Inside the dining hall.
Yun Chuan, eating his breakfast, felt a bit awkward seeing that everyone around him had stopped talking because of his arrival. He quickly finished the breakfast in his hand and temporarily stopped eating.
He looked at the six people around him and said, "It's actually a dereliction of duty. As a teacher, I haven't even understood your most basic information. Since it's still early, why don't you all introduce yourselves? New students and old students can also get to know each other."
Seeing Yun Chuan trying to ease the atmosphere, Dai Mubai also chimed in, "Teacher Tang is right. Everyone will be living and cultivating together from now on. It's good to get to know each other first. Let me start."
"My name is Dai Mubai, my Spirit is the White Tiger, and my strength is at the Spirit Elder stage."
After Dai Mubai spoke, Ma Hongjun, as an old student, also very consciously began his self-introduction: "My name is Ma Hongjun, my Spirit is the Evil Fire Phoenix, and my strength is at the Spirit Grandmaster stage."
"My name is Ning Rongrong, my Spirit is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and my strength is also at the Spirit Grandmaster stage." Ning Rongrong was the first of the new students to speak.
"...Zhu Zhuqing, my Spirit is the Hell Civet, and my strength is also at the Spirit Grandmaster stage." Zhu Zhuqing, who didn't speak much, followed closely after Ning Rongrong.
Finally, only Tang San and Xiao Wu were left.
"My name is Xiao Wu, the Wu from dancing, my Spirit is a cute little rabbit, and my strength is also at the Spirit Grandmaster stage." Xiao Wu spoke first.
"My name is Tang San, my Spirit is the Blue Silver Grass, and my strength is also at the Spirit Grandmaster stage." Tang San was the last to speak.
Seeing that all six had finished their self-introductions, Yun Chuan nodded and smiled, "You are all very good. Then let me introduce myself. My name is Tang Chuan, my Spirit is the Blue Silver Grass, I am twenty-five years old, a dozen years older than you, and my spirit power is currently at level seventy-one Spirit Saint."
"Teacher, you're only twenty-five, and you're already a Spirit Saint!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed softly upon hearing this. As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, she knew too well what it meant for Yun Chuan to have such a rank at his current age. It meant that this teacher would definitely become a Titled Douluo in the future!
"Hehe, I just have slightly better talent." Yun Chuan smiled humbly and said, "You are all incredibly talented prodigies. As long as you cultivate diligently and study hard, it's not impossible for you to become a Spirit Saint at this age, just like me."
Although he said so, everyone present knew that this Teacher Tang was just encouraging them. After all, people cannot be compared to each other. Sometimes the gap is even larger than between humans and Spirit Beasts.
Reaching Spirit Saint at twenty-five?!
Anyone with a bit of common sense knew how incredible such a thing was.
Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others didn't believe they could reach Spirit Saint at twenty-five. This was simply not something a human could accomplish. To be honest, if this teacher wasn't right in front of them, and someone else told them that someone could reach Spirit Saint before twenty-five, they would definitely say, "Stop bullshitting."
Compared to this teacher who reached Spirit Saint at twenty-five, how could they, these Little freaks, still be called freaks?
This teacher was the real freak!
Seeing that everyone else had fallen silent, Dai Mubai quickly spoke to ease the atmosphere, "Right, everyone will be studying together from now on. So there's no need to be too formal with titles. Including you four newcomers, the academy only has seven people in total. Little Ao and Fatty both call me Boss Dai because I'm a bit older than them. You can just call me Mubai, and for Ma Hongjun, just call him Fatty. As for Oscar, you can call him Little Ao or Big Sausage Uncle. Tang San, how about I call you Little San from now on?"
Tang San nodded, indicating he had no objection. Although he hadn't had much contact with Shrek Academy yet, he already felt a sense of belonging. Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun, these three students each had their own characteristics, but none of them annoyed him.
Before Dai Mubai could talk about her, Ning Rongrong cheerfully said, "You can just call me Rongrong. My family and friends all call me that."
Her smile was always on her face, and a simple sentence invisibly drew her closer to everyone. Yun Chuan thought to himself that this little devil girl was quite good at pretending. If he hadn't read the original novel, he would never have thought that this harmless, well-behaved girl in front of him was essentially a spoiled and willful little devil girl.
When it was Xiao Wu's turn, Xiao Wu's address naturally didn't need to change. And when Dai Mubai's gaze fell on Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuqing stood up and said, "I'm full."
After speaking, she turned and walked out.
Ma Hongjun looked at Dai Mubai in surprise and said, "Boss Dai, aren't you known as someone who's irresistible among women, a 'maiden killer'? How come this new pretty girl doesn't even want to look at you more than once?"
Dai Mubai gave a wry smile, shook his head, but didn't explain. Yun Chuan, beside him, thought to himself that if he hadn't been forced, who would bother with someone who abandoned his fiancée and fled here alone?
Tang San said to Dai Mubai, "Mubai, we're all new. Can you tell us about the academy's rules and curriculum?" Since Yun Chuan was a new teacher, he definitely wouldn't be familiar with them, so he didn't ask him.
