Eastsea Academy was boring.
Which was impressive, considering it was full of children and at least one boy who believed a bucket was a martial philosophy.
Tang Wulin sat at his desk and tried very hard to look like he was paying attention.
He was even holding his pencil correctly. That alone felt like progress.
The teacher at the front of the classroom droned on in a voice that could put seagulls to sleep.
"—and that is why you must always write your name clearly at the top of your paper," she said, tapping the chalk against the board.
"If you don't, how will I know whose homework I'm disappointed in?"
A few kids laughed.
Most kids didn't even bother pretending to listen.
Liu Chu leaned back in his chair behind Wulin and whispered dramatically, "My soul is leaving my body."
Wulin didn't turn around. He whispered back, "Then stop leaning before it takes your chair with it."
"I can't," Liu Chu said. "This is how I cope."
"You're six."
"That's the hardest age."
The teacher's eyes flicked toward them.
Both boys instantly sat upright at the exact same time, like someone pulled invisible strings.
The classroom fell quiet.
For three seconds.
Not the good kind of quiet, either. The kind where everyone pretended to be innocent at the exact same time.
Chalk scraped across the board.
Someone's stomach growled.
Wang Ke's bucket, which he had somehow brought to class again, rolled off his desk and hit the floor with a loud clang.
Twenty heads turned.
Wang Ke slowly reached down, picked it up, and placed it back on his desk like nothing had happened.
The teacher closed her eyes for a moment.
"Why..." she asked the universe before staring at him, "didn't I tell you not to summon your bucket in my classroom?"
"It's educational," Wang Ke said confidently.
"How."
"Because it's a bucket... and buckets can hold almost anything. Konwledge included. Layer by Layer. It adds till it overflows", Wang Ke says in an profound manner, his eyes burning with conviction.
She stared at him for a long time sighing, then turned back to the board without responding.
'I want a raise...'
"Since you all have so much energy today," she said after she wrote somthing on the board, setting the chalk down, "let's review something important. Who can tell me what a Martial Soul is?"
Several hands went up.
One student shouted, "A weapon!"
"Sometimes," the teacher said.
Another said, "An animal!"
"Also sometimes."
Wang Ke raised his hand.
"Yes, Wang Ke?"
"A bucket," he said confidently.
The teacher stared at him for a long moment. veins popping from her forhead.
'he is just a child, he is just a child... You need this job. You need the Money. Only 23 more years to go till retierment. You can do this.'
"…A manifestation of one's spiritual essence," she said finally, writing the words on the board, "which can take the form of tools, beasts, plants, or other objects."
She tapped the chalk again.
"And what do we need in order to cultivate our Martial Souls?"
"Spirit rings!" the class chorused.
"Correct. And where do spirit rings come from?"
A few students hesitated.
One said, "Soul beasts."
"That used to be the primary method," the teacher replied. "In earlier eras, Spirit Masters hunted soul beasts to obtain rings. That is no longer considered safe or sustainable."
Wulin listened a little more closely.
"Today," she continued, "most spirit rings are provided through the Spirit Pagoda. They use special techniques to create stable artificial rings without the need to kill the already scrace Spirit Beasts"
Xinglan nudged Wulin's paper again.
"You stopped writing," she said.
He hurriedly scribbled something that looked like notes and not a drawing of a bun.
At the front, the teacher continued.
"In the past, Spirit Masters could rely on the abundance of soul beasts. Now, cultivation requires more than that. Talent alone is not enough anymore. You need to prove yourself to be an valuable asset. For that proper training and academic effort are important"
Several students groaned.
Wang Ke raised his hand again. "Question! Why do we not attempt to form spirit rings on our own?"
"Because it is dangerous and mostly impossible unless you are an Spirit Beast. We Humans unfortunatly don't have the abundance of Soul Power, Vitality and Blood Essence to fuel the creation of our own spirit ring."
The Teacher thought a bit what she said for a moment.
"Or let me rephrase it. Though we do have the means to create one of our own, it simply wouldn't be worth it. Not only would you probably be drained of your Life force but probably end up with a white 10 year old Spirit Ring or even less aaand probably dead. So don't try it"
Wang Ke raised his hand again.
"Yes, Wang Ke."
"So if I burn myself I get a spirit ring, and my bucket gets stronger?"
"No... you don't have Soul Power"
"BUT what if I have a high-quality bucket as a compromise?"
"Still no."
"Buuut..."
As Wang Ke tried to argue more about doing the Impossible and see the invisible, the teacher head only one thing in mind.
'Teach they said. It's gonna be fun they said. Their just children so it's gonna be easy they said. You gonna make a looot of money they said.'
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The courtyard was loud and bright, full of kids running in every direction. A vendor outside the gate was selling steamed buns, and a small group had already formed around him.
They reached the courtyard while most of the other students were still leaving. The steamed bun vendor was still there.
Wulin slowed down.
Not obviously.Just… gradually.
Like a small animal approaching food.
Xinglan didn't even look at him. "No."
"I didn't say anything."
"You changed walking speed."
"That could be unrelated."
"You're staring at the buns."
"I respect them from a distance."
She stopped walking as Wulin bumped into her back.
She turned around and looked at him, not annoyed, just evaluating the way how hard to hit someone. Sighing she reached into her pocket, pulled out two small coins, and held them up.
Wulin froze.
"Some Conditions" she said.
"I accept," Wulin agreed before she even finished the sentence.
"You don't know them."
"I accept anyway."
"You will train properly."
"I already do."
"You will stop tripping on flat ground."
"EY that's a dispute between me and gravity so don't butt in."
"...And you will not spend the entire training session talking about food."
He hesitated.
"That last one is unreasonable."
She lowered the coins slightly.
"I agree," he said quickly. "All conditions accepted."
They approached the vendor.
Xinglan bought two buns and handed one to him, already turning away. " eat"
Wulin held it like it was a divine artifact.
"You're a good person," he said sincerely.
"I know."
He took one bite and immediately looked like life had meaning again.
"I'll pay you back," he said.
"You can't."
"I will. When I'm rich and famous."
"You won't be famous."
"I'll be moderately well-known."
"That's worse."
Ignoring her words wulin smiled, "Then I'll buy you buns."
She considered that for a moment, then nodded once.
"Acceptable."