Soul Guidance Department

After finding Wang Dong, Tang Wulin first discussed the room change with Huo Yuhao. As it happened, Huo Yuhao wasn't particularly fond of Wang Dong at the moment, and for various other reasons, he immediately said that if the Academy was willing to change their rooms, then what was the harm in switching?

Tang Wulin and Wang Dong then went to the Academic Affairs Office to ask whether students were allowed to change rooms. They got a negative answer, and were told that if the Academy discovered students switching rooms on their own, they would be punished.

That answer completely crushed the sisters' hopes of changing rooms.

Tang Wulin pouted. "There, sis. Happy now? The Academy won't let us change rooms, and if we switch on our own and get caught, we'll be punished. Looks like I'll have to live with Linyuan for the next few years."

Wang Dong said awkwardly, "Aren't I stuck living with that awful Huo Yuhao for the next few years, too?"

"Please get the cause and effect straight, sis. You insisted on disguising yourself as a boy to apply to Shrek Academy, and dragged me into it—that's the cause. Me having to live with Linyuan, and you having to live with Huo Yuhao for a few years—that's the effect. Without the cause you created, where would the effect come from?"

"If I'd known, I should've stood my ground and stuck to my principles. I shouldn't have let you talk me into it and come to Shrek Academy disguised as a boy, too."

"What if I fall for some guy in the future, and he finds out I attended Shrek Academy disguised as a boy? Wouldn't I be so embarrassed I'd want to crawl into a crack in the ground?"

Tang Wulin said, thoroughly dejected.

"Oh, Wulin!" Wang Dong said. "That Xia Linyuan seems like a pretty decent guy, and his relationship with that Gu Yuena seems rather special. They're probably dating, right?"

"So I don't think he'd go around telling people even if he found out. Just remind him to keep it to himself, and no one will ever know that you and I came to Shrek Academy disguised as boys. Don't worry."

Hearing Wang Dong's crude but equally nonsensical argument, Tang Wulin nearly lost it. "Sis, how does your brain work? Listen to what you're saying! What do you mean, they're probably dating, so even if he finds out, he won't tell anyone?"

"Ahem!" Wang Dong cleared her throat awkwardly. "Was I wrong?"

"Yes! Absolutely and unquestionably wrong! One hundred percent!!!"

As soon as Qian Duoduo heard that Xia Linyuan had come to apply to Shrek Academy, he went straight to meet him. Xia Yanqing had already given him a heads-up.

As Qian Duoduo led Xia Linyuan toward the Soul Guidance Department campus, the scenery rushed past them.

At first glance, Qian Duoduo looked like a burly man in his fifties, but his face was completely unwrinkled. His white hair, stiff as steel needles, gave him a somewhat weathered appearance.

Qian Duoduo was tall and powerfully built, as if carved from marble. He stood at least two meters and twenty centimeters tall, with broad shoulders and a wide back, and his muscles were exceptionally solid.

"Linyuan, your father said you're interested in Soul Tools. Is that true?" Though he had lived for a hundred years and weathered all kinds of storms, Qian Duoduo couldn't help feeling excited.

It couldn't be helped. Ever since the two continents collided four thousand years ago, even the impact of the Sun Moon Empire's advanced, powerful Soul Tools hadn't been enough to rouse those people who were smugly resting on the laurels accumulated by countless predecessors.

He had once shared their mindset, too. But after stepping away from the crowd, rolling up his sleeves, and getting to work, reality had gradually woken him up.

As the saying went, even if the world were ending, you still couldn't wake someone who was pretending to sleep.

Most of the people in the decaying Douluo Three Kingdoms, even those at Shrek Academy, were still caught up in the grand conviction that Martial Soul theory was supreme. They looked down on Soul Tools, which had advanced to the point where they could threaten ordinary Titled Douluo, and even rejected them outright.

With such deep-rooted beliefs, hardly anyone in the Douluo Three Kingdoms was willing to put in the effort to learn about Soul Tools, study them, or delve into their workings.

In all the years since he had founded the Soul Guidance Department in Shrek Academy's Outer Court, the number of new students joining the department each year could be counted on one hand. Many had transferred only because they'd realized they might not accomplish much through Martial Soul cultivation, yet didn't want to give up the chance to earn a Shrek Academy credential. They'd reluctantly begun studying the basics of Soul Tools.

Now he had finally met a student who was interested in Soul Tools and willing to put in the effort to learn about them, study them, and delve into their workings. How could Qian Duoduo not be excited? And Xia Linyuan was also a once-in-ten-thousand supergenius in Martial Soul cultivation. If a genius like him could set a good example, Qian Duoduo was sure the Soul Guidance Department would only get better and better.

Xia Linyuan smiled faintly. "I suppose you could call it an interest. At least it's a lot more interesting than those dull, tedious Martial Soul theories."

"Heh, you really are Duke Molong's son. You've got a good eye!" This was the first time Qian Duoduo had heard someone say Martial Soul theory was inferior to Soul Tools. He was instantly overjoyed and cheerfully patted Xia Linyuan on the shoulder.

"I just can't bring myself to lie back comfortably on the laurels accumulated by countless predecessors over the years, the way everyone else does."

That line about being unable to lie back comfortably on the laurels accumulated by countless predecessors struck a chord with Qian Duoduo. The more he looked at Xia Linyuan, the more he liked him.

Qian Duoduo sighed. "If only everyone else could see things as clearly as you do. When I see those people lying back on the laurels of their predecessors, congratulating themselves, and sneering that Soul Tools are a deviant path, I want to slap them right across the face."

"Vice President Qian, you're being too harsh. I think they just need the right opportunity to gradually accept Soul Tools as something new. Once they experience the convenience and novelty Soul Tools bring, I think the rise of the Soul Guidance Department will be just around the corner."

"You little fox. You're so young, yet you already know how to say things people like to hear. Heh, but I like it."

"Heh. As long as you're happy."

While they were talking, Qian Duoduo led Xia Linyuan to a huge building called the Soul Tool Experimental Zone.

The Soul Tool Experimental Zone was an enormous gray building. Its walls looked very thick, and many spots on the surface gleamed with a metallic sheen. It seemed they weren't built from bricks and stone alone.

Even through the thick walls, they could hear a continuous, low rumble coming from inside. Xia Linyuan could also feel the ground trembling faintly from time to time.