Enrollment

Beyond Shrek Square stood rows of towering Teaching Buildings, each in a different color—primarily white, yellow, purple, and black. In the distance was another cluster of gray Teaching Buildings.

Shen Liang continued, "The colors of the Teaching Buildings represent different grades, distinguished according to soul ring colors. White is the New Student Teaching Building, like the lowest-level ten-year soul ring. Yellow is for the second- and third-year Outer Court students, purple is for the fourth and fifth years, and black is for the sixth year. Once you walk out of the black Teaching Building, you can receive your Outer Court graduation certificate."

"Those gray Teaching Buildings in the distance belong to the Soul Tool Department. Besides the Teaching Buildings at the front, there are many specialized training facilities farther back, such as the Battle Soul Arena, Assessment Area, dormitory area, Teacher Office Area, and so on. Once you have studied at the academy for a while, you will gradually become familiar with them. The white New Student Teaching Building is at the southernmost side. Just go there to register."

After thanking Shen Liang, Wu Xuan headed toward the class registration area.

Today was one of the final two days for new student enrollment. There were hardly any new students like Wu Xuan still coming to register.

At Shrek Academy, aside from specially recruited students from major clans or those with extraordinary talent, new students were assigned to classes entirely according to their registration time.

At this point, only New Student Class Nine and New Student Class Ten still had vacancies.

Wu Xuan had already learned which class he had been assigned to at Shrek City's eastern gate. It was New Student Class Nine.

Registration went very smoothly. He paid the ten Gold Soul Coin registration fee, had his information form stamped at the entrance, then handed in his letter of recommendation. That was the entire process.

After receiving his dormitory key, two sets of uniforms, and a white new student badge, Wu Xuan headed for the dormitory.

As he passed a notice board, Wu Xuan subconsciously stopped.

The notice read:

New Student Class One Homeroom Teacher: Zhou Yi

New Student Class Nine Homeroom Teacher: Mu Jin

Zhou Yi and Mu Jin?

Since classes were assigned according to registration time, Huo Yuhao, who had registered on the first day, had surely been assigned to New Student Class One.

Wu Xuan was not particularly surprised by that. After all, in the original story, Huo Yuhao had been in Zhou Yi's class.

What he had not expected was that he had been assigned to the class of Mu Jin, Zhou Yi's sworn rival.

"This academy life is getting more and more interesting." Wu Xuan smiled before leaving the notice board.

Passing between the white New Student Teaching Building and the yellow second- and third-year Teaching Buildings, the dormitory buildings were already right before him.

The dormitory area covered an enormous space, with five dormitory buildings—white, yellow, purple, black, and gray—standing within it.

The five colors clearly represented the residential areas for students of different grades.

At the entrance to the dormitory building sat an elderly man who looked very old. He wore plain gray cloth robes, his eyes were dim, and his eyelids drooped low. He looked as though he were in the twilight of his years. The sunlight filtering between the buildings happened to fall over him, and he appeared quite comfortable reclining in his chair.

Wu Xuan merely gave the old man a glance before walking into the dormitory on his own. Though his expression did not change in the slightest, his heart was anything but calm.

Because he knew that the old man before him was one of the greatest powerhouses of the present age, Dragon God Douluo Mu En.

Mu En remained motionless in his original posture. Yet after Wu Xuan left, his cloudy eyes opened into a narrow slit, and he murmured, "Not yet twelve years old, and his Soul Power cultivation has already reached Rank 34. His cultivation is far deeper than mine was when I was the continent's greatest genius. The younger generation is truly formidable. In all my centuries, this is the first time I have taken an interest in such a little fellow. Hmm, such pure wind element. It is truly rare on the continent. Hm?! He noticed that I was watching him? What powerful Spiritual Power this little fellow has. Haha, interesting. This batch of new students is truly interesting. Hahaha!"

The student dormitory was a corridor-style building, with dormitory doors lining both sides of the long hallway. Each door bore a number plate.

Wu Xuan's dormitory key was numbered 305, a fairly good location.

"Hm?"

When he reached the dormitory door, Wu Xuan found it standing open.

The dormitory was very small, only about ten square meters. The two beds occupied most of the space, leaving only a desk and two metal wardrobes.

The Soul Guiding Lamp on the ceiling brightly illuminated the small dormitory.

A young man about Wu Xuan's age was lazily lying on a bed. When he saw Wu Xuan at the door, he froze for a moment before immediately getting up with a smile and extending his right hand.

"Hello, my name is Qian Gu Ming. I'm from the Heaven Dou Empire. You should be my future roommate, right?"

"Mm. Hello, I'm Wu Xuan. I'm also from the Heaven Dou Empire." Wu Xuan politely shook his hand.

"I cleaned the dormitory two days ago. What do you think? Pretty clean, right?" Qian Gu Ming said with a cheerful laugh.

Wu Xuan nodded. He tapped the Soul Tool at his waist, and a small paper bag appeared in his hand. He handed it to Qian Gu Ming. "Have some. It's a specialty from my hometown—marinated dried meat from a ten-year Giant-Horned Azure Bull."

