Chapter 60: First Day at the Academy—Discovering the Inner Power of Devouring

Of course, Luo Zhidong did not agree. Assigning such a high-caliber talent to the position of an administrator—if the Martial Management Bureau caught wind of this, Fan Tianlei would laugh at him until he dropped. In the end, it was Zhang Xueying who suggested appointing Zhang Chu as a supervisor, concurrently serving as the forest hunting ground administrator.

A supervisor is distinct from a counselor. Not only can a supervisor oversee the students of the academy, but they can also supervise the teachers. The authority of this position sounded significant.

"Alright, let's proceed with the formalities," Zhang Chu replied, accepting the offer without hesitation. Since he would be seeing Su Mingyue frequently at the academy, making mischief with her from time to time would be its own kind of amusement.

Zhang Xueying personally escorted Zhang Chu through the onboarding process, even presenting him with a new golden, sword-shaped badge symbolizing his status as a supervisor. Only after everything was settled did Zhang Chu leave the academy. Since he would officially assume his post tomorrow, today was a day to prepare.

No sooner had he reached his doorstep than he spotted a note left by Fan Tianlei: "Brother Zhang Chu, call me as soon as you see this. I came by in person—we need to talk." Zhang Chu paid it no mind, tossing the note straight into the trash. A man cannot straddle two boats.

To be frank, the Martial Management Bureau had no forest hunting ground—hardly conducive to cultivation. He wouldn't go!

Back home, Zhang Chu suddenly remembered the reward for a 1-star warrior: the child’s storage ring. With a thought, ten pills appeared on the table—five 1-star Power Pills and five 1-star Mind Focusing Pills. He needed to test just how much these two types of pills could boost his power and mental strength.

He first took the Power Pills—crafted specifically for dual-force warriors; ordinary martial artists would explode if they tried. He swallowed all five at once.

Sure enough, the system’s voice echoed in his mind: "Ding, detected that the host has consumed five 1-star basic Power Pills. Power +25."

"One 1-star basic Power Pill adds five power points?"

"I currently have eighteen million in my account. The official price for a 1-star basic Power Pill is one hundred thousand apiece. That means I could buy 180 Power Pills?"

"Wouldn't breaking through to two stars be a matter of minutes?"

Zhang Chu was elated. He quickly moved on to the Mind Focusing Pills. As soon as he swallowed them, a cool sensation swept through his mind, sharpening all his senses.

Again, the system chimed: "Ding, detected that the host has consumed five 1-star basic Mind Focusing Pills. Mental strength +25."

With a thought, his personal information panel appeared before his eyes:

Name: Zhang Chu
Realm: 1-star
Power: 37/1000
Martial Skills: Skyrocket (1-star basic), Iron Mountain Shield (1-star basic), Thirteen Swords of Blazing Fire (1-star basic), Silver Flash (1-star basic)
Mental Strength: 37.4/1000
Mental Martial Skill: Electric Vine Bind (1-star basic)

Having tasted the benefits of the Power and Mind Focusing Pills, Zhang Chu could no longer restrain himself and prepared for a shopping spree. He opened the "Warrior Mall" and started madly adding items to his cart: ninety Power Pills, ninety Mind Focusing Pills.

Only at checkout did he realize that both dual-force warriors and martial artists were subject to purchase limits: a 1-star dual-force warrior could only buy five Power Pills and five Mind Focusing Pills per month.

Though disappointed, Zhang Chu still placed the order. Placing it in the afternoon, he received the delivery from the Boundary Hall’s logistics specialist that very evening.

He swallowed ten more pills, then checked his personal information panel again:

Power: 62/1000
Mental Strength: 62.4/1000

Seeing such slow progress, he realized that relying solely on these two types of pills, breaking through to two-star dual-force warrior status would take at least a year. It seemed he would still have to rely on hunting exotic beasts and passive devouring!

…

Early the next morning, Zhang Chu rose on time, washed up, brushed his teeth, then drove to work. This was his first official day on the job.

When his car arrived at the school gate, he flashed his supervisor badge. The security guards stiffened at attention and greeted him with salutes—this was, after all, a supervisor, and security fell under their purview as well. To inspect the leadership—were they courting death?

Dual-force warriors had their own designated parking spaces. As soon as he got out of the car, Zhang Chu spotted Zhang Xueying waiting at the entrance.

Today, Zhang Xueying was dressed particularly lightly; her gray pencil skirt nearly caused the hot-blooded Zhang Chu to lose his composure.

"Good morning, Supervisor Zhang," Zhang Xueying greeted him warmly.

"Good morning, Teacher Zhang," Zhang Chu replied politely. Now that he had a formal position, his entire approach to life needed adjusting.

Passing students were stunned. When had the "female demon" Zhang Xueying ever smiled? Was the sun rising in the west? And who was this handsome man?

A few female students cast Zhang Chu curious glances. But upon seeing the sword-insignia badge on his chest, they fled in alarm. Handsome or not—it didn’t matter.

Every supervisor was bad news…

"Shall we have breakfast together?" Zhang Xueying was unusually enthusiastic, ignoring the curious stares of students and other teachers as she and Zhang Chu went everywhere together, from the dining hall for breakfast to the office to meet their colleagues.

In less than two hours, pictures of Zhang Chu and Zhang Xueying together were already circulating on the school forum, causing quite a stir.

Having just received her new office supplies and computer, Su Mingyue registered on the campus network and was instantly floored by the posts: "Zhang Chu! How can you always get so lucky? I swear I’ll make you unable to stay at the Martial Arts Research Institute!"

Meanwhile, Zhang Chu had already entered the forest hunting ground.

The forest hunting ground was an internal exotic beast reserve created by the Martial Arts Research Institute, covering a hundred thousand acres—making it the largest hunting ground in Binzhou. Students of the Institute usually practiced martial skills and underwent assessments there.

The administrator’s office was right at the entrance, resembling a log cabin. Zhang Chu put his things down, took a quick look around, then headed straight into the heart of the hunting ground.

He hadn’t accepted this inconspicuous job just to take it easy—he had his eyes on the resources of the forest hunting ground.

Zhang Chu didn’t venture into the areas frequented by exotic beasts. Instead, equipped with the administrator’s specialized high-precision map, he sought out a patch of primeval forest.

The flora there was rare, mostly used by students for alchemy experiments. Even the clovers grew unusually large.

Zhang Chu was thrilled. He channeled his mental strength and reached out to touch one of the clovers.

In an instant, the clover’s verdant vitality quickly faded. "Ding, passive devouring triggered. Mental strength +0.2!"

Wait!

A bit dazed, Zhang Chu realized something. Back at the guesthouse, a single clover had only increased his mental strength by 0.1. But here, it was 0.2?

Could it be…?

Zhang Chu felt he’d grasped the core of devouring. To confirm his hypothesis, he targeted an immortal pine nearly fifty years old.

He reached out, focused his mind, and for a split second, it was as though he was coursing through the internal meridians of the ancient pine.

When he opened his eyes again, the towering pine had withered into a dead tree. "Ding, passive devouring triggered. Mental strength +1!"

My goodness!

That was intense.

Zhang Chu’s eyes shone—so the older the plant, the greater the boost to his mental strength?