Douluo: AFK to Become a God

Bonus Chapter: 150 power stones

"Xiao Wu, how much savings do you have in your little bag?"

Chu Chengzhou curiously glanced at Xiao Wu's rabbit pouch.

"Don't you dare try to get any ideas about my pouch!"

Immediately, Xiao Wu's expression changed, and she quickly held the pouch behind her.

After all, when they left Notting City, her grandmother had given her quite a few Gold Soul Coins! She absolutely couldn't let him trick her into giving them away.

Seeing Xiao Wu protect her pouch like a mother hen guarding her chick, Chu Chengzhou smiled and didn't take it seriously.

The only reason he mentioned it was to distract Xiao Wu.

After all, Xiao Wu's pouch was hardly bigger than a palm, and even if it was filled with Gold Soul Coins, how much could it hold?

Compared to the over 200,000 Gold Soul Coins he had just taken from Dai Mubai, it was nothing.

"You're such a money-grubber! Let's go, we still need to get to Shrek Academy!"

Chu Chengzhou waved to Xiao Wu and started walking toward the small village ahead.

...

Not long later, they arrived at the village entrance.

"Is this really a Soul Master Academy?"

After a moment of silence, Xiao Wu asked Chu Chengzhou with a stunned expression.

"Look, doesn't it say 'Shrek Academy' on the sign?"

Chu Chengzhou pointed to the wooden arch at the village entrance, where a sign hung.

The sign, which looked rather worn, had five big characters carved into it: "Shrek Academy."

"This can't be a Soul Master Academy, right?"

Xiao Wu couldn't help but raise her voice.

Looking through the wooden arch, all Xiao Wu could see were ordinary houses. There wasn't a single building that looked like it belonged to a Soul Master Academy.

"Brother, I think we should go to another, more prestigious academy! Even if we don't go to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, we have hundreds of better options than this."

Xiao Wu complained.

Chu Chengzhou smiled without saying anything but glanced toward a corner not far away.

There, a Soul Saint-level expert was listening to their conversation!

Cough, cough "Little girl, don't look down on this academy. Shrek Academy is quite powerful!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

Seeing that the two were about to leave, Flender, who had been hiding, finally revealed himself. He leaped into the air, his four-eyed cat eagle martial spirit activated, and seven soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—flared as he flew down from the sky.

"Huh? Aren't you the shopkeeper? You're a Soul Saint?"

Xiao Wu looked in surprise at the seven soul rings on Flender.

Even on the entire continent, a Soul Saint with seven rings was a formidable figure.

To think that this small, shabby village, no, this dilapidated Shrek Academy, hid a Soul Saint with seven rings?

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Flender, my martial spirit is the Four-Eyed Cat Eagle. I'm a 78th-level agility-type battle Soul Saint, and I'm also the dean of Shrek Academy."

Flender adjusted his glasses and said seriously to Chu Chengzhou and Xiao Wu.

"You're the dean? Then why is the academy in such a state?"

Xiao Wu asked curiously.

As far as she knew, her grandmother worked as a class teacher for the sixth grade at Notting Academy, earning 100 Gold Soul Coins a month. Her grandfather, who was the dean, earned 500 Gold Soul Coins a month, plus an honorary baron title with 100 Gold Soul Coins a month, making a total of 600 Gold Soul Coins a month.

With Flender's seven-ring Soul Saint strength, earning over 10,000 Gold Soul Coins a month shouldn't be surprising, right?

In that case, the academy should at least be able to afford normal teaching buildings, not to mention the expensive and maintenance-heavy simulated training grounds.

Was he pretending to be poor? Or was Flender just too stingy?

"Haha, little girl, you don't know, do you? The academy intentionally keeps it like this!

A Soul Master needs more than just soul power. Without trials and hardships, how can they grow into true strong warriors?

Comfort and luxury are the biggest obstacles on the path to becoming a powerful Soul Master. Talented students like you must never be distracted by these external factors, or you'll waste your talent!"

Flender said seriously, although a hint of awkwardness flashed across his face.

Xiao Wu: "..."

It seems... he has a point?

She had heard of many powerful hidden Soul Master families on the continent. Could Shrek Academy be one of those hidden academies?

Meanwhile, Chu Chengzhou, who knew the truth, almost laughed out loud.

Not having money was just not having money. He could talk all he wanted, but it was just to deceive someone like Xiao Wu, who hadn't seen much of the world.

Seeing that Xiao Wu seemed to be convinced, Flender secretly smiled and said, "So, little girl, would you like to enroll in our Shrek Academy?"

Hearing this, Xiao Wu looked at Chu Chengzhou.

Although the academy was shabby, it seemed to have some potential?

At the very least, Flender's seven-ring Soul Saint-level strength was real.

"If I may ask, we come from a remote area and are quite poor. We were wondering about the tuition fees..." Chu Chengzhou asked Flender.

He had just made some money, so the 100 Gold Soul Coins per year for Shrek Academy weren't much.

But yesterday, Flender had said that talented students might be exempt from tuition.

If he paid the tuition now, wouldn't it imply that they weren't talented?

Such a principled issue was something he couldn't compromise on!

Flender was stunned. He had seen shameless people before, but never someone this shameless.

Perhaps before today, Chu Chengzhou had been short on money, but Flender had seen with his own eyes how he had just robbed Dai Mubai.

Though Flender didn't know how many Gold Soul Coins were in Dai Mubai's storage soul tool, judging by Dai Mubai's usual spending habits, the 200 Gold Soul Coins for the two of them was nothing more than pocket change!

After thinking for a moment, Flender came up with an idea. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Alright, I'll make an exception and let you enroll first. As for the tuition fees, you can pay them later after you receive your Soul Master subsidies!"

Ha! Trying to outsmart me? I've been around longer than you!

The low-level Soul Master subsidies from the Spirit Hall were fixed: a second-ring Great Soul Master got 10 Gold Soul Coins per month, and a third-ring Soul Venerable got 100 Gold Soul Coins per month.

With you two, one a Great Soul Master and the other a Soul Venerable, together you'll get 110 Gold Soul Coins a month.

Even if you don't have a single copper coin in your pocket now, you'll be able to pay the tuition next month at the latest!

"Soul Master subsidies? What's that?" Xiao Wu asked curiously.

She had never heard of Soul Master subsidies before. Could there really be a place where Soul Masters could get money? How come she didn't know about it?

Flender was shocked. How could a Soul Master not know about the subsidies from the Spirit Hall? Was she joking?