Yu Xiaogang Makes His Entrance!

With this, Yu Xiaogang had no way to make contact with Tang San right away.

Zhou Qing had deliberately tossed down the two Silver Soul Coins.

As the saying went:

It was easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to deal with petty demons.

There was no need to waste words with a gatekeeper like this. A little money was enough to send him on his way.

As for why he had tossed the money onto the ground instead of handing it directly to him—giving money outright was no big deal in front of Tang San, but acting that worldly in front of Old Jack would have been a little too mature. He could only make the act of giving Silver Soul Coins look like an "accident."

"Qing Ge, should I get those two Silver Soul Coins back later?"

Though he was not short on money, Tang San did not want to give it away to a stranger for nothing. Besides, they had just arrived in a new place and were unfamiliar with everything. Even if their family had money, they could not let others see it, lest someone set their sights on it.

"Forget it. Consider it money spent to avoid trouble. There's no need to get into it with a gatekeeper," Zhou Qing said. "He may be an ordinary person, but if he can serve as the gatekeeper of a junior Soul Master Academy, he probably has some connection to one of the teachers or perhaps the dean. If we offend him, our life at the academy might become difficult later."

Tang San froze. After thinking it over carefully, he realized that was indeed possible.

After all, when he had walked through Nuoding City with Old Jack earlier, he had seen the difference between commoners and nobles. When richly dressed nobles walked along the streets, no one else dared approach them, and their eyes were full of awe and respect.

Soul Masters possessed great strength. Though they did not necessarily have noble status, their actual standing was, in some ways, even higher than that of nobles!

An academy that trained Soul Masters was either wealthy or powerful. Even at worst, it had a formidable backer. For an ordinary person to become the gatekeeper of this junior Soul Master Academy, though he acted extremely mercenary, he was likely related to some teacher at the academy.

For the price of two Silver Soul Coins, they neither had to waste words with him nor risk having their academy life disrupted by him in the future—

Zhou Qing truly was clever!

When the two arrived at the registration office, Zhou Qing directly asked the middle-aged man, "Teacher, hello. We're Soul Masters from Holy Soul Village, here to enroll."

"Let me see your Martial Soul certificates."

The middle-aged man showed no expression as he extended his hand, as though handling a routine matter.

Zhou Qing took out the Martial Soul certificates Old Jack had given them before leaving and handed them over together with Tang San.

"Blue Silver Grass, Heart?"

Seeing these two Martial Souls, the middle-aged man frowned deeply. Then, upon seeing the words "Innate Full Soul Power," his eyes widened. "This really... I don't even know what to say."

The middle-aged man recorded their information, returned the Martial Soul certificates, and said, "The academy has nine dormitories in total. The first three are exclusively for the noble children of the city. The middle three are for ordinary commoner students, while the last three are for Work-Study Students."

"However, there have always been relatively few Work-Study Students. Even Dormitory Seven isn't full yet..."

"Teacher, I want to be a regular student too." Tang San felt it would be better to live with Zhou Qing, so he said, "My family still has some savings."

"That's fine."

The middle-aged man did not particularly care. He issued them their school uniforms, then assigned them a dormitory. "You can go to Dormitory Seven."

"Teacher, there are nine dormitories. Based on the order, Dormitory Seven should be where Work-Study Students live, right? You just said so yourself," Zhou Qing asked in confusion.

"That's true, but the middle three dormitories are already full. There's nothing I can do about it." The middle-aged man showed them the dormitory allocation chart, indicating that he was not deliberately making things difficult for them—the middle three dormitories truly had no vacancies.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Qing understood.

Most of the regular commoner students in the middle three dormitories came from Nuoding City. Nuoding City's population was certainly greater than that of the surrounding villages combined. Though most of them were also commoners, their family circumstances were better than those of country folk, and they had access to more resources. They ate better, drank better, and likely had a slightly greater chance of possessing Innate Soul Power when awakening their Martial Souls.

"Thank you, Teacher." Zhou Qing thanked him, then asked, "I have one more question. Doesn't the academy provide bedding and beds?"

"No." The middle-aged man shook his head. "This isn't a trade that takes in apprentices. It's an academy. You are students. Aside from school uniforms and the dormitories you live in, you must prepare everything else yourselves—unless you sign an agreement. In that case, we can provide everything you need at the academy for free."

"What agreement?" Tang San asked curiously.

"The main terms are that after you graduate, you must remain at the academy as teachers and guide the students," the middle-aged man explained. "Quite a few commoner Soul Masters want to sign such an agreement, but we can't accept all of them. We have to consider each case—for example, those with poor Martial Souls will be directly eliminated and rejected."

The implication was clear: neither of you had a chance.

Unlike Su Yuntao, this middle-aged man understood the potential represented by Innate Soul Power. He knew that Zhou Qing and Tang San had the potential to become Soul Masters with high Soul Power Levels.

However!

The two came from a small rural village, with no background or influence. Of their two Martial Souls, Blue Silver Grass was a useless Martial Soul with no precedent for cultivation, making its future fraught with difficulties. As for the Heart Martial Soul... this kind of Martial Soul was part of one's own body. There was one such Soul Master in Nuoding City, but Soul Masters were powerful precisely because their Martial Souls possessed abilities they themselves lacked. If a Martial Soul was part of one's own body, was that not redundant?

Therefore, the middle-aged man believed that neither Zhou Qing nor Tang San would likely be able to realize the potential of Innate Full Soul Power. It was highly possible that they would fall short midway through their futures.

So, as for investing in them early—

He would not invest based on Innate Full Soul Power alone. Instead, he would wait for them to study at the academy for two or three years, observe their personalities and strength, and only then offer a certain degree of assistance.

But the most important point was that Zhou Qing and Tang San both came from small villages. Judging by their Martial Souls, neither could possibly come from a great family. They had no background, and there were too many uncertainties.

"Thank you, Teacher."

Zhou Qing thanked him again, removed the bundle from his back, and took out fifty Silver Soul Coins as tuition for the two of them to become regular students. After asking the middle-aged man where they could buy bedding, he left with Tang San.

Tang San wanted to become a regular student because he knew Work-Study Students had to work. But he did not want to waste time on that. The various Soul Tool Core Formations on the Soul Guidance Crystals were still waiting for him to study. Where would he find the time to clean the academy?

After Zhou Qing and Tang San left, a disheveled man with a crew cut arrived at the registration office and said, "Teacher Mo Hen, let me see this year's enrollment forms."

"Here, Grandmaster."

This man was Yu Xiaogang. A trace of disgust flashed through Mo Hen's eyes, but it vanished in an instant as he handed over the registration forms.

"Blue Silver Grass, Heart... Innate Full Soul Power?!"

Yu Xiaogang stared fixedly at the words "Innate Full Soul Power," and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly—

An opportunity!

It had finally come!