The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 60 - 59: Late Assistants_1

Heaven No.7 Forge, deliberately built in a thinly populated area.

No training halls or teaching buildings can be found within five kilometers around it, thus there are very few passers-by.

As a result, on the side of the spacious road, three men, two tall and one short, two thin and one strong, remained silent.

Da Mu’er and Sikong Wei were really curious.

What kind of Fond Spirit had this young man, who held an Assistant Instructor Badge, entered into a contract with?

But they also captured Ye Hanjun’s elusive unwillingness to answer.

Due to the friction from the last encounter, neither of them felt comfortable enough to let go of their dignity and keep asking him.

"It’s eight o’clock, why hasn’t Master Tu arrived?"

There was a clock tower not far away, the pendulum on it emitted a dull sound, exactly eight times.

Ye Hanjun waited patiently for another minute, but still didn’t see the man obsessed with utensils who was supposed to be there. He broke the silence and looked at the other two with a questioning look.

"That’s strange." Da Mu’er frowned, "Master Tu is never late..."

"Could he have been delayed by something?" Sikong Wei speculated:

"You guys know it, he’s been gathering investments for a new forge recently, and he’s been visiting his friends and relatives these days."

"Let’s be patient. Although Master Tu has a bit of a temper, when he promises something, he usually finishes it..."

Hearing that response, Ye Hanjun said no more.

Having nothing better to do, his gaze was fixed on the Mane Rat, which was sharpening its claws under the shade of a tree, regardless of its hostile and alert little eyes.

In his mind, he was recalling by himself the physical structure of the Mane Rat.

How to dissect it to get the complete fur, which blood vessel to cut will spray a large amount of blood, where the meat is chewy, where the meat is overly greasy and not tasty...

He reviewed these information over and over, ten times.

"Squeak!" (ꐦÒ‸Ó)

The Mane Rat certainly didn’t know what this strange human was thinking.

But it felt a coldness around its neck and felt uncomfortable all over.

While baring its teeth, attempting to intimidate, Ye Hanjun shook his head, no longer paying attention to it, and asked again:

"It’s eight fifteen now."

"You guys said the class was at half past eight, with only fifteen minutes left, I guess even hurrying up won’t make it in time?"

"This is unreasonable..."

Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er looked at each other.

What had happened to Master Tu?

Did he stay overnight for investment recruitment, having been kept by those old peach blossoms who are greedy for his manly charm?

Indeed... the tastes of those old peach blossoms are notoriously unique.

They like mature men like Master Tu who are of advanced age yet remain physically strong...

Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er, kept a straight face, communicating only through eye contact.

They dared not gossip about Master Tu in front of Ye Hanjun.

Baseless guesses indeed cannot be considered truth.

While Ye Hanjun was silent, a cloud of dust was rolling in from the distance. A royal blue carriage was galloping over.

"Yah! Yah! Yah!"

"Phew—"

What was pulling the carriage was a Blue Lion, running wildly with its four stout lion paws, and its blue mane, like waves of wheat, was blowing backward. The speed was incredibly fast.

"It’s Master Tu’s private coachman!"

Sikong Wei straightened up, anticipating it was Tu Long arriving, he prepared to go over to greet him.

Who expected that the coachman on the back of the Blue Lion shouted hurriedly:

"Gentlemen, Master Tu can’t come today!"

"He asked me to bring you a message. He has an urgent matter to attend to this morning and will be away for several days."

"What?" Da Mu’er widened his eyes, "Then what about the class? The students have probably arrived and are waiting for him."

"If they stand-up a group of students, strong resentment would arise and they would get a lot of complaints..."

"Um..." The coachman, Hu Kangling, paused for a moment, then immediately relayed Tu Long’s words:

"Master Tu said, for today’s class, he fully empowers you to conduct it, giving you the power to substitute!"

"He hopes the three of you can handle it together, not necessarily to give him rave reviews, but at least to be unremarkable, and not to lose face for him!"

"Substitute teaching?"

Ye Hanjun had heard of this term, his eyes shimmered slightly.

There are tens of thousands of students in the Canghai Pavilion, among which the lower grades account for ninety percent, and the upper grades account for ten percent, the boundary being whether the authority has been promoted to the second tier.

The top management of the Pavilion, in the early days of its founding, divided the North Campus District and South Academy District avoiding the chaos of basic and advanced courses, and avoiding the upper grades bullying the lower grades with their stronger power, thus damaging the growth environment of the lower grades.

Except for collective competitions or major events, the two sides are not allowed to come and go freely, offenders will be correspondingly punished.

The same goes for assistants and formal tutors.

Although the majority of them can handle teaching tasks on both sides, the academy still wanted them to clarify their duties.

For example, Tu Long, Da Mu’er, and Sikong Wei who were assigned to the North Campus District.

