Physical Salvation

Su Yu held Tang Wu's hand, standing before the towering arched gate of Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy.

Two mighty stone lions stood on either side of the arch, carved with such lifelike detail that they seemed to glare with bared fangs at everyone who approached.

Inside the academy, lush trees provided shade, and one could vaguely see several tall teaching buildings and a spacious playground.

This place was a world apart from the noisy streets outside, exuding the cold, noble air that belonged to soul masters.

Tang Wu looked at the magnificent architecture before her, a flicker of timidity flashing in her large eyes.

She tightened her grip on Su Yu's hand involuntarily.

"Don't be afraid, let's go in."

Su Yu spoke a soft word of comfort and pulled Tang Wu toward the gate.

Just as the two stepped onto the stairs, a voice filled with disdain suddenly came from the side.

"Stop! What are you doing? Is this a place you can just waltz into?"

A young man wearing a grey gatekeeper uniform strode out of the guardroom and blocked their path directly.

The youth was about twenty years old, thin and tall, with a pair of inverted triangular eyes and a face full of arrogance.

The gatekeeper crossed his arms over his chest, nose tilted toward the sky, his gaze scanning Su Yu and Tang Wu without a shred of restraint.

Seeing the washed-out, patched coarse cloth clothes on their bodies and the mud-caked straw sandals on their feet, the contempt in the gatekeeper's eyes grew even more intense.

"Where did these country beggars come from? Go beg for food somewhere else. Are you blind? Can't you read what's written above? This is Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy, a place for noble soul master lords. If the stench of poverty on you offends the young masters of the academy, selling you off wouldn't be enough to pay for it!"

The gatekeeper mocked them without reservation, his voice loud enough for the passing pedestrians to hear clearly.

Several townspeople passing by stopped in their tracks, pointing at Su Yu and Tang Wu, their eyes filled with the same sense of watching a joke.

Tang Wu was frightened by the gatekeeper's fierce and malicious appearance; she bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes reddening, and she hid behind Su Yu, feeling wronged.

Su Yu stopped, his gaze turning cold in an instant.

He knew that Douluo Continent was a world with strict social hierarchies, where commoners were worth less than dogs in the eyes of soul masters and the powerful.

But he hadn't expected that a mere lackey guarding a gate would dare to be this arrogant.

Su Yu didn't even have the interest to activate his Eye of Truth to see if this gatekeeper had a system.

To deal with such a small, death-seeking character, there was no need to waste soul power to use his martial soul.

"We are here to enroll as work-study students. This is the proof from Holy Soul Village."

Su Yu's tone was flat as he took out the paper issued by Old Jack, stamped with the village chief's seal, and handed it over.

The gatekeeper glanced at the paper with slanted eyes, showing no intention of reaching out to take it.

"Holy Soul Village? What kind of pathetic village is that? Never heard of it. With your poverty-stricken look, you want to be a soul master? I think you're using a fake certificate to swindle people! Get lost, or I'll start beating you!"

As the gatekeeper cursed, he rolled up his sleeves, making a move to shove Su Yu.

A burst of jeering laughter erupted from the crowd of onlookers.

Su Yu looked at the gatekeeper's punchable face, a cold sneer curling his lips.

He had no intention of reasoning with such a person by normal standards; arguing with a dog that bites everyone was a waste of time.

He stuffed the documents back into his clothes and reached into his pocket.

When his hand emerged again, a shimmering gold coin was pinched between his two fingers.

It was a Gold Soul Coin he had swiped from the two dead bandits in the wilderness not long ago.

The sunlight hit the Gold Soul Coin, reflecting a dazzling radiance that instantly blinded the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper froze, and the onlookers around them froze as well.

No one expected that this ragged child could casually pull out a Gold Soul Coin.

One had to know that a single Gold Soul Coin was enough for an ordinary family of three to live comfortably for several months.

The contempt in the gatekeeper's eyes instantly turned into greed; he swallowed hard and subconsciously reached out to grab the coin.

At that moment, Su Yu moved.

The Innate Full Soul Power within his body surged instantly, and a formidable force flowed through his arm into his fingertips.

Su Yu exerted sudden force, and the Gold Soul Coin pinched between his fingers flew out like a bullet leaving a chamber, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.

The speed was extreme, leaving a golden afterimage in the air.

"Bang!"

A crisp, dull thud echoed sharply at the academy entrance.

The Gold Soul Coin struck the center of the gatekeeper's forehead with pinpoint accuracy.

The immense impact force instantly created a deep red mark on the gatekeeper's forehead, and the surrounding flesh swelled up immediately.

The gatekeeper didn't even have time to let out a scream.

His eyes rolled back, revealing a large expanse of white, and his body stiffened instantly.

Following that, he fell straight backward like a felled log.

"Thud!"

The gatekeeper slammed heavily onto the hard bluestone floor, kicking up a cloud of dust, and fell completely unconscious, not moving a muscle.

The entire scene fell into dead silence.

The onlookers who had been waiting to watch a joke now had their eyes wide with shock, all of them drawing in a sharp breath.

They could hardly believe that a brat who looked only six years old had managed to one-shot a grown man in his twenties with nothing but a single coin.

Such force, such precision—it was simply terrifying!

Tang Wu was also stunned. She stood with her mouth agape, staring in disbelief at the gatekeeper sprawled on the ground before looking up at Su Yu, her large eyes filled with shock.

Su Yu remained calm, as if he had just done something utterly trivial.

He took a step forward, walked over to the unconscious gatekeeper, bent down, and picked up the Gold Soul Coin that was now dusted with grime.

He blew the dust off it gently, wiped it against his clothes, and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Good dogs don't block the path."

Su Yu tossed the cold remark over his shoulder.

He turned around, took Tang Wu's hand while she was still dazed, stepped directly over the gatekeeper's splayed body, and swaggered through the academy gates.

The onlookers and a few students inside the academy watched this scene and hurriedly cleared a path, none of them daring to step forward to stop him.

Once inside the academy, the view opened up significantly.

A wide, tree-lined path led straight into the depths of the academy. Tall phoenix trees were planted on both sides of the road, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the ground.

The air was filled with the faint scent of flowers and grass, and the environment was very tranquil.

Su Yu took out the documentation Old Jack had given him and carefully checked the instructions written on it.

The dormitories at Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy were divided into several areas. Both commoner students and noble students had their own dedicated dormitory buildings, while work-study students like them, who entered via village quotas, were uniformly assigned to the most remote and poorly conditioned Dorm Seven.

Su Yu pulled Tang Wu along, walking deeper down the tree-lined path.

After bypassing several luxurious teaching buildings and faculty office areas, the surrounding environment began to grow more dilapidated.

Soon, a somewhat old, long, single-story building appeared in their line of sight.

The outer walls of the bungalow were mottled, and the corners were covered in moss.

Above the door frame hung a wooden sign, with the words "Dorm Seven" painted in black.

This was the place where all the work-study students in the entire academy lived.

Su Yu brought Tang Wu to the front of the door to Dorm Seven.