Since childhood, Xu Zihuang had eaten a wide variety of nutrient-rich foods regularly, which meant his appetite was never very large.
From those carefully prepared daily meals, he could fully absorb all the nutrition his body needed.
With his strong self-control, he never indulged in overeating simply to satisfy cravings.
Children of major soul master families were mostly like this. Both in diet and in medicine, they had the best planning and support.
He ate quickly but with elegance, all while smiling and chatting with Nanmen Yuner and Ya Lu, seated across from him.
Nanmen Yuner and Ya Lu were both from the Heavenly Soul Empire's capital, Heaven Dou City. They hadn't said outright what backgrounds they came from, but the top-grade dishes on their trays alone revealed their powerful backing.
Though their portions were smaller than Xu Zihuang's, both had chosen two premium dishes, each costing at least twenty gold soul coins.
Over time, such expenses would be unsustainable even for most nobles.
Xu Zihuang was happy to interact with them. To achieve his ambitions in the future, the powers behind these two might prove useful.
Casting a wide net was never wrong.
Sincerity was too much of a luxury for him. Having chosen a difficult path, he was destined to abandon certain things.
Once he had nearly finished his meal, Xu Zihuang set down his chopsticks and bid the two farewell.
"Classmate Nanmen, Classmate Ya Lu, I'll be going first."
Nanmen Yuner gave him a reserved nod, while Ya Lu waved broadly, her jet-black eyes sparkling with mirth.
"See you this afternoon, class monitor."
Her impression of Xu Zihuang was clearly excellent.
Tray in hand, Xu Zihuang had barely walked a few steps when a tall figure in a purple fifth-year uniform came striding gloomily toward him.
"Senior Xu?" Xu Zihuang frowned slightly, calling out softly.
"Why did you suddenly change into a fifth-year's uniform?"
It was Xu Sanshi, the same one who had helped him with enrollment earlier.
But compared to the spirited confidence he'd shown then, now his face was full of gloom and frustration.
Lifting his head and seeing Xu Zihuang, Xu Sanshi listlessly patted his shoulder, sighing.
"Don't even mention it."
Just recalling what had happened earlier today made him feel depressed. He had deliberately repeated a year to be in the same class as Jiang Nannan, but she hadn't appreciated it in the slightest. Instead, she'd embarrassed him publicly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ya Lu waving to Xu Zihuang and Nanmen Yuner standing nearby—her looks only slightly inferior to Jiang Nannan's. He blinked, then his eyes suddenly lit up as he looked back at Xu Zihuang.
Throwing an arm around Xu Zihuang's neck, his expression turned lecherous, almost rivaling Tuoba Yu's earlier.
"Junior, didn't know you had such skill! Got any secret tricks? Teach me a few?"
"Looks like Senior Xu struck out with Senior Sister Jiang again." Xu Zihuang chuckled softly. But instead of mocking him, he leaned close and whispered something in his ear.
"That'll really work?" Xu Sanshi eyed him suspiciously, his look practically saying, Don't take me for a fool.
"Didn't I already tell you, Senior? Doing this might only get Senior Sister Jiang to agree to a small, reasonable request. But as long as she agrees, that's a good start. When you like someone, you can't only give—you should try to make her give to you too. The more she gives, the more she'll care. That's human nature."
Xu Sanshi silently savored these words, finding them more convincing the more he thought about them.
At first, his feelings toward Jiang Nannan had been guilt, a desire to make it up to her. But thinking back now, was it really only guilt?
If it had been just guilt, how could he have gone this far?
"Hu—" Xu Sanshi exhaled deeply, his mind awash with countless thoughts, his mood tangled.
After parting ways with him, Xu Zihuang returned to his dormitory.
The freshman dorms were small, but well lit.
Tuoba Yu was leaning back with his hands behind his neck, enjoying the breeze from the window. Hearing the door open, he turned his head instinctively.
Xu Zihuang casually tossed him a fragrant blue-yellow fruit.
"Thanks." Tuoba Yu caught it with a smile and bit into it without hesitation.
The fresh sweetness was just right, helping him recover after his earlier discomfort.
Such simple gestures quickly boosted his impression of Xu Zihuang.
At this age, boys were still simple at heart.
"Why'd you react so strongly before?" Xu Zihuang sat on his bed, asking with interest.
Tuoba Yu froze mid-bite, though the fruit's fragrance helped dull his reaction this time. After swallowing, he answered dryly.
"Do you know what Ya Lu's martial soul is?"
"Seems like a skunk," Xu Zihuang replied, then blinked in realization, looking at Tuoba Yu with sympathy.
He finally understood why, in their duel earlier, when Ya Lu used her second soul skill, there had been no visible effect in the arena.
The skunk was a soul beast with a unique innate skill: releasing an unbearably foul stench from its tail. Colorless, nearly undetectable, it could even kill weak soul beasts instantly.
Stronger soul beasts also avoided skunks, since once tainted by the odor, it lingered for a long time and was nearly impossible to remove.
For this reason, in all soul beast forests, almost no creature ever hunted skunks.
They were despised both by beasts and by soul masters.
Yet as a martial soul, it was not weak at all. With great speed and a powerful area-control skill in its stench, it was formidable.
Fortunately, after the duel, Ya Lu had helped dispel the smell from Tuoba Yu, or he wouldn't even have had the appetite to eat in the cafeteria. If that had happened in a soul beast forest, he'd have been doomed.
Lunch break lasted less than an hour, too short. After resting briefly, Xu Zihuang and Tuoba Yu left the dorm for the Battle Soul Area.
Not just them—every student of Class Nine showed up on time. Clearly, the stories of Class One's homeroom teacher expelling students so easily had left quite an impression.
The afternoon duels went smoothly. Since these were all under-rank-20 students with only one soul skill each, matches ended quickly.
Within just over an hour, all of Class Nine had completed their bouts.
They then returned to the classroom, where Mu Jin gave a summary and explained the curriculum for the next three months. With that, the day's lessons were finally over. The duels had left the class with a palpable sense of pressure.
No one wanted to be eliminated in the freshman assessment three months later.
Classes finished, Xu Zihuang and Tuoba Yu had just left the teaching building when commotion broke out near the purple fourth- and fifth-year buildings across Shrek Square.
A soul-power-infused voice rang through the entire teaching area:
"Nannan, I really like you! For you, I'll do a backflip!"
Amid the jeers and laughter of the older students, a purple-clad figure leapt straight from the building.
"Is Senior Xu playing the clown?"
"You don't understand. Senior Xu is trying to win Senior Sister Jiang's smile—he's a model for us all."
The one flipping nonstop across Shrek Square, finally landing before a graceful young girl, was none other than Xu Sanshi.
And the girl, of course, was Jiang Nannan, hailed as the number one beauty of the outer court.
Xu Sanshi was well-liked in the academy, so the crowd only teased—they weren't mocking.
But Jiang Nannan glared at him coldly, her face full of disgust, and turned to leave.
As a commoner, she was deeply uncomfortable with such a scene.
Gritting his teeth, Xu Sanshi remembered Xu Zihuang's advice. He kept flipping, shouting loudly:
"Nannan, take me with you! Nannan!"
His pride was already shattered—what else did he have to lose?
He knew she embarrassed easily. Next, he just had to make a small, reasonable request, promising never to do this again, exactly as Yu Tianhuang had suggested.
Watching this, Xu Zihuang's mouth twitched involuntarily.
He had told Xu Sanshi to improvise, but he hadn't expected him to go this far.