Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the meantime, Gao Peng decided to drop by his school for a visit. All the students were visibly hard at work in their classrooms. When it came to one’s studies, attitude was far more important than talent. At the junior high level, no matter how gifted a student was, as long as they were willing to put in the effort, acing all their classes would be a piece of cake.
A student’s effort was naturally reflected in their results.
Most of these children were exceptionally diligent in their studies, perhaps due to the fact that they had experienced true hardship in the past. Having been given a chance to improve their own lives, they would only be doing their benefactors a disservice if they didn’t give their all in their studies.
Gao Peng glanced through the students’ monthly test results. Most of them had done quite well. Some of them had even managed to make it to the top of their classes.
“While exams are important, simply keeping these students buried in their books and shutting them off from the outside world will do them more harm than good,” said Gao Peng. “I think we should start making connections with other schools to see where we stand now.”
The dean hurriedly pointed out, “Principal, I remember Yuzhou Middle Schools No. 1, No. 3, No. 8, Shuba Middle School, and three other elite schools have organized a joint exam that’s held every semester in Yuzhou. The students are then ranked based on their results. I’ve been thinking about letting our students participate in their exam, but the entrance threshold is just way too high. It’s impossible for ordinary schools like ours to be a part of this inner circle of elite schools…”
Gao Peng waved a hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll send someone over to make contact with some of these schools and maybe donate a library to each one as a sign of good will.”
“But sir, Middle Schools No. 1, No. 3, and No. 8 already have their own libraries. I don’t think they need more…”
“Then we’ll give them two more school buildings.”
“…”
Two years. A school needed at least two years to establish itself and attract enough talent to become staff.
Gao Peng was fortunate to have been alive to see the world adapt to the Cataclysm’s effects for four and a half years. In just two years, he was able to raise his own combat power to a respectable level.
Gao Peng intended to speed up Tiange Academy’s expansion for the next two years and fill up talent gaps in the school’s faculty by nurturing talent among his students if necessary.
When he finally stepped out of the school gates, he turned around and gazed at the school buildings sprawled across the mountain range like a sleeping dragon.
This is where my future lies, thought Gao Peng, smiling.
…
Night had fallen over the Baiye District.
Strips of yellow tape were stretched out in front of the abandoned building’s entrance. The chalk outlines of the corpses that had been discovered inside the building were still fresh on the concrete floor.
The stretch of road in front of the building had become emptier since the incident. Only a brazen few dared walk directly in front of the building’s entrance. Anyone walking past it would feel a sudden chill as if a cold wind was blowing from somewhere in the building.
The streetlamps near the abandoned building were old and dim, their lights flickering over a foul-smelling drain by the street.
A black mist was flowing out of the abandoned building like sand flowing out of someone’s fist, permeating the empty space in front of the building.
The only movement In the darkness of the night was that of a shirtless drunkard stumbling down the street as if he was stepping on sand.
Bang!
A noise like an empty barrel falling on the ground came from within the abandoned building.
The drunkard’s ears pricked up. Puffing up his chest, he turned towards the abandoned building, his eyes bulging out of his sockets like a pair of light bulbs.
“Trying to scare me, eh?” mumbled the drunkard. He hiccuped.
Taking a deep breath, he turned away from the building and resumed his journey back home.
Bang!
Another sound came from the abandoned building.
The drunkard angrily shouted back, “Hey, cut it out!” Then he ran as fast as he could, grinning like a madman.
At that moment, with the wind slapping against his face, he felt like he was the freest man in the world, running beneath the silver moonlight without a care in the world.
Thud.
The drunkard suddenly slipped on a pile of dog feces.
He clambered back to his feet. The impact had more or less knocked him back to his senses. When he looked up, the first thing he saw was the yellow tape around the abandoned building.
“Uhm, isn’t this the way back home?” said the drunkard, looking at the yellow police tape in confusion.
He was now surrounded by the black mist. It was then that he saw a pair of red lights bearing down on him through the mist.
The drunkard rubbed his eyes. What the…
“Argh!!”
His scream pierced the night air.
…
A week later, Ji Hanwu finally returned from Paekdu Mountain’s Tianchi Lake.
The White Dragon descended from the sky before slipping gracefully into the lake. Since its promotion to King-tier, the White Dragon didn’t seem to enjoy wasting its energy by moving about willy-nilly. It spent most of its days resting in its lake.
Upon receiving news of his grandfather’s return, Gao Peng hurried back home, only to find that his familiars had clumped up together by the lake.
Gao Peng could see that the familiars had huddled around what appeared to be a dark purple shell.
The Thunder Shell Lord had transformed into an entirely new species.
Its spiral-shaped shell was made of multiple layers. Gao Peng could see a couple of sharp protrusions shaped like cow horns on the shell’s topmost layer. These protrusions seemed smaller than the shell as a whole.
Electricity was stored in the Thunder Shell God’s shell. From time to time, a brilliant light would flash across it.
Da Zi was looking at the Thunder Shell God enviously. It’s definitely gotten stronger.
The Thunder Shell God was a good-natured creature. Not only did it not show the slightest hint of irritation when it was accosted by the group of familiars, but it was also amicably chittering with them by the lake.
[Monster Name]: Thunder Shell God
[Monster Level]: Level 45
[Monster Grade]: Legendary
[Monster Attribute]: Electric
[Monster Status]: Healthy (Happy)
[Monster Ability]: Thunder Mastery Level 5, Harden Shell Level 4
[Special Characteristics]: Thunder Shell (A mysterious shell with equally mysterious properties. It is also supposedly the source of the Thunder Shell God’s electrical affinity.
Passive Effect 1: Thunder Mastery level +1
Active Effect 1: The Thunder Shell God summons a calamitous storm within a certain area by releasing all the electricity stored in its shell.)
Electrogland (A special gland in the Thunder Shell God’s body, that allows it to summon and control the clouds.
Active Effect 1: With it, the Thunder Shell God is capable of gathering all the clouds in the sky into a stormcloud and then drawing power from it.)
[Mythical Evolutionary Route]: 1. Calamitous evolution (Calamitous Thunder Shell God) 2. Electric evolution (Cloud-Devourer Thunderbeast)
The Thunder Shell’s bonus Thunder Mastery level boost hadn’t been taken into account in the calculation of the Thunder Shell God’s Thunder Mastery level as shown in the Monster Ability section, meaning that the Thunder Shell God’s actual Thunder Mastery level was Level 6. Gao Peng had never seen such high-level elemental mastery in a familiar before. Even the White Dragon’s Water Control and Cloud Control abilities were both a mere Level 5. Of course, the White Dragon wasn’t a specialist in elemental manipulation. Rather, its fighting style resembled that of a close-combat spellcaster.
Gao Peng noticed that the Thunder Shell God had lost its water attribute and was now a purely Electric-type familiar.
If the White Dragon was a close-combat spellcaster, then the Thunder Shell God could best be described as a tank spellcaster—a heavily armored Electric-type spellcaster.
“Grandpa, Uncle Liu told me that it was you who brought Flamy back home. Do you still remember the place where you picked it up?” asked Gao Peng.
Ji Hanwu nodded. He was busy making dinner for the two of them in the kitchen at that moment. “Yes, it was a year ago. Let me see…”
“I think it was in a swamp to the west of the Jiangnan base city. I don’t recall the exact coordinates, as the place was off-limits back then and still untouched by civilization. I have an acquaintance there: Brother He. I was summoned to resolve a problem in the area. That’s where I found your one-legged crane. I’ll give Brother He a call later and see if he remembers anything. Remember to give him a call when you get there,” said Ji Hanwu over the sizzle of the frying pan.
