beneath Tang Chuan's feet, and a white spirit ring rose from the ground.
Watching this, Director Su was stunned. Then a look of pleasant surprise flashed in his eyes. "A white spirit ring?! You actually succeeded? And you came back alive! And your spirit ring seems to be circulating smoothly, which means you had a high fusion rate. The spirit beast you hunted must have been very compatible with your spirit! This isn't simple, Tang Chuan!"
In Director Su's eyes, for a commoner with a Blue Silver Grass spirit to enter the Spirit Hunting Forest alone, safely hunt a spirit beast, and successfully fuse with a spirit ring was an extremely rare display of talent and courage. Even if the spirit ring was only ten years old, it was impressive.
However, Grandmaster let out a cold laugh, his gaze filled with disdain. "A white ten-year spirit ring?" He slowly walked forward, looking at the Blue Silver Grass in Tang Chuan's palm and the white spirit ring, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Hahaha... you have some guts, daring to go to the Spirit Hunting Forest alone to hunt spirit beasts. You truly don't know your place. The fact that you came back alive was pure luck. Even I, the last time I took Little San to the Spirit Hunting Forest, we almost got into trouble."
"If I hadn't been there to protect him, Little San might have died. The dangers of the spirit beast forest aren't something a young Spirit Master like you, who hasn't been cultivating for many years, can imagine."
"You... you're truly incredibly stupid!" Grandmaster said. "You were so impatient to cultivate that you disregarded your own life. I'm not afraid to tell you that it's the same whether you get a spirit ring a few days earlier or a few days later, because even if your spirit power reaches a bottleneck, you can still cultivate spirit power without a spirit ring." He added, "Didn't you used to pride yourself on being knowledgeable about spirit theory? You don't even understand a simple principle like that?"
Tang Chuan's expression was calm as he listened to these harsh words. He didn't argue or lower his head. He just smiled slightly and glanced at Director Su. "Director Su, can I go back to class now?"
Director Su was stunned. He scratched his head awkwardly and quickly said, "Ah, of course, of course you can. You can also go back to your dorm to rest first and resume classes tomorrow."
"Mm." Tang Chuan nodded, then turned and left.
After Tang Chuan left the office and his figure gradually disappeared down the corridor, Director Su finally couldn't help but speak. "Grandmaster, why did you say those things just now?" He sounded confused. "For someone Tang Chuan's age, to cultivate a trash spirit like Blue Silver Grass to this extent and even get a spirit ring by himself... he's already considered outstanding among commoners. Even if it's only a ten-year one, that's still very impressive." He paused. "Don't you think it was too hurtful to say that to his face?"
Grandmaster, who had been turning a page, stopped and slowly closed the book. He looked up, his expression unreadable, at Director Su. "You think I was trying to put him down?" He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the swaying tree shadows outside the window. "No, what I said just now... was for his own good."
"This kid is very stubborn. You haven't truly interacted with him, so you don't know. He once questioned my spirit theory in front of me and Little San. Whether you call him bold or stubborn, once he believes something, he won't easily listen to others. Even if you explain the reasoning in detail, he will only think you're lying to him. He's an incorrigible blockhead."
"You also know how cruel the Spirit Master world is. People with low strength but blind self-confidence either die at the hands of spirit beasts or enemies, or they destroy themselves. This child is good, but he still needs to be refined!"
The afternoon sun filtered through the campus trees, casting dappled light on the flagstones. After leaving the office, Tang Chuan didn't go to class. He followed the familiar path back to his dormitory.
A faint smile played on his lips, and his steps were light; he seemed to be in a very good mood. He was not affected in the slightest by Grandmaster's words. In Tang Chuan's view, people like Grandmaster are shameless, rigid, stubborn, hypocritical, and have double standards.
He was too lazy to bother with such an idiot. He knew that when Grandmaster truly crossed his line one day, he would have it coming. After all, before he had been reincarnated on the Douluo Continent, Tang Chuan had read many Douluo fanfictions where Grandmaster was sent to prison, made a eunuch, or even turned into a woman who met General Yuwen and his subordinates. All sorts of tricks were possible!