Chapter 287 - Black Steamed Buns
Teacher Wu’s battle armor is called Sky Ice, which means he’s Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong. So… what should I call my battle armor then?
Tang Wulin’s blood raced at the thought. He looked forward to the day he obtained his own battle armor.
He didn’t know when he began meditating, but when he awoke, the sun already shone through the window.
He had meditated longer than usual and missed his chance to train his Purple Demon Eyes this morning.
However, Tang Wulin could clearly feel that his cultivation speed was faster than it was before.
“You’re up?” Xie Xie said. “Come on, let’s go eat.”
“Xie Xie, can you feel that?” Tang Wulin asked suspiciously.
Xie Xie nodded and smiled. “I knew you would ask. I feel it too. This Sea God’s Island is extraordinary! The energy here is far thicker than outside. I bet this island is connected to how Shrek Academy is capable of producing so many powerful experts. The speed of our cultivation would increase significantly if we could stay here and cultivate! Why don’t you go see if Grandteacher will let us stay longer? Maybe he’ll let us live here.”
“Keep dreaming.” Tang Wulin wasn’t amused. “Shrek Academy’s rules are very strict, you know. Anyway, let’s get going. Aren’t we gonna eat? I’m about to starve to death.”
He only had one full meal the day before, and that consisted of the steamed buns from the sixth trial. Those buns didn’t pack anywhere near enough nutrition for him!
The wooden table in the living room held a spread of food. The others were already eating when the two boys arrived.
Zhuo Shi pointed at the seat beside him. “Come sit, Wulin.”
“Okay.” Tang Wulin went over to sit.
Zhuo Shi then pointed at a bamboo basket on the table. “Zhangkong told me you have a big stomach, so let’s see how much of this basket you can finish.”
Inside of the basket were odorless, black objects. Tang Wulin couldn’t figure out what they were, but he knew they didn’t look appetizing.
“Alright,” he said.
There were twenty black objects in total. They resembled fist-sized steamed buns. It would be apt to call them black steamed buns.
Tang Wulin scoffed inwardly at the food. This is nothing to my stomach!
He quickly grabbed two buns in each hand. It was now a habit of his to grab as much food as he could at a time. Considering his voracious appetite, he would waste too much time if he ate slowly.
Tang Wulin took a bite of a bun. It was tender and sticky, had a decent texture, gave off the faintest trace of a fishy aroma. No matter how he considered it, this bun could not be called delicious.
However, after chewing it a bit more and swallowing, his expression changed.
He felt a clear wave of warmth travel down his throat and spread throughout his body. His blood essence seemed to react to this and surged toward the source. As it did, that warmth instantly dispelled some of his hunger.
This is good stuff!
When Tang Wulin was at Eastsea Academy, he ate food from the first window every day, so he naturally knew that if he ate more nourishing food, he wouldn’t have to eat as much. Yet these seemingly unimpressive black steamed buns were the most nutrient-packed food he’d ever eaten! Although he didn’t actually know what they were, he knew for a fact that they could fill him up!
After two more bites, the bun disappeared into his stomach. Several more bites later and his hands were empty. Tang Wulin happily patted his stomach as he smiled at Zhuo Shi and grabbed four more buns.
“Can you really digest all of that? Overeating isn’t good for your body.” Zhuo Shi furrowed his brow.
“I should be able to. Thank you, Grandteacher.” Since Tang Wulin had exhausted his blood essence and only eaten one meal the previous day, there was no way he would let such great food out of his grasp.
Zhuo Shi’s narrowed eyes slowly widened in shock as he observed Tang Wulin’s blood essence grow stronger and stronger with each bun he ate. Zhuo Shi could even hear the pulse of Tang Wulin’s blood and aura strengthening. This change was completely unrelated to soul power.
The cause of everything… was his blood essence..
Your bloodline is truly extraordinary, boy!
Only after Tang Wulin swallowed the sixteenth bun did he finally stop eating.
