The senior students immediately gathered around him too, smiling as they said:
"Junior Yuhao, it's all right now. We'll take you inside to choose a dorm room! We guarantee we'll find you one with the best sunlight and the most peace and quiet!"
Huo Yuhao hurriedly thanked them and, surrounded by a crowd of senior students, entered the brand-new freshman dormitory building.
In the Sea of Consciousness, Zhao Ze watched the scene outside and stretched lazily.
"All right. That guy shouldn't be sharing a dorm with Yuhao now."
Electrolux, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying a hint of gravity.
"That girl is no ordinary person."
Zhao Ze shrugged indifferently, his tone casual yet utterly certain.
"She's definitely no ordinary person.
"But that doesn't matter. What matters is that Yuhao had better not get close to her.
"If she dares come looking for trouble again, we have plenty of ways to deal with her."
At the senior students' suggestion, Huo Yuhao eventually chose a south-facing dorm room on the second floor.
As soon as Huo Yuhao stepped into the dorm, he saw a boy around his age standing on tiptoe by the opposite bed, spreading out his bedsheet.
Hearing the noise, the boy immediately turned around. With a big, easygoing grin, he greeted Huo Yuhao first.
"Hey, new roommate! I'm Cao Jinxuan!"
His voice was cheerful and friendly, without a trace of awkwardness. It instantly dispelled Huo Yuhao's unease in the unfamiliar surroundings.
Huo Yuhao hurriedly returned a shy smile and waved to him.
"Hi, I'm Huo Yuhao."
"Huo Yuhao?!"
At the name, the bedsheet fell from Cao Jinxuan's hands onto the bed. He widened his eyes and gave Huo Yuhao a thorough once-over, his face full of surprise.
"So you're the Huo Yuhao who just enrolled and already set the entire freshman area abuzz? The legendary star freshman!
"I heard loads of people downstairs talking about you. They said you're super good-looking, and the senior girls practically surrounded you. You're incredibly popular!"
Hearing him say it so bluntly, Huo Yuhao immediately remembered being surrounded by all those senior girls. His cheeks flushed faintly, and he scratched his head bashfully, speaking in a quiet voice.
"Um... the senior students were very welcoming."
"Welcoming? That's putting it mildly!"
Cao Jinxuan leaned over with an envious look, slapping his thigh as he wailed.
"I'm so jealous, bro!
"When I enrolled, I was lugging two huge bags of luggage, and there wasn't a single person to lend me a hand, let alone a bunch of girls surrounding me as I walked!
"You've reached the peak of life on your very first day!"
Watching his clownish antics, Huo Yuhao couldn't help laughing. The last bit of awkwardness in his heart vanished completely.
This roommate was cheerful and straightforward. He was so much better than that pink-and-blue-haired girl who'd picked a fight for no reason and acted completely unreasonable!
Having a roommate like this was a pretty wonderful thing.
The two chatted as they unpacked, and before long, it was lunchtime.
After putting away the last of his things, Cao Jinxuan swept an arm grandly and slapped Huo Yuhao on the shoulder with a laugh.
"Come on, bro! Getting assigned to the same dorm is fate itself. Lunch is on me today. Let's go feast at Shrek Academy's cafeteria!"
Huo Yuhao didn't stand on ceremony. He smiled and nodded.
"Thanks, then."
He carefully put away what he was holding, locked the dorm door, and followed Cao Jinxuan toward the cafeteria.
Sure enough, quite a few senior girls recognized Huo Yuhao along the way and smiled as they greeted him.
Some even stuffed all sorts of snacks into his hands. Cao Jinxuan watched, clicking his tongue in amazement and repeatedly declaring how jealous he was.
They soon reached the cafeteria. Cao Jinxuan generously ordered a whole tableful of dishes, and the two ate and chatted.
It was only over lunch that Huo Yuhao learned Cao Jinxuan's Martial Soul was actually the Time-Passing Bell, an exceedingly rare time-type Martial Soul on the continent.
"My Martial Soul is pretty powerful, I guess, but I can only be a support Soul Master."
Cao Jinxuan said around a mouthful of chicken leg.
"The elders in my family said that once my cultivation gets high enough, I might even be able to make time flow backward."
"A time-type Martial Soul can reverse time?"
Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up as he listened, his face full of amazement.
"That's incredible! This is the first time I've ever seen a Martial Soul connected to time!"
"Eh, it's nothing special."
Cao Jinxuan waved a hand with a smile, then looked seriously at Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"But your Martial Soul is even more unique. Spirit Eye—that's definitely a rare and special Body Martial Soul!
"I heard my dad say there's a sect on the continent made up entirely of people who possess Body Martial Souls."
"A sect made up of people with Body Martial Souls?"
Huo Yuhao froze, his chopsticks stopping midair.
He'd grown up in the White Tiger Duke Mansion and knew very little about the world of Soul Masters outside it. This was the first time he'd ever heard of such a thing.
Just then, Zhao Ze's voice came from the Sea of Consciousness.
"That's right. There is a sect like that, called the Body Sect. They possess a secret technique that can make a Body Martial Soul awaken again."
Huo Yuhao's heart jolted. He hurriedly asked in his mind, his voice breaking with excitement.
"Master, then... can my Spirit Eye Martial Soul awaken again too?"
"Of course."
Zhao Ze's voice was certain.
"But for now, don't think about that. Focus on building a solid foundation first."
As he spoke, Huo Yuhao saw a pitch-black wooden post appear in the Sea of Consciousness.
"Yuhao, you can enter the Sea of Consciousness right now and attack this post with Soul Shock. Control your spiritual power precisely, using it to hone your spiritual power and your ability to control Soul Power."
Zhao Ze's voice carried a hint of seriousness.
"You'll have mastered control only when you can unleash and withdraw Soul Shock at will. After that, I can teach you more advanced techniques."
"Yes, Master!"
Huo Yuhao immediately gave a firm nod in his heart.
With a single thought, he entered the Sea of Consciousness, used Soul Shock, and slammed into the wooden post.
At the same time, on the surface, he continued eating and chatting with Cao Jinxuan, his movements and expression showing no sign of anything unusual.
Under Zhao Ze's guidance, he had actually begun practicing multitasking—eating while honing his spiritual power.
Cao Jinxuan didn't notice a thing. He was still enthusiastically telling Huo Yuhao all sorts of stories he'd heard about Shrek Academy.
Huo Yuhao smiled and responded from time to time, but his Soul Shock grew more precise and more concentrated with each strike.
After they returned to the dorm, Huo Yuhao immediately sat cross-legged on his bed and sank completely into cultivation.
He treasured his time and didn't dare relax even a little.
Time trickled by, and the sky outside gradually darkened. Huo Yuhao had already been cultivating for a long while.
Moonlight streamed through the window and fell across the boy's face, illuminating his calm features. He didn't look tired in the slightest.
Cao Jinxuan watched him like this and finally couldn't hold back. He blurted out a question.
"Yuhao, don't you ever sleep? It's already nighttime. Are you going to keep cultivating?"
Why did it feel like his roommate had turned into a grind king?!
Before you continue