"Isn't the Green Tiger Town the town neighbouring Star Luo City?" Karni remembered it; it was the place where he awakened his martial souls.
"Indeed," answered Teacher Ye, "it's not a very big school and it only has an intermediate and elementary academy due to its closeness to Star Luo City. The advanced academies are all here."
"Then why do we have to cooperate in this exchange?" Siduo was clearly annoyed at this. "Will we get any benefit from this at all?"
"No." The teacher answered immediately, before raising her hand so that the two couldn't complain.
"The Green Tiger Academy has gotten a new president and besides being incredibly wealthy, the president is also an alumni of Star Luo City Academy."
"Ugh. So this is because that president has a connection to our school?"
"Yes, and the president is also giving our school a big amount of money for this. Most of that money will go towards developing the two of you."
Karni and Siduo looked at each other. They finally understood why they will be the core of the exchange.
"What is the level that the Green Tiger academy has achieved, teacher?" Asked Karni, he wanted to know what their peers in less prestigious academies achieved.
"Their highest rank in the 2nd year is rank 18." Answered Teacher Ye while sighing a little, she wasn't too pleased about this either. Karni and Siduo were 2nd years as well, but they were well on their way towards their 3rd soul rings already.
If it weren't for their combat prowess, they would've made them go into the Spirit Ascension Platform sooner.
This was also why they forbade them from getting a third spirit soul. They wanted to make two genius students who would have a thousand year first Spirit Soul. That alone would guarantee them success in the Soul Master world. Besides that though, the academy was using the two of them as a prototype for a new program they were preparing for. Karni and Siduo were, quote on quote, 'proof of concept.'
To do that they needed the two children to have both well developed bodies which could support the power of thousand year Soul Rings and a well developed spiritual power that could support a thousand year Spirit Soul.
They already have well developed spiritual power, and this past year they worked on developing their bodies' combat power and toughness. By the time they get thousand year soul rings with the help of the Spirit Ascension Platform their bodies should be able to support the soul rings.
Even then though, they went through many physical and spiritual tests so that the academy wouldn't put the children in any danger.
Siduo was actually already close enough to support a thousand year soul ring, both of her martial souls were of the beast variety. This automatically raised her body's endurance higher than Karni's.
Karni also had a beast martial soul, however it wasn't developed, so he still needed some time before he could support a thousand year soul ring. His body got naturally flexible, but it wasn't actually truly developed yet, he'd need to develop the martial soul first.
The only alternative would be to develop it through special means of certain sects, but that wasn't an option for the academy.
"Your main job during the exchange will be to spar with your peers. To get something from this, I want the two of you to really try and teach the exchange students. If you can teach something clearly enough it also means the two of you have sufficient mastery over it. Use this to your advantage and try to think outside the box, this will be my assignment to the two of you for the next few months of the exchange."
Teacher Ye would not accept the two of them to only laze around during the exchange; it was not her style at all.
… … …
"What are you thinking about so deeply Kiki?" The two of them were walking the streets, it was friday so they were going back to Siduo's family.
"I'm just thinking that I might've been in the Green Tiger Town originally. I got lucky to get into the Star Luo Academy."
"Oh right, you woke up near that town didn't you?"
"And got my Martial Soul awakened, yes." Karni's mind was on the forest he woke up in. The memories of his past. Those of which he has tried to repress in recent years. After 4 years in this world, his memory of his home had started to wane little by little, it made him sad.
"Don't worry, once your Spiritual Power increases to the Spirit Sea realm, your memory will be enhanced as well, you can use it as motivation."
"You have a hidden psychic martial soul don't you Sisi?"
"No no, I'm just that smart!" The two's banter was interrupted by a child's cry.
"Big sis, big sis!"
Siduo stretched out her arms as she welcomed the little boy who jumped into her arms.
"Little Jian, did you run away from the house again?" Siduo asked in a loving voice.
The little boy pouted a little. "But… I knew that big sis was coming home and I wanted to see you." He put his head into her chest to hide from her.
