On the other side, Xiao Wu had successfully taken over half of Tang San's quilt. In this incident, Tang San was actually the most hesitant one.
Wang Sheng was injured, but injuries couldn't stop him from eating. At this moment, he loudly said,
"It's time for lunch. Let's go to the cafeteria together."
Wang Li had eaten dry rations with hot water in the morning and was already hungry, so he also said,
"Great, just in time to get familiar with the campus!"
Tang San lowered his head upon hearing this. He had no money. The money Tang Hao earned from blacksmithing was all spent on wine. He had never eaten his fill at home, so where would he get money to eat in the cafeteria? Thus, he just said coldly,
"You guys go. I'll just eat some coarse biscuits."
Xiao Wu hesitated even more, saying,
"Do we need bronze coins to eat in the cafeteria?"
Wang Sheng was stunned when he heard this. Of course, you needed bronze coins to eat. He looked at Tang San, then at Xiao Wu, and roughly understood their predicament: two words, no money.
Two geniuses with innate full spirit power, and especially good fighters, Wang Sheng endured the heartache, patted his chest, and said,
"Let's go to the cafeteria together. I'll cover your meals for these two days. Consider it a celebration that our work-study student team has grown stronger."
Xiao Wu immediately jumped up, full of energy, and excitedly said,
"Yay!"
Seeing Xiao Wu agree, Tang San hesitated for a moment, then also said,
"Thank you!"
This time, all the work-study students set off together; it was their way of survival. They would go together if they could, never easily getting separated.
Halfway there, Wang Sheng looked at Wang Li, suddenly scratched his head, and said,
"Wang Li, why do I feel like the bruises on your face have faded? Do you recover that quickly?"
Wang Li looked at Wang Sheng's still bruised and discolored face, naturally not telling the truth, but instead said,
"Perhaps it's because you held back, so I recovered exceptionally quickly."
Wang Sheng knew that when they fought, he hadn't held back at all, but this wasn't a big deal, and he quickly dismissed it from his mind.
Wang Li also didn't offer too many explanations; some secrets were best kept to oneself.
...
School cafeteria.
This was a two-story building, large enough to accommodate over three hundred teachers and students from the entire school for meals, so its area was naturally not small.
Originally, everyone was chatting and laughing, but after entering, they heard someone barking,
"Tsk, isn't that Wang Sheng and his gang of paupers!"
The person speaking stood on the stairs between the first and second floors, about eleven or twelve years old, and fairly good-looking. However, the look in his eyes at this moment—malice, disdain, contempt—unmistakably told everyone that he was a villain, a villain easily humiliated.
Xiao Wu was the big sister of the Star Dou Great Forest, with a Titan Giant Ape on her left and a Sky Azure Bull Python on her right. She was never one to be insulted without retorting, and Wang Sheng had even covered her meals for two days, so she stepped forward, hands on her hips, eyebrows furrowed, and loudly reprimanded,
"Where's that mad dog barking from!"
The person on the stairs' eyes lit up. People on the Douluo Continent developed quickly; at eleven or twelve, they knew everything. He didn't care what Xiao Wu said, instead, he spoke to himself,
"What a cute little loli. Wang Sheng, I'll let you off today. We'll get to know each other better another time."
After speaking, he led a group of his subordinates laughing up to the second floor.
Xiao Wu still wanted to chase after them, but Wang Sheng quickly dissuaded her. He was very happy with Xiao Wu's courage to stand up for everyone, but his purse was limited, and he didn't dare let Xiao Wu go to the second floor, saying,
"Sister Xiao Wu, the second floor is for à la carte orders, which are very expensive. We can't afford it. They can go to the second floor freely, but we should not go up."
Xiao Wu had no concept of money, but seeing Wang Sheng's reaction, she calmed down.
On the other side, Tang San walked over to Yu Xiaogang, who had arrived later, and respectfully called him "Teacher." Yu Xiaogang wanted to take him to the second floor, but he glanced at Xiao Wu and still didn't go.
When Tang San returned, Wang Sheng quickly said,
"Tang San, Grandmaster is not a teacher. Don't make a mistake. He is not a teacher of the academy, just an honorary elder. He neither leads classes nor teaches students normally, like a freeloader. It's useless to curry favor with Grandmaster."
Hearing this, Tang San's brows furrowed, and his voice became cold:
"Wang Sheng, Grandmaster is my teacher. If you disrespect my teacher again, don't blame me for being impolite to you."
After saying that, he didn't even want to eat, and walked away without looking back.
As for Wang Sheng, who was left standing there, he scratched his head. He was doing it for Tang San's good, but instead got scolded. He couldn't help but say,
"Are you crazy!"
Wang Li witnessed all of this, but he remained silent. What he was more interested in was how the food in the cafeteria was.
According to his observations, most of the self-funded students in the academy also ate on the first floor. There were only a handful of students who could go to the second floor, and their families must have been wealthy or noble.
The food on the first floor, unlike the second floor, couldn't be ordered à la carte, but there were still over a dozen dishes to choose from, including both meat and vegetable options, and they were all priced.
Meat dishes generally cost four to six bronze coins, vegetable dishes generally one to two bronze coins, rice one bronze coin, porridge one bronze coin, and there were also some pastries, with varying prices. Based on the ten bronze coins work-study students earned daily from their labor, there really wasn't much room for choice.
Without Tang San, everyone still ate. Wang Li paid for himself, spending six bronze coins to order the simplest one meat and one vegetable dish. This meal, among the many work-study students, was already enough to make people drool with envy.
After eating, led by Wang Sheng, they toured the academy, found the classroom where they would have classes later, and the garden south of the playground that needed to be cleaned.
Back in the dormitory, most of the work-study students began cultivating. They all came from humble backgrounds and could only become Spirit Masters and truly graduate if they cultivated to the tenth level during their six years of academy life. Otherwise, the academy would not recognize them as students of Notting Academy.
Even Wang Li was no exception. He indeed had no basic meditation method, but having gained twenty-six experience points, he had to try how to improve his spirit power.
Sitting on the bed, he assumed a cultivation posture, but in reality, he was communicating with the panel. At the position of [spirit power: Level 3 (54%) +], he used his will to touch the "+".
Soon, the entire panel jumped to [Start spirit power Enhancement (Yes/No)].
Wang Li again used his will to touch the word "Yes."
In an instant, a drastic change occurred within Wang Li's body. All his spirit power was instantly pulled by an invisible force.
It surged out like a dragon or a snake, unrestrained.