A few days after the spar between Tang San and Chen Ming, the long-awaited opening day of Nuoding City's junior Spirit Master academy finally arrived. Old Jack had already made preparations, borrowing a donkey cart from a neighboring village to transport the two children—along with a basket full of local specialties—into the city.
But on the very night he borrowed the cart, Chen Ming quietly sought Old Jack out and revealed a secret he had been keeping hidden in the mountains.
In this technologically underdeveloped era, wood ear mushrooms were considered a rare delicacy. They could only be gathered in the wild, valued not only as food but also as a nourishing medicinal ingredient. Yet Chen Ming, relying on knowledge from his previous life—something as simple as a video he had once watched—had secretly cultivated a batch of wood ear mushrooms in the mountains.
Most of the time, he had kept them for himself, occasionally sharing small amounts with others. But now that he was about to leave Holy Soul Village, he decided to hand everything over—both the cultivated mushrooms and the method of growing them—to Old Jack, leaving it up to him how to make use of it.
If handled properly, lifting the village out of poverty would be almost effortless. Even if they couldn't openly commercialize it, selling small amounts from time to time would still greatly improve the lives of Old Jack and the other villagers.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Old Jack pulled Chen Ming into a tight embrace, gratitude shining in his eyes. Even the next morning, his face was flushed with energy, his smile impossible to hide. Standing nearby, Tang San could only watch in confusion, utterly unable to understand what had put the old man in such high spirits.
The donkey cart creaked loudly as its wooden wheels rolled over the uneven dirt road. Up front, the aging donkey huffed and trudged along, dragging the cart forward with visible effort as it carried the three of them and a large basket of dried goods.
Though it wasn't much faster than walking—and the constant jolting of the wooden cart was torture on their backsides—it at least saved them some energy.
They had set off at the first hint of dawn, when the horizon was only just beginning to lighten. By the time they arrived in Nuoding City, the sun was already high in the sky. After asking for directions several times, Old Jack finally guided the donkey cart to the gates of the junior Spirit Master academy on the western side of the city.
"These are two children from our village," Old Jack said, addressing the gatekeeper as he pulled out their awakening certificates. "One has Blue Silver Grass with full innate Spirit Power, and the other has a Heavy Armored Earth Dragon Martial Soul with innate Level Seven Spirit Power."
"Two children with Spirit Power? That…" The gatekeeper clearly found it hard to believe. But after glancing at the donkey cart and the large basket of goods, he reluctantly accepted the documents, half-convinced.
"One with full innate Spirit Power… and Blue Silver Grass? The other with Level Seven and a dragon-type Martial Soul…" He muttered under his breath, eyes widening slightly. "Dragons are symbols of royalty… Could a small village really produce talents like this? A golden phoenix from a humble nest?"
"I've been a gatekeeper here for four years, and I've never seen someone with full innate Spirit Power."
In truth, he didn't believe it at all. In his mind, a small rural village producing even one promising Spirit Master would already be remarkable—let alone two, one of whom supposedly had the unheard-of full innate Spirit Power. And Blue Silver Grass? That was, in his understanding, the most useless of useless Martial Souls.
Under normal circumstances, he would have treated Old Jack with open disdain, perhaps even made things difficult out of sheer arrogance.
But as his gaze drifted back to the basket of mountain delicacies—and especially the words "Heavy Armored Earth Dragon" on the certificate—his attitude softened, even without any "extra incentives."
After all… a donkey cart was still a cart, and a dragon was still a dragon.
There was a world of difference between someone who walked and someone who rode. And there was an even greater gap between Blue Silver Grass and a dragon-type Martial Soul.
"Alright, you two may enter," the gatekeeper said with an awkward smile, handing back their certificates and stepping aside.
Chen Ming slung his bundle over his shoulder, preparing to step through the academy gates alongside Tang San.
But just as he was about to cross the threshold, a hoarse voice suddenly cut in.
"Full innate Spirit Power?"
A middle-aged man—unkempt, with an air of weariness and faint decadence—hurried over as though he had discovered some priceless treasure. Without so much as a greeting, he reached out and snatched the certificates from their hands.
When his eyes fell on the certificate labeled "Chen Ming · Innate Spirit Power Level 7 · Heavy Armored Earth Dragon," a trace of disdain flickered across Yu Xiaogang's face. Without a second thought, he casually tossed it back into Chen Ming's arms, as though it were of no interest whatsoever.
But the moment he saw the other certificate—"Tang San · Full Innate Spirit Power · Blue Silver Grass"—his expression shifted, a faint smile finally appearing.
"I'll take responsibility for these two children," Yu Xiaogang said, his tone stiff and authoritative, leaving little room for refusal.
The gatekeeper's eyes briefly flashed with a hint of contempt, but he quickly forced a polite smile and turned to Old Jack. "This is our academy's 'Grandmaster,',a close friend of our Dean. If you leave these two students in his care, he'll definitely handle everything properly."
"Grandmaster…" Old Jack looked at the somewhat disheveled, world-weary man, a flicker of doubt crossing his face—but he quickly suppressed it. "Then I'll trouble you, honored Spirit Master."
Yu Xiaogang didn't bother exchanging pleasantries. Without another word, he grabbed Tang San by the hand and led him straight into the academy, completely ignoring Chen Ming, Old Jack, and even the gatekeeper.
Such blatant disregard and barely concealed contempt left all three of them feeling a twinge of displeasure, but none of them voiced it aloud.
"Grandpa Jack, I'm going now. Take good care of yourself," Chen Ming said softly.
"Good child, I will." Old Jack gently patted his head and handed him a small pouch. "I brought some dried sweet potatoes for you before we left. Keep them for yourself."
Chen Ming didn't recall Old Jack packing any dried sweet potatoes—but the moment he took the pouch, he felt the distinct round shapes inside.
"…Thank you, Grandpa Jack. I'll be going now."
He tucked the "sweet potatoes" into his chest, understanding immediately, then gave a quick farewell before hurrying into the academy with his certificate in hand.
Watching the two boys disappear inside, Old Jack casually bid the gatekeeper goodbye and prepared to leave. But the gatekeeper suddenly called out to him.
"Old Village Chief, are you planning to sell those mushrooms and wood ear? Those are exactly the kind of goods our academy needs. My brother-in-law is a teacher here—how about I call him over to discuss it with you?"
"That would be much appreciated, young man," Old Jack replied with a smile. Recalling Chen Ming's earlier advice, he took out a small bag, filled it with some dried wood ear, and discreetly handed it over.
The gatekeeper slipped the bag into his clothes, his mood visibly improving. After giving a few quick instructions, he headed into the academy to fetch his brother-in-law.
Within minutes, a middle-aged Spirit Master came out. He paused briefly at the sight of the basket filled with mountain goods, then began discussing terms with Old Jack.
Thanks to the subsidies provided by the Spirit Hall, academy teachers were relatively well-off, and this one proved to be quite generous. In the end, he agreed to purchase all of Holy Soul Village's production of mushrooms and wood ear at a slightly above-market price. On top of that, he placed additional orders for vegetables and staple foods, arranging for regular deliveries—either by Old Jack himself or by other villagers.
For a Spirit Master, this amount of money might not mean much. But for Old Jack and the people of Holy Soul Village, it was a stable and much-needed source of additional income.
And as a small but meaningful bonus, it also gave Old Jack an excuse to visit the academy from time to time—so he could check in on how Chen Ming and Tang San were doing.