Talking about advancing to Title Douluo seemed to hit Yu Luomian right in his soft spot. He clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "If I can become a Title Douluo in this lifetime, I'll die with no regrets. If I have any other wish, it's to see Erlong become a Title Douluo and marry a good man."
Liu Erlong had already reached Rank 76 in her forties. With her exceptional talent, becoming a Title Douluo before seventy wasn't out of the question. But when it came to marriage and children, that was a different story—much more difficult.
Hearing Yu Luomian's words, Liu Erlong didn't say much, but her eyes filled with memories, as if recalling the joyful times of the Golden Iron Triangle.
Seeing their expressions, especially Liu Erlong's nostalgic gaze, Yu Tianming's mind stirred. 'Shrek Academy should be arriving in Heaven Dou City soon for the Soul Master Tournament, right? If Erlong doesn't know yet, this is the perfect time to take control of Lanba Academy. I can't let her change the name to Shrek.'
He looked at the cheerful Yu Luomian on the bench and slowly said, "Second Grandpa, I want to stay in Heaven Dou City for a couple of years. Can I become a teacher at Lanba Academy?"
Yu Luomian turned to Liu Erlong, stroking his beard with a smile. "Even though Lanba Academy has been expanding quickly and is short on teachers, letting Tianming teach is still beneath him. Erlong, you're the principal—what position do you think suits him?"
Liu Erlong came back to herself and smiled gently. "Tianming, do you have a position in mind? As the young master of our clan, and since Lanba Academy is part of our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, whatever position you want, I'll arrange it for you."
Yu Tianming didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned to Yu Luomian, his eyes gleaming. "Second Grandpa, you've been with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect all this time. You're idle anyway—why not join Lanba Academy's management with me?"
As Liu Erlong's father, Yu Luomian absolutely detested that waste Yu Xiaogang. If he joined the academy's leadership, there'd be no need for Tianming to act—he'd personally deal with Yu Xiaogang.
"Father, what's your opinion?" Liu Erlong looked at her father and asked cautiously.
Yu Luomian rubbed his beard, smiling as he looked at Liu Erlong. "I've been here so long, it's time I took on some academy duties and helped my daughter ease her burden."
Liu Erlong narrowed her eyes at her father and teased with a smile, "Sounds nice. You've been lounging around here for years and never thought to help. But now that Tianming asked, you suddenly feel like stepping up?"
Yu Luomian pretended not to hear, focusing instead on the pastries on the table.
Yu Tianming asked warmly, "Aunt, what position do you want to arrange for Second Grandpa? He can't be just a regular teacher, can he?"
Liu Erlong rested her chin in her hand, thought for a moment, and said, "Then Father will be the principal of Lanba Academy, and I'll become the vice principal. As for Tianming, you still need to cultivate and deal with various matters, so you'll be the Director of Moral Education. You'll be in charge of students' ideological development."
Yu Tianming chuckled. "As expected of a principal with over ten years of experience. Aunt's arrangements are flawless."
"Of course. Lanba Academy has only existed for just over ten years, and it's already one of the top Soul Master academies on the continent. That's all thanks to my careful planning." Liu Erlong covered her mouth and laughed, raising her chin proudly.
Yu Luomian snorted and glanced at Liu Erlong with disdain. "Erlong only added the finishing touches. The most important thing was your Second Grandpa applying for the land from the sect and securing a huge amount of funding. That's how Lanba Academy became what it is today. So becoming the principal now is well-deserved."
Seeing she couldn't win the argument, Liu Erlong stood up and took Yu Tianming's arm. "It's already the middle of the night. If we keep talking, the sun will be up. Tianming, I'll find you a room. Let's rest early."
That reminded Yu Tianming of Ah Zhu and Ah Zhi. Since he had gone to visit Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, he'd kept the two girls inside his internal water world. With full control over that space, he sensed they were fast asleep. So he didn't wake them and instead told Liu Erlong, "Aunt Erlong, find a bigger room. Ah Zhu and Ah Zhi will join us later."
The next day, after Liu Erlong handed over the academy's affairs to Yu Luomian, she met up with the just-awakened Yu Tianming in front of the principal's office.
By now, Ah Zhu and Ah Zhi had emerged from the water world. Despite their strong cultivation, they still followed closely behind Yu Tianming like obedient maids.
Seeing them, Liu Erlong smiled warmly and teased, "Looks like your two maids arrived last night. No wonder you woke up so late. That big room Aunt prepared didn't go to waste."
Yu Tianming dared not respond to that tease, worried she might say something inappropriate. He scratched his head awkwardly and quickly changed the topic. "Aunt Erlong, is there anything I can help with at the academy today?"
"You're the Director of Moral Education, responsible for students' psychological well-being. But we don't really have any troubled students at Lanba. For today, just go meet a few of them."
"Meet students? Are there specific ones you want me to meet?"
As they walked, Liu Erlong explained, "Of course—the students chosen to represent Lanba Academy in the upcoming Soul Master Tournament. We only recruit commoner soul masters, so it wasn't easy gathering these talents. I'll take you to see them now."
Looking at the midday sun, Yu Tianming asked, "Isn't it class time? Would we be disturbing them?"
"No worries. They're all doing combat training in the arena now. And even if it was class time, I'm the principal—how could my inspection be considered a disturbance?" Liu Erlong waved it off casually, then led everyone toward the academy's combat arena.
As they walked, she turned to Ah Zhu and Ah Zhi behind her. "You two haven't passed twenty-five yet, right? Want to participate in the Soul Master Tournament one more time?"
