Universe Infinite Canteen

"The talisman master schools nowadays mostly have deep backgrounds, either having connections up top or being backed by large corporate groups.

"Like the recent, rapidly emerging schools such as those based on heroic figures, which were originally unknown, they were acquired by groups, invested heavily in, and quickly rose to the top tier and even became number one.

"However, this path of success isn't something that ordinary schools can replicate. I only realized the difficulties of being a principal after I became one: no money, no personnel, having to deal with all sorts of forces on a daily basis, entangled in various mundane affairs, and having no time to research talismans or improve teaching levels."

Sheng Tongwen said, "Moreover, as I'm getting older, after a few years, I handed over the role of principal to someone else. But I haven't been idle at home, going over my years of educational experience.

"I compiled it into text and published it in the newspaper, hoping to help others, and I myself am still contemplating the ways of running a school.

"Until I read about Hou De in the newspaper, I discovered such a low-ranked school that had defeated Lingnan and Heroic Concealment within less than a month, breaking into the top hundred of the Ministry of Education.

"So, I became very interested in Hou De, and just happened to hear that you all were recruiting teachers, so I thought I'd come and see for myself, meet the principal who keeps creating miracles."

"Mr. Sheng might be disappointed after meeting me," Ma Lu said. "I'm domineering, arrogant, and quite lazy, only working at the school one day a week and leaving the rest to Teacher Cao—not exactly a qualified principal."

"Principal Ma is too modest," said Sheng Tongwen. "Different styles work for different people, but as long as it's effective, there's nothing wrong with it."

Ma Lu found this old man interesting, not stiff like an educational expert should be, and so added, entirely different from that guy called Xu Shoujing I met before.

"Mr. Sheng, don't just praise me, you could offer some suggestions too."

Not minding the candid request, Sheng Tongwen said, "I hope Principal Ma can reduce the number of classes you schedule for this old man. I'm over seventy, and teaching seven classes a day is really too much—even if it means earning less."

"Ha ha ha, indeed, that's an oversight from the school. When Teacher Cao returns, I'll tell her to cut your hours in half."

Teacher Cao was indeed ruthless, not treating Gu Peilun and Sheng Tongwen as insiders, using them mercilessly.

Now that the mole has been exposed, there's no need to torment the old comrades anymore.

"Thank you for that, but there's no rush, I just heard Principal Ma say the school is about to face a challenge from the Hero school, and I'd like to contribute more to this battle. I can handle the current schedule at least till next week, but..."

Sheng Tongwen paused, then voiced his concern, "Principal Ma, is it too soon to have first and second-year students attend my lectures on high-level talismans?"

This was a question Sheng Tongwen had also asked Cao Youyi.

But Cao Youyi had dismissed it with platitudes like, "It's a rare opportunity, and even if they don't master it, it serves as a good foundation," and even ordered the students not to use high-level talismans in front of the two new teachers.

Thus, Sheng Tongwen was still unclear about the actual level of Hou De's students, and he didn't even know if his intense teaching of high-level talismans made any sense.

So Ma Lu decided to give him a bit of insight, "Our school's students are different from other schools, extremely gifted; no matter how difficult a talisman, there's always someone who can learn it instantly."

"Ah?" Sheng Tongwen found Ma Lu's explanation even less convincing than Cao Youyi's.

Ma Lu didn't mind whether he believed it or not, as after the challenge from the Hero school, he would definitely be convinced, so he continued,

"When I was clearing the Disaster Zone, a notable student discovered several talismans in the palace where the Lord resided. Now, Hou De, in terms of research on talismans, no one can surpass you, so I'd like you to help with the research and teach it to the students."

They had been studying the Dragon Palace Nine Talismans all this while, consulting Sheng Tongwen and Gu Peilun about things they didn't know.

This method was quite secretive, but the efficiency was too low; they only managed to figure out one and a half talismans per week, and with the competition next week, Ma Lu hoped to speed up the progress.

After all, the first-taught talisman was quite powerful.

Since Sheng Tongwen had already preliminarily proven his innocence, Ma Lu decided to put him in charge of the research work completely.

Hearing this, Sheng Tongwen also became interested, "Talismans found in the Disaster Zone, interesting. Since Principal Ma has entrusted me with this task, I shall do my utmost."

"No worries, Mr. Sheng, you don't need to overexert yourself. Just figure out a few talismans; having them will naturally make winning easier, and even without them, we still have the home ground advantage," Ma Lu said, not worried that Sheng Tongwen would leak the talismans because even if Luo Xiangshi got the news in advance, there wasn't much he could do.

Hou De was one of a kind, and the competition set for next week left only a week's preparation time. Apart from Ma Lu, who could use Enlightenment Cola to create a miracle, no one else could make any specific arrangements.

Moreover, Luo Xiangshi also had to consider whether this was a false leak from Hou De, because cramming to teach new talismans a week before a competition sounded very mysterious, more like a smoke bomb.

Right after Ma Lu finished allocating the new tasks to everyone, he turned around and took a group of students to resolve a new Disaster Zone generated by the Principal Statue this week.

It was a Level 3 Disaster Zone, again located near a creek in the back hill.

This time, the monster was a red mist, hidden among the trees, initially very faint and hard to notice. Creatures inadvertently inhaled some of it.

They then felt restless, with roiling Qi-Blood, becoming irritable and quick to anger at the slightest provocation.

Two usually friendly female students, because one accidentally stepped on the other's shoe, burst into a fit of rage, cursing and even resorted to fighting.

Although pulled apart by other students, as they thought about it more, they became even angrier, and one of them secretly pulled out a talisman, intending to chant a spell.

But thanks to their previous experiences in exploring Disaster Zones, her fellow students noticed in time and restrained her before she could make a move.

Afterward, the students realized the abnormal mood swings; two of them immediately took out Wind Summoning Talismans, summoning a strong wind in hopes of blowing away the surrounding red mist.

Some others used Heart-clearing Talismans, sticking them on their foreheads to calm their emotions.

Ma Lu just watched from the sidelines; he didn't take action himself, mainly wanting to see the progress of Hou De's students over the week and the effects of the new research projects.