East Sea Mecha Designer Association

With the metal badge Liu Yuxin had given them and Red Mountain Academy's recommendation letter, the two of them completed their enrollment procedures without any trouble.

As expected, Xu Mengqing was also assigned to Class Five, Grade One because of his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

They received two free school uniforms and a dormitory key. As for the first-year textbooks, they would not be distributed until classes officially began.

"Meng Qing, what's your dormitory number? Mine is 205." Tang Wulin looked at his dorm key and asked.

"Mine is 206, right next to yours." Xu Mengqing glanced at it and replied.

As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the dormitory building behind the school. It was about as tall and imposing as the teaching building, with twelve floors as well.

The corridor was a complete mess, with all sorts of things tossed everywhere. It was probably garbage the previous students had failed to clean up before leaving, along with items they had been too lazy to take away.

Rooms 205 and 206 were next to each other. After finding their rooms, the two separately unlocked their doors and went inside.

He gave the door a gentle push, but it was tightly shut. It seemed no one was inside. He used his key to unlock his own dormitory door and entered.

But the moment he stepped inside, dust rushed straight at Xu Mengqing's nose.

"Cough, cough. Damn, how long has no one lived here?"

Xu Mengqing briefly looked around the room. There were two bunk beds, enough for four people. Two desks, four chairs, two cabinets, and one lamp—that was all the furniture in the dormitory.

He set his luggage aside, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Let's do a quick cleanup first."

Picking up a rag from the side, Xu Mengqing first wiped the dust off the desks and chairs.

Then he began cleaning.

After cleaning the room and making his bed, Xu Mengqing sat on it to rest for a while. He was just about to head to the East Sea Mecha Designer Association to take the Level 1 Mecha Designer examination.

Just as Xu Mengqing opened the dormitory door, he heard—

"Bang—"

"Crash—" A series of shattering window sounds followed.

"Ah!" A teenage boy screamed as he flew out of the window of Room 205 on the second floor.

Before Xu Mengqing could react, another violent disturbance erupted from Room 205.

A furious, grief-stricken roar rang out, its voice nearly spreading through the entire corridor.

"Why are you city people so awful?!"

Another figure was sent flying backward like a cannonball. However, unlike the previous boy, he did not smash through a window and fall from the second floor. Instead, he flew out through the doorway. Accompanied by a thunderous boom, his entire body embedded itself in the wall of the outdoor second-floor corridor.

His eyes rolled back, his head tilted, and he lost consciousness on the spot.

Tang Wulin walked out of the wrecked dormitory, gasping heavily, his eyes bloodshot.

Upon seeing Xu Mengqing, the red glow in Tang Wulin's eyes receded slightly.

Xu Mengqing stared blankly at everything. "Uh... Wulin, what happened?"

Tang Wulin was just about to answer when a loud shout suddenly came from nearby.

"What is going on? What are you doing?"

The commotion from the dormitory building had been far too great. Very soon, teachers from Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Division rushed over.

Ten minutes later, Tang Wulin, Zhou Changxi, Xie Xie, and their roommate Yun Xiao, who had all been involved in the fight, were summoned to the office by Long Hengxu, the Dean of Students of the Intermediate Division. A harsh reprimand and punishment were surely unavoidable.

Xu Mengqing had merely passed by, so he was not included.

After leaving the academy,

Although Xu Mengqing did not know where the Mecha Design Association was, he had a mouth under his nose and could always ask for directions. After asking several times, he had learned the approximate location of the East Sea Mecha Designer Association.

Eastsea City was enormous, far larger than Aolai City by an unknown extent. To save money, Xu Mengqing walked all the way toward the East Sea Mecha Designer Association.

The East Sea Mecha Association was a large organization that brought together Designers, manufacturers, and repair technicians. It was also known as the Soul Engineer Association. It was said that thousands of years ago, all three professions had belonged to Soul Engineers. Only after the development of Soul Guidance Mechas and Battle Armor were they divided into the three professions of Designers, manufacturers, and repair technicians.

Fortunately, the East Sea Mecha Designer Association was not too far from Eastsea Academy. He had eaten enough at noon, and after walking for over half an hour, he saw his destination.

After entering the East Sea Mecha Designer Association, a well-proportioned woman wearing thick glasses approached him. She wore the white uniform of a receptionist, and her tone was gentle.

"Little friend, what brings you here?" The woman looked gently at Xu Mengqing and asked curiously.

"Hello, big sister. I'd like to ask about the Level 1 Mecha Designer assessment and the minimum age requirement for registration." Xu Mengqing looked at the woman and asked calmly.

The woman was visibly taken aback. Out of professional courtesy, she did not let her smile fade, and she continued in a gentle tone, "In theory, there is no age requirement for a Level 1 Mecha Designer. As long as you can write and pay the fee, you can take the assessment."

"If you want to register with the association, you must either obtain the Level 1 Mecha Designer qualification or have a Mecha Designer of Level 5 or above as your teacher. Fulfilling either condition will allow you to complete certification and accept design assignments from the association."

After hearing her, Xu Mengqing asked, "Then, big sister, how much is the registration fee?"

Seeing that Xu Mengqing truly wanted to register but did not even know the basic registration fee, the woman could not help asking curiously, "Who is your teacher? Why hasn't he even told you something this basic?"

Xu Mengqing coughed awkwardly and said, "I don't have a teacher. I studied with my dad at home."

Indeed, Xu Zhan had never told him about these things.

The woman gave Xu Mengqing a deep look, then smiled and said, "Is that so? Come with me. I hope you really can pass smoothly, little friend."

As she spoke, the woman extended a hand toward Xu Mengqing, signaling for him to follow her forward. Xu Mengqing did not pay much attention to it and simply followed her in silence.

After walking down the corridor, the two arrived before a completely transparent glass room. The woman introduced it to Xu Mengqing. "Just go inside. A test paper will appear afterward. You only need to follow the requirements written on it."

Xu Mengqing nodded, opened the door, and entered the glass room. As he observed his surroundings, the room changed instantly. The floor at the center split open, and a square platform slowly rose up. It was roughly the size of two school desks and held a dip pen, ink, and a test paper.

Xu Mengqing walked over and looked at the questions. The very first one was an extremely complex Soul Guidance design blueprint, requiring him to draw a scaled-down version below. It tested one's spatial awareness to an extreme degree. A Soul Guidance designer needed to fit every Soul Guidance Array into metal components of a fixed size, which placed great demands on their ability to use space efficiently.

This was not difficult for Xu Mengqing. After calming himself slightly, his pen flew across the paper, and he quickly completed the scaled-down diagram.

The instant Xu Mengqing began writing, a medium-sized hourglass rose upright. Sand slowly slid through it. So this was a timed assessment after all—no wonder they said this kind of thing was difficult to evaluate.