Ma Xiunuo held Yin Zhang in high regard. After learning that Yin Zhang was alone in Notting City with no one to rely on, he took the initiative to bring Yin Zhang to one of his own courtyards, located not far from the local Spirit Hall branch.
Now that Yin Zhang had officially become a Soul Master, according to Spirit Hall regulations, he was entitled to receive one gold soul coin per month.
Along with that monthly allowance, Ma Xiunuo handed Yin Zhang a small cloth pouch filled with gold soul coins.
Yin Zhang counted them carefully—there were exactly one hundred and one coins.
After setting aside the single coin he was entitled to, the remaining hundred were clearly living expenses personally given to him by Ma Xiunuo.
Over the following days, Ma Xiunuo not only taught Yin Zhang cultivation techniques, but also systematically explained knowledge related to martial spirits, Soul Masters, and spirit beasts.
It was a real eye-opener for Yin Zhang.
Although he was familiar with the world of Douluo in general, his understanding of detailed spirit theory and spirit beast classifications had previously been shallow and fragmented.
Time passed quietly.
Before he knew it, August 31st arrived—the day before the new term at Notting Academy began.
During the past two-plus months, Yin Zhang had been cultivating diligently without pause.
One week earlier, he had finally broken through to Rank 16.
Yin Zhang believed the reason for this rapid progress lay partly in the residual soul power left behind when he absorbed the Blazing Fire Dragon Ape soul ring.
In other words, the ring itself had only raised him by two ranks, while the remaining soul power had continued to linger within his body and fuel later breakthroughs.
During this period, Yin Zhang had also triggered another system choice.
Because of Su Yuntao's invitation, Yin Zhang selected the third option—the one with the highest reward: refusal.
The reward he received was a storage spirit tool with a capacity of thirty-five cubic meters.
Its appearance was random.
When Yin Zhang checked his inventory, he discovered it was… a necklace.
For a moment, he was completely speechless.
Thankfully, upon closer inspection, he found it wasn't as bad as he'd feared.
It was a silver necklace, the kind fashionable "pretty boys" used to wear back before his transmigration. At its center was a small golden bead.
By lightly touching the bead and channeling soul power into it, Yin Zhang could observe, store, or retrieve items inside.
Aside from that one time, Yin Zhang had deliberately tried to strike up conversations with others, hoping to trigger the system again.
Unfortunately, Su Yuntao remained the only person who had ever activated a prompt for him.
And the best reward among all options so far was precisely the necklace now hanging around his neck.
Yin Zhang gave it a simple name:
Gold Bead Chain.
Tomorrow was the first day of school.
Yin Zhang sat idly on the clean stone steps, resting his chin on his right hand.
Tomorrow I'll be entering Notting Academy, he thought.
There's a good chance I'll run into Yu Xiaogang. If that happens, maybe I can trigger another system choice.
During these two-plus months, Yin Zhang hadn't only been cultivating and studying—he'd also been quietly gathering information.
Through indirect questioning, he'd learned quite a bit about the current state of the continent.
For example, two months earlier, the Pope of Spirit Hall—Qian Xunji—had personally led two Titled Douluo and a group of Spirit Hall elites to hunt down Tang Hao and the Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Beast Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, the couple who crossed racial boundaries.
Yin Zhang knew that the day when Ah Yin would sacrifice herself for Tang Hao—and when Qian Xunji and the others would be defeated—was not far off.
Once Qian Xunji returned to Spirit Hall, it wouldn't take long before he was killed by his own disciple, Bibi Dong. Even his martial spirit would be devoured by her as a prerequisite for opening the Nine Rakshasa Trials.
At that point, Spirit Hall would fully enter Bibi Dong's era.
However, since Bibi Dong would have only just ascended the throne and her foundation would still be unstable, she likely wouldn't have the spare attention to focus on him.
As for Bibi Dong herself, Yin Zhang didn't hold any strong personal feelings—neither admiration nor hatred.
Qian Xunji assaulting her was unquestionably wrong.
But Bibi Dong, raised as Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden and entrusted with immense expectations, had also chosen to run away with Yu Xiaogang when it came time to deliver results.
That was something few people could accept.
Still, Qian Xunji's choice—to violate his own disciple—was equally despicable.
It was behavior that naturally invited contempt.
Just then, Yin Zhang lifted his head and saw Ma Xiunuo approaching.
He immediately stood up.
"Grandpa Ma Xiunuo."
Ma Xiunuo smiled kindly.
"Dean Zhang has returned. I'll take you to meet him."
"He's a busy man. After the academy closed three months ago, he went straight back to his hometown and only returned today."
"I'll introduce you. Once you enroll, it'll be good to have someone looking out for you."
Yin Zhang didn't have much of an impression of the dean of Notting Academy. In the original story, he'd only been briefly mentioned when Tang San's second soul ring was introduced.
The Spirit Hall branch in Notting City was only four streets away from Notting Academy.
The two of them soon arrived at the academy gates.
The gatekeepers were just about to speak, but the moment they recognized Ma Xiunuo, their expressions turned instantly respectful.
"Oh! Hall Master Ma. Dean Zhang instructed us earlier—he's waiting under the laurel tree by the academy playground."
Ma Xiunuo nodded and led Yin Zhang inside.
After walking a few steps, he scoffed lightly and said,
"This so-called 'laurel tree' sounds fancy, but in truth it's just an ordinary mulberry tree. Don't let the name fool you."
At that exact moment, a long-unheard system prompt rang out in Yin Zhang's mind.
---
[Detected that the host is approaching Dean Zhang, a close friend of Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang will arrive in three minutes.
Triggering choice event.]
Choice One:
Dean Zhang strongly supports Yu Xiaogang's spirit theory. Influenced by Yu Xiaogang's opinion of the host, he decides to help Yu Xiaogang by taking the host as his disciple.
Forced acceptance.
Reward: Complete mastery of spirit theory.
Choice Two:
Give Dean Zhang face, agree to become Yu Xiaogang's disciple, and become the never-before-seen senior brother of the original protagonist Tang San.
Reward: +1 rank soul power.
Choice Three:
Firmly refuse Yu Xiaogang, calling him delusional and unworthy of being your teacher.
Reward: Increase the age of the first soul ring by 200 years.
---
When Yin Zhang saw the reward for the third option, joy surged in his heart.
Increasing soul ring age—this was far more valuable than it looked.
It meant that in the future, he could rely on system rewards to rapidly enhance his own soul rings.
Two hundred years this time.
Four hundred next time.
At that rate… would a hundred-thousand-year soul ring really be that far away?
Cough. Yin Zhang forcefully cleared those thoughts and decisively chose Option Three.
---
[Congratulations to the host for making a successful choice.]
[Reward: First soul ring age increased by 200 years!]
[First soul ring age has reached 720 years.]
---
Dean Zhang stood beneath the tree, his chin covered in stubble, looking bright and energetic.
He was a Soul Ancestor, possessing the Thorn Ghost Vine martial spirit.
It was said that in his youth, due to Yu Xiaogang's theories, he had been forced by circumstance to successfully absorb a soul ring from an animal-type spirit beast.
Because of that, he held Yu Xiaogang in extremely high regard.