The high wall belonged to Eastsea Academy. Not far ahead lay the academy entrance, a tall gatehouse built from giant stones that projected an imposing aura.
Eastsea Academy was a large-scale academy qualified for both Intermediate and Advanced levels. Therefore, it was divided into an Intermediate Academy department and an Advanced Academy department. Liu Yuxin was a student over on the Advanced Academy side.
One must never think that Intermediate and Advanced were just a step apart; in reality, the difference between them was vast.
The Intermediate Academy was compulsory education and charged no tuition fees. Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master academy where the Intermediate Academy occupied two-thirds of the area, yet its essence lay in the Advanced Academy, which occupied one-third of the space.
As long as one was a Soul Master within Eastsea City and its surrounding subordinate town regions, and possessed a recommendation letter from a Primary Academy, anyone could come here to enter the Intermediate Academy and receive a Soul Master education. The Intermediate Academy had a six-year system, and upon graduation in the sixth year, truly fewer than one-tenth could successfully test into an Advanced Soul Master Academy.
The Advanced Academy was no longer compulsory education; rather, one had to pass a series of rigorous exams to have a chance at admission. Those who could test into the Advanced Academy were true elites.
If the Primary Academy taught the basics of Martial Souls and Soul Masters, then the Intermediate Academy taught how to apply this knowledge, how to unleash one's Martial Soul, and how to define one's future. Only upon reaching the Advanced Academy did true advanced study begin.
Walking into the academy, green trees provided shade. Right inside the entrance was a wide horizontal path extending to both sides, while the road directly ahead was paved with bluestone slabs, looking rather quaint.
Following Liu Yuxin's introduction, Nan Fusheng quickly gained a simple understanding of the academy.
The Intermediate Academy's Main Teaching Building stood on the eastern side of the entire academy, a towering twelve-story building. The higher the grade, the higher the floor. After enrolling, Nan Fusheng would become a grade one student and would only be assigned to a classroom on the first or second floor.
"That over there is the Academic Affairs Office. Go report in. Your middle-school-department dormitory building is right behind the teaching building."
After finishing her introduction, Liu Yuxin brought them to the Academic Affairs Office and then left directly.
Nan Fusheng chose to wait a moment, waiting until the others finished handling their matters before walking into the Academic Affairs Office.
Relying on the metal token given by Liu Yuxin, along with the recommendation letter from Red Mountain Academy, he smoothly completed the admission procedures.
Two sets of free school uniforms, one dormitory key—the study materials would not be distributed until formal classes began.
He was assigned to Grade One Class Five. From this moment on, Nan Fusheng was a new student in the middle school department of Eastsea Academy.
Nan Fusheng carried his luggage, bypassed the teaching building, and arrived at the dormitory building in the back. The dormitory building was as tall as the teaching building, also standing at twelve stories. His dormitory was on the second floor, numbered 205.
The hallway was noisy. These past few days were the enrollment reporting period, and there were not only students here but also parents who had come to send off their children. Everything seemed somewhat chaotic.
Nan Fusheng finally found his dormitory. The door was open, and there were already people inside.
There were two bunk beds in the dormitory, which could accommodate four people. Two rectangular tables, four chairs, two cabinets, and a overhead light. This was the entirety of the dormitory.
To his slight surprise, all three of his roommates were in the dormitory. Seeing Nan Fusheng walk in, one sturdily built student walked straight up to him. "It looks like you're our roommate. As it happens, everyone is cleaning the dormitory right now—want to lend a hand?"
"Mn." Nan Fusheng nodded and joined in on the cleaning of the dormitory. The dorm wasn't too dirty to begin with, and under the combined efforts of the four of them, it wasn't long before it was cleaned up.
During the process of cleaning with concerted effort, the relationship among the four of them also grew a lot closer.
"Then, let me introduce myself first. My name is Wang Ba, Martial Soul is Battle Tiger, Level 11 Battle Soul Master."
"Yun Feng, Martial Soul is Dagger, Level 11 Battle Soul Master."
"Zhao Xiao, Martial Soul is Goat, Level 11 Battle Soul Master."
"Nan Fusheng, Martial Soul is Time Worm, Rank 13 Battle Soul Master."
Following the mutual introductions among the four, Nan Fusheng also learned the three people's soul power levels. Wang Ba was the sturdy boy who had invited Nan Fusheng to clean together right at the start; Yun Feng was on the slender side; Zhao Xiao was utterly ordinary. On the other hand, Nan Fusheng's self-introduction surprised them somewhat.
"Fusheng, I didn't expect your soul power to actually be Rank 13. It looks like the dorm leader position of this dormitory is yours without a doubt."
"Haha, Wang Ba, stop joking around. Everyone's classmates; what dorm leader or non-dorm leader is there? Let's all get along well in the future." Hearing Wang Ba's teasing, Nan Fusheng likewise gave a hearty laugh and replied to him.
After the bantering, the relationship between the four grew much closer. This also made Nan Fusheng heave a sigh of relief. After all, he didn't want to inherit that Douluo Continent tradition of fighting with roommates right after school started.
Nan Fusheng chose a lower bunk to start organizing his things. After finishing, he went straight to the cafeteria for a meal and then returned to the dormitory to cultivate.
Wang Ba and the other two watched Nan Fusheng's daily routine from the side and inwardly sighed in amazement. No wonder the guy's soul power was higher than theirs; turns out he worked this hard!
Perhaps influenced by Nan Fusheng, the other three also began to rein in their urge to go out and play and their lazy mindsets, following Nan Fusheng's lead to climb onto their beds and begin cultivating. However, what they failed to notice was that as they began to cultivate, an illusory worm was floating above their Martial Souls.
It slowly absorbed their soul power, and this was precisely Nan Fusheng's First Soul Skill: Parasitism. It could absorb other people's soul power to accelerate cultivation.
Nan Fusheng employed Shallow Parasitism, simultaneously using the Time Worm to affect their senses so that Wang Ba and the three of them couldn't perceive a single trace of anomaly. Even if an outsider came to look right now, they wouldn't be able to tell anything; they would only feel that the boys were studying hard. However, Nan Fusheng didn't absorb excessive soul power either, merely taking an amount equivalent to half of their cultivation speed.
At the same time, the siphoned soul power would also pass through the filter of the Soul Spirit parasite before being absorbed by Nan Fusheng.
The reason Wang Ba and the others wanted to strive to cultivate was naturally also due to Nan Fusheng secretly influencing them using Parasitism. The parasite Soul Spirit's aura was already faint to begin with, and coupled with the fact that its consciousness had already been replaced by Nan Fusheng, he could suppress its aura to the absolute minimum when activating the soul skill.
I'm doing this for their own good, too. They've already reached the Intermediate Academy; how can they not cultivate hard?
Nan Fusheng expressed that he was doing this for the sake of their future, and as for the absorbed soul power, he would just treat it as compensation.
Just like that, Nan Fusheng led Wang Ba and the three of them to eat dinner, cultivate after eating, and then sleep for a bit. After all, they couldn't be squeezed too bitterly. Although meditation could replace sleep to a certain extent, Wang Ba and the three of them weren't capable of continuous meditation to that degree.
Thus, waking up from sleep, they ate breakfast and then continued cultivating until Nan Fusheng heard a loud crash and a sharp shout.
"Why are you city people so bad?"
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