"Haiya, Jianyu, big sis will worry about you a lot if you run away too much." Karni said in a worried voice from the side.
"Big brother, you have to bring big sis home sooner next time and I won't." The little boy said as he stuck out his tongue towards Karni.
"This cheeky little child, he got this attitude from his sister." Karni wanted to voice his thoughts.
"I feel you just thought of something rude there Kiki."
"I'll get you to reveal that hidden martial soul someday Sisi, I will."
… … …
The weekends were perhaps the only time in these past years that Siduo and Karni got some rest. Yet even then, their rest wasn't so restful compared to some other people.
Whether it be sparring or engineering, they usually focused on one of them during the weekends. They also found them fun since they got to hang out anyway. This time they chose to focus on sparring.
Karni and Siduo both fell to the ground at the same time.
"Wow, big brother, did you get better?" Asked Siduo's little brother from the side.
He was only 3 years old this time, and whenever Siduo and Karni sparred, he would always beg them to watch. He was named mostly after Wu Jianguo, Little Nai's full name was Wu Jianyu. They combined the name so it sounded similar to both Jianguo, the father and Siyu, the mother. Though the characters were different.
Karni and Siduo had another draw this time around, Wu Jianyu could still remember when Siduo won most of the time.
"It's not just that Kiki got better, he also got used to my movements."
"Big sis, will I also be able to move like you one day?"
"Don't worry about such things yet Little Jian, just enjoy playing around for now." Said Siduo. She was very doting toward her little brother, if she could choose, she would rather he wasn't a soul master, she just found him too cute.
"Eeeeeh? But I want to be cool like big sis one day!" The little brother argued.
"Sure sure, you can be cool like your big sis someday." Siduo said back.
"Little Jian, which would you rather be, the White Tiger or the Hell Cat?" Asked Karni.
"I want the Hell Cat! I want to swoosh and jump and run around like big sis!"
"But this big sis of yours also has the White Tiger you know?" Siduo made a proud face.
"Show me, show me!" Little Jian's eyes glistened like the stars.
Siduo changed into the White Tiger Martial Soul and picked up a boulder meant for weight lifting. She lifted the boulder with ease.
"See how cool your sister is." Siduo huffed.
"Eh? You look cooler when you run around and don't let anything touch you, I think I want to be the Hell Cat instead." Contrary to Siduo's expectations, her little brother didn't seem too impressed, well it might also be the fact she had no soul rings with the White Tiger yet.
Children were curious and honest creatures when very young. This little brother of her's really knew what he wanted. Siduo could only hope that her little brother awakens the martial soul he wants; traditionally, the White Tiger awakened mostly in men and Hell Cat in women, it was partly genetics of how one's body was born. More nimble or more strong. Before having martial souls awakened, one was simply a human.
However there were always exceptions. The genetics were more of a spectrum then a binary thing after all. So many complications mattered, the bloodline mattered as well, as it could alter the genetics on a deep level. One might become more of a beast than a human after a while if they have a strong bloodline.
"But how does big sis have two martial souls?" Karni and Siduo were caught off guard with that question.
"Well you see, when martial souls are well balanced there is a chance to awaken with two of them as the body is suitable for both." It was oversimplified, but true to a degree.
"Could I also awaken with both?" He looked expectantly.
"If you're lucky. Don't think too much about it. The martial souls are often not what we expect or want." Siduo told him.
"Oh." Jianyu said dejectedly.
Siduo chuckled a little when she saw the cute little sad face.
"Don't worry, even if you awaken without any soul power, there are many ways for one to be cool, just look at Kiki!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"
… … …
Karni and Siduo were yawning while standing outside of the school building.
Last night they were awake late, discussing some strategies they could use in the Spirit Ascension Platform. They wanted to be prepared for their next time.
It was a shame they forgot they had to wake up earlier than usual this monday morning. They were beginning their exchange, and they had to be there to greet the students from Green Tiger Academy. They were going to interact with all of the exchange students after all.
Perhaps they waited about 10 minutes. About time, Siduo looked like she was going to fall asleep standing.
