Douluo Continent: My name is Lu Mingfei, and my martial soul is Lu Mingze.

My name is Lu Mingfei, and I'm a good-for-nothing.

He himself was very clear about this, as were all the teachers and students of Class 7 of the Outer Courtyard at Shrek Academy. Even a slight inquiry throughout the Outer Courtyard would reveal that the guy who slept in class, slacked off during cultivation, had the lowest soul power, and possessed a strange martial soul was Lu Mingfei.

He was lying face down on his desk, a drool at the corner of his mouth, fast asleep.

On the podium, Teacher Zhou, who taught martial spirit theory, was speaking with great enthusiasm: "—The innate quality of a martial spirit determines the upper limit of a soul master, but acquired cultivation determines the lower limit. In the ten thousand years since Shrek Academy was founded, there has never been a student with innate soul power lower than level five who could—"

"Bang!"

Teacher Zhou slammed his hand on the podium, sending chalk dust flying high into the air.

"Lu Mingfei!"

Lu Mingfei sprang up as if electrocuted. Before his eyes were fully open, he reflexively blurted out, "Here! I wasn't asleep!"

All fifty-odd pairs of eyes in the class turned to look at them.

His roommate Chen Zhe, who was sitting next to him, whispered, "You're drooling all over the table."

Lu Mingfei looked down and saw that there was indeed a small puddle of water on the table.

He wiped his face with his sleeve, looked up at Teacher Zhou with an innocent smile, and said, "Teacher, I really didn't sleep. I was just... meditating."

"Meditation?" Teacher Zhou sneered and pushed up his glasses.

"Then tell me, what did I just say?"

Lu Mingfei blinked.

He was definitely asleep and didn't hear a word.

But he had experience—in these situations, talking nonsense is more useful than admitting it.

"You talked about... the relationship between innate soul power and acquired cultivation."

"Specifically?"

Lu Mingfei drawled out his words, glancing at Chen Zhe's open notebook out of the corner of his eye, where he saw the words "Soul Ring Age" and "Soul Power Threshold".

"Specifically, it's about the relationship between the lifespan of a spirit ring and the threshold of spirit power. The higher one's innate spirit power, the longer the lifespan of a spirit ring can be sustained. People with low innate spirit power will find it difficult to catch up, even with hard work."

He finished speaking, and the classroom was silent for a second.

Teacher Zhou was stunned for a moment, and her expression changed from anger to surprise.

"...That's right. You actually listened to me."

Lu Mingfei gave a modest smile: "Teacher, you explained it well. I listened very carefully."

Teacher Zhou gave him a suspicious look, then turned around and continued lecturing.

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back onto the table.

But he didn't dare to actually sleep; he just kept his eyes closed, his mind wandering to all sorts of random thoughts.

He is eleven years old and a student in Class 7 of the regular class of the Shrek Academy's Outer Division.

The martial soul is essentially his original martial soul—a young boy version of his martial soul who would claim to be named Lu Mingze.

He had a level 3 innate soul power, and after a year of schooling, his soul power had increased from level 11 to level 14.

He was too lazy to check his ranking in the entire grade; he was near the bottom anyway.

Teacher Zhou is right. People with low innate soul power will never catch up with those geniuses in this lifetime.

But what does that have to do with Lu Mingfei?

He doesn't want to be any big shot.

He just... had nowhere to go.

A year ago, Mr. Wang, the teacher who brought him to Shrek Academy, sacrificed his life during a mission.

From then on, Lu Mingfei was all alone. He had no family, no friends, and no one cared whether he slept in class or not.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness slowly sank into the sea of ​​his mind.

It was a hazy, boundless space.

In the very center sat a cute little boy in a suit.

He looked only eight or nine years old, with neatly combed black hair and an unchanging smile on his face—a sly smile that obscured his true thoughts.

Lu Mingze.

The martial spirit I just mentioned.

Or rather, he didn't know who Lu Mingze really was.

"Brother, you're sleeping in class again," Lu Mingze said with a smile.

"I can't understand it anyway." Lu Mingfei's spiritual form appeared in front of him and plopped down.

"Don't you understand, or do you not want to listen?"

Is there a difference?

Lu Mingze tilted his head and looked at him: "Is brother unhappy today?"

"No," Lu Mingfei said.

"It's just a bit annoying. Teacher Zhou is giving me trouble again."

"He's not trying to cause trouble; he cares about you."

"Concerned about me?" Lu Mingfei thought for a moment. "Maybe. But he's right, I am a good-for-nothing."

"My brother is not a good-for-nothing."

"You always say that," Lu Mingfei laughed. "But tell me, where am I not a good-for-nothing? My soul power is among the lowest, my martial soul is useless, and I've only leveled up three times in a year of cultivation. I'll definitely be the first one kicked out in the year-end elimination assessment."

Lu Mingze didn't answer, he just looked at him with a smile.

Lu Mingfei was used to this silence.

Every time this topic comes up, Lu Mingze has this expression, as if he knows something but refuses to say it.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Lu Mingfei stood up. "get out of class is over, I'm going to eat."

He emerged from his mental reverie just as the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

Lu Mingfei grabbed his schoolbag and rushed out.

Meat and vegetables are limited in the cafeteria. If you go late, you can only eat vegetarian food. Although you can eat vegetarian food, why eat vegetarian food when you can eat meat?

He had just rushed out of the teaching building when he bumped into someone at the corner.

"Why--"

Both of them fell flat on their backs.

Lu Mingfei rubbed his bottom and got up, only to see a thin, small boy sitting on the ground.

The boy was wearing a freshman uniform, his hair was a little messy, and he was holding several books, which had all fallen to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" the boy apologized hurriedly, frantically picking up the books.

Lu Mingfei bent down to help him pick it up, casually asking, "A freshman? Can't find your way?"

"Hmm." The boy looked up, revealing a somewhat thin face. "Excuse me, how do I get to the outer courtyard dormitory?"

Lu Mingfei glanced at him.

The boy looked even worse off than himself.

She was thin and small, her clothes were a bit old, and there was a kind of cautious restraint in her eyes—the kind of expression one has when visiting someone else's home, afraid to move around too much, afraid to eat too much, for fear of offending them.

Lu Mingfei was all too familiar with this expression.

"Turn left, walk to the end, that gray building is it." Lu Mingfei handed him the book.

"Thank you." The boy gave him a grateful look.

"You're welcome." Lu Mingfei waved his hand and left.

He took a few steps, then looked back again.

The boy, carrying a book, was walking in the direction he pointed; his back looked so thin that a gust of wind could blow him over.

Lu Mingfei shook his head and continued running towards the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was bustling with noise. Lu Mingfei, carrying his tray, found a corner to sit down.

There were several empty seats around the table where he was sitting.

He's used to it.

It's been over a year, and everyone knows he's "that good-for-nothing."

No one wanted to sit with him, afraid of getting bad luck, but Lu Mingfei thought it was fine.

Eating alone is peaceful; you don't have to deal with those insincere social interactions.

He lowered his head and ate his rice, still thinking about what Teacher Zhou had said.

Year-end performance review...

If I get expelled, where will I go?

He has no home to return to.

The teacher, Mr. Wang, who brought him to Shrek Academy, is no longer here.

Maybe I could find a Soul Master group to work as a handyman?

Or go to some small city to become a low-ranking guard?

As he thought about these things, he suddenly lost his appetite.

Is anyone here?