Is he full now? Zhuo Shi thought.
The buns were just too filling. Tang Wulin felt his blood essence surge through his body like a raging river. He was now in peak condition. He felt relaxed as he his soul power circulated throughout his body, unable to eat any more.
If I can eat this stuff every day, it’ll be much easier to break my seals!
All of a sudden, Old Tang’s voice echoed in Tang Wulin’s head. These are fantastic. You’ll benefit from them greatly if you can eat them daily. You might even be able to break the third seal without an spirit items.
Tang Wulin looked at Zhuo Shi with shining eyes. “Grandteacher, may I eat these every day?”
Zhuo Shi’s face twitched. “You can have the rest.”
After saying this, he stood up and left.
Puzzled, Tang Wulin turned to Wu Zhangkong. “Teacher, did I say something rude?”
Wu Zhangkong made a strange face at him. Shen Yi, who was beside him, spoke up.
“These are Teacher’s monthly rations. He usually only lets himself eat one per day,” she said. “Do you have any idea what those black steamed buns are? They’re made from a deep sea fish that lives three kilometers underwater. This fish isn’t a soul beast either, so you can imagine how strong it must be to survive at such a depth. Only elders of the Sea God’s Pavilion are given the privilege of eating these buns, yet you actually ate more than half of Teacher’s monthly share! And you even have the guts to ask if you can eat them every day? Such a thing would only be possible if all of the elders yielded their shares to you!”
“Eh…” Tang Wulin scratched his head awkwardly. “Then I’ll leave the rest for Grandteacher.”
“Teacher told you to take them, so just take them.” Shen Yi smiled warmly. “An old man like him wouldn’t be upset over something as trivial as this. When you have a free day next week, Wu Zhangkong will bring you over here to visit. It seems your grandteacher is quite fond of you since you two are so similar.”
“Yes!”
After eating breakfast, Shen Yi brought the four students off the island on a boat. Wu Zhangkong chose to stay, so they waved goodbye to him before leaving.
Sea God’s Lake was even more breathtaking during the day. Refreshing air lingered around it, the rippling waters like a giant sapphire embedded into the earth as sunlight reflected off its surface.
After leaving Sea God’s Lake and the inner court, they ventured back to the outer court’s school building.
A whole day had passed since they had taken the entrance exam.
“You will have to work harder than others as working students,” Shen Yi said as she walked. “Normal students only have to pay twenty percent of the tuition since it’s subsidized for them. You, however, will have to pay the entire tuition through doing jobs for the academy. For example, the most basic task could be to sweep the campus. Of course, you could take some jobs related to your secondary profession too.”
“Teacher Shen, is the tuition expensive?” Tang Wulin asked
Shen Yi glanced at him. “Very. Shrek Academy grants you access to resources impossible to obtain anywhere else. These resources are invaluable, so working students will have to take on many jobs to pay off their fees each year. Don’t worry, the administration will arrange things for you all.”
Although it wasn’t their first time there, the four were still awed by the grandeur of the main school building.
Shen Yi brought them to the administration to handle their registration and enlist them in their class.
A scholarly administrator in his fifties issued each of them a dark-green school uniform after completing their enrollment. “Don’t bring shame to the working students,” he said.
Don’t bring shame to the working students? What does he mean by that? As clever as Tang Wulin was, he couldn’t comprehend the meaning behind the administrator’s words. He sent a questioning look at Shen Yi, but she simply smiled and shook her head. She clearly had no intentions of explaining.
“Your first job is to clean Spirit Ice Plaza. The deadline is before dusk.” The middle-aged administrator spoke in a bored manner.
Clean the plaza? I can’t even see the end of the plaza!
“Dispose of any trash and mop the floor. Not a single speck of dust is to be seen, otherwise points will be deducted.”
Their enrollment was complete now that they were assigned a job. They were then led to their dormitory.
To be precise, they were brought to the dormitory for working students.