West of the Floating Island's main island, University City.
A dozen kilometers away from the Tree Shade suburbs, along the spacious and straight cement road, a huge green ancient tree could be seen in the distance.
It was a hundred meters tall, with an exquisite treehouse built on its thick trunk. It was the symbol of the World Tree Academy. Although it couldn't compare to the real World Tree, it was still spectacular enough.
Tang Yu raised his head, squinted slightly, and instantly saw a shadow covering the sky above his head.
The branches were wider than the bridge, the leaves were several times larger than a cattail leaf fan … and in the direction of the castle, behind it, was the main trunk of the World Tree.
The World Tree took root in the void and hid in another dimension with civilization as its soil.
With the support of the Tree Shade City and the blessing of the territory, the new World Tree had returned to its former size. Its branches and leaves that covered the sky were larger than the main island and the three sub-islands combined.
In addition to the World Tree Academy, the University City also had two comprehensive universities and two middle schools. The junior high and senior high schools had now merged. In addition to the basic liberal arts, they also taught subjects such as doomsday history and demonic beast analysis. There was also a corresponding basic elementary school. It already had a mature education system.
As the Spring Festival approached, the World Tree Academy and other schools were already on holiday. But in the University City, there were still many students staying overnight.
They were all orphans with nowhere to go, but this year, they could finally have a happy holiday.
"Mr. Principal, you're here."
Tang Yu's arrival alarmed the University City's higher-ups. The first one was the Vice Principal of the World Tree Academy, an old man with thin hair, dark skin, and two front teeth.
The old man was only a low-level hunter who relied on potions to get to the position of Vice Principal. It wasn't because of his background, but because of his ability. Before the doomsday, the old man was the principal of a little-known school. He supported poor students many times, but he lived in poverty.
"Principal Zhang, long time no see."
Tang Yu remembered that he was the nominal principal of the World Tree Academy. Since the establishment of the academy, he had only been here a few times. He felt a little ashamed thinking about it.
Zhang Gengsheng didn't think much of it.
He wasn't from the old Tree Shade. After several twists and turns, he moved to several medium and large shelters before arriving at the Tree Shade. If it weren't for the awakening of the students he sponsored and his good luck, he wouldn't have arrived at the Tree Shade.
Zhang Gengsheng was talented, but his management skills were not bad. He had once served as a grassroots cadre in a large shelter.
But he couldn't get used to the system of those large shelters. There was nothing but exploitation. Every day, countless survivors starved to death, especially the elderly and children.
Zhang Gengsheng understood the helplessness. The elderly and children were burdens in the post-apocalyptic world, but without a new generation, how could humanity have a future? Many shelters that did not lack food would not even have an orphanage, let alone a school … He had asked to meet the shelter's leaders, wealthy merchants, and High Awakened. Everyone scoffed at his idea of building a school.
It was already the end of the world, why would they need a school?
Only the Tree Shade still attached importance to education. They even invested a huge amount of money to build an Academy City. As the Vice Principal, Zhang Gengsheng knew how huge the cost was. Even if it was the Holy Land, even if they also invested resources to build a school, their investment was less than 1/1000 of the Tree Shade's!
It was the World Tree Academy's fortune to have such a principal.
Mr. Tang was also the City Lord of Tree Shade City, the lord of the defensive circle. Compared to him who only needed to manage the school and take care of the students, Mr. Tang had a heavier task on his shoulders. Naturally, he couldn't inspect the school often.
"Come, call the principal."
Headmaster Zhang waved at some of the embarrassed students behind him.
They were all quite young, between the ages of twelve and sixteen. They belonged to the outstanding talents of the new generation of Awakened ones. At first, they were a little dazed when they saw Tang Yu. He was too young, and Tang Yu didn't often appear in public. He might be the most famous, but compared to the students, he was not as familiar as Elaine, Roger, and Sky. Elaine and the others occasionally taught public classes at the World Tree Academy.
But … the principal?
Wasn't the World Tree Academy's principal the very young City Lord Tang?
They gradually matched Tang Yu's appearance with the memorial statue in the academy.
"It's really Mr. City Lord!"
"A living principal!"
"Welcome, Brother Principal."
