The group stopped fifty meters beneath the gates of Heaven Dou City. Su Ming dispelled his Soul Skill, then followed Liu Erlong's directions toward Blue Tyrant Academy.
As they walked, Liu Erlong introduced the various districts of Heaven Dou City, the residences of the royal family and nobles, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Heaven Dou Auction House, and Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
At the mention of the Great Soul Arena, Su Ming couldn't help walking ahead of everyone and interrupting Liu Erlong.
"Dean Liu, the students from Heaven Dou Royal Academy probably go to Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena to train in actual combat, right?"
Liu Erlong wasn't annoyed at being interrupted. She smiled at Su Ming and said,
"Of course. A genius like you would naturally want to compete and spar with people your own age after arriving in a major city. Suotuo City may be large, but it's nothing compared to Heaven Dou City—and there are plenty of geniuses here."
"Anyway, once we've settled into the academy, you can go."
She said the same to the other two as well.
"Thank you, Dean Liu."
Back with the group, Su Ming was practically giddy. The Heaven Dou Royal Academy students would be there, which meant Dugu Yan would be there too. When the time came, heh heh.
Leading the way, Liu Erlong continued speaking to everyone from Shrek:
"You're all new here, so let me tell you about Blue Tyrant Academy. Oh, no—I suppose it should be called Shrek Academy from now on."
"Our academy has the largest forest within Heaven Dou City, and all its resources belong to the academy. Our facilities aren't as good as those at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but they're not far behind. The academy was founded twelve years ago, and we only accept Soul Masters from commoner backgrounds."
"That means the quality of our students' Martial Souls tends to fall short of those at ordinary advanced Soul Master academies. But because our students come from commoner families, they work much harder at cultivation than those from great clans or noble families."
"At the last Soul Master Tournament, we overcame many powerful opponents and made it into the top eight. Our results were only a little worse than Heaven Dou Royal Academy's first team—and we eliminated their second team."
"With you four talented youngsters joining us this year, I believe Shrek Academy has a chance of making the top three this time."
As Liu Erlong spoke, the group soon arrived at the entrance to "Blue Tyrant Academy."
The academy's gatehouse looked much like Heaven Dou City's city gate. Though it was far less substantial, the entrance itself stood a full ten meters tall.
The two enormous dragons carved into either side of the gatehouse were lifelike and imposing. Eight gilded characters were emblazoned above the entrance: Blue Tyrant Advanced Soul Master Academy.
A teacher was already waiting beneath the gatehouse. When he saw the group approaching, a middle-aged teacher hurried over to greet them.
"Dean, you're back. And who are these people behind you?"
Liu Erlong nodded.
"Teacher Shuyin, these are my friends, teachers and students from Shrek Academy. They've come to join the academy."
At this, Shuyin instinctively probed them with his Soul Power. He sensed six Soul Masters whose auras were stronger than his own, and his heart clenched. He took a deep breath and hurriedly apologized.
"I'm Yin Shu, a level-fifty-four Power Attack System Battle Soul Master. It's a pleasure to meet you all. Welcome to Blue Tyrant Academy."
Liu Erlong said, "Teacher Yin Shu, please announce that we'll be holding an all-academy assembly for teachers and students tomorrow. I have something important to announce."
"These are all my friends. We haven't seen each other in years, so we have a lot to catch up on today. Have the cafeteria prepare an elaborate banquet in a private room on the second floor. I'm treating them."
On their way to the cafeteria, Liu Erlong gave everyone a detailed introduction to Blue Tyrant Academy. The academy had only a little over two hundred students, yet it was widely respected in the Soul Master World of the Heaven Dou Empire.
It was, in a sense, a cradle for commoner Soul Masters. Though it had only been open for twelve years, it had already produced quite a few formidable Soul Masters from commoner backgrounds.
Liu Erlong showed her forthright nature as she hosted the Shrek Academy group for lunch and answered all their questions.
Afterward, she took everyone on a tour of Blue Tyrant Academy. Only then did she arrange accommodations for them in the academy's teachers' dormitory. Each person had a room of their own.
As for things like their benefits, Liu Erlong passed them straight to Flender. After all, once she made her announcement tomorrow morning, the academy would become Shrek Academy instead of Blue Tyrant Academy.
Early the next morning, Su Ming got up and went to the center of the academy to attend the all-academy assembly. There, he witnessed Liu Erlong announce that Blue Tyrant Academy would henceforth be renamed Shrek Academy, and heard Flender give his first speech as its dean.
He watched as the four characters for Blue Tyrant Academy were taken down from the gatehouse and the Shrek Academy sign was hung in their place.
By the time everything was done, the morning had passed. After lunch, Su Ming sat around in a daze for a while, then suddenly jolted.
He'd just remembered his little buddy, Wang Sheng. He wondered how his Martial Soul Evolution was going. If he'd followed Su Ming's plan, there was a real chance he was at Shrek Academy now.
Su Ming hurried out of the cafeteria. Using the first Soul Skill of his Cloud Martial Soul, he grew a pair of wings from his back and flew toward the academic affairs office to look for him.
He landed outside the academic affairs building and jogged inside. He soon found the archives room, where a teacher was working.
After Su Ming introduced himself and explained who he was looking for, the teacher in charge of the records naturally didn't stop him.
After hearing Su Ming describe the person he wanted to find, the teacher immediately said he had someone like that on file. He even remembered the student quite well, and quickly pulled out the records and handed them to Su Ming.
Su Ming opened the file and pulled out the first sheet. When he saw Wang Sheng in the name field, he nodded.
Seeing Su Ming nod, the teacher in charge helpfully pointed out a nearby sofa where he could sit and read.
Su Ming readily agreed. He sat on the sofa, took out the file, and began looking through it.
Wang Sheng, seventeen years old, Martial Soul: Blazing War Tiger, currently a level-thirty-four Battle Soul Elder. He had joined Blue Tyrant Academy three years ago. The file also listed his current class.
After reading these basic details, Su Ming stopped. The rest was probably just a record of his daily cultivation. He put the file away and handed it back to the teacher.
Su Ming quickly left the academic affairs building and flew to Wang Sheng's classroom using his Martial Soul. He asked some of the other students, but Wang Sheng wasn't there.
Wang Sheng had gone to Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena for actual combat training, in preparation for this year's All Continent Soul Master Elite Tournament.
After hearing that, Su Ming decided to go to the Great Soul Arena too. He'd been planning to run into Dugu Yan there anyway.
Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena was oval-shaped and stood more than a hundred and eighty meters tall. Inside, it had three main arenas and thirty-six smaller ones, making it twice the size of Soto Great Soul Arena.
It could accommodate two hundred thousand spectators at once, including in its three hundred VIP boxes. This was not only a place for Soul Masters to spar and exchange ideas, but also where Heaven Dou City's various factions displayed their strength.
Su Ming knew the rules of the Soul Fighting Arena well. At Soto Great Soul Arena, he'd already earned a Gold Soul Fighting Badge.
Before you continue