Ch. 335 - You Little Bastard, Trying to Black-Eat-Black

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Liu Feng and the other two were dumbstruck. For a moment, Chen Shu's outrageous stunt had completely short-circuited their brains.

Sell himself?! This was absurdity on a whole new level!

"Three hundred academic credits! That's my bottom line!"

Liu Feng shouted, choosing to back down.

Chen Shu's footsteps halted. His eyes spun as he said, "But I have one condition!"

"What condition?"

"Could you make me one of the heirs in your will?"

"???"

A'Liang and Wang Jue's eyes bulged. They wore expressions of utter disbelief.

How the hell did you have the nerve to say that?!

Liu Feng's expression froze for a moment — then he actually smiled. But that smile sent an involuntary chill through anyone who saw it.

A warning sign instantly flared in Chen Shu's heart.

He threw himself into a roll, barely dodging a black shadow that shot toward him.

Without a word, Liu Feng had torn open the space above him — a terrifying black spider leg came stabbing down.

"Teacher! A teacher for a day is a father for life — inheriting your estate is perfectly reasonable!"[2]

Chen Shu kept rolling, shouting at the top of his lungs.

In an instant, two more spider legs appeared, stabbing down at extreme speed.

"I was wrong! I was so wrong! I pick you! I pick you!"

"Three hundred credits! No other conditions!"

Chen Shu ran for his life, panic written all over his face. Did you have to be this goddamn brutal?!

"That's more like it!"

Liu Feng nodded. Seemed like he had to resort to real measures after all.

Chen Shu watched the spider legs behind him retreat into their beast space, and finally let out a breath of relief.

If that chase had gone on any longer, he would've had to break out the three bottles of Explosion Potion he'd just received...

Chen Shu and the other two made their way to the Huaxia Academy cafeteria. Since it was free, the three of them ate like there was no tomorrow, utterly without restraint — drawing quite a few glances from those around them.

That afternoon.

Carrying his combat backpack, Chen Shu arrived at the academy's No. 1 Auditorium.

A hall that could seat thousands felt cavernously empty with only five hundred people inside.

And on stage stood several dozen powerful Beast Tamers.

Per academy rules, this was a two-way selection — the goal was to satisfy both teachers and students as much as possible.

Qin Tian stepped onto the stage and addressed the crowd:

"Students, on stage are fifty academy teachers who will serve as your mentors for the next four years. Everyone must choose carefully!"

Though all were academy teachers, they were divided by rank: some were professors, some associate professors, and some merely lecturers.

Among the lecturers, thirty-six were only Silver-rank. The remaining fourteen were Gold-rank.

Naturally, most people wanted to select a Gold-rank as their mentor.

But each teacher could only take a maximum of five students — so some would inevitably have to choose Silver-rank lecturers.

"Now — students may begin making their selections!"

As the first-place finisher in the freshman exam, Chen Shu took the lead without hesitation and stepped onto the stage.

Fifty powerhouses turned their gazes toward him, forming an oppressive aura. Someone with slightly weaker mental fortitude might actually start trembling.

Chen Shu, however, was perfectly composed. He studied each teacher, one by one.

The moment he stepped on stage, someone spoke up:

"Little Chen, I'm a student of Elder Ye's — you can choose me!"

A Gold-rank Beast Tamer's eyes held anticipation. It was Professor Jiang Yun, the one who'd given Chen Shu his scores earlier.

Chen Shu smiled and nodded, but didn't select him, simply strolling around at leisure.

Time passed slowly. Chen Shu had made four circuits, and still hadn't made his choice.

"Do you have some kind of problem..."

Vice-Principal Qin Tian's mouth twitched. "You think this is a grocery market? If you don't want to choose, that counts as forfeiting!"

"Uh... I'll choose, I'll choose..."

Chen Shu muttered. Thanks to his outstanding performance, every teacher had extended an olive branch toward him.

Unfortunately, he still hadn't heard the words he wanted to hear.

Invitations were nice and all — but you had to name your price!

As teachers at a top-tier academy, they had zero understanding of how this worked. Chen Shu was honestly a little disappointed...

Chen Shu spoke: "I'll choose Professor Liu Feng!"

Liu Feng nodded. If this guy had kept wandering around any longer, he was about to go ballistic.

With Chen Shu's selection made, the remaining students stepped forward in turn.

Since some teachers had already approached students in advance, the selection process went extremely quickly.

A'Liang's Thunder Ape was immensely powerful and ranked in the top ten. He soon stepped onto the stage.

In that moment, quite a few teachers extended olive branches toward him.

The spectacle of the Thunder Ape shattering that wind blade with a stomp was enough to make anyone recognize his strength.

A'Liang, however, ignored them all and made a beeline straight for Liu Feng.

"Professor Liu, I want to become your student!"

Liu Feng raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected someone to proactively seek him out as a mentor.

"Oh? Give me your reason. Because of Chen Shu?"

He arched a brow. Same dorm — they'd basically all choose the same mentor, convenient for management and forming beast taming squads.

A'Liang scratched his head. "Becoming your student means getting academic credits..."

"..."

Liu Feng's mouth twitched. "Give me a break!"

While A'Liang's talent was formidable, he wasn't worth Liu Feng paying a disciple-acceptance fee.

"Just a token amount, teacher — I'm begging you!"