"I heard that a Transcendent can live for thousands of years. Could it be that the principal looks young, but he can actually be Grandpa Zhang's grandfather?"
"Stupid, how many years has it been since the doomsday? The principal is an authentic Fifth Era person. Don't be ashamed if you don't study history well. According to my speculation, the principal should be about the same age as Grandpa Zhang. It's just that his cultivation is higher, so he returned to his youth. "
These little bastards don't know how to talk … Tang Yu's smile slightly twitched.
Zhang Gengsheng coughed awkwardly and politely.
"What were you guys doing just now?"
"We were discussing the candidates for the first Freshmen Cup."
Freshmen Cup?
How come I haven't heard of it … Tang Yu couldn't help but wonder if he paid too little attention to the territory.
"The Freshmen Cup is an international competition. In fact, it was proposed by the Ancient Spirit Royal Family not long ago. The date of the event has not been decided yet. The format is a team competition. It's only for the 'new generation' between 12 and 14 years old or possibly extended to 15 years old. When the new generation awakens, they have already missed the 'rapid improvement period' where they can refine their spirit power. They can only rely on cultivation and pay more attention to inheritance and cultivation."
Zhang Gengsheng said, "In addition to our Tree Shade, Ancient Spirit and Norland are the holy lands that pay the most attention to the cultivation of the new generation. But Ancient Spirit pays more attention to the cultivation of hunters, while we and Norland are more comprehensive."
Tang Yu nodded slightly but didn't care too much. Whether they win or lose, the Tree Shade had passed the stage where they needed to rely on the competition to enhance their influence.
As for 12-13 years old children fighting and seeing blood, no one cared about that. Zhang Gengsheng hoped that the new generation could get better training, but he wasn't pedantic. Two years before the doomsday, it wasn't uncommon for children to pick up weapons and face demonic beasts.
Tang Yu thought about it and said, "If you can achieve good results in the Freshmen Cup, we can give each of you an A-rank item as a reward. If you can get first place, each of you will be rewarded with an S-rank item and a strange beast garden will be built in the World Tree Academy. That's right, it's for visiting. If you reach an agreement with the strange beast, you can even take it away."
Hearing that, the young boys and girls' eyes lit up.
So did Principal Zhang. Strange beast garden, could it be … He remembered a rumor that the Scientific Research Department was developing runes that could contract with strange beasts. Now it seemed that it might not be a rumor.
He looked at Tang Yu, and Tang Yu nodded imperceptibly.
Of course.
It was a bit difficult to get first place. It wasn't that the World Tree Academy's teaching method wasn't good, nor was it that there weren't enough resources. It was just that the academy rarely gave high-level items and potions that could improve cultivation. Most of the cultivation resources were fought for by the students themselves.
Zhang Gengsheng understood this very well, but his opinion was the same as Tang Yu's. The Freshmen Cup was to better train students, not to fight for a ranking.
Under Principal Zhang's lead, Tang Yu inspected the World Tree Academy and was warmly welcomed by the students who stayed behind. He successfully showed his face and made his presence known.
Of course, under Principal Zhang's various complaints, Tang Yu invested a large amount of resources into the academy.
…
In the Ancient City District, the hiding place of the bald middle-aged men had changed from a star hotel to a guesthouse.
Four rooms and two halls.
The ugly young man in charge of communication brought another message, "Boss, there's a message from above. They want us to complete the operation within a week. Otherwise, the organization will treat us as traitors."
The bald middle-aged man frowned and didn't say anything. He paced back and forth in the room. "Have you found out where that lord is being held?"
"No," the ugly young man said. "The prison guard we bribed isn't high enough. He only knows that the lord is being held in the depths of the prison. It's impossible to bribe him. Even if he's just a prisoner held in the shallow layer, he needs the approval of three supervisors before he can be taken out."
The bald middle-aged man's frown deepened.
He had thought of using the prison guard as a middleman to bribe the higher-ups, but there wasn't enough time.
He wasn't confident in the current operation.
"But …" the ugly young man said again, "If it's just a visit, the prison guard can take us in. Uh … I mean the visit to Wang Er. He's only held in the shallow layer."
The bald middle-aged man was silent for a while. He waved his hand to let the ugly young man leave. He took out the map of the prison he had drawn and stared at it for a long time.
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