Enrollment and Roommates

The tall walls belonged to Eastsea Academy. Not far ahead stood the academy entrance, a towering gatehouse built from massive stones that radiated an imposing air.

Eastsea Academy was a large institution qualified to provide both intermediate and advanced education. It was therefore divided into the Intermediate Academy Division and the Advanced Academy Division. Liu Yuxin was a student in the Advanced Academy Division.

Do not assume that intermediate and advanced education were separated by only one step. In reality, the difference between them was worlds apart.

Intermediate academy was compulsory education and charged no tuition. Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master Academy. The Intermediate Academy Division occupied two-thirds of its grounds, but its true essence was the Advanced Academy Division, which occupied the remaining third.

As long as one was a Soul Master within Eastsea City and its surrounding towns, and possessed a recommendation letter from a Primary Academy, one could enroll in the Intermediate Academy Division to receive Soul Master education. The Intermediate Academy program lasted six years, and when students graduated from sixth grade, fewer than one in ten could truly gain admission to an advanced Soul Master academy.

Advanced academy was no longer compulsory education. One had to pass a series of rigorous examinations even to have a chance of admission. Only those who entered an advanced academy could be considered true elites.

If Primary Academy taught the basic knowledge of Martial Souls and Soul Masters, then Intermediate Academy taught students how to apply that knowledge, how to develop their Martial Souls, and how to position themselves for the future. Advanced academy was where true advanced study began.

As they entered the academy, lush trees shaded the grounds. Just inside was a broad road stretching horizontally in both directions, while the road straight ahead was paved with bluestone slabs, giving it an ancient charm.

With Liu Yuxin's introduction, Nan Fusheng quickly gained a basic understanding of the academy.

The Intermediate Academy Division's Main Teaching Building stood on the eastern side of the campus. It was a twelve-story building, with higher grades assigned to higher floors. After enrolling, Nan Fusheng would become a first-year student and would only be assigned to a classroom on the first or second floor.

"That over there is the Academic Affairs Office. Go register yourselves. Your Intermediate Academy Division dormitory building is behind the teaching building."

After finishing her introduction and bringing them to the Academic Affairs Office, Liu Yuxin left directly.

Nan Fusheng chose to wait until the others had finished before entering the Academic Affairs Office.

With the metal plaque Liu Yuxin had given him, along with Red Mountain Academy's recommendation letter, he completed his enrollment procedures without any trouble.

He received two free sets of school uniforms and a dormitory key. Learning materials would not be distributed until classes officially began.

He was assigned to Grade 1 Class 5. From that moment on, he was a new first-year student in Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Academy Division.

Carrying his luggage on his back, Nan Fusheng went around the teaching building and arrived at the dormitory behind it. The dormitory building was just as large as the teaching building, also twelve stories tall. His room was on the second floor, dormitory number 205.

The corridors were a chaotic mess. These days were enrollment days, and aside from students, there were parents who had come to see their children off. Everything seemed somewhat disordered.

Nan Fusheng finally found his dormitory. The door was open, and someone was already inside.

The room contained two bunk beds, enough for four people. There were two rectangular tables, four chairs, two cabinets, and a ceiling light. That was all there was to the dormitory.

To his surprise, all three of his roommates were already there. When they saw Nan Fusheng enter, one sturdy-looking student walked straight over. "Looks like you're our roommate. We happen to be cleaning the dormitory right now. Want to lend a hand?"

"Sure." Nan Fusheng nodded and joined them in cleaning. The dormitory had not been especially dirty to begin with, and with the four of them working together, it was cleaned in no time.

As they worked together to clean, the four of them grew much closer.

"Then I'll introduce myself first. My name is Wang Ba. My Martial Soul is the War Tiger, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Yun Feng. My Martial Soul is a dagger, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Zhao Xiao. My Martial Soul is the Goat, and I'm an eleventh-level Battle Soul Master."

"Nan Fusheng. My Martial Soul is the Worm of Time, and I'm a thirteenth-level Battle Soul Master."

As they introduced themselves, Nan Fusheng also learned the other three's Soul Power Levels. Wang Ba was the burly boy who had invited Nan Fusheng to clean with them from the start. Yun Feng was rather thin and small, while Zhao Xiao was completely unremarkable. Nan Fusheng's introduction, however, surprised them somewhat.

"Fusheng, I didn't expect your Soul Power to be at level thirteen. Looks like the dorm leader has to be you."

"Haha, Wang Ba, don't joke around. We're all classmates. What dorm leader? Let's just get along well from now on." Hearing Wang Ba's teasing, Nan Fusheng laughed and answered in kind.

After that bit of joking, the four of them became much closer. Nan Fusheng let out a quiet sigh of relief. After all, he had no desire to inherit Douluo Continent's tradition of fighting with one's roommates on the first day of school.

Nan Fusheng chose a lower bunk and began arranging his belongings. Once he was done, he went straight to the cafeteria for a meal, then returned to the dormitory to cultivate.

When Wang Ba and the other two saw Nan Fusheng's routine, they secretly sighed. No wonder his Soul Power was higher than theirs. He worked this hard!

Perhaps influenced by Nan Fusheng, the other three also put aside their desire to go out and play, as well as their lazy attitudes. They climbed onto their beds like Nan Fusheng and began cultivating. What they did not notice was that as they started cultivating, an illusory Bug appeared above each of their Martial Souls.

It slowly absorbed their Soul Power. This was Nan Fusheng's First Soul Skill: Parasitism. It could absorb others' Soul Power to speed up his cultivation.

Nan Fusheng used shallow Parasitism while influencing their senses through the Worm of Time, leaving Wang Ba and the other two completely unable to detect anything unusual. Even if an outsider looked in now, they would see nothing suspicious and would only think that the three were diligently cultivating. However, Nan Fusheng did not absorb too much Soul Power. He only took an amount equal to half their cultivation speed.

At the same time, the absorbed Soul Power had to be filtered through the parasitic Soul Spirit before Nan Fusheng could absorb it.

The reason Wang Ba and the others wanted to cultivate so diligently was naturally because Nan Fusheng had secretly influenced them with Parasitism. The parasitic Soul Spirit's aura was already extremely faint, and its consciousness had been replaced by Nan Fusheng's. When using his Soul Skill, Nan Fusheng could conceal its aura to the greatest extent possible.

"I'm doing this for their own good. They've already reached Intermediate Academy. How could they not cultivate diligently?"

Nan Fusheng claimed he was thinking about their futures. As for the Soul Power he absorbed, he would treat it as payment.

And so, Nan Fusheng led Wang Ba and the other two through a routine of eating dinner, cultivating afterward, then sleeping for a while. After all, he could not squeeze them too hard. Although meditation could replace sleep to some extent, Wang Ba and the others were not yet capable of meditating continuously.

After waking up, they ate breakfast and continued cultivating, until Nan Fusheng heard a loud bang and an angry shout.

"Why are you city people so awful?"