Qian Gu Ming froze at his words, but he still promptly accepted the small paper bag. After tasting a piece, his eyes instantly lit up.

As the saying went, emotions between people were mutual. Unless something unexpected happened, they would likely be living together day and night for the next semester or two. There was no need to put on a disdainful attitude from the very start.

Wu Xuan then began tidying his bed. Through their intermittent conversation, the two gradually became much more familiar with each other.

When roommates met for the first time, there was no mutual dislike that led to fists flying at the slightest disagreement, nor was there some instant bond that had them swearing brotherhood. Everything was natural and ordinary.

The surname Qian Gu involuntarily reminded Wu Xuan of those two Spirit Hall priests from ten thousand years ago. However, he could sense a dense fire element around Qian Gu Ming.

This greatly surprised Wu Xuan. He did not know whether the two were related or whether it was merely a coincidence of names.

Dormitory 108.

A handsome young man with delicate features, fair skin, and pale pinkish-blue hair and eyes glared furiously at Huo Yuhao.

Wang Dong shouted, "Huo Yuhao, I told you that you're not allowed to go naked in the dormitory. Are you treating my rules like they went in one ear and out the other?"

Seeing Wang Dong's lofty attitude, Huo Yuhao's anger surged as well. "Why should I listen to you? I'm a student of Shrek Academy too. I'm not your servant! You have no right to order me around."

Wang Dong snorted. "You won't listen to me? Looks like you forgot the pain once the wound healed. I beat you up just a few days ago, and now you've already forgotten? Fine. Today, I'll make sure you remember this lesson."

"Hmph! I let you off two days ago. Try making a move today."

"Good! Very good. I think your name will soon disappear from Shrek Academy. Let's go, idiot." With that, Wang Dong turned and slammed the door behind her as she left.

Huo Yuhao clenched his fists tightly and strode after her. The soul bone was his trump card, and he had not wanted to use it, but he had no choice today.

Below the dormitory building, Wang Dong looked at the lonely yellow soul ring behind Huo Yuhao and could not help but sneer. "Same old routine again? Are you planning to use that soul skill of yours that has no offensive power at all?"

"I don't even need to use my martial soul against trash like you." As she spoke, Wang Dong tapped the ground with the tip of her left foot and shot toward Huo Yuhao like an arrow. Not only was she fast, but her movements were exceptionally nimble.

With the help of Mental Detection, Huo Yuhao narrowly avoided Wang Dong's attack.

Nearby, Mu En, reclining in his lounge chair, slightly raised his head and sighed. Young people these days really had such fiery tempers. It had only been a few days, and they were fighting again.

On the third floor, Wu Xuan leisurely watched their duel while eating the snacks Qian Gu Ming had given him.

"Go! Go! How did that kid dodge that? He dodged again! What kind of fighting is that? You have such a huge advantage, yet you're fighting like this?" Qian Gu Ming shouted, slapping his thigh beside him.

In the open space below, Wang Dong's increasingly impatient attacks suddenly came to a halt as pain shot through her head, leaving her mind blank for an instant.

How could Huo Yuhao let such an opportunity pass? He lunged forward in a single step, leaped into the air, and tightly wrapped both arms around Wang Dong's arms. His legs sprang up and locked around her waist, forcibly knocking her to the ground.

The stabbing pain in her head made Wang Dong furrow her brows tightly, but it lasted only two seconds before she recovered. By then, however, Huo Yuhao had already knocked her down. His legs were tightly locked around her waist, and his arms held hers in place.

Panting heavily, Huo Yuhao growled, "Do you surrender?"

"Surrender my ass! Let go of me!" Wang Dong roared angrily as she struggled with all her strength. But Huo Yuhao had used every ounce of strength he had, even circulating his own Soul Power. Without using her martial soul, it was not easy for her to break free.

"You refuse to admit defeat? If I had used a knife just now, you'd already be dead." Huo Yuhao growled without yielding.

Wang Dong froze at his words, and her resistance weakened. That was right. The time her head had hurt and she had been stunned was brief, but they had been so close that if Huo Yuhao had wanted to hurt her, he would have had more than enough time.

"I lost. Get off me already," Wang Dong said angrily, though her eyes remained full of unwillingness.

Huo Yuhao did not release her immediately. He said coldly, "The five rules you mentioned before are not things I cannot follow. But I would not follow them because of your threats. I would do so out of respect for my roommate. I know you are stronger than me. If you used your martial soul, I definitely would not be your opponent. But remember this: if you dare insult me again, then even if you beat me to death, I'll still tear a piece of flesh off you."

Huo Yuhao slowly released Wang Dong and stood up. He took several steps backward while facing her, then turned and walked toward the dormitory.

"Damn! That kid really turned it around." Qian Gu Ming slapped his thigh hard, his face full of confusion. This outcome was completely beyond his understanding.

Wu Xuan merely smiled, his gaze growing calmer as he murmured, "Tang San's daughter? I hope she does not notice me. After all, I do not want to be a dog of the Tang family."