Registration

Eastsea City.

The Sun Moon Federation's second-largest coastal city, an important port city for maritime transport and marine resource development.

The city had a permanent population of over three million.

The Soul Tool Train sped along the tracks. A Hovering Aircraft whizzed past, and Tang Wulin, seated on the train, happened to catch sight of it. By an even greater coincidence, the person aboard was Meng Li, who had spent three years living in the same class as him.

Meng Li was dressed much as usual. He wore a white T-shirt on top, shorts instead of trousers because it was summer, and the same pair of boots on his feet. A backpack hung from his back, and he wore sunglasses, looking as carefree as could be.

The Hovering Aircraft landed smoothly at the entrance of Eastsea Academy.

Tables and chairs had been set up at the gate, but no one sat behind them. Since it was afternoon, several reception staff members—young men and women around seventeen or eighteen, dressed in blue tracksuits—were hiding beneath parasols, fanning themselves, eating ice cream, and drinking soda with utter composure.

Seeing someone arrive who was not very old and was most likely there to register, a sweet-looking black-haired girl of average build stepped out from the shade and took her seat. Her phoenix eyes fixed on the form on the table as she looked at Meng Li with a friendly expression. "Are you here to register?"

"Yeah, I'm here to register." Meng Li took off his sunglasses, revealing his original face and those deep, lonely eyes.

Na'er's departure had made Meng Li feel that life was hopeless and meaningless. Having lost all motivation, he had begun to slack off every day. The more than three million Federal Coins in his bank account would be enough to last him for a long time. Perhaps he would pull himself together again once the money ran out.

"Junior, you really don't seem like a young person."

Meng Li gave an awkward laugh and accepted the form. "But I am a young person."

"I don't think so. Wait, your name is Meng Li! Meng Li from Red Mountain Academy?"

"What about it?" Meng Li asked nonchalantly.

"You're way too famous. The number one truant. I never expected you to get into an intermediate academy."

Even the title of number one slacker had spread all the way to Eastsea.

"Heh." Meng Li was slightly speechless.

"Unbelievable."

"It is pretty unbelievable." Meng Li handed the completed form to Liu Yuxin.

"Meng Li, nine years old, graduated from Red Mountain Junior Academy in Aolai City. Hmm, you often skipped class, yet you're already a Level Twelve Battle Soul Master. Your martial soul is the Sacred Winged Angel! What kind of martial soul is the Sacred Winged Angel? Why have I never heard of it?" Liu Yuxin looked curious.

"It's just a newly appeared martial soul." Meng Li slung the Hovering Aircraft onto his back.

Liu Yuxin checked Meng Li's academy recommendation letter, stamped it, and returned it to him before handing him a small metal tag.

"Wear this metal tag around your neck. It'll serve as your pass to enter and leave the academy before enrollment. Once you're inside, go register. When there are a few more people, we'll send you all into the academy."

"Thank you." Meng Li smiled in acknowledgment, took the metal tag, and entered through the gates. He glanced at the conspicuous silver pendant on his chest.

"That junior looks rich. That aircraft of his isn't cheap either. I heard it costs a hundred thousand Federal Coins?" one of the people who had come with Liu Yuxin to receive new students said.

"He seems indifferent about everything. He doesn't even care about his powerful martial soul."

"Maybe he's so poor that all he has left is money," one of the girls thought to herself.

Meng Li waited for a while before the bus that would take him into the academy arrived. After getting on, he reached the academy in a little over ten minutes.

Eastsea Academy was a large academy qualified to provide both intermediate and advanced education. Intermediate academy was compulsory education and charged no tuition fees. It took six years to graduate.

After graduation, students could take the entrance examination for an advanced academy. Only a very small number of people could get in.

Following the senior student's directions, he collected two free uniforms and a dormitory key. He was assigned to Class Five, Year One.

After all that, he was back in Year One again. This is really embarrassing, Meng Li mused as he carried his things toward Dormitory 205.

He opened the door to find the dormitory empty. He casually picked a spot by the window and placed his bag there, then ran to the school store to buy blankets, a pillow, a quilt, and toiletries.

After returning to the dormitory and arranging his little patch of territory, he lay comfortably on the bed. He took out a case of beer and a bag of peanuts he had bought from the convenience store and began snacking.

"What a pity this world doesn't have computers." Meng Li tossed a peanut into his mouth. The long-legged girls outside the window were quite pleasing to the eye as well.

"Li Bai wrote a hundred poems after drinking, slept in taverns throughout Chang'an... What came next again? Ah, this feels great."

Meng Li happily munched on peanuts and drank beer, feeling as though he had already transcended the world. It would have been even better with a plate of beef.

Before long, a cold-faced young man walked in. Neither of them spoke. The young man went to the only remaining lower bunk in the dormitory and placed his bag beneath the bed.

The two left each other undisturbed.

Not long after, another student arrived. He looked rather thin and frail. Despite his young age, he already wore glasses, giving him a somewhat scholarly air.

The frail student said, "My name is Yun Xiao. Yun as in clouds, Xiao as in small."

"Hello, I'm Meng Li. Meng as in dreams, Li as in koi. Want a bottle?" Meng Li raised his beer can and gave it a shake.

"My name is Xie Xie!" Xie Xie replied coldly. After saying that, he left the dormitory. He had only brought some books and needed to go buy daily necessities.

"Thanks, but no. My mom won't let me drink." Yun Xiao looked shy.

"What a shame." Meng Li sighed and continued drinking.

As the sun set behind the western hills, the door to Dormitory 205 opened.

"What a coincidence, Wulin. We're in the same dorm!" Meng Li had just finished the last bag of peanuts when he spotted someone he knew.

"Yeah. Why are you here?"

Tang Wulin was quite surprised as well. The unfamiliarity of being in a strange place lessened considerably. Although the person in front of him had tricked him plenty of times, it was still nice to see a former classmate. But that classmate was Meng Li, so he still found it somewhat hard to accept.

"Why can't I be here?" Meng Li smiled. "Want a drink?"

"I don't drink, thanks." Tang Wulin replied politely and began unpacking his belongings.

Could this guy be the legendary drunkard? Yun Xiao glanced at Meng Li before turning to the newcomer with a smile. "My name is Yun Xiao!"

"Hello! My name is Tang Wulin."

However, not long after he began unpacking, Xie Xie, the cold-faced youth who had gone out earlier, returned. Seeing that his bed had been taken by a new kid, he immediately became somewhat angry.

He glared coldly at Tang Wulin. "You sleep on the top bunk!"

"Why should I?"

"Because I'm stronger than you!" Without another word, Xie Xie struck first, aiming directly at Tang Wulin's weak point.

Tang Wulin had never been bullied at Red Mountain Academy, so he immediately fought back. The two traded blows, and aside from Meng Li's little patch of territory, they turned the entire dormitory into a complete mess.