“Mr. Bolton, if you had money, would you want to try what a table of dishes costing one thousand taels of silver actually tastes like? Besides, what they’re enjoying isn’t just the food, but the experience.”

“Sigh, I really wish I were rich!”

Under the powerful wave of publicity, the hottest topic in Dongyun City right now was none other than Fumanlou. If you still haven’t heard of Manfulou by now, then you’re definitely out of the loop.

The Foster Family.

“Hahahaha, is this really the idea that idiot came up with?” Charles Foster sneered repeatedly. “A minimum of ten taels of silver per table. What a joke. Guimanlou charges a thousand taels per table—why doesn’t this kid just go rob people?”

“Pah, not a single person has made a reservation yet. I really want to see the look on that little bastard’s face.”

“An idiot is always an idiot, and thinks everyone else is an idiot too.”

“Hmph, give it at most another ten days, and that kid will definitely come begging me to come back and take charge again. I’ll make sure to teach him a good lesson.”

The Miller Family.

“Sis, that little fool actually came up with such a lousy idea, it’s killing me with laughter.” David Miller clutched his belly and laughed.

Grace Miller was much more reserved in her laughter. To be fair, the tactic itself wasn’t bad, it’s just that the price was way too high. She said calmly, “Don’t bother with that idiot anymore, John Grant will take care of him for us.”

“But I didn’t expect The Cooper Family’s Brian Cooper to be so powerful. Now there’s suspense over who will become the new noble next year,” David Miller suddenly said.

Grace Miller frowned slightly. Among the eight great noble families, there would basically be no changes next year, except for the vacancy left after William Clark’s death, which would open up a spot for a new noble.

She had thought Edward Grant would undoubtedly take the top spot, but unexpectedly, Brian Cooper suddenly appeared, and was said to be no weaker than Edward Grant.

The two families were now like fire and water, and she couldn’t possibly play both sides—being close with John Grant while also maintaining a good relationship with The Cooper Family’s second son, Samuel Cooper.

But then again, Henry Clark didn’t seem the least bit stupid now.

Had he been pretending all along?

But why? Even William Clark, a powerful expert at the Vajra Realm, died in Huoyun Mountain and even lost his noble title. The price of playing dumb was just too high.

Still, whether Henry Clark had truly been foolish or just pretending, this world still belonged to martial artists. No matter how rich you are, so what? Without enough strength to protect it, in the end, you’re just making wedding clothes for others.

Whatever, she had enough problems of her own and no time to worry about that idiot. Anyway, that idiot would never be able to turn things around in this lifetime.

……

That morning, after getting up, Henry Clark made an exception and didn’t train, because today was the first day of Qianfeng Academy’s new term.

Just like schools on Earth, Qianfeng Academy also had the concept of “grades,” but they weren’t divided by age, but by strength.

Qianfeng Academy was divided into two divisions: the Sky Division and the Earth Division.

Anyone who could afford the tuition could enter the Earth Division, but only those whose strength reached the Middle Rank could enter the Sky Division. But one thing was the same: the minimum age for admission was 15, and the maximum was 20.

After turning 20, no matter your cultivation or how much money you had, you had to leave the academy.

As for what you did after that, that was your own business. The wealthy could go home and inherit the family business, while the poor could become mercenaries, hunt fierce beasts, gather spirit herbs, and make a fortune—enjoying a comfortable old age and giving the next generation a head start.

So, every year after the New Year, when the new term began, some old students would leave, and new students would join.

But the tuition was outrageously high, leaving over ninety percent of families only able to watch helplessly. Otherwise, with such a huge Dongyun City and only Qianfeng Academy as its sole institution, how could there be only a little over four thousand students in total?

The academy wasn’t far from home. After a dozen or so minutes, Henry Clark arrived at the academy gate. The main gate was tightly shut, but there was a small door open on each side. It was still early, and only a few students were arriving, each entering through the left or right small door.

Strangely, some people, even though they were closer to the left door, would deliberately walk a few extra steps to enter through the right, and vice versa.

There was a reason for this.

Over a hundred years ago, the then-headmaster of Qianfeng Academy died unexpectedly, and two extremely powerful vice-headmasters fought for the position. In the end… neither could overpower the other, and the matter dragged on.

The two sides became bitter rivals, each raising their own banners and establishing their own factions, splitting the academy in two—forming what are now known as the Eastern and Western Factions.

Since then, Qianfeng Academy has never had a new headmaster. The two vice-headmasters each led the East and West Factions, constantly competing in everything. After those two stepped down, new vice-headmasters took over, continuing the rivalry.

They competed over who recruited more students, whose students were stronger, who had more beauties… The two factions’ students would often get into mass brawls, and private fights were even more common. As long as no one was killed, crippled, or seriously injured, the academy wouldn’t intervene. On the contrary, if anyone called in their family elders to intervene, the academy would actually cover it up.