'Helping' Ma Hongjun

Confused, Ma Hongjun asked, "Boss, why are you acting like this?"

Dai Mubai ignored his question and turned to Wu Lan, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing. He hurriedly explained, "It's all a misunderstanding!"

"A misunderstanding?!" Xiao Wu shouted angrily. "That fatty said his boss would deal with us!"

"Boss, what are you worried about with your strength?" Ma Hongjun added, still oblivious to the situation.

"Shut up, Fatty!" Mubai snapped, his voice rising. "They're new students at the academy and they're higher level than me."

Hearing this, Ma Hongjun instantly knelt on the ground and begged, "Please spare me! I'll never bully women again!"

Watching him change his expression so quickly, everyone was speechless.

"Shameless," Xiao Wu scolded instantly.

Mubai then explained about the woman being his girlfriend and about Ma Hongjun's Martial Spirit defect, how it heightened his lust uncontrollably.

"Wu Lan, he's not a bad guy. It's all because of his Martial Spirit," Mubai added.

"I'll let him go for now," Wu Lan replied calmly, placing a hand on Ma Hongjun and healing him. "But don't use your power to threaten others."

As he healed, Wu Lan received [Phoenix Essence] from Ma Hongjun as a payment.

He was excited. This was the most valuable thing Ma Hongjun had.

After accepting it, he thought, Ma Hongjun's Martial Spirit should regress into a chicken slowly, leaving behind only a trace amount of Phoenix Essence. That should solve the defect in his Martial Spirit.

Ma Hongjun… you don't even need to thank me for solving your problem.

Mubai and Ma Hongjun both thanked him sincerely.

They all continued walking toward the cafeteria to eat.

After eating, they gathered at the training grounds when they heard the bell ring.

Rongrong and Oscar were already there.

The new students introduced themselves and quickly became familiar with one another.

Soon, a man walked toward them.

Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing instinctively stood close to Wu Lan.

Xiao Wu immediately recognized the man and shouted, "Brother! That's the profiteer we saw in the town's shop!"

Everyone turned to look at Flender with strange expressions, but he didn't care. He walked up confidently, introduced himself, and welcomed them.

Then, he added, "Each student must pay 100 gold coins as tuition."

Tang San's face froze in shock. He didn't have that much money.

After being scammed by the pawn shop owner, he had been working hard to repay the debt, handing money to the same 'pawn shop owner' who secretly came to collect the fees so he could retrieve his master's token.

What Tang San didn't know… was that the 'pawn shop owner' was actually Wu Lan in disguise.

As Wu Lan watched Tang San's stunned expression, he chuckled internally. He knew Tang San had no money, because whenever Tang San earned any, he would appear in disguise as the pawn shop owner and demand repayment.

Tang San, desperate to retrieve his master's token, would obediently hand it over.

The real pawn shop owner went missing after causing a fuss at the academy. Wu Lan believed Tang Hao had killed him. And whenever Tang Hao wasn't around, I made sure to collect 'my debt'.

I'm not stealing from him, Wu Lan thought. I'm protecting him from buying materials for making Dangerous things that could get him hurt. Honestly, I'm a good guy.

Meanwhile, Tang San stood frozen, trying to think of a solution. He suddenly remembered his master's letter.

"Dean, my teacher asked me to give you this letter," he said, handing it over.

Flender's expression changed when he saw the letter. He immediately opened and read it.

Inside, Yu Xiaogang endlessly praised himself, claiming Tang San's strength was all due to his own theories and teaching. He instructed Flender to concentrate all resources on Tang San.

Flender stared at the contents with a strange look, then glanced at Tang San. He knew exactly how Tang San had performed during the entrance exam.

After a moment, he said nothing about the letter and simply asked, "Where is your teacher now?"

"Teacher said he'll arrive later."

"Good! Good!" Flender said, clearly pleased. "He's finally willing to come to me."

Seeing Flender's happy expression, Tang San hesitated and said, "Dean, I… I don't have the money right now. I'll pay it in the future."

Flender's smile instantly disappeared, but after thinking of his old friend's disciple, he reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Xiao Wu tilted her head and looked up at Wu Lan in confusion.

"Brother, why is this profiteer happy that trash is coming?"

Wu Lan smirked.

"There's a long story behind that. One of many reasons why I say Yu Xiaogang is the biggest scumbag alive."

"Tell me!" Xiao Wu said eagerly, eyes sparkling as she tugged his arm.

Even Zhu Zhuqing leaned in slightly, clearly interested.

"Not now. I'll tell you later," Wu Lan said, patting Xiao Wu's head gently.

"Okay…" she pouted, but let it go.

Flender calmed down and returned to a serious tone.

Wu Lan knew what was coming.

Flender's training plan. He recalled it from the original, run laps and fight in the soul arena. Risky and pointless. Risky, because it would expose their strength. Pointless, because he and Xiao Wu could fight beyond their levels, making battles against same-level opponents meaningless.

He also remembered Flender's other schemes, breaking Rongrong's arrogance by assigning her impossible tasks, planning to turn Oscar and Rongrong into a pair after seeing how Oscar cared about her.

Typical of a scammer who's known for fooling people.

I won't waste time… and I won't become Anyone's pawn.

Before Flender could begin his grand speech about training, Wu Lan calmly interrupted.

"Dean, there's something you should know."

Flender paused, glancing at Wu Lan with curiosity. "Oh? What is it?"

"We've already prepared our own training plan. It's more suited to our individual strengths and future paths. I appreciate your intentions, but we won't be needing the academy's program."

Flender raised an eyebrow. "You haven't even heard the plan yet. How can you be so sure?"