"Hey, old man, Tang Fundamental's salary must not be too low. Remember, I'm here!" Ah Mo Li said to Old Fart Wei, sounding quite brotherly.
Tang Tian's impression of that annoying cow suddenly changed—he seemed like a good person!
The old man whispered, "Alright, double the salary. That's the furthest I can go. A Bronze Grade Two or Three Spirit Card, you can choose one from what the school offers. However, whichever card you choose, you must perfect it before selecting a new one. After all, they are for your cultivation, so don't bite off more than you can chew!"
The old man was very calculating. It was difficult to master Rank Two martial arts. Needless to say, Rank Three martial arts were even harder than Rank Two. The old man wouldn't lose too much.
"Deal!" Tang Tian was relatively satisfied.
He had intended to work in order to obtain a Spirit Card. Being able to get one Spirit Card already made him very happy.
Nothing was more wonderful than focusing on cultivation.
"Oh right, what is the name of our school?" Tang Tian suddenly remembered this question.
"It is called… called…" Ah Mo Li gave up and looked at Old Fart Wei.
"Caramel Academy," Old Fart Wei said with a smile.
Tang Tian frowned, drawing lines across his forehead. The founder of the academy must have really liked caramel.
He quickly threw the strange name to the back of his mind, rubbing his fists together as he asked, "Where is our academy?"
Although the name sounded strange to Tang Tian, it didn't bother him much.
Many academies were built in Star Wind City because the city provided the most funding. For Andrew Academy to reach the top ten was already considered a prestigious academy.
Even so, there were many smaller academies that had never been heard of before.
"Hehehe, young people are always full of enthusiasm! I like that! Oh, it's not too far," Old Fart Wei said, smiling from ear to ear.
Two hours later, deep inside a deserted forest.
Tang Tian was shocked to discover several shabby wooden huts that looked as though they might collapse at any moment.
A corroded metal plate hung from a broken wooden pole. The words "Caramel Academy" were engraved on it.
When the wind blew, it knocked against the metal plate…
"Is this Caramel Academy?" Tang Tian turned and asked, pointing at the nearly collapsed wooden huts.
"Hahahaha! Although the conditions are quite harsh, you young people must have discipline!" Old Fart Wei wasn't embarrassed at all.
Ah Mo Li shouted in shock, "Old Wei, you are too miserable! Didn't you say your school was ranked in the top fifty?"
"Well, I never lied to you. Fifty years ago, Caramel Academy was in the top fifty."
"What about now?" Tang Tian asked suspiciously.
"Ah ha… well now we have encountered a few difficulties…"
Old Fart Wei laughed.
"Ranking!" Tang Tian glared at him.
"Ranking… Oh, we are ranked number 352," Old Fart Wei said, squinting his eyes.
Tang Tian turned and asked Ah Mo Li, "How many schools are there in Star Wind City?"
Ah Mo Li frowned and thought for a moment.
"I think there are around 350 in total."
"Bullshit!" Old Fart Wei jumped up. "There are definitely 354!"
Tang Tian's face darkened.
"Third from the bottom!"
Old Fart Wei blinked his small eyes innocently.
Ah Mo Li suddenly realized something. "No wonder you were willing to make such a big bet. You must have lost a lot, and they will cancel your academy qualification soon. Hey old man, can you even pay our salaries?"
Old Fart Wei patted his chest.
"Don't worry about that. Caramel Academy has an eight-year history. Surely we still have some savings. I can pay part of your salary now."
"Where are the students? Don't tell me there are only the two of us?" Tang Tian asked.
Old Fart Wei continued blinking innocently.
"The last student transferred away two days ago."
"What about the teachers?" Tang Tian asked again.
"Me."
Old Fart Wei pointed to himself as if it were obvious.
Tang Tian turned to Ah Mo Li.
"How do you even know him?"
Ah Mo Li answered shyly, "I think we met when I was very young. He said I was a genius. Every time we met, he praised me. After praising me for several years, we became close."
Then he added the final sentence.
"I think he's right."
Tang Tian was speechless.
He stared at the academy ruins as he slowly walked closer.
"Don't tell me you're intimidated by such a trivial difficulty?" Old Fart Wei sneered.
"Intimidated?" Tang Tian grimaced and stared at Old Fart Wei.
Tang Tian snorted and rolled up his sleeves.
"Well, Fundamental Tang, what do you want to do? Are you going to beat him? Actually, I do think he deserves to be beaten," Ah Mo Li tilted his head and asked.
"Build huts."
Without turning around, Tang Tian walked toward the forest.
"Build huts?" Ah Mo Li looked at the ruined huts and suddenly understood.
"Of course! As expected of someone like a god! Just as I said, this problem is nothing for Fundamental Tang…"
Interrupting his rambling, Tang Tian pointed at the forest.
"You bring the wood here!"
"No problem!"
Ah Mo Li slapped his chest loudly and rushed aggressively into the forest.
Tang Tian began calculating.
This place was far from Star Wind City, so they definitely needed living quarters. There should be three huts, each with one room.
They also needed to build a simple training hut.
Among the old huts there was one that seemed to contain books. Tang Tian estimated it was useless but still decided to build a small hut to store all the junk.
Tang Tian had lived alone for a long time and often repaired things himself.
His style was quick and decisive. Very quickly, he cleared a piece of land.