In the distance they saw a group of about 30 people. A tall, lean man was walking at the front of the group. As soon as they saw them, Mo Qing gestured towards Karni and Siduo to follow them.
"Li Wuyi, it seems like yesterday when you were still a little student in our academy, yet now you're a headmaster of the Green Town Academy." Mo Qing approached with his typical carefree attitude as he greeted the lean man in front him.
The tall man laughed. "Teacher Mo, it feels like a whole lifetime since I was last here to me."
The two were teacher and student for a long time in the academy. Back then, Mo Qing wasn't the vice-headmaster yet. Karni felt that Li Wuyi was very similar to his own teacher.
He looked to the side behind Li Wuyi. On their side were only him and Siduo. Behind Li Wuyi, he saw students ranging from 9 years all the way to 15 years old.
Most of them felt older than the two of them, yet they also felt weaker except for the few older students who seemed to be around the same range as them in terms of soul power.
Among the younger faces, one of them even felt familiar. It was just that he couldn't quite figure out why. A lean boy that looked to be about his age.
"Alright, class presidents. Introduce yourself to the vice-headmaster of the Star Luo City Academy and report your age and Soul Rank!" The headmaster Li Wuyi ordered his students.
"We brought five of the best students of each year to learn, so as to show the highest level currently achieved by our academy. This should give you some idea about how much work is ahead of us." Li Wuyi said, so that only Siduo, Karni and Mo Qing could hear him.
Six students stepped up, each belonging to one of the classes as the youngest introduced herself.
"Year 1, Class 1, 9 years old, Hu Fuya. Rank 13, Agility System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Cat." A small girl stepped in front as she was a bit shy and scared. She sort of mumbled all the information at once, without any pause.
Karni and Siduo made a bit of a weird face. That was indeed quite lacking in terms of talent if that was the best person in the first class. She also had an ordinary martial soul, though those kinds of inborn abilities could always be overturned with talent and hard work; so they wouldn't judge by martial soul too much.
The second person stepped up front. He had an air of arrogance around him as he proudly stated: "Year 2. Class 1. 10 years old. Ma Fai. Rank 18, Assault System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Flaming Eyes Hawk."
When the boy mentioned his martial soul he looked especially proud. But he decided to at least be decent and not make a different introduction than the first person. He just did it slower.
That martial soul was known to be descended from phoenix martial souls. Based on his family name, Karni could guess he might be a branch descendant of the Ma family and Ma Hongjun who once stood at the top of the continent along the legendary Tang San twenty thousand years ago.
To Karni, the stories of the past were just that, stories. He read them in great detail in his old world. It was still cool to see descendants of those people though. He didn't have time to worry about the past too much.
Siduo and Karni could also guess that this was the person Teacher Ye mentioned. The peer who had reached rank 18 soul power. In that same group, Karni saw the person he thought he saw somewhere before, he was standing just behind Ma Fai.
The third person stepped forward a bit dejected and ashamed as they stated: "Year 3, Class 1, 11 years old, Mao Ming. Rank 16, Defence System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Rock Pangolin."
Karni could tell why he felt dejected, despite being older than the previous class president, he was two ranks behind. Looks like Ma Fai was a genius in terms of Green Tiger Academy students. When Karni thought about it, that person could probably qualify for Star Luo City Academy as well, though he would only be above average here. The top students of each class in Star Luo City Academy were all two ring soul masters after all. The older ones even had three rings.
"Year 4, Class 1, 12 years old, Yao Liu. Rank 18, Control System Soul Master, Martial Soul: River Butterfly." A girl stepped forward as she gave an annoyed look toward Ma Fai.
No wonder Ma Fai acted arrogant. He had the same soul rank as the Class President two years his senior. It was clear how this behaviour came to be.
Another girl stepped forward, she was already starting to develop a girl's body. Girls generally matured faster after all. Both mentally and physically.
"Year 5, Class 1, 13 years old, Bing Ran. Rank 21, Assault System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Ice Axe." She sounded quite intense, perhaps it came with having a martial soul that focused on such things.
