Dorm Seven

There was only one dorm building, so it was easy to find. The academy's students and teachers all lived there.

Just as Master Su Yuntao had said, very few people possessed Soul Power and could become Soul Masters. Without Spirit Hall's grassroots members following orders and tirelessly traveling to the countryside to help people awaken their Martial Souls, there would be even fewer Soul Masters.

That was especially true in a remote city like Nuoding.

As Su Ming walked toward the dorms, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Spirit Hall shouldn't simply be destroyed. After all, he was one of its beneficiaries.

Even if it was destroyed, someone had to take over Spirit Hall's system for awakening Martial Souls among the rural poor.

Otherwise, ten thousand years later, when Huo Yuhao went to the military camp, even the veteran soldiers wouldn't know what a Martial Soul was.

The academy didn't have many students or teachers, so one dorm building was more than enough.

Su Ming soon reached the door of Dorm Seven. Having read the original novel, he knew exactly what was coming.

When he pushed the door open, the children who had been laughing and chatting turned to look at him. A boy nearly two heads taller than Su Ming walked over and asked, "New here? A Work-Study Student?"

"Yeah. My name is Su Ming. I'm from Saint Soul Village. My Martial Soul is a cloud, and I have innate Soul Power at level six."

At the mention of innate Soul Power at level six, all the children looked at him with envy. Everyone in this dorm was a Work-Study Student; each and every one was a country child lucky enough to possess Soul Power. They were all terribly envious. The best Martial Soul among them was Wang Sheng's War Tiger, with innate Soul Power at level two.

Wang Sheng asked in a slightly nervous voice, "Um, the rule in Dorm Seven is that newcomers have to fight the senior students. How about we spar?"

Hearing the tremor in his voice, Su Ming turned to everyone and said, "I know the rule. I asked around before coming here. Work-Study Students are often looked down on, so we have to stick together."

"If any of you get bullied, you can come to me. My Martial Soul is geared toward support, so I can heal your injuries. As for fighting, there's no need. You can stay the leader."

"Besides, two people in our village awakened with innate Soul Power this year. The other one even has a Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power."

"When I was registering, he'd already gone in to register. He'll be here soon. You can fight him then."

With that, Su Ming walked straight to an empty bed in the corner of Dorm Seven. He set down the uniform and luggage he'd just collected, then began making his bed.

Wang Sheng understood what he meant and hurried over to help. After all, Su Ming was a healer and a Work-Study Student. If Wang Sheng got hurt later, he could ask Su Ming for help.

With Wang Sheng's help, the two of them quickly got everything in order.

They had just finished when a knock sounded outside. Hearing it, Su Ming immediately knew who it was and said to Wang Sheng, "That must be the kid from our village whose Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass and who has Innate Full Soul Power. According to Dorm Seven's rules, you should go fight him."

Hearing that someone had Innate Full Soul Power but had Blue Silver Grass as his Martial Soul, Wang Sheng didn't believe it, but he was still about to open the door. Before he could get there, the door swung open.

Everyone looked toward the entrance. A little boy dressed in patched clothes stood there, holding his luggage and uniform. It was Tang San.

Wang Sheng walked over.

"You're Tang San? Innate Full Soul Power, but your Martial Soul is the trash Blue Silver Grass."

Hearing the boy accurately name his Martial Soul and innate Soul Power, Tang San's gaze immediately shifted to Su Ming, who had come over.

"This is Wang Sheng, the leader of Dorm Seven. Newcomers have to fight him to decide who gets to be the leader."

"As for why, I'll explain after the fight."

Tang San entered the dorm and looked around, then glanced at Wang Sheng beside Su Ming, a boy noticeably sturdier than the others.

Wang Sheng saw Tang San looking at him and asked, "Why aren't you saying anything? Do you really have Innate Full Soul Power? Is your Martial Soul really Blue Silver Grass?"

"My name is Tang San. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and I have Innate Full Soul Power."

"What? It really is Blue Silver Grass? And you have Innate Full Soul Power? I didn't believe it when Su Ming told me just now. A trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass can actually be cultivated, let alone with Innate Full Soul Power."

Hearing that Tang San's Martial Soul really was Blue Silver Grass, Wang Sheng blurted out what was on his mind.

At the ridicule, Tang San, who had been ready to fight normally, struck in an instant. With a simple movement of both hands, he used the Tang Sect Secret Arts' Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon technique. He stepped forward, shoved with both hands, and sent Wang Sheng tumbling to the ground.

Wang Sheng wasn't about to accept defeat. Without wasting a moment, he got up and immediately used Martial Soul Possession.

"My name is Wang Sheng. My Martial Soul is War Tiger, and I'm a level-nine Soul Scholar."

Tang San naturally did the same.

"My name is Tang San. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and I have Innate Full Soul Power."

Wang Sheng gave a low growl. His Martial Soul possessed him, the phantom of a War Tiger appeared, and yellow light surged around him. With the force of a猛虎, he punched at Tang San.

Tang San's footing was steady. He neither dodged nor retreated, simply meeting the attack with both hands and using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds of brute force.

Wang Sheng's punches were fierce, but every time, the Mysterious Jade Hand and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track neutralized them.

Seeing this, Wang Sheng knew he couldn't keep going like this. He launched a ferocious tiger pounce.

Tang San used his momentum against him, flicked his wrist, dodged the pounce, and moved to Wang Sheng's left. Wang Sheng was still airborne, mid-pounce. Seeing this, Tang San bent his leg and drove his knee up hard, kicking toward Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng knew he couldn't dodge, so he braced himself to take the full force of the blow.

But just before Tang San's kick hit him, he held back. He sent Wang Sheng sprawling to the ground. The fall still hurt, but it was better than breaking bones.

Though the fall had been hard, Wang Sheng struggled on the ground for a while before managing to get back up.

Seeing that Tang San had won, Su Ming hurried over to Wang Sheng and began explaining.

"Hey, Tang San, that's how it is. Every Work-Study Student who comes here has to go through this."

"We're Work-Study Students, so the other students bully us and look down on us. That's why we have to stick together."

"That's why there's this rule: if you can win, you become the new leader and protect everyone; if you can't, everyone protects you."

As he spoke, Su Ming hurried to help Wang Sheng up. Then he summoned his Martial Soul. A cloud appeared over Wang Sheng's head and began to drizzle.

After getting rained on, Wang Sheng checked how he felt and realized he didn't hurt as much. He stared in astonishment. When he came to his senses, he knew this wasn't the time to talk about it, so he immediately went over to Tang San to explain.

"Tang San, you beat me. From now on, you're the leader of Dorm Seven."

Tang San hurriedly waved his hands. "I came here to study, not to be the leader."

Wang Sheng said solemnly, "That's the rule. Whoever has the harder fists is the leader. You think being the leader is easy? I'm not just being modest. Look." As he spoke, he pulled up the sleeves of his school uniform.

But what he revealed was a pair of wheat-colored arms, without a single mark. He'd originally had seven or eight purplish bruises on those arms, but now they had all disappeared.

Wang Sheng stared at Su Ming in shock. Seeing this, Su Ming explained, "This is my Martial Soul, Cloud. I've figured out two skills so far: one is Fly, and the other is healing."