Thank You, Xie Xie

Huo Yuhao followed the Admission Handbook to find his Dormitory Building. He exchanged a glance with Gu Yuena, who had also been consulting her handbook all the way, then looked around.

The building stood in a quiet corner of the campus, surrounded by towering trees. The environment was serene and peaceful. The dormitory's exterior was simple yet elegant, its walls a light beige paired with dark brown wooden window frames.

It was clearly the first day of school, yet aside from them, there were no other students near this dormitory. Evidently, they were currently its only two tenants.

These were single dormitories—or rather, Teacher Dormitories—not the four-person dormitory building where most students lived.

Gu Yuena blinked and tilted her head toward Huo Yuhao. "Special treatment for us?"

"No, at least not entirely." Huo Yuhao shook his head. "More people will probably move into this dormitory later. We simply reserved our rooms early."

It was probably something like Class Zero from the Original Work. Yu Zhen likely wanted to concentrate resources on nurturing exceptionally gifted students. The two of them merely received various privileges in advance because of their talent and background, and the single dormitories before them were one such benefit.

Gu Yuena glanced at her handbook. "Mine is 202. See you later?"

"...I'm in 201, next to you."

After saying that, Huo Yuhao headed toward the Dormitory Building. Gu Yuena paused, then followed after him.

So they were neighbors... Of course. There were only two of them; how else could the rooms have been arranged?

The first floor contained Meditation Rooms and accompanying Testing Rooms. The living quarters began on the second floor.

Standing outside his room, Huo Yuhao opened the door and carefully looked it over.

The dormitory was sensibly laid out and well lit. Through the window, he could see the lush green campus outside. The furnishings were simple: a broad desk stood before the window, a bookshelf rested against the wall, and the bed was beside it.

Naturally, it could not compare with the residence Spirit Pagoda had arranged for him, but compared with when he had infiltrated the various Academies to study Ten Thousand Years Ago, the conditions were far better.

Huo Yuhao walked over to the bookshelf and took out the various books he had prepared from his Storage Ring. He selected some less important ones and placed them on the shelf one by one.

Next, he took out some daily necessities and Civilian Soul Tools he had prepared in advance.

After spending some time arranging the room, Huo Yuhao changed into Eastsea Academy's uniform and read for a while. Then, a knock sounded outside his door.

When Huo Yuhao opened the door, Gu Yuena stood outside. She looked up at him with bright, spirited eyes and said:

"Want to go take a look at the cafeteria together? This is my first time at a place like an Academy."

Huo Yuhao looked at Gu Yuena, now dressed in her school uniform and seemingly genuinely here to experience Academy life. His feelings were complicated.

Ever since entering the Academy, she seemed to have forgotten their respective identities and communicated with him purely as a fellow student... While that certainly made things more relaxed, it still felt somewhat strange.

Come to think of it, according to Teacher Hua, Sky Phoenix Douluo had originally sent Gu Yuena here to escape the turmoil at headquarters. Setting aside the possibility that she had come to investigate his identity, this one really seemed to be here... to attend school?

Your Excellency Silver Dragon King, you had already joined Spirit Pagoda. Was it really all right for you to neglect your proper duties and attend an ordinary school?

Thinking that, Huo Yuhao nodded. "All right."

There was currently no irreconcilable conflict between the Star Dou Great Forest and humanity. Since Ten Thousand Years Ago, the forest had not shrunk in area at all. It was vastly different from the Original Work, where only a core region remained. Gu Yuena had no need to walk the path of "Ten Thousand Beast Platform" and bring about humanity's end.

It was merely that Gu Yuena's strength made it difficult for him to relax, and he always wanted to keep a few extra safeguards in case of an emergency. Still, in their everyday interactions, maintaining a normal attitude would be enough.

When Gu Yuena saw Huo Yuhao agree, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed she had not misunderstood. This God King truly was enjoying this life and intended to live as an ordinary Soul Master.

