The Neighboring Roommate Was Huo Gua

The breeze over Sea God Lake was not strong, but it carried a pleasantly cool chill.

According to the Original Work, Sea God Island and the Inner Court were located at the center of this lake.

Unfortunately, with Zhou Huan's current eyesight, he could not see that far.

As for spiritual detection? What a joke. Zhou Huan still wanted to live properly—he would not dare court death like that.

He had come to Shrek, naturally, for the best educational resources.

Although the ten-thousand-year-old Shrek had plenty of rules and ideals that Zhou Huan found hard to stomach, it was undeniable that nowhere on the entire Douluo Continent could compare to Shrek Academy in its understanding of Martial Souls. One could even say the difference was immeasurable.

Thus, Zhou Huan did not care what Shrek's rules and ideals were really like.

To him, this was merely a place to study—an elite academy.

You might not agree with certain ideals of a school, but that did not stop you from learning the most comprehensive knowledge there.

And most importantly, Shrek Academy and Shrek City were safe!

If this had been the era of Legend of the Dragon King ten thousand years later, Zhou Huan would not have set foot in Shrek City even if someone beat him to death. After all, he could not withstand a level-twelve Fixed-Mounted Soul Tool Shell.

Hadn't an entire generation's Peerless Prodigy, Sea God Pavilion Master Yun Ming, fallen because of that?

As for now, in the era of Peerless Tang Sect, nowhere was safer than Shrek City.

If he drifted around outside, who knew when he might accidentally run into an Evil Soul Master who killed without blinking? Zhou Huan knew perfectly well how terrifying the Holy Spirit Cult was.

So, for all those reasons combined, Zhou Huan had decided long ago to come to Shrek Academy in order to keep his miserable little life safer.

Therefore, for the next six years, he would definitely lie low and behave himself in the Outer Court.

As for the Inner Court, it was fine if he never entered it.

Of course, if his strength was sufficient by then and circumstances allowed it, perhaps he could consider entering after all...

Stop, stop, stop!

Zhou Huan immediately cut off his thoughts and silently recited, "The Way of the Dog: one word sums it up—steady. Don't get reckless, and you can win!"

The first step of the long journey had been completed: enrolling at Shrek.

Looking at the sparkling Sea God Lake beneath the setting sun, Zhou Huan suddenly felt that the years were peaceful and serene. He just wondered whether Zhang Lexuan was on Sea God Island right now.

In truth, Zhou Huan had come here partly because he hoped to see that woman as gentle as moonlight.

They had not seen each other for two years. He wondered whether she had been doing well.

But judging by the timeline of the Original Work, she should have become a Soul Douluo by now, right?

A Soul Douluo in her twenties—Zhang Lexuan's talent was simply heaven-defying, perhaps even greater than that of the seven godhood-achieving members of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils.

One had to know that Zhang Lexuan had neither Immortal Herbs nor the cheat-like boosts of a Divine Trial.

Relying solely on her own cultivation, she had broken through to the Soul Douluo realm in her twenties. Her talent could probably rank among the top five of the past ten thousand years.

Zhou Huan thought about himself. In six years, he had raised his Soul Power by nineteen ranks, averaging a little over three ranks per year.

That counted as genius-level for most people, but compared to Zhang Lexuan... uh, there was simply no comparison.

Besides, he had only cultivated so quickly at lower ranks. The further he progressed, the slower his advancement would definitely become.

With a faint sigh, Zhou Huan stopped thinking about it and turned toward the cafeteria.

Based on his knowledge of the Original Work, Zhou Huan knew that Shrek's cafeteria was the biggest money pit.

If you wanted to eat well, you had to throw around money by the handful.

If you ate poorly, there were naturally cheap options, but they absolutely could not meet a Soul Master's nutritional needs. That would undoubtedly waste your time at Shrek.

As things stood, Zhou Huan had a little money, but he was far from wealthy.

Three years ago, after his parents passed away, Zhou Huan began his journey of hunting Soul Beasts.

For no other reason than to make money.

Of course, Zhou Huan was not foolish enough to do that in the Star Dou Great Forest. He did not want Di Tian to swat him to death with a claw.

Thus, Zhou Huan only went to ordinary valleys and dense forests, hunting low-level Soul Beasts around one or two hundred years old.

Although ten Hundred-Year Soul Beasts were not worth as much as a single Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Zhou Huan never took risks. Even after becoming a Soul Grandmaster, whenever he detected a Thousand-Year Soul Beast from afar, he immediately turned and ran.

When it came to hunting Soul Beasts for money, he had always used quantity to make up for quality.

After all, there might be countless roads, but safety came first!

