Lying in the Golden Tree Hammock, Lin Ciyan enjoyed cuddling up with Xiyao.
At the same time, he mentally tallied the "great accomplishments" of a certain God King. The more he thought about them, the more he felt there was plenty to complain about.
Good grief. During the Peerless Tang Sect era, that certain Tang God King had been so "diligent and devoted to the people" in the Divine Realm!
On the surface, with the God of Destruction keeping an eye on him, Tang San seemed like he should keep his head down and steadily develop as a god.
But what had he actually done?
Remote-controlled Boss Dai into fishing out his mother's soul.
Forced Huo Gua and Wang Dong'er, who had absolutely no Martial Soul connection, into a match.
Cooked up a hundred-percent Martial Soul Fusion Skill (was that matchmaker's red thread made of rebar?).
The Auspicious Beast's sacrifice, seizing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well by force, the massive PUA session at Universe Asking Love Valley, slicing up his own daughter's soul and stitching it back together, then putting a "lock" on his son-in-law...
Not to mention privately threatening Ju Zi to "never reveal this secret"—that was a textbook intimidation of a witness!
Every single one of these schemes involved him sticking his hands where they didn't belong.
His actions practically had "double standards" and "manipulation" written all over them!
Did he really think the God of Destruction was blind? Or did he figure, "The Sea God is kindhearted; he can't bear to see the poor suffer"?
Thinking about it that way, pulling a few strings with Tang Ya and giving her some sort of "Hidden Favorability Bonus Halo" was probably just a basic move for that old bastard—something he could do without even lifting a finger.
Lin Ciyan pursed his lips. "The dungeon difficulty really was Hell from the start. I was naive before."
Still, since he was already aboard the pirate ship... no, since she had already gotten close to him,
all he could do was take things as they came and try to live a good life under the God King's "care."
The top priority: stay away from every source of trouble with the character "Tang" in its name, especially Tang Ya, who came with a Dragon-Binding Rope debuff!
Before long, the day came to register at Shrek Outer Court.
The new student registration area by Sea God Lake was packed with people, filled with the excitement and anticipation of the boys and girls.
Lin Ciyan yawned and ambled over, completely at odds with the tense atmosphere around him.
His gaze swept over the registration stalls, and suddenly his eyes lit up.
Of the two senior students handling registration, one had a gentle air and peerless beauty. Who else could it be but Zhang Lexuan?
The other was a lively, spirited-looking girl with clear eyes and a playful smile. She had to be Han Ruoruo.
"Sister Lexuan!" Lin Ciyan smiled and walked up, greeting her with easy familiarity.
Zhang Lexuan looked up and saw him, then smiled warmly too. "Ci Yan, you've come to register."
She took the recommendation letter Lin Ciyan handed her, its surface marked with the unique golden patterns of Sea God Pavilion, and deftly began processing his registration.
This recommendation letter was far more prestigious than one from a major city. It was practically a "Shrek insider VIP express ticket."
"Hey, Lexuan, do you know this handsome junior?" Han Ruoruo immediately leaned over, her big eyes curiously sizing up Lin Ciyan.
She had a slender, graceful figure and wore her hair in a neat ponytail. Her whole person gave off a mischievous, clever air.
"Mm, this is Lin Ciyan, Mu En's disciple," Zhang Lexuan introduced him simply.
"Wow! Mu En's direct disciple?!" Han Ruoruo's eyes lit up even more, as if she'd discovered a whole new world.
"Such a handsome junior, and so talented too. Interested in dating? Your senior here could take advantage of being close by!" She winked, speaking in a lively tone that was half joking and half serious, without being annoying.
The direct approach caught Lin Ciyan off guard for a moment, then he laughed. "Senior Ruoruo, you're teasing me. My main priorities right now are cultivation... and rest."
He artfully substituted "rest" for "slacker cultivation."
"Tsk, boring." Han Ruoruo wrinkled her delicate nose to show her displeasure, but the interest in her eyes hadn't diminished at all.
"Still, junior, you're pretty famous in Shrek City!"
"'Sleeping Arhat,' 'the number-one slacker cultivator'? I heard you can level up just by lying down!"
Lin Ciyan rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed. "Uh... those are just rumors going around. Just rumors."
"I simply believe in balancing work and rest."
Zhang Lexuan watched the two of them interact and smiled helplessly. She handed Lin Ciyan the completed paperwork and a key. "All done. Your dorm is in Jia Building, room 301 in the freshman area. Here's your key."
"The class assignments won't be announced until all the Freshman Assessments are finished in a week. Keep an eye on the notice board in the academy plaza then."
"Thanks, Sister Lexuan." Lin Ciyan accepted the key.
Jia Building was one of the best dormitory areas. It seemed his status as an "Inner Court direct line" did come with a few perks.
Lin Ciyan recalled Shrek's admission rules.
To enter Outer Court, one usually needed a recommendation letter from a city at the level of a major city in one of the three great empires or higher. That alone kept ninety-nine percent of commoner students out.
After Spirit Hall became history, even awakening a Martial Soul was a problem for people at the bottom. Getting a recommendation letter was even more out of reach.
So in a sense, Outer Court really was a platform for nobles to gild their credentials and make connections.
As for Senior Han Ruoruo, her Martial Soul was... the Golden Binding Rope?
A top-tier control-type tool Martial Soul. That was pretty interesting, and it had a wide range of uses.
"Hey, junior, what are you staring at your senior for? Changed your mind?" Han Ruoruo noticed his gaze and immediately asked with a cheeky grin.
"I was just thinking your Martial Soul must be amazing, Senior Ruoruo," Lin Ciyan answered frankly.
"Of course!" Han Ruoruo raised her chin proudly. "I'll show you sometime!"
With the paperwork done, Lin Ciyan said goodbye to the two seniors and headed for the dormitory area.
Zhang Lexuan watched him leave, then said softly to Han Ruoruo, "Ruoruo, stop teasing him."
"Oh, Lexuan, already taking his side?" Han Ruoruo nudged Zhang Lexuan's shoulder teasingly.
"But seriously, that kid really is interesting."
"He's ridiculously strong, yet always looks so lazy, and on top of that, he's so handsome... Tsk, tsk. Life at Outer Court won't be boring from now on."
Zhang Lexuan smiled without replying, simply gazing gently in the direction Lin Ciyan had gone.
Walking along the shaded paths of Shrek Outer Court, Lin Ciyan took in the lively atmosphere, so different from Sea God Island.
Mm, lots of people, plenty of prying eyes, lax rules... Perfect!
It was practically tailor-made for harvesting "Slacking Value" and "influence"!
As for class assignments, classmates, and possible challenges...
No big deal.
After all, my core tasks are cultivation (lying flat) and accumulating Slacking Value (slacking off).
Life at Outer Court could just be a change of scenery for continuing my "Relaxation Cultivation."
As for whether he'd run into any characters from the original story or get into any trouble...
Lin Ciyan yawned and thought lazily:
As long as they didn't disturb my sleep or my slacking, everything would be fine.