Strolling

The corridor was quiet, with only the sound of his own footsteps.

As he went downstairs, he ran into a middle-aged man in an Administrative Staff Uniform. The man glanced at him, nodded in greeting, then hurried upstairs.

The moment he stepped out of the Office Building, sunlight washed over his body, warm and comforting.

He raised his hand to look at it, then lightly tossed it upward and caught it steadily.

"Pretty generous," he muttered.

Not only had the medicinal herbs been provided in full, but he had also been given a decent Storage Soul Tool.

Yan Shaozhe's investment was certainly sincere. But that was only natural. Xue Lingyun knew that the value he had displayed was worth the investment.

He did not hurry elsewhere. He first walked a ways toward the dormitories. Right beside the Teacher Building was the Dormitory Area, and his Room 106 was on the first floor of the building ahead.

But he was not heading back to his room right now. He was merely passing through.

Beyond the Dormitory Area stood several Teaching Buildings divided according to Soul Ring colors.

The white New Student Building was at the southernmost end. North of it were the yellow and purple buildings, while the black building farthest away belonged exclusively to Sixth Year students.

Those who attended classes in that building were basically the Outer Court's finest. One further step, and they would enter the Inner Court.

Further ahead was the Cafeteria Area. The New Student Cafeteria stood right next to the new student teaching building, and it was mealtime now, with students constantly coming and going.

The scent of food drifted through the air, carrying the charred aroma of grilled meat mixed with the clean fragrance of some medicinal herb.

Shrek's canteens were divided by price range. The high-end meals were all made from Soul Beast meat and could aid cultivation.

He thought of the Black Meal Card in his pocket. Honestly, since the food was free, he had been eating to his heart's content in the canteen these past few days.

As he was thinking, several upperclassmen approached from ahead. They wore Dark School Uniforms, and the badges on their chests marked them as fourth year students.

One of them inadvertently glanced his way and paused. Then he turned his head and said something to his companions.

The others all looked over, their gazes appraising. After whispering among themselves, they walked away as though nothing had happened.

Over the past few days, he had vaguely sensed it already. The incident where he had punched Xu Sanshi off the Arena seemed to be a rather popular topic.

The lower-grade newcomers might not know who Xu Sanshi was, but the upperclassmen knew exactly how much weight that name carried.

One of the Outer Court Fifth Year's best, possessing a mutated Mystic Tortoise Martial Soul and renowned for his defense, had been blasted off the Arena with a single punch by a junior schoolmate clearly younger than him, right in front of so many people.

The matter had spread quickly among the Outer Court upperclassmen. Xu Sanshi was quite a figure in his year, and there were not many who could suppress him. Yet he had been taken down in one move by a new student.

These past few days, he occasionally sensed people recognizing him. Perhaps too many people had watched that day, and the news had spread too quickly.

But he had appeared too rarely, and the school term had only begun a few days ago. He was still a new student and unfamiliar with everyone. No one knew what kind of temper he had, so most people merely watched from afar. No one truly dared approach him.

Anyone would have to think twice about it.

What if they approached and said the wrong thing? If his temper was bad and he really gave them a hit, they would have nowhere to seek justice.

If they really got beaten up by a junior schoolmate several years younger, then not just at Shrek but at any soul master academy, they would first be called useless before anyone discussed anything else.

What was more, the one beating them up would be a junior schoolmate from their own academy. That made it even more awkward. They would be the ones getting beaten, yet they would most likely be the ones getting scolded in the end.

He did not really care.

A little peace and quiet was nice. It saved him from dealing with inexplicable attempts at conversation.

Past the canteen was Shrek Square.

This was the Outer Court's central public area, where the opening ceremony had been held. Afternoon classes had just ended, so it was the peak time for students to be moving about.

Beyond the square stood the First Generation Sage Statue Group.

Ten Ten-Meter-Tall Granite Statues stood along one side of the square, depicting the first generation Shrek Seven Monsters and the Golden Iron Triangle.

The sunlight slanted across them, casting long shadows from the statues. Several lower-grade students stood before them, looking up and quietly discussing something.

Two hundred meters beyond the statue group was the East Gate.

Xue Lingyun stood beside the statue group, looking at the outline of the city gate in the distance.

The academy was simply too large. There were still places he had not had time to visit.

He had not yet entered the higher floors of the Outer Court Branch of the Scripture Library. He had not even finished reading the books on the lower floors, though he had heard that one needed to meet assessment requirements before borrowing texts with higher access permissions;

the Beast Arena supposedly covered more land than the Teaching Buildings and dormitories combined, housing all kinds of Soul Beasts ranging from ten-year to ten-thousand-year varieties;

he had only wandered around outside the Soul Tool Testing Area a few times as well, with no idea what it looked like inside.

But none of that was urgent. There was plenty of time ahead.

Hmm, how about going outside the academy for a stroll first?

He remembered that Shrek City was quite large. He had looked over a map before coming here, and the Commercial Area Outside the South Gate was rather bustling, with all kinds of shops, trading houses, auction houses, and quite a few soul masters setting up stalls.

They said that with luck, one could find some interesting things.

Medicinal herbs of decent age, obscure but useful Soul Tool parts, or even the occasional person bringing out a family heirloom to exchange for money.

Of course, there were also plenty of fraudulent counterfeits. It all depended on one's eye.

Back in the Far North, he had often gone treasure hunting with Xiao Bai, so he had a bit of an instinct for good things.

Combined with the Qi Observation and Meridian Seeking techniques of Huangji Jingshi, though they were not as useful in a city as in the wilderness, he might be able to sense something if he truly came across anything special.

Once the thought arose, he could not be bothered to hesitate any longer. He lifted his foot and headed toward the East Gate.