"I still have work at Spirit Hall, so I won't walk you to the dormitory. Just give your student card to the teacher over there to scan, and they'll be able to find your class and dormitory information."
"I won't say anything else. I hope you enjoy the start of the school year and make plenty of friends."
Wang Hong soon left. Following the direction he'd pointed in, Huo Yuhao found the academic affairs office he'd mentioned.
"Hello, my name is Huo Yuhao. I'm a new stu—" When he took out his student card and saw the other person's face clearly, he realized that the teacher in the academic affairs office was another old acquaintance!
She had a head of white hair and a few wrinkles on her face, but they did nothing to hide her domineering air.
Zhou Yi, Huo Yuhao's first teacher at Shrek Academy in his previous life.
Hearing Huo Yuhao's voice, Zhou Yi leaned out and finally saw the boy, who wasn't very tall.
At first sight of Huo Yuhao, Zhou Yi looked a little surprised. Then she broke into a gentle smile. "Hello, little Huo Yuhao. Why are you enrolling by yourself? Didn't your parents come with you?"
"My mother had to go on a long trip, so it wasn't convenient. An esteemed Martial Soul Envoy from Spirit Hall brought me here."
"I see... That's all right. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask the teachers here... Oh? A work-study student with Innate Full Soul Power?" After taking his student card, Zhou Yi quickly used her Soul Power to sense all sorts of information about Huo Yuhao. Those were the two things that caught her attention most.
Top-tier talent, but a poor family background, so he could only apply for financial aid and become a work-study student...
"Funny how fate works, little Huo Yuhao. I'm your homeroom teacher." Zhou Yi returned the completed student card to Huo Yuhao, then continued:
"Looks like we're quite fated. A little genius with Innate Full Soul Power will probably be very popular in class. But I should warn you: don't let how easygoing I seem now fool you. Once classes start, I won't be nearly so easygoing."
"This is a principle Principal Chen Mo passed down: become a close friend to your students outside class, and in class, become an all-knowing jailer."
"Haha, but don't worry. I won't be as strict as a real jailer. Anyway, while you're getting used to campus and outside class, we can still be good friends. Enjoy your first day, Huo Yuhao."
Huo Yuhao nodded. Before leaving, he looked back at Zhou Yi, who had resumed working.
"Her appearance and voice are exactly the same..." Huo Yuhao thought, comparing the two carefully. Judging by what she'd said, setting aside what she might be like in class, she seemed quite easy to get along with in private. She was far too different from the "Old Hag" he'd known in his previous life.
And... once again, it was Chen Mo. That name again.
Principal Chen Mo... So he was the one who had personally built this academy, too.
Just how much had he left behind in this world?
"Hmm... Humans in this era have developed so quickly? They can use Soul Power to imprint information onto objects, and it won't fade easily. Even I'd find that difficult."
"And now, in human hands, it's just a handy little tool. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Tian Meng's voice sounded in Huo Yuhao's ear.
"Brother Sky Dream, you're awake."
"Mm... Your Sea of Consciousness is anything but ordinary, kid. To me, it's like an unbelievably comfortable bed. It's hard not to sleep a little longer." Tian Meng's voice was drowsy with sleep, but still carried his usual casual ease.
"Come to think of it, you might not know this, but stabilizing Soul Power isn't simple, especially if you want it to last almost forever."
"Even a Million-Year Soul Ring created by me wouldn't last long in the natural environment before it dissipated. But the Soul Power on that thing in your hand... what was it called? A student card? It's exposed to the natural environment, too, but from what I can tell, unless someone deliberately destroys it, it could be stored for thousands of years without a problem."
"Thousands of years?" The sudden figure startled Huo Yuhao. Soul Beasts were always talked about in terms of thousands or tens of thousands of years, but a thousand years was no short span for humans.
"Mm-hmm. That's why I'm surprised. This kind of technology is as common as snowflakes back home."
Tian Meng thought about it. Among the people he knew... no, among the Soul Beasts he knew, probably only the Ice and Snow Emperors could do something like this.
"So that's how it is..." Huo Yuhao suddenly realized that he had already ascended to godhood in his previous life, so to him, this sort of technique had been as easy as waving a hand.
But for an ordinary Soul Master, it really was difficult.
"Still, I should warn you: even with me here to cover for you, this place probably isn't as simple as it looks."
"All right, being your seal is a bit of a drain on my mind. I'm going back to sleep. Call me if you need anything."
With that, Tian Meng's voice fell completely silent. Huo Yuhao followed the map to the dormitory building.
He was following the map, but along the way, he realized that the layout of Spirit Soul Academy's grounds was very similar to Shrek Academy's in his memories—so similar that it could be called identical.
And when he reached the entrance to the dormitory building, he found that, just like in his memories, there was an old man with a recliner, tucked away beneath the shade of a tree.
The old man was tall, with neatly combed black hair and a rosy face like a baby's. Long eyebrows hung down on either side of his face. His hands rested quietly against his chest, which rose and fell steadily.
He seemed to be sleeping soundly beneath the shade of the tree.
But Huo Yuhao knew that if anyone belonged here, it should be the old man's longtime close friend: the dean of Shrek Academy and Sea God Pavilion Master, Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo with the Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul...
Not the Great Enshrined of the Holy Spirit Cult sitting before him, the Dragon Emperor Douluo with the Dark Sacred Dragon Martial Soul—Long Xiaoyao!
"What's going on... Did he become one of Spirit Hall's people, too, just like Zhang Peng? Or...?"
This was the second old acquaintance he'd met that day, and a particularly important one at that...
If Zhang Peng alone had been a coincidence, then with Long Xiaoyao added to the mix, Huo Yuhao could only think of two possibilities.
One terrifying possibility was that the Holy Spirit Cult had sunk its roots into Spirit Hall this time.
But Huo Yuhao wanted to believe that, under the influence of certain actions by that Chen Mo, the Holy Spirit Cult didn't exist in this world at all...
"Hello, sir. I'm not familiar with the paths here. Could you tell me how to get to this dormitory?"
Huo Yuhao walked over to Long Xiaoyao and held out his student card.
Hearing him, Long Xiaoyao slowly opened his clear eyes and yawned widely, still half asleep.
"Haah... That was a good nap... Hmm? Got a little fellow here asking for directions."
Long Xiaoyao sat up. His straight-backed figure looked nothing like that of an old man; he looked more like a middle-aged man in his prime.
"Hmm... What beautiful eyes..." Long Xiaoyao took the student card. As he sensed it with his Soul Power, he remarked out of the blue.
Huo Yuhao said nothing. He knew Long Xiaoyao had seen through his Martial Soul.
"Take the elevator to the third floor. The seventh room on the left is yours. Before you go up, you can pick up a few brooms and mops from the shop downstairs. After two months, there's probably a lot of dust."
After returning the student card to Huo Yuhao, Long Xiaoyao lay back down and went right back to sleep.
"Oh, new students get a discount at the shop. Don't use cash—pay with your card."
Just before Huo Yuhao left, Long Xiaoyao reminded him again.
Before you continue