Douluo: My Clone Is Groudon

At the back of Lanba Academy, Liu Erlong leaned against a carved column covered in ivy, clutching a ledger wrinkled from her grip.

"At this rate, we won't even be able to pay the teachers' salaries."

She suddenly slammed her fist into the stone pillar. Uncontrollably, her fiery dragon martial soul surfaced, fine dragon scales spreading along the back of her hand.

Fragments of stone and dust rained down, startling the birds perched on the plaque above.

Under the shade of the willows, a teacher hesitated for a long while before finally stepping forward: "Principal, there's a visitor who claims to be a senior named Four-Eyed Owl Flender."

"Brother Flender!"

Liu Erlong abruptly stood up, her crimson skirt billowing like a fragrant breeze.

Before her words faded, Flender had already led the group into the courtyard. When she caught sight of that gaunt figure, her entire body froze as if under a spell. Her diamond-studded fingertips trembled slightly: "Xiaogang… Is that really you?"

Facing Liu Erlong's intense gaze, Yu Xiaogang stumbled back half a step. Realizing his awkwardness, he hurriedly lowered his head to hide the turmoil in his eyes: "Erlong, it's been a long time."

Gu La leaned against the wisteria trellis, smirking faintly. This pair of cousins was turning their forbidden love into what seemed like a pure romance drama. If he hadn't known they would later have children together, he might have believed this act of restraint and propriety.

He averted his gaze, surveying the academy that would soon change hands—Lanba Academy, spanning hundreds of acres, backed by green mountains with an emerald lake reflecting the outlines of training fields, was far grander than Nuoding Academy's cramped grounds.

Under Gu La's influence, Flender had decided early to abandon Shrek Academy in Soto City and directly join Lanba Academy.

As his cultivation improved, Gu La felt constrained in Nuoding Academy. The area of an advanced academy wasn't smaller than a university campus from his previous life—it was even larger.

Liu Erlong, ever the romantic, would likely pour all her efforts into Flender and focus on her love life, leaving the construction of new training facilities at Lanba Academy to them.

"Xiao San, stop gossiping and come lend a hand."

After consulting with the academy teachers, Gu La decided to claim the area where Liu Erlong cultivated vegetables. Surrounded by hills and water, the scenery was breathtaking. A training ground here would surely motivate people.

"While Principal Liu is busy catching up, let's get the training field set up first."

He rolled up his sleeves, revealing several storage soul-guiding devices strapped to his arm. He began tossing out various training equipment, including a 'metal cat climbing frame' for little cats, Xiao Wu's 'ten-thousand-year snake skin sandbag', Tang San's "'mystic iron wooden post', and various miscellaneous items Gu La used for his own psychic training.

Seeing it was serious work, Tang San reluctantly tore his gaze away and came over to help Gu La set up the training equipment. Some of the equipment required digging pits and burying posts, each weighing thousands of jin, so it wasn't a task for the weak.

Thus, while Liu Erlong passionately poured out her feelings and Yu Xiaogang awkwardly responded, the nearby woods echoed with the sound of pounding strikes.

"Xiaogang, why should we care about worldly opinions..."

"Erlong, it's impossible for us…"

Bam! Bam!

"Xiaogang, I don't care. I'll never let you go again..."

Bam! Bam!

Liu Erlong's forehead veins bulged, nearing the edge of fury.

The guide teacher broke out in cold sweat. He wanted to stop Gu La and Tang San, but the principal clearly knew them well. He didn't want to end up alienating himself.

Finally, as Gu La manipulated the soil to split open and diverted river water to create a circular lake, the roaring water drowned out Liu Erlong's emotions.

"Boy, that's enough! Are you treating my vegetable garden like your own home?!"

Liu Erlong stormed over, glaring at Gu La with ill intent.

Gu La stopped, having deliberately provoked her anger.

The principal of Nuoding Academy tolerated Gu La because of the talent and strength of him and his companions, worth investing goodwill in.

But Liu Erlong and Flender were both high-level soul masters. To establish authority in future interactions—especially over how to train Pokémon—he needed to show some strength.

Based on his estimates, after absorbing the third soul ring, his strength should be around the level of a Soul Emperor. With endless soul power and a variety of skills, he could hold his own against a Soul Sage.

Gu La shrugged: "Principal, what do you think?"

Flender hesitated, then advised: "Sister, Gu La is doing something important. Let him finish setting things up. Xiaogang can stay too."

With these words, Liu Erlong's expression immediately brightened. She looked at Gu La much more kindly and waved generously: "Then do as you wish. Brother Flender, since they're from your academy, I'll leave the management to you. Do as you please."

With that, Liu Erlong ignored everyone's gazes and forcibly dragged Yu Xiaogang into the house.

Of course, she wouldn't do anything improper during the day, but exchanging sweet nothings with Yu Xiaogang in private was inevitable.

Gu La raised an eyebrow, watching the entangled pair walk away. He shook his head silently, realizing he had underestimated a love-struck mind. Her fiery personality didn't even care about being provoked in person, leaving him without a reason to retaliate.

He turned and retrieved a three-meter-high device, slamming it into the earth.

This was a machine capable of converting geothermal energy into pure energy to enhance fire-attribute Pokémon—a piece of Team Rocket technology. Due to irreversible damage caused during energy infusion, it only cost 3,000 points.

After breaking through level thirty, Gu La finally felt the compression effect of ultimate attributes on soul power. His already dense soul power condensed further into a yellowish mist, nearly reaching the liquid state of a Soul Sage.

Even running a cycle of the most intricate meditation technique barely increased his soul power by a tenth of its former amount. Thus, aside from energy cubes, Gu La needed other methods to speed up cultivation.

This geothermal device was the most cost-effective option Gu La found in the system.

As for Lanba Academy lacking a volcano, Gu La could slowly convert rocks to create artificial magma. Acting as a relay station, combined with his ability to recover soul power while standing on the earth, he achieved perpetual motion and automatic cultivation during the energy transfer process.

"I'm truly a genius."

Gu La gave himself a mental pat on the back and took out several special alloy pipes, burying them around the device.

Flender watched Gu La work. He had requests for Gu La and Oak behind him, so he couldn't speak harshly.

Turning to Ma Hongjun, he snapped: "What are you standing around for? You're a team. Aren't you ashamed to watch your teammate work alone? Go help him."

"Oh."

Ma Hongjun, accustomed to his unpredictable teacher, didn't ask questions and went to help Tang San move equipment.

Dai Mubai and Oscar followed, exchanging subtle glances.

Meanwhile, as the Shrek group settled in, Tian Dou City buzzed with excitement due to the Soul Masters Tournament.

Teams participating in the competition arrived one after another, each bringing their trump cards, ready to amaze everyone.

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