The cafeteria.
Seeing how everyone had gone quiet after he arrived, Yun Chuan felt a little awkward. He wolfed down the last bites of breakfast in his hand and then set it aside.
Looking around at the six people at the table, he said, "I guess I've been a bit remiss. As your teacher, I don't even know the most basic things about you yet. Since it's still early, why don't we do some introductions? It'll help the new and old students get to know each other."
Dai Mubai, noticing Yun Chuan was trying to ease the atmosphere, chimed in, "Teacher Tang is right. From now on we'll be living and training together. Knowing each other better will be a good thing. I'll start us off."
"My name's Dai Mubai. My martial spirit is the White Tiger. I'm at the Soul Elder level."
Once he'd spoken, Ma Hongjun — one of the older students — promptly followed, "I'm Ma Hongjun. Martial spirit: Evilfire Phoenix. Level: Great Soul Master."
"My name is Ning Rongrong. My martial spirit is the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. Level: Great Soul Master," Ning Rongrong said next, speaking up first among the newcomers.
"…Zhu Zhuqing. Martial spirit: Nether Civet. Level: Great Soul Master," Zhu Zhuqing added shortly after her, as succinct as ever.
That left only Tang San and Xiao Wu.
"I'm Xiao Wu, like 'dance.' My martial spirit is a cute little rabbit. Level: Great Soul Master," Xiao Wu went first.
"My name is Tang San. Martial spirit: Blue Silver Grass. Level: Great Soul Master," Tang San said last.
Once all six had introduced themselves, Yun Chuan nodded with a faint smile. "Very good. Then your teacher should introduce himself, too. I am Tang Chuan. My martial spirit is Blue Silver Grass as well. I'm twenty-five this year, more than ten years your senior, and my soul power is at rank seventy-one — a Soul Sage."
"What? Teacher, you're only twenty-five, and you're already a Soul Sage?!" Ning Rongrong gasped under her breath. As the little princess of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan, she knew all too well what that meant — it meant this man was almost certain to become a Titled Douluo in the future.
"Haha, I just have slightly better talent, that's all," Yun Chuan replied modestly. "You're all outstanding prodigies. If you work hard and study well, there's no reason you can't also reach Soul Sage level by my age."
Of course, everyone present knew he was only trying to encourage them. In truth, the gap between people could be greater than that between a man and a soul beast.
A Soul Sage at twenty-five?!
Anyone with common sense knew how outrageous that was.
Tang San, Dai Mubai, even Ma Hongjun… none of them believed they could hit that milestone by twenty-five. If anyone else had told them it was possible, they'd have dismissed it outright.
Compared to this man, who had reached Soul Sage at twenty-five, how could they even call themselves "monsters"?
This teacher was the real monster.
Sensing the group falling into silence, Dai Mubai hurried to break it. "Anyway, since we're all going to be together, there's no need to be too formal. Counting you four newcomers, we're only seven students in total. Xiao Ao and Fatty call me Boss Dai, since I'm older. You can just call me Mubai. Ma Hongjun is Fatty. As for Oscar, just call him Xiao Ao, or Uncle Sausage. Tang San, how about I call you Xiao San from now on?"
Tang San nodded — no objections. He was already starting to feel a touch of belonging at Shrek. The three senior students each had their quirks, but none of them rubbed him the wrong way.
Before Dai could go on, Ning Rongrong smiled and said cheerfully, "Just call me Rongrong. That's what my family and friends do."
Her smile never left her lips, and with that one simple line she drew closer to everyone. Yun Chuan thought to himself that this little princess knew how to play the part well. If he didn't already know her from the original story, he'd never guess this well-mannered, harmless girl was a willful little spitfire at heart.
Xiao Wu's name of course stayed the same, but when Dai looked toward Zhu Zhuqing, the cool girl simply stood up. "I'm full," she said, and turned to walk out.
Ma Hongjun blinked at Dai. "Boss Dai, weren't you supposed to be a lady-killer who never failed with women? How come this gorgeous new girl won't even give you a glance?"