Dai Mubai reluctantly pulled his thoughts away from Zhu Zhuqing and said, "The academy doesn't have any special rules. Simply put, you can't commit rape, abduction, or robbery, but fighting and gambling are encouraged."
Yun Chuan's expression remained unchanged as he listened, but he scoffed inwardly. This really was a rogue academy. What kind of good students could such a teaching environment produce? No wonder it ended up producing a great scourge like Tang San.
After listening to Dai Mubai's words, Tang San's face showed a hint of a smile. The freak academy truly lived up to its name; even its teaching methods were vastly different from Nuoding Academy.
Dai Mubai explained, "The teachers believe that fighting is the best shortcut to mastering one's Spirit and gaining practical experience, which is extremely important. As for gambling, it's a psychological game that greatly benefits strengthening one's mental fortitude, observation skills, and judgment. Of course, everything must be done in moderation. Simply put, fighting without killing anyone and gambling without losing your pants are fine."
"As for the curriculum arrangement, I don't know about the future because our courses can change at any time. After all, we only have a few people, and the number of teachers is even more than the number of students. Therefore, the academy will adjust the courses according to our individual situations. But I can confirm today's most important course is collecting money. The annual tuition fee for the academy is one hundred gold coins. For you Spirit Masters at the Spirit Grandmaster level, it shouldn't be a problem at all."
When Dai Mubai mentioned this, Xiao Wu couldn't help but interject, "Boss Dai, you said yesterday that the school is very poor. But why would the academy be poor? Several teachers we met are over level sixty, and some are over level seventy. According to their levels, the subsidies they can receive from Spirit Hall are astronomical figures. Supporting such a small academy shouldn't be much, right?"
According to Xiao Wu's estimation, the subsidy for a Spirit Master was one gold coin per month, for a Spirit Grandmaster it was ten gold coins, for a Spirit Elder it should be one hundred gold coins, for a Spirit Ancestor it was one thousand, for a Spirit King it was ten thousand, and for a Spirit Emperor it should be one hundred thousand gold coins per month. Not to mention Zhao Wuji, whom they faced yesterday, he was a Spirit Saint, so one million gold coins a month—just thinking about it was a terrifying number.
Before Dai Mubai could speak, Yun Chuan interjected, "Little rabbit, you are too naive. Although the subsidies given by Spirit Hall are allocated by the Empire and distributed by Spirit Hall, it's impossible for them to be unlimited. They only go up to the Spirit Elder level, and receiving one hundred gold coins per month is the limit.
After exceeding the Spirit Elder level, the subsidy will not increase, and moreover, it will disappear. That is to say, Spirit Masters above the Spirit Elder level, including Spirit Ancestors, cannot receive any subsidies from Spirit Hall.
When you go to Spirit Hall to collect your subsidies each month, there will be a spirit power test, right? That's to determine if your spirit power has exceeded level forty. Once it exceeds level forty, the subsidy will immediately stop being issued."
"Why is that? The higher a Spirit Master's strength, the more valuable they should be, right?" Xiao Wu asked curiously. Even Tang San beside her was curious.
Yun Chuan patiently explained, "However, this must be considered from a practical standpoint. Although Spirit Masters are a noble profession, the actual number of Spirit Masters is not large. But it is still a not-too-small group. You should have calculated that if subsidies were distributed proportionally, at the Spirit Saint level, one would receive one hundred thousand gold coins per month, which is one million two hundred thousand gold coins per year. What an enormous figure is that?
Not to mention other places, if our academy's teachers were to receive subsidies according to their strength, and the Empire fully funded it, the teachers' income alone could match one-tenth of Soto City's total annual income. What an enormous figure is that?
And the entire Empire, although the number of high-level Spirit Masters is small, distributing subsidies in this way would be enough to collapse the entire Empire."
"Therefore, the Empire stipulates that subsidy distribution is merely to encourage and assist low-level Spirit Masters in their cultivation, to rapidly improve their strength. But once they reach level forty or above, they are considered quite powerful Spirit Masters and can choose to pledge allegiance to the Empire or join the army. In such cases, the Empire will provide corresponding remuneration. Of course, Spirit Masters also have the freedom to choose; joining certain families can also yield considerable income."
Yun Chuan stopped here, and Dai Mubai took over, his face showing admiration, "The teachers at our academy are all Spirit Masters who are unwilling to rely on any power. That is to say, before the academy was founded, they were all self-employed. They love freedom and despise restrictions. They even disdain the noble titles granted by the Empire. Think about it, in such circumstances, what income could they possibly have?"
Xiao Wu asked, "Why are they unwilling to accept the noble titles offered by the Empire? Having a noble title should also provide some income, right? I remember that above level thirty, one can receive the title of baron bestowed by the Empire, and at level forty, it's viscount. There's nothing after that."
At this point, Ning Rongrong spoke up to answer her question for Dai Mubai, "Accepting a noble title from the Empire also entails an obligation to serve the Empire. Once war breaks out, under the Empire's summons, as a noble of the Empire, one must obey the Empire's orders and go to the battlefield. While noble titles are good, they are also a restrictive curse. Many powerful Spirit Masters do not accept noble titles because they do not wish to casually fight for any particular faction."