Even in the future, he would likely rise to prominence as a core disciple of Spirit Pagoda and fight against the Abyss Plane. Unless necessary, he would not reveal his true side.

In that case, ordinary interactions and gradually drawing closer would suffice. She could not rush things.

On the way to the cafeteria, Huo Yuhao saw two young men approaching them. Hearing their conversation, his expression shifted slightly.

"Thank you, Xie Xie. If you hadn't stepped in to stop us from fighting in the dormitory, I might have broken even more things and had to pay even more money. When I have money, I'll treat you to a meal." Tang Wulin thanked the young man beside him.

"Treat me to a meal? I'm afraid you'll eat me too. I've never seen anyone who could eat as much as you. You took eighty Big Meat Buns just now, didn't you? No wonder you're so strong... Also, if you're thanking me, just thank me. Don't include my name. It sounds weird!"

Xie Xie gave Tang Wulin a stern look.

Tang Wulin smiled. "All right, thank you."

"I told you, stop calling my name all the time!"

"..." Tang Wulin looked rather speechlessly at Xie Xie. Xie Xie also realized what had happened. His stern expression vanished as he awkwardly looked away, silently annoyed.

He had said this name was no good. Sooner or later, he was going to change it!!!

"Tang Wulin and Xie Xie..."

Huo Yuhao glanced at the calm Gu Yuena and quickly withdrew his gaze.

Tang Wulin stopped looking at Xie Xie and turned forward, just in time to see the two fellow students.

Neither of them could be considered particularly striking in appearance, at most fairly delicate-looking, yet each possessed a unique temperament.

"Hello." Tang Wulin—no longer anyone's punching bag—greeted them naturally.

Although he had encountered unpleasant matters today and broken some Academy property that he would need to compensate for, a fellow student had helped him, and the Academy teachers had been very understanding, willing to give him time to pay.

Overall, Tang Wulin felt that there were bad people in the city, but there were even more good people!

"Hello."

Huo Yuhao smiled faintly. Gu Yuena nodded coldly in greeting, and they passed by the two of them.

One did not strike a smiling face. Xie Xie had been about to return the greeting, but when he saw Gu Yuena's expression, he paused and curled his lips. "So cold. She's probably quite talented. I wonder which class she'll be assigned to."

"Huh? Assigned classes?" Tang Wulin froze. "What do you mean?"

"This Academy assigns classes based on talent. I'll definitely be in Class One. As for you..."

Remembering that Tang Wulin possessed a spatial Soul Tool from Spirit Pagoda, Xie Xie said uncertainly, "We'll see tomorrow. I don't know either."

"Oh." Tang Wulin looked downcast.

His talent was poor... Hopefully, he would be assigned to a good class.

Once they had gone some distance away, Gu Yuena saw Huo Yuhao withdraw his gaze from Tang Wulin and suddenly asked through Voice Transmission, "Your Excellency, is the Divine Core on him?"

An ordinary Soul Grandmaster could not possibly achieve Voice Transmission, but for her, it posed no difficulty.

Huo Yuhao was not surprised and nodded lightly.

His earlier glance at Gu Yuena had been an intentional reminder. Since they were mutually keeping each other in check, it was naturally best for both sides to know of the other's existence, lest she be set up.

Seeing him nod, Gu Yuena frowned deeply.

From her earlier conversations with Huo Yuhao, she had learned that the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core still remained, and that the person beside her knew where it was but had not taken it.

What did that signify? It meant the Divine Core was on Douluo Continent, perhaps even somewhere near Eastsea City.

She had not sensed the Golden Dragon King Bloodline from Tang Wulin earlier. Yet Tang Wulin and Xie Xie's conversation—his bizarre appetite and tremendous strength—combined with Huo Yuhao's seemingly unprompted glance at her, gave rise to this association. That was why she asked.

And who could seal the Golden Dragon King God Core into an ordinary human body?

Only one of the Five Great God Kings of the God Realm!