Dai gave a bitter smile and shook his head without explaining. Yun Chuan, watching, thought wryly, 'Dump your fiancée and flee here alone? If not forced, who would bother with you?'
Tang San turned to Dai. "Mubai, since we're new here, could you tell us the academy's rules and classes?" As Yun Chuan was also a newcomer — albeit a teacher — Tang San hadn't asked him.
Dai reluctantly pulled his thoughts from Zhu Zhuqing. "There aren't many rules. Simply put: no killing, raping, looting. Fighting is encouraged. So is gambling."
Yun Chuan kept his face impassive, but inwardly snorted. What a thug's academy… with a culture like this, no wonder they ended up producing someone like Tang San to cause trouble later.
Tang San, however, smiled. Of course the "Monster Academy" would be different from the more orthodox Nuoding Academy, even in teaching methods.
"The teachers believe combat is the best way to master one's martial spirit — vital for building real battle experience," Dai went on. "As for gambling, it's mental sparring. It sharpens your mind, observations, and judgment. Of course, all in moderation. In short: fights can't kill, gambling shouldn't leave you without pants."
"As for courses… they change constantly, tailored to each student, since our teachers actually outnumber us. Today, though, I can tell you for sure the main 'lesson' is… collecting fees. Annual tuition: one hundred gold coins. Shouldn't be a problem for soul masters at your level."
At that, Xiao Wu couldn't help asking, "Boss Dai, you said the school's poor yesterday. But why? We've met teachers over rank sixty, even over seventy. At their level, the subsidies they get from Spirit Hall must be astronomical — enough to keep a small school like this running easily, right?"
By her reckoning, soul master subsidies from Spirit Hall scaled up by rank: one gold a month at level 10, ten at Great Soul Master, a hundred at Soul Elder, a thousand at Soul Ancestor, ten thousand at Soul King, a hundred thousand at Soul Emperor… and a rank seventy Soul Sage would get a million a month.
Before Dai could answer, Yun Chuan spoke. "Little Rabbit, you're too naive. Spirit Hall subsidies may be funded by the Empire and paid through the Hall, but they aren't unlimited. They only go up to Soul Elder — a hundred gold coins a month is the cap.
Above rank forty, they don't increase — in fact, they stop. Soul Ancestor and higher get nothing from Spirit Hall.
When you go to collect subsidies each month, that soul power test they insist on? It's to check if you've passed rank forty. The moment you do, the subsidies stop."
"Why? Wouldn't more powerful soul masters be more valuable?" Xiao Wu pressed, curiosity piqued. Even Tang San leaned in to listen.
Yun Chuan explained patiently, "In principle, yes. But in reality, the number of soul masters is small but not negligible. Do the math: at the rates you're imagining, a Soul Sage could collect one hundred twenty thousand gold a year. Imagine a whole academy's worth of high-rank teachers at that rate — their combined subsidies could match a tenth of a major city's entire annual income.
Apply that empire-wide, and the cost of subsidizing high-level soul masters would bankrupt the empire.
So the policy is simple: subsidies exist to encourage and aid low-rank soul masters in leveling quickly. Once you're above rank forty, you're strong enough to serve the Empire or join its military, at which point you'll be paid accordingly. Of course, soul masters are free to choose; you could also work for a noble family and earn a fine living."
Yun Chuan trailed off, and Dai picked up. His expression held a trace of pride. "Our teachers here refuse to serve under any power. Before the academy, they were all independents — they love freedom, hate restraint, and won't even accept noble titles from the Empire. So tell me, under those conditions, what income can they have?"
"Why refuse a noble title?" Xiao Wu wondered. "Wouldn't that come with some income? I remember thirty-plus rank gets you a barony, forty a viscount, and higher… I'm not sure."
This time Ning Rongrong answered for him. "Accepting an imperial title means swearing allegiance to that empire. In war, the empire has the right to summon its nobility to the battlefield. A noble's title might be nice, but it's also a shackle. Many powerful soul masters refuse noble status precisely because they don't want to be bound to fight for any one side."
(End of Chapter)