Lin Luo was at a loss on how to react to the scene unfolding in front of him.
He had no choice but to look cute and innocent, leaning on the universal baby tactic.
At least now he was sure of one thing: Salas didn't recognize him.
If he did, Salas wouldn't have just said what he did. According to his memory from the original story, Salas was essentially the "ambassador" of the Spirit Hall, frequently traveling to the two major empires on "business." So, it made sense he hadn't heard of the "baby sensation" over the last few days.
Though... it seemed he wasn't going to slip away this time.
Was he going to get dragged back?
Surely someone in this crowd recognized him. After all, he'd been the center of attention yesterday in the public square.
Lin Luo sighed; he hadn't even completed his quota of 90 laps today...
Only four Spirit Power tags were in his possession at the moment, and he needed more!
It was like finally finding an exclusive VIP club, only to have a "special agency" barge in for an inspection right as he entered.
Today was a disaster.
If he got caught and dragged back, there'd be no more sneaking into Spirit Hall Academy. If he ran off now, Qian Renxue would definitely realize he'd been hiding here.
Hiding in this classroom had clearly been a mistake…
Now the doorway was tightly blocked, so making an escape was impossible.
Meanwhile, the year supervisor, Su Tanjie, was looking dumbfounded at the baby sitting behind Hu Liena. He was utterly speechless.
Su Tanjie had indeed allowed some "unqualified" students to slip into the first-grade class, which was why he was so nervous.
Recently, a Platinum Bishop had contacted the admissions director of Spirit Hall Academy, Wang Shicheng, about enrolling his great-nephew in the first-grade class.
The child was, however, too young, which made him ineligible to enroll through normal channels, so a backdoor admission with substantial "compensation" was arranged.
Thus, Su Tanjie and admissions director Wang Shicheng had struck a deal: take the money, get the "nephew" in through the backdoor.
But Su Tanjie hadn't actually met the "nephew"—only Wang Shicheng had.
And now… could this baby really be him??
Was this the same child the Platinum Bishop had mentioned??
Oh no—when they said he was too young, I thought six years old at the youngest! Now I'm supposed to believe it's a baby?!
Damn it, Wang Shicheng!
I'd like to see you explain how you justified a literal baby to Spirit Hall Academy admissions!
This baby doesn't need a high-tier soul master academy; he needs nursery rhymes and fairy tales!
Su Tanjie was fuming. He wanted to wring Wang Shicheng's neck!
Still, money had exchanged hands, and he had been given a 60% cut.
Besides, they were dealing with a Platinum Bishop; it was too late to back out now.
If word got out, not only would he lose his title of Year Supervisor, he'd be losing his Red Bishop robes, too.
And that would be the least of his problems. He'd have a powerful enemy as well.
Remembering yesterday's rumor about a baby in Spirit Hall who'd even been held by the Pope herself, Su Tanjie connected the dots to the baby in front of him.
Only the nephew of a Platinum Bishop could command such favor from the Pope.
This confirmed it for him: this baby was the nephew of a Platinum Bishop!
There was no way he'd reveal the backdoor arrangement now. Su Tanjie forced himself to stay calm and declared firmly:
"Him? Yes, I know him! He didn't come in through any backdoor! He was admitted under regular admission!"
Salas's eyes went wide, a vein on his forehead bulging as he barely contained his rage.
He chuckled, though not from joy.
"Su Tanjie… are you insulting my intelligence? You're telling me a literal infant got into the academy through regular admissions?"
Su Tanjie nodded, lying through his teeth, "Yes, he was admitted under normal procedures. If you doubt it, you can ask Wang Shicheng."
Salas scowled. "Wang Shicheng's in a remote division at the moment—how am I supposed to ask?"
"Then there's nothing I can do…" Su Tanjie continued with forced confidence, "This child is extraordinarily gifted. Though he's young, he possesses a remarkable spirit and… twenty levels of spirit power."
Lin Luo was flabbergasted. Why was the year supervisor lying to cover for him?
If he knew who Lin Luo was, he'd be rushing him back to Bibi Dong for a promotion!
Instead, not only was he lying but lying to the point of absurdity.
Even a fool could tell he was just a baby!
A baby with a spirit power?
With twenty levels, no less?
This was a flat-out tall tale. If Salas believed this, he'd have to be the most gullible man in existence.
But what Lin Luo hadn't expected was that the students around him were already staring in shock, starting to buy into the story.
Even Hu Liena was gazing at him in awe.
It seemed that most of the class remembered how incredibly fast Lin Luo had crawled yesterday.
No ordinary baby could crawl that fast—surely, it had to be due to his spirit!
"Amazing! You awakened your spirit so early?" Hu Liena whispered, awestruck.
Lin Luo: "Eh?"
But just then, a loud slap rang out from the doorway.
Salas, boiling with fury, slapped Su Tanjie across the face, his brows drawn into a thunderous scowl.
"Su Tanjie, do you take me for a fool? A baby with a spirit, huh?"
"And you're saying he's got twenty levels of spirit power?!"
"It seems you're looking to get yourself fired as Year Supervisor! I can think of a dozen people better suited to the role!"
Su Tanjie panicked, realizing that he'd gone too far. But he couldn't turn back now.
He couldn't just kick the baby out either—that would offend the Platinum Bishop!
"Salas, sir, I swear it's true! This baby has an elusive spirit. Though young, his power level qualifies him to attend. The academy only limits admission to under-twelves, and, well, a few months old is still under twelve!"
"You sly dog!" Salas glared, giving Su Tanjie a hard kick before walking over to Lin Luo.
"Alright, little guy, let's see it then! Show Grandpa your spirit!"
Su Tanjie, covered in bruises, crawled back over, mumbling, "He doesn't show his spirit easily!"
"Oh, I'll bet! If I don't see this spirit power today, you're out of a job, and this kid is going straight back to his family!"
Salas' stern tone echoed through the classroom.
Su Tanjie was close to despair; it seemed both sides were slipping out of his grasp.
But Lin Luo wasn't worried.
In fact, he just realized that he did have a spirit he could show…
Among his system's myriad minor rewards, there was a category called [Spirit Simulation].
Lin Luo had always considered this prize a bit useless, as it only let him summon an imitation spirit with a single ring—not exactly a practical power in a real fight.
But now, it seemed like it might actually come in handy.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[Give Power stones for more frequent updates]