“Shaqima Academy.” Old Man Wright chuckled.

Jason Clark was speechless, thinking just how much the founder must have loved shaqima. But he quickly put this strange name out of his mind, rubbing his hands together as he asked, “Where is our school?”

Although the name was unfamiliar, Jason Clark didn’t think it was a big deal. Because Xingfeng City offered generous subsidies, there were academies everywhere, and one like Ande, which could make it into the top ten, was certainly considered prestigious in Xingfeng City. But there were even more small academies with tiny enrollments, so it was perfectly normal not to have heard of some of them.

“Heh heh heh, young people really are full of energy, I like it! Hmm, it’s not far.” Old Man Wright grinned so widely that his wrinkles squeezed his eyes shut.

Two hours later, in a dense, deserted forest.

Jason Clark stared blankly at the few dilapidated wooden huts in front of him, which looked like they might collapse at any moment.

A broken wooden pole hung a rusty iron sign, on which the words “Shaqima Academy” were scrawled crookedly. The school sign clattered in the wind, and Jason Clark’s heart sank.

“This is Shaqima Academy?” Jason Clark turned his stunned face, pointing at the nearly-collapsing wooden huts in front of him.

“Hahahaha! Although the conditions are a bit rough, well, young people should be tempered by hardship!” Old Man Wright didn’t look the least bit embarrassed.

Amory exclaimed, “Old Man Wright, you’ve really fallen on hard times! Didn’t you say your school was in the top fifty?”

“I absolutely wasn’t lying to you. Fifty years ago, Shaqima Academy made it into the top fifty.” Old Man Wright looked as if he were swearing an oath.

“And now?” Jason Clark looked skeptical.

“Ahaha, well, we’ve run into a few small difficulties, but…” Old Man Wright tried to laugh it off.

“The ranking!” Jason Clark glared.

“The ranking… oh, the ranking, three hundred and fifty-second.” Old Man Wright blinked his small eyes.

Jason Clark turned to Amory and asked, “How many schools are there in Xingfeng City?”

Amory frowned and thought for a moment. “I think it’s three hundred and fifty.”

“Nonsense!” Old Man Wright jumped up. “It’s three hundred and fifty-four!”

Jason Clark’s face instantly darkened. “Third from last!”

Old Man Wright blinked his small eyes innocently.

Amory suddenly understood. “No wonder you’re willing to spend so much—your points must be too low, and you’re about to lose your academy qualification. Hey, old man, can you really pay us?”

Old Man Wright patted his chest. “Don’t worry, Shaqima Academy has an eighty-year history, so there’s some family wealth. I can pay you part of it now.”

“What about students? It’s not just the two of us, right?” Jason Clark asked.

Old Man Wright continued to blink innocently. “The last student transferred out a couple of days ago.”

“And teachers?” Jason Clark pressed.

“Me.” Old Man Wright pointed at himself as if it were only natural.

Jason Clark turned to Amory and asked, “How do you know him?”

Amory looked a bit shy. “I think I met him once when I was a kid. He said I was a genius. Every time we met, he’d praise me, and after a few years of that, we got to know each other.”

Amory added, “And I think he’s right.”

Jason Clark was at a loss for words, staring at the nearly ruined academy before him.

“Are you really going to be scared off by a little hardship?” Old Man Wright blinked his small eyes.

“Scared off?” Jason Clark glared at Old Man Wright with a fierce look.

Jason Clark snorted coldly through his nose, his face dark, and started rolling up his sleeves.

“Uh, Basic Tang, what are you going to do? Beat him up? Honestly, he does deserve it.” Amory tilted his head, looking at Jason Clark curiously.

“Build a house.”

Without looking back, Jason Clark turned and walked toward the forest.

“Build a house?” Amory glanced at the dilapidated huts, suddenly understanding, his eyes lighting up. “As expected of a godlike man! I knew it, this kind of difficulty is nothing to you, Basic Tang…”

Jason Clark didn’t want to listen to his rambling, and pointed deeper into the woods. “Go get some wood!”

“No problem!” Amory pounded his chest and charged into the forest with great momentum.

Jason Clark started planning. This place was too far from Xingfeng City, so they needed somewhere to live. Three people, one room each, meant three huts. Simple training facilities like wooden stakes were also a must. Inside those broken huts, supposedly one was a library, but Jason Clark figured it was just full of useless stuff. Still, he decided to build a small hut to store all that junk.

Over the years, Jason Clark had lived alone and done a lot of repair work, so he was always quick and decisive. Soon, he cleared a patch of land.

Before long—boom, boom, boom—the ground trembled.

Jason Clark instinctively turned his head and was instantly petrified.

Amory was carrying a tree over three meters in diameter on his shoulder, dragging the other end along the ground. He charged forward like a wild bull, rumbling toward them.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”