Enrollment and Roommates

The high walls belonged to Eastsea Academy. Not far ahead was the academy entrance, a towering gatehouse built of massive stone that radiated an imposing air.

Eastsea Academy was a large institution, qualified to offer both intermediate and advanced education. Thus, it was divided into the Intermediate Academy Division and the Advanced Academy Division. Liu Yuxin was a student in the Advanced Academy Division.

Do not assume that intermediate and advanced education were only one step apart. In reality, the difference between them was worlds apart.

Intermediate Academy was compulsory education and charged no tuition fees. Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master academy. The Intermediate Academy occupied two-thirds of the campus, but the true essence of the academy was the Advanced Academy, which occupied the remaining third.

Any Soul Master within Eastsea City and its surrounding affiliated towns who had a recommendation letter from a Primary Academy could enroll here and receive Soul Master education at the Intermediate Academy. The Intermediate Academy program lasted six years, and when students graduated from Grade Six, fewer than one in ten could truly enter an Advanced Soul Master Academy.

Advanced Academy was no longer compulsory education. One had to pass a series of rigorous examinations to have any chance of admission. Those who could enter an Advanced Academy were the true elites.

If Primary Academy taught the basic knowledge of Martial Souls and Soul Masters, then Intermediate Academy taught students how to apply that knowledge, how to develop their Martial Souls, and how to define their futures. Advanced Academy was where true advanced study began.

As they entered the academy, lush trees shaded the grounds. Just inside was a broad crossroad extending to both sides, while the road straight ahead was paved with bluestone slabs, giving it a distinctly ancient feel.

With Liu Yuxin's introduction, Nan Fusheng quickly gained a basic understanding of the academy.

The Intermediate Academy's Main Teaching Building stood on the eastern side of the campus. It was a twelve-story building, with higher grades assigned to higher floors. Once Nan Fusheng enrolled, he would become a Grade One student and would only be assigned a classroom on the first or second floor.

"That's the Academic Affairs Office. Go register. Your Intermediate Academy dormitory building is behind the teaching building."

After finishing her introduction and bringing them to the Academic Affairs Office, Liu Yuxin left directly.

Nan Fusheng chose to wait until the others had finished before entering the Academic Affairs Office.

With the metal badge Liu Yuxin had given him, along with Red Mountain Academy's recommendation letter, he completed his enrollment procedures without issue.

He received two free sets of school uniforms and a dormitory key. Learning materials would not be distributed until formal classes began.

He was assigned to Grade One, Class Five. From this moment onward, he was a new Grade One student in Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Academy Division.

Carrying his luggage, Nan Fusheng went around the teaching building and arrived at the dormitory building behind it. It was about as imposing as the teaching building and also had twelve floors. His dormitory was on the second floor, Room 205.

The corridor was noisy and chaotic. These days were for registration and enrollment, and there were not only students here, but also parents who had come to see their children off. Everything seemed somewhat disorderly.

Nan Fusheng finally found his dormitory. The door was open, and someone was already inside.

There were two bunk beds in the dormitory, enough for four people. Two rectangular tables, four chairs, two cabinets, and a ceiling light. That was everything in the room.

To his surprise, all three of his roommates were already there. When they saw Nan Fusheng enter, one particularly sturdy student walked over. "Looks like you're our roommate. We're cleaning the dormitory right now. Want to lend a hand?"

"Sure." Nan Fusheng nodded and joined in the cleaning. The dormitory had not been especially dirty to begin with, and with the four of them working together, it was cleaned in no time.

As they worked together to clean, the distance between the four of them narrowed considerably.

"Then I'll introduce myself first. My name is Wang Ba. My Martial Soul is the Battle Tiger, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Yun Feng. My Martial Soul is a Dagger, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Zhao Xiao. My Martial Soul is a Goat, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Nan Fusheng. My Martial Soul is the Time Worm, and I'm a thirteenth-level Battle Soul Master."

As the four introduced themselves, Nan Fusheng also learned the others' Soul Power Levels. Wang Ba was the sturdy boy who had invited him to clean at the start. Yun Feng was rather thin and small, while Zhao Xiao was utterly ordinary. It was Nan Fusheng's introduction that surprised them.

"Fusheng, I didn't expect your Soul Power Level to be thirteen. Looks like you're definitely going to be the dorm leader."

"Haha, Wang Ba, stop joking around. We're all classmates. What dorm leader? Let's just get along well from now on." Hearing Wang Ba's teasing, Nan Fusheng laughed and replied in kind.

After that exchange, the four became much closer. Nan Fusheng also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he had no desire to inherit Douluo Continent's tradition of fighting with one's roommates on the first day of school.

Nan Fusheng chose a lower bunk and began organizing his belongings. Once he was done, he went straight to the cafeteria for a meal, then returned to the dormitory to cultivate.

Seeing Nan Fusheng's routine, Wang Ba and the other two secretly sighed. No wonder his Soul Power was higher than theirs. He was working this hard!

Perhaps influenced by Nan Fusheng, the other three also reined in their desire to go out and play, as well as their lazy attitudes. Like Nan Fusheng, they climbed onto their beds and began cultivating. What they did not notice was that as they began to cultivate, an illusory worm appeared above their Martial Souls.

It slowly absorbed their Soul Power. This was Nan Fusheng's First Soul Skill: Parasitism. It could absorb others' Soul Power to accelerate cultivation.

Nan Fusheng used Shallow Parasitism, while simultaneously using the Time Worm to affect their senses, making it impossible for Wang Ba and the others to detect even the slightest abnormality. Even if an outsider looked in now, they would see nothing unusual and would only think that they were diligently cultivating. However, Nan Fusheng did not absorb too much Soul Power. He merely took an amount equivalent to half their cultivation speed.

At the same time, the absorbed Soul Power was filtered through the parasitic worm Soul Spirit before Nan Fusheng took it in.

The reason Wang Ba and the others wanted to cultivate so diligently was naturally because Nan Fusheng had secretly influenced them through Parasitism. The parasitic worm Soul Spirit's aura was already extremely faint, and its consciousness had been replaced by Nan Fusheng's. When activating his Soul Skill, Nan Fusheng could conceal its aura to the greatest extent possible.

"I'm doing this for their own good. They're already in Intermediate Academy. How can they not cultivate diligently?"

Nan Fusheng claimed that he was thinking of their futures. As for the Soul Power he absorbed, he would consider it payment.

And so, Nan Fusheng led Wang Ba and the other two through a routine of eating dinner, cultivating after dinner, then sleeping for a while. After all, he could not drain them too harshly. Although Meditation could replace sleep to a certain extent, Wang Ba and the others were not yet capable of meditating without rest.

After waking up, they ate breakfast and continued cultivating, until Nan Fusheng heard a loud crash and an angry shout.

"Why are you city people so horrible?"