The students they had been teaching were either new Patron less than a year old, or the old students who had embarked on The Path of Controlling Spirits for 1-5 years and were still hovering at the first tier.

As for the "substitute teaching" that Hu Kangling mentioned.

In Ye Hanjun’s view, this was an interesting matter.

Some assistants, in certain fields of knowledge, or authority growth, or Fond Spirit cultivation, often have their unique places.

Restricted by their identity, they do not have the qualifications to teach independently.

Only with the trust of the associated mentor and the mentor’s personal endorsement.

When the mentor is too busy and has no free time, they would then have the opportunity to directly face the students and independently complete a class from beginning to end.

"Master Tu..."

"...is actually willing to let us substitute teach?"

Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er took several seconds to digest this information.

One was agape in disbelief, the other was staring wide-eyed, breathing heavily.

They had been with Tu Long for almost two years.

Tu Long, who was obsessed with smithing and disliked dealing with students, considering them troublesome and noisy.

When it was his turn to teach, he would always do so unequivocally, always putting in personal effort.

Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er, who were often assistant instructors, could guess his mindset.

He was afraid that their lack of academic precision would mislead the students’ perception.

Even if the consequential harm was insignificant, he wouldn’t take any chances on this matter.

Therefore, Tu Long always took all the classes himself!

Since becoming assistant instructors, Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er have never been granted the right to substitute teach.

Who would have thought that on this unremarkable morning, this sudden assignment would fall on their heads?

"Ah! I almost forgot!"

Hu Kangling looked around and finally fixed his gaze on Ye Hanjun:

"You must be the new Assistant Han, right?"

"Master Tu also said that he hopes you can help look after things. With you here, he feels more at ease."

"..."

Ye Hanjun glanced aside without any expression.

Sure enough, the faint expectation, or rather the excitement, that had just sprouted on the faces of Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er, instantly froze.

They had followed Tu Long for such a long time.

And they were Lords of the second rank.

They had experienced far more in their middle age than any of the students had.

In the end, it was because of Lord Han?

Becuase of this 20-year-old novice Patron, who had only received his assistant status a few days ago, was Tu finally willing to grant the privilege to substitute teach?

Sikong Wei and Da Mu’er looked at each other, both feeling uneasy.

The scene of Lord Han going against the tide a few days ago and single-handedly preventing the furnace from exploding was indeed deeply imprinted in their minds.

But the feeling of being surpassed all of a sudden, and of Master Tu changing his mind regarding their importance, was hard to accept.

"I see, I’ll do my best."

Ye Hanjun responded with an indifferent smile, showing no concern.

"However, either Master Si or Master Dan, should be the ones to lead the class."

"I’m new here and I’m not very familiar with the class procedures. Rather than doing it blindly, I should help you both as an assistant."

"If there’s a problem, we can all discuss and solve it together. How about that?"

Da Mu’er, impatient by nature, agreed after slight consideration:

"Whatever works, we’ll discuss the details on the way."

"It’s getting late, the students must be anxious."

"If we really lead to a bunch of complaints, that’d be a headache!"

Ye Hanjun nodded slightly, followed Da Mu’er and Sikong Wei into the carriage as the third man.

"Roar!"

The Blue Lion roared as it activated the skill "Stepping Strike", and dashed away.

"Let’s take the less crowded paths. We can pick up the pace a little!"

Hu Kangling also felt the urgency, he summoned an energy whip and lashed it on the Blue Lion’s rear.

"Roar!!"

The Blue Lion let out a mix of painful yet pleasurable roar, its muscles bulging up a bit as its speed picked up again in a short burst.

This majestic beast with blue fur was also incredibly agile.

It thundered straight ahead and drifted as it turned corners, raising dust clouds as it sped away.

"We’re here! Get out quickly!"

At 8:45, the carriage screeched to a halt.

Since neither the Mane Rat nor the Torch Monkey could be ridden, the three men rushed into a snowflake shaped, low-rise building.

"Huff...That was strenuous."

Ye Hanjun not only ran the slowest, but also coughed up blood during the run.

Da Mu’er, with his muscled physique, immediately offered to carry him in order to save time.

Ye Hanjun promptly refused.

He had already sensed a large cluster of soul fluctuations, which must be located in the classroom.

Entering the main entrance, he dashed straight to the right for 16 seconds, when the shimmering corridors of the Crystal Forge came into view.

In the dark crowd, the noisy sounds came to a sudden halt.

A multitude of assessing human eyes and wary beast eyes, locked onto the three men as they stopped.

"Mr. Dan, aren’t you guys late..."

"Some of us got here before eight, we’ve almost seen all the flowers in the courtyard wilt, and finally you arrived..."

A female student, who was holding a Moon Cat, was originally squatting on the ground, holding a handful of petals in her hand, counting them in boredom.

Upon seeing Da Mu’er in the lead, she let out a sigh of relief, then slowly stood up.

Her resentful tone resonated with many others immediately.