A'Liang refused to leave, pleading piteously. "Chen Shu got three hundred credits. Just treat me like a freebie thrown in with the purchase!"

"..."

Liu Feng's mouth hung open. You were a goddamn genius, all right — no wonder you and Chen Shu were in the same dorm...

In the end, under A'Liang's relentless harassment, Liu Feng grudgingly gave him fifty credits.

Aside from him, no one else chose Liu Feng as their mentor.

His explosive temper was too frightening. Better to pick a mild-mannered Silver-rank lecturer.

For teaching Black Iron Beast Tamers, Silver-rank was more than enough — and besides, Huaxia Academy's Silver-ranks weren't comparable to those in wider society.

"A'Liang! Respect!"

Chen Shu couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up. He hadn't expected him to be this shameless.

"Credits are obviously more important than face!"

A'Liang didn't mind at all. Another one who'd do anything for money!

Time passed. The two of them turned to Wang Jue beside them.

"Wang Jue, how come it's still not your turn?"

Wang Jue turned to them with a bitter expression. "I'm ranked five hundredth..."

"??"

Both their eyes went wide — but the moment they recalled his contract spirit, it made perfect sense.

Yu Yi's combat performance had been poor, but at least he'd fired off skills.

As for his grey little bird — it had contributed nothing but trash talk. If that could earn points, then things truly were absurd beyond belief...

At last, every student ahead of him had selected their mentor. Only Wang Jue remained.

"The protagonist always makes his entrance last!"

Wang Jue rose leisurely, intense confidence shining in his eyes.

He moved with deliberate slowness, savoring the moment as all eyes turned to him.

So what if he was ranked five hundredth? If he didn't finish, could any of you leave?

"All right, since everyone has finished selecting — this meeting is adjourned!"

Qin Tian stepped forward and announced.

"..."

Wang Jue's eyes bulged. He immediately rushed forward: "Teacher! There's still me!"

He jogged onto the stage. Any slower and he'd genuinely miss out.

"Teacher Liu, I want to become your student!"

Liu Feng had already anticipated this somewhat. "You want academic credits too?"

"Uh..."

Wang Jue shook his head. "I'm not as thick-skinned as those two!"

"But my bird has something to say..."

With that, he directly summoned the grey little bird.

"I'll take him! I'll take him! Fifty credits for you too, all right..."

Liu Feng's mouth twitched as he immediately agreed.

That bird was simply too insufferably annoying. Besides, he had actually seen some potential in Wang Jue to begin with.

Right now, the grey little bird was only useful for transport — but what about when it reached Silver-rank? Or even Gold-rank?

Space-type contract spirits were far too rare!

"For students and teachers who couldn't reach an agreement, the school will convene to resolve it — a placement plan will be issued within one day!"

Qin Tian announced. Those who hadn't secured their ideal mentor would simply be forcibly assigned by the school.

"Today's meeting is concluded! Everyone, please exit in an orderly fashion!"

Chen Shu and the other two threw their arms around each other's shoulders, preparing to leave the auditorium.

"Chen Shu — you three, wait!"

Liu Feng approached them, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

"Teacher, about those credits..."

All three of them wore identical expressions — rubbing their hands together, greed shining in their eyes.

"Give me your student cards!"

Liu Feng shook his head. Academic credits functioned as Huaxia Academy's internal currency, and could naturally be transferred.

But the prerequisite was mutual consent. Any coercion would result in immediate expulsion — the school did have bottom lines.

Chen Shu grinned. "Teacher Liu, how generous!"

"You can thank yourself for this one!"

Liu Feng shook his head. "If not for the harvest from [Living Wood Swamp], you think I'd have spare funds?!"

"You guys killed a King-rank beast?"

Chen Shu's expression shook as he spoke.

"That White Lion — we slaughtered it. The Black Tree King got away, but we also lost two True Treasures in the process."

Liu Feng explained. The True Treasures were secondary — the key was that the White Lion's corpse was immensely valuable. Turned in to the authorities, it would yield a massive reward.

"I've investigated you, kid. Wherever you go, trouble follows! Without you, the dimensional spaces probably wouldn't have even fused!"

"Th-that's... too kind."

Chen Shu coughed. The space fusion honestly didn't have much to do with him.

"All right — your credits are in!"

Liu Feng said. With just a tap, the credits were transferred.

"Now that I've paid the disciple-acceptance fee, you can properly be my students, right?"

"What disciple-acceptance fee?"

Chen Shu's eyes went wide, his expression one of pure, innocent confusion.

"???"

Liu Feng's face went blank. "You little bastard, trying to black-eat-black[1]?!"

Chen Shu's face was perfectly serious. "Wasn't that just our cut from the King-rank beast?"

[1] 黑吃黑 (hēi chī hēi): Literally "black eats black" — Chinese underworld slang for criminals ripping off other criminals. Originated in Hong Kong gangster cinema. Liu Feng uses it when Chen Shu tries to claim the "disciple acceptance fee" was actually "profit-sharing from the king beast kill" — double-dipping a fellow crook.[2] 一日为师终身为父 (yī rì wéi shī, zhōngshēn wéi fù): Traditional Confucian saying: "A teacher for a day is a father for life." Emphasizes the sacred teacher-student bond. Chen Shu perversely extends "father for life" into "I should be in your will" — demanding inheritance from Liu Feng. Classic Bandit Logic twisting a noble maxim.