As for protecting Soul Beasts or preserving the ecosystem, it was not that Zhou Huan did not care. It was that Zhou Huan, weak and unable to afford enough food, could not afford to care.

A person had to survive first before having the right to discuss the future.

Zhou Huan had never taken pleasure in hunting Soul Beasts. He merely regarded himself as a hunter.

A hunter hunted to earn money. That was only natural.

If he were unfortunate enough to be killed by a Soul Beast during a hunt, Zhou Huan would accept that fate without complaint.

Thus, over these three years, Zhou Huan's practical combat ability had steadily improved. In particular, his ability to launch sneak attacks had become so formidable that Soul Beasts could barely guard against it.

At the same time, his number of Gold Soul Coins had also continued to rise.

By the time he came to Shrek, Zhou Huan had saved around ten thousand Gold Soul Coins.

To ordinary people, that was already a huge fortune.

But for a Soul Grandmaster under twelve who still needed feeding, it was really not much, especially if he wanted to buy some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

For example, Zhou Huan did not want Huo Gua to snatch up that Ten Thousand Year Whale Jelly from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

Still, this was his first time setting foot in Shrek Academy's cafeteria, so Zhou Huan ordered a set meal worth ten Gold Soul Coins.

As expected of the First Academy of the Douluo Continent: as long as you paid enough, the food was not only delicious but also perfectly nutritious.

Zhou Huan felt that this single meal was worth five days of ordinary Meditation Cultivation.

Unfortunately, he could not eat like this every day.

Ten Gold Soul Coins per meal was simply too expensive. It was not an indulgence for a poor person like him.

So he would treat this meal as a celebration for successfully enrolling at Shrek.

He swallowed ten Gold Soul Coins' worth of food through tears.

By the time he left the cafeteria, the sky had already begun to darken.

Zhou Huan did not wander around any longer and headed directly for the White Dormitory Building.

From a distance, he spotted that hunched figure lying on a bench in front of the dormitory building.

To be honest, Zhou Huan's heartbeat suddenly accelerated at that moment.

That old man was ninety-nine percent likely to be Dragon God Douluo Mu En, the current Sea God Pavilion Master, a rank-ninety-nine Limit Douluo, and one of the world's peak powerhouses.

Saying that Zhou Huan was not nervous at all would be an outright joke.

But after all, he did not possess the mentality of a youth. He quickly forced down his nervousness.

The whole process lasted only a few seconds. His expression did not change from beginning to end, and his gaze merely drifted over the old man casually, just like any other new student.

The only change had been his racing heartbeat during those few seconds.

Surely an esteemed Limit Douluo would not constantly inspect whether a new student's heartbeat was normal.

It was not because Zhou Huan had a guilty conscience. After all, he was not here to stir up trouble at Shrek.

His nervousness was merely the reverence a weak person felt toward such an unparalleled powerhouse.

Zhou Huan's thoughts were simple. He only wanted to lie low without being noticed by anyone, including this Limit Douluo.

Therefore, like the other new students, Zhou Huan directly ignored the old man's presence and strolled unhurriedly toward Room 109.

He was not Huo Gua, who would offer Mu En a polite greeting.

Zhou Huan did not want to attract attention, especially Mu En's attention.

Of course, that was not to say Mu En was a bad person.

On the contrary, throughout Peerless Tang Sect, Mu En had been a kind Elder and a Sea God Pavilion Master worthy of the respect of every teacher and student at Shrek.

It could be said that Mu En had devoted his entire life to Shrek.

However, a book was a book. Once a book became reality, Zhou Huan's cautious nature meant that he would not stick his head out.

As he passed Room 108, Zhou Huan paused briefly. Through the window, he saw a thin figure sitting cross-legged on the bed in Meditation Cultivation.

If he remembered the room number correctly, that should be Huo Gua, Huo Yuhao. Presumably, the godly second generation Wang Dong had not arrived yet, or the curtains would not have been left open.

Actually, why was Zhou Huan so certain that the roommate next door was Huo Gua?

The reason was simple: he had known long ago that the previous All-Continent Soul Master Competition had taken place three years ago. That meant the next Soul Master Competition would be next year, precisely when Huo Gua was in his second year.

So he and Huo Gua were in the same class.

Sigh, how exhausting.

Being in the same class as Huo Gua, the Son of Destiny, was no good thing.

Of course, Zhou Huan was not overly worried about it.

Mm, he just needed to stay farther away from Huo Gua and that godly second generation in the future, lest he get caught in the crossfire.

He, Zhou Huan, would simply be an unnamed neighboring roommate of the Son of Destiny.

A new book sets sail—please recommend it and add it to your collection.