Enrollment I

After several days of travel, the group was utterly exhausted. As soon as they arrived in Shrek City, the four split up. This had been Xu Jie's decision. He had originally planned to take Beibei to a pawnshop and pawn the jade his mother had left him in exchange for some money to scrape together the enrollment fee.

The main reason for bringing Beibei was that the two of them were too young. With a Soul Elder from Shrek Academy accompanying them, they would not have to worry about the pawnshop cheating them.

Unexpectedly, Xu Jie had developed a special application of his martial soul with the Purple Demon Eye. By charging per use, he had resolved their pressing financial need in one go.

The two entered Shrek City without having the time to admire its bustling splendor, heading straight for Shrek Academy's enrollment site.

It had just passed noon, and the line before Shrek's gates was still quite long. Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao stood at the very back. Their attire was rather eye-catching—worn hemp clothes with several patches on them.

There were quite a few people in the line dressed in luxurious clothing. Even the worst of them wore cotton garments. Only Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao wore hemp clothing, and patched hemp clothing at that.

When the two joined the line from the back, many disdainful looks came from the crowd.

Xu Jie had already lived three lifetimes, so naturally he did not care about such things. As for Huo Yuhao, he had suffered plenty of scorn since childhood and was used to it, though his face still showed a trace of embarrassment.

Xu Jie patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, telling him to relax. After that pat, Huo Yuhao's expression eased as well. After all, Brother Jie had said it before: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never mock a poor youth. Right—Fire Douluo from Brother Jie's story had awakened a useless martial soul, with only level three Innate Soul Power, yet he had ultimately risen to the strongest.

Although his Innate Soul Power was only level one, he had learned over the past few days that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was truly extraordinary. He believed his accomplishments would not fall short of that Douluo Xiao. Thinking this, he softly said to Xu Jie, "Never mock a poor youth."

Xu Jie smiled when he heard that, knowing there was no longer any issue in Huo Yuhao's heart. That line, never mock a poor youth, was something Huo Yuhao had heard from Xu Jie's stories. Although Battle Through the Heavens was a wish-fulfillment novel, its values were not warped. Of course, this was Battle Through the Heavens as modified by Xu Jie; the original still had a few problems.

So revising it before telling it to Huo Yuhao was no problem for shaping his values.

Xu Jie also knew that these stories were Huo Yuhao's sole comfort in his impoverished childhood. Therefore, every story Xu Jie told Huo Yuhao had been carefully selected and cautiously adapted.

Otherwise, he could hardly tell Huo Yuhao about the Path to Death.

The two did not wait in line for long before reaching the front.

Unlike the disdainful people in the line, the teacher sitting at the entrance to recruit students, along with several upperclassmen who had already enrolled, showed no unusual expression toward them.

When Xu Jie took out ten Gold Soul Coins, the teacher at the entrance frowned and said, "The enrollment fee is ten Gold Soul Coins per person. For two people, you need twenty."

Xu Jie shook his head. "Only one person." Because of the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill, Huo Yuhao's body was much stronger than in the original story. He had received part of Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's power early, and after several days of cultivation, his Soul Power Level had reached level thirteen. However, he still did not meet the enrollment requirements.

The teacher glanced at Huo Yuhao standing behind Xu Jie but did not say anything further. He took out an enrollment form and asked, "Name?"

"Xu Jie."

"Age?"

"12."

"Martial soul?"

"Sun." As he spoke, Xu Jie summoned his martial soul, and a yellow soul ring slowly rose around him.

The teacher looked at Xu Jie's martial soul, wrote the word "Sun" on the enrollment form, then asked, "If I'm not mistaken, your Soul Power is level seventeen, right?"

"Yes." Xu Jie nodded.

But after filling out the form, the teacher asked another question. "Where is your letter of recommendation?"

Xu Jie froze. Damn, I need a letter of recommendation too? Wasn't there just an assessment?

Seeing his reaction, the teacher immediately frowned and barked, "Move along! No letter of recommendation, so what are you causing trouble for?" As he spoke, he drove Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao to the side.

Someone standing beside Huo Yuhao heard why they had been sent aside. With a faint snicker, he took out three gilded envelopes and shot the two a contemptuous glance.

Xu Jie and Huo Yuhao paid no attention to him at all.

"Brother Jie, what do we do now?" Huo Yuhao asked, his face full of worry.

"Let me think." After saying that, Xu Jie looked at the large words on the notice board after the enrollment requirements—"A letter of recommendation from a main city or higher within the Three Great Empires required"—and was completely dumbfounded.

Good grief, wasn't Shrek a commoners' academy? Why did it require a letter of recommendation? His original plan had been to join the academy first, then bring Huo Yuhao into the Soul Guidance Department. Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection range was no longer the pathetic thirty meters of the original story; it had already reached one hundred meters.

Moreover, under Xu Jie's deliberate guidance over the past few days, Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection could barely alter its range. He could shrink the area it covered and extend its distance, reaching one hundred and fifty meters from front to back.

But now, a single letter of recommendation had completely blocked their path. Did they really have to join the Tang Sect to gain admission? But after joining the Tang Sect, there would be no benefit beyond a single enrollment qualification. Besides, there was only one such qualification. For Xu Jie, the Mysterious Heaven Skill was pure trash.

Joining the Tang Sect would be less reliable than quickly awakening Huo Yuhao's Third Martial Soul and having the two of them join the Holy Spirit Cult together! At least if they joined the Holy Spirit Cult, they would not need to worry about some god hiding in the background and constantly manipulating Huo Yuhao. And later on, once Huo Yuhao became strong, controlling a mere Holy Spirit Cult would not be a problem.

Comparing the two, if they joined the Holy Spirit Cult, it would ultimately belong to Huo Yuhao and Xu Jie. But the Tang Sect would ultimately belong to That Tang Guy.

But what now? They still had to join the academy. After all, Shrek Academy's teaching resources were indeed the best at present. It was not like ten thousand years ago, when there had been no resources at all and all the geniuses had to rely on deception.

Furthermore, this era was different from ten thousand years ago. Evil Soul Masters roamed everywhere. If the two of them wandered around outside and encountered a powerful Evil Soul Master, who skinned them, drained their blood, and refined their souls, would that not be the end of them?

He was not the type to run around recklessly without strength. He preferred to play it safe.

After thinking it over from every angle, Xu Jie still could not come up with any effective solution. Left with no choice, he summoned his martial soul once more.

Seeing Xu Jie summon his martial soul again while standing to the side, and noticing his aggrieved expression, the teacher hurriedly warned, "Kid, I advise you to think this through. Shrek Academy is not something a little Soul Master like you can provoke."

The teacher assumed that, after being rejected, Xu Jie had flown into a rage out of humiliation and decided to attack the academy. There were students like that every year.

Xu Jie gave a bitter smile upon hearing that. Should I put away my martial soul now, shout at the academy recruiter, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never mock a poor youth,' then turn around and leave, waiting until my divine skill is complete years later to avenge this humiliation?

Unfortunately, let alone after transmigrating a second time, he would not have done something like that even the first time. Although he possessed divine skills, he did not have an old grandpa guiding him. Huo Yuhao could have done something like that, but under his upbringing, that kid would not do such a thing either.