The two of them had been students of Lanba Academy, even joining the last Soul Master Tournament four years ago. As Soul Ancestors back then, they helped the academy reach the semifinals. They glanced at each other, then smiled gently. "We've already experienced the tournament. Now, we just want to serve the young master."
Back then, they had only been Soul Ancestors, but after taking immortal herbs and undergoing training on Sea God Island, their current power was close to canon-level Shrek Seven Devils—just slightly below Liu Erlong. Competing now would be bullying children.
Liu Erlong sighed. "If you two participated, Lanba would have a real shot at the championship. But as it stands, we might not even make the top eight."
While talking, they arrived at the academy's combat arena.
Thanks to Yu Luomian's funding, it had been renovated with all supporting facilities, no less than a proper spirit battle arena.
Having worked with Yu Xiaogang and Flender for many years, Liu Erlong, the strongest of the Golden Iron Triangle and the most hot-tempered, was especially enthusiastic about letting students train through combat. Before they even entered, loud sounds of battle echoed from within.
Yu Tianming couldn't help but smile. "I didn't expect Lanba Academy to be so fond of combat training. There are quite a few students in there."
Liu Erlong rolled her eyes. "Don't be fooled by the noise. More than half of that is from Tai Long yelling around. He just absorbed his fourth spirit ring and became this batch's only Soul Ancestor. Now he's in the arena every day showing off by taking on multiple opponents at once."
Yu Tianming raised a brow. 'Tai Long should've only been Rank 37 in the original. What miracle medicine did he take to break through to Rank 40?'
He glanced at Ah Zhu, remembering how Tai Long once tried to court her. But after learning she was his maid, he slunk away. 'If Tai Long meets Xiao Wu, will he try again? Without the immortal herbs, can Tang San even beat Tai Long?'
Soon, they found seats inside the arena.
On the stage, two soul masters had used their spirit possession to turn into a lone wolf and a skeleton, fighting against Tai Long, who had become a giant ape through spirit possession. Behind them, a girl wielded a healing staff to treat her teammates' injuries.
Tai Long, having broken through to Soul Ancestor, was sturdy and powerful. His roars added to his intimidating presence, and he easily suppressed the three Soul Elders. But thanks to the healing from Jiangzhu, the fight remained at a stalemate.
Liu Erlong pointed to the four on stage. "These four are the academy's top students this year—three Soul Elders and one Soul Ancestor. Normally, that's a pretty solid lineup. But this year, many noble clans are sending their elites. With our current strength, we're outmatched."
Yu Tianming nodded. 'This year's tournament offers spirit bone rewards. Countless noble clans are sending their best, hoping to snatch them from Spirit Hall. Commoner soul masters already lack talent and strong spirits. This lineup is good enough, but to challenge the noble clans? That's just a fantasy.'
They watched several battles, but most of the students only had Great Soul Master-level strength. The fights were lackluster.
Soon it was noon.
A young teacher hurried over and whispered into Yu Luomian's ear. "Principal, there's a group outside called Shrek. They claim to want to join our academy. They're quite strong."
Yu Luomian had never heard of Shrek Academy, but Liu Erlong, who'd been in touch with Flender, knew them well. Upon hearing the name, she rushed out without a word, heading toward the direction of the Shrek group.
Watching her rush off, the newly appointed principal Yu Luomian sat there bewildered and asked Yu Tianming, "Tianming, do you know about Shrek Academy? Why's Erlong so worked up?"
Yu Tianming smiled meaningfully. "Second Grandpa, have you heard of the Golden Iron Triangle?"
"That thing with Erlong and that useless Yu Xiaogang? What about it?" Yu Luomian looked confused.
"The third member of that triangle, besides Aunt Erlong and Yu Xiaogang, is Flender—the founder of Shrek. That's why Aunt Erlong rushed out. And by the way, Yu Xiaogang just joined Shrek too. He's about to meet up with Aunt."
Hearing this, Yu Luomian leapt to his feet. 'I must give those star-crossed fools a good whack!'
"Second Grandpa, we can use this chance to keep Yu Xiaogang here," Yu Tianming said quickly, holding his arm.
Yu Luomian's face turned red. "Keep that useless bastard? Hasn't he caused enough trouble? That pig is disgusting! If we let him stay, with Erlong's personality, she'll definitely marry that waste!"
In Yu Luomian's heart, Yu Xiaogang was nothing more than scum who deceived his daughter—a lifelong failure. His anger flared.
Yu Tianming hurried to explain. "Think about it, Second Grandpa. They haven't seen each other for years. Do you really think Aunt forgot him? She mentioned him last night. If you keep Yu Xiaogang close, won't it be easier to break them apart?"
Yu Luomian paused, seemingly realizing something. His emotions quickly calmed.
He nodded and sat back down, speaking seriously. "Tianming, you're sharp. No wonder you managed to woo the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. Quick, teach Grandpa a few tricks so I can deal with that garbage Yu Xiaogang."
Yu Tianming broke into a cold sweat. 'Better not comment on that.'
"Shrek doesn't have a spot in the tournament, so Yu Xiaogang will definitely come here to get his students in. If you let him be a teacher, you'll be able to manipulate him at will as the principal."
Yu Tianming cleared his throat. "Second Grandpa, when Yu Xiaogang arrives, keep an eye on Aunt Erlong. Don't let her do anything foolish. Later, we can slowly sow discord between them. Time will wear them down. We'll break them apart for sure."
Yu Luomian nodded. "That trash Xiaogang is disgusting to look at. For my daughter's sake, I'll endure it for now."
Thinking about seeing the Shrek crowd's expressions, Yu Tianming grew eager. "Let's not waste time, Second Grandpa. Let's go greet Shrek Academy and see how that Yu Xiaogang has changed over the years."
(End of Chapter)
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