Not long after, the ground began to shake.
Tang Tian froze.
On Ah Mo Li's shoulder was a tree nearly three meters long. The end of the trunk dragged across the ground. Ah Mo Li looked like a raging wild bull charging forward.
"Huo! Huo! Huo!"
Under the enormous log, Ah Mo Li's muscular body looked somewhat pitiful.
His mouth formed an "O" shape, every muscle in his body tense. Each step he took crushed the ground beneath his feet.
With the massive log resting on his body, he looked like a giant broom sweeping across the land.
Even though Tang Tian believed strongly in his own strength, he was still stunned when he saw this barbaric bull.
Dong!
When Ah Mo Li arrived in front of Tang Tian, he threw the log from his shoulder onto the ground.
The earth beneath Tang Tian's feet trembled.
"Is this enough? Do you want me to bring more trees?" Ah Mo Li asked excitedly.
Immediately, Tang Tian made a wise decision.
He found a broken knife in a pile of junk and handed it to Ah Mo Li.
"Use this to cut the wood into planks."
"This thickness will do," Tang Tian demonstrated seriously. "This is actually a very practical way to train your cultivation! The condition is absolute precision."
"No problem at all!"
Ah Mo Li's eyes lit up.
He grabbed the broken knife and rushed toward the trees like the wind.
What an incredible human-shaped robot!
Tang Tian felt extremely grateful.
He buried his head and started working hard.
"As expected, young people are full of enthusiasm!"
Old Fart Wei sighed, slowly climbing into the hammock tied beneath a shady tree. He yawned and soon fell asleep.
---
Seeing the newly built wooden huts in front of them, Tang Tian and Ah Mo Li felt satisfied.
Ah Mo Li's wooden planks were fairly consistent, and Tang Tian's carpentry wasn't too bad either.
After working all day, both of them were exhausted.
"Let's rest," Tang Tian waved his hand and entered his wooden hut.
Ah Mo Li yawned and immediately climbed into his own hut to sleep.
Tang Tian didn't go to sleep immediately. He opened a letter and began writing to Qian Hui.
"Qian Hui, I transferred schools today. The new school is called Caramel Academy. It's very interesting. This school is filled with the scent of nature."
Under the moonlight, Old Fart Wei lay in his hammock and opened his eyes.
He blinked slowly and looked toward the wooden hut glowing with orange light. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and a deep, hazy look appeared in his small eyes.
One night passed.
Early the next morning, Tang Tian woke up.
Because he had followed the same routine for years, his body clock woke him at the same time despite the exhausting work of the previous day.
Beside the academy flowed a small river. The cold water refreshed him instantly.
"Young man, as expected you are full of enthusiasm!"
Old Fart Wei's voice came from behind him.
Tang Tian didn't even turn his head and asked, "Principal, you're up this early too?"
"Heh, I'm already old. We don't need as much sleep as you young people!" Old Fart Wei said helplessly.
Then he continued, "Right, what kind of Spirit Card do you need?"
Hearing the words "Spirit Card," Tang Tian immediately became energetic.
"A Rank Two one will do. Preferably something related to fist techniques."
Tang Tian's cultivation talent was average, but recently he felt excited every time he punched someone.
"Fist techniques, huh… not many people focus on them. Give me some time to find a few."
Old Fart Wei took out many Bronze Spirit Cards and placed them in front of Tang Tian.
"Here, these are all related to fist techniques. Pick one."
Tang Tian was extremely excited when he saw the cards and immediately began examining them one by one.
Bronze Spirit Cards were bronze-colored at the top, and in the center was the faint image of a person standing with clenched fists.
Different cards showed different shadow figures performing various movements.
On the back of the card was a description related to the Spirit Card.
After martial artists created their own martial arts, they could create their own Spirit Cards.
Spirit Cards had three quality levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
Spirit Cards contained the martial artist's Spirit Brand and a portion of their martial understanding. The higher the rank of the card, the more complete the understanding.
Bronze cards contained up to thirty percent, Silver around sixty percent, and Gold contained the full understanding.
Spirit Cards had two functions: summoning a spirit to train with, or possession.
Once a Spirit Card was possessed, the information and understanding from the spirit brand would be fully received by the user.
Both summoning and possession had time limits.
Originally, possession was created as a combat technique, but people soon discovered it was much easier to use for martial training.
After that, Spirit Cards became extremely popular.
Even now, after thousands of years, Spirit Cards remained widespread and the system had become very refined.
Tang Tian examined each card carefully.
[Thousand Whirlpools Fist Technique] – fists swirl like whirlpools, hundreds of revolutions and thousands of returns, leaving no openings. Requires water affinity for optimal power.
[Blazing Sun Fist Technique] – fists like the blazing sun, radiating ten thousand rays, dominating the enemy. Requires fire affinity for optimal power.
[Withered Wood Fist Technique] – sharp like dry branches, using elegance to break through, using defense as attack. Requires wood affinity for optimal power.
…
Seeing these techniques required elemental affinity to be effective, Tang Tian rejected them without hesitation.
[Flash Fist Technique] – as fast as lightning, suitable for all affinities.
[Heavy Fist Technique] – powerful and heavy, using weight for breakthrough, suitable for all affinities.
Thinking about Ah Mo Li, who was obsessed with brute strength, Tang Tian finally chose the Flash Fist Technique.