Last but not least was a handsome boy. "Year 6, Class 1, 15 years old, Jing Nian. Rank 24, Auxiliary System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Crystal Ring."
This caught Karni and Siduo by surprise. It had to be known that auxiliary systems were quite a bit harder to cultivate compared to other types of martial souls. To achieve that rank was quite impressive.
Mo Qing clapped. "Thanks for the introductions. It is nice to have you all here. We hope that you learn many things in our Star Luo City Academy. This next half a year you will be studying alongside my disciples and students, as well as their teacher. Teacher Ye."
He pointed towards Teacher Ye, who at some point in time arrived next to them. Karni didn't really notice her since he was both sleepy and focused on the introductions.
"Now then, Karni, Siduo, you two also introduce yourself." Mo Qing gave them a smile.
The students on the other side looked at the two of them a bit weirdly. Mo Qing just said all of them will be studying alongside them, yet they felt a bit young. The older students didn't quite know how to feel about this. They expected some older students as well.
Ma Fai was especially feeling haughty, he was looking at Karni and Siduo as if he was somehow above them. Karni was already disliking this guy's behaviour. Though he found it funny that he wasn't the only one. Ma Fai's seniors also seemed to dislike him a tad bit.
Karni stepped forward and bowed a little as he gave a bright smile and introduced himself. "Year 2, Special Class, 10 years old, Val Karni. Rank 27, Control System Soul Master, Martial Soul: Staff of Predictions."
When the students opposite of him heard his introduction they went silent with shock. Ma Fai had an extremely ugly face, like he was judging both Karni and himself. He looked frustrated that Karni was a whole 10 ranks above him.
The older students however had a bit of a different reaction, it was mostly that they finally understood why they were going to study with these two. This was an opportunity for them. They instantly looked towards Siduo, wondering what her rank was.
Siduo yawned as she stepped forward and quickly picked her ear for a second. Karni was already rolling his eyes when he saw her, she was just instigating conflict.
"Same as this guy, name's Wu Siduo. Rank 28. Agility, Hell Cat."
Karni wanted to facepalm but he held back, Mo Qing and Teacher Ye were however holding their laughter back, as was the headmaster of Green Tiger Academy.
Li Wuyi welcomed this kind of student for this exchange, he figured it should only make his students more hard working. Beating an 'antagonist' was always a welcome motivation.
Ma Fai seemed to have lost all the self esteem that he carried previously, meanwhile, a lean boy with bright eyes was looking towards Karni with a weird look. It was the same boy that Karni found familiar.
The students were led to class by Teacher Ye while Li Wuyi and Mo Qing went off towards the school offices. Probably going to grab a drink and catch up, as well as figure out the specifics of the exchange.
Karni and Siduo sat down at their usual seats. On Siduo's right sat the class president of year 1, the one with the cat martial soul, it was clear she looked at Siduo with respect.
Meanwhile, Ma Fai was about to sit down next to Karni before the familiar boy overtook him and sat next to Karni's table.
Ma Fai seemed to be enraged. "Tie Tiao what do you think you're doing?"
"Well pres, I was here first so you can find the other seat." The boy named Tie Tiao gave the guy a hostile smile
"You… Move! Or do you want me to… to… I'll beat you up!" Despite being a not so effective threat, the boy, Tie Tiao actually took it seriously.
"Sigh, Ma Fai, was it? Just let him be there." Karni looked towards the arrogant, but not so effectively arrogant boy of his age.
"This has nothing to do with you, it's between us two, got it?"
"This is the classroom which I usually attend, I think I can decide who sits next to me thank you." Karni gave him a kind smile, though Ma Fai didn't find it too pleasant.
"You…"
Karni gave an inward sigh to himself. Power truly does rule this world, I feel like a bully, even though I'm bullying bullies.
He kept a kind smile and spoke sarcastically. "Unless of course, you want me to beat you up."
Ah. He really wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. He wasn't built for this stuff.