Qin Yue, the Senior Sister with a Bitter Past, Prepares for School!

"This way, please."

The young guard nodded, leading the two of them quickly down the corridor and into a spacious reception room.

"Please wait a moment, I will go and report your arrival." He set down tea and a few plates of snacks, bowed, and retreated.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

"Brother, I want that one." Tang Shan's cheeks were puffed out roundly, her small finger pointing at the snack in front of Lan Yu, her voice soft and sweet.

Lan Yu smiled helplessly, reached out, picked up a piece, and handed it to her.

"Ah—" The young girl tilted her head back, opening her small mouth to be fed.

Just then, the wooden door of the reception room was pushed open with a "bang" from the outside.

Lan Yu looked up at the sound to see a woman with long, fire-red hair walk in. She wore the teacher's uniform of the Tiandou Academy, her figure tall and her demeanor cold and elegant.

"This is our academy's youngest Heaven-Supreme Grade..." The young guard who had followed her in was just about to introduce her, but the woman raised a hand to cut him off: "That's enough, you may leave first."

The young man acknowledged and retreated.

Once the wooden door was closed again, the woman's gaze first landed on Lan Yu, who had stood up, then she tilted her head slightly to scan the girl hiding behind the boy, before extending a hand and speaking in a flat tone.

"Hello, I am Qin Yue, a Heaven-Supreme Grade teacher at the Tiandou Royal Academy. My Martial Soul is the Blazing Gray Wolf, and I am a fifty-seventh-level Power Attack System Battle Soul King."

What the hell, Qin Yue?

The corner of Lan Yu's mouth twitched imperceptibly. He reached out to shake her hand briefly, then stepped aside to reveal the person behind him: "My name is Lan Yu. This is my younger sister, Tang Shan."

The moment she saw the girl behind Lan Yu, a light instantly ignited in Qin Yue's eyes. She bent down, looked at the girl with puffed-out cheeks, and couldn't help but smile, saying softly: "Hello there, student Tang Shan. I heard your second soul ring is a thousand-year one? Could you show it to your teacher?"

Tang Shan quickly chewed up the snack in her mouth, wiped the corner of her lips, and seeing Lan Yu nod, she stepped forward.

One yellow and one purple soul ring rose slowly from beneath her feet: "Tang Shan, nine years old, Martial Soul Haotian Flood Dragon, twenty-fifth-level Power Attack System Great Soul Master."

"A nine-year-old Great Soul Master, and a thousand-year second ring at that!" The trace of skepticism that had originally been in Qin Yue's eyes vanished completely, replaced by shock and excitement. She stepped forward and grabbed Tang Shan's wrist: "Come, I'm taking you to see the academy director right now!"

For ordinary students, a regular teacher could handle the enrollment, but for a genius who could possess a thousand-year second ring at nine years old, let alone a Heaven-Supreme Grade teacher like her, even a Heaven-Dou Grade director would have to step in personally.

Tang Shan, however, yanked her small hand back sharply, clutching Lan Yu's sleeve tightly with her other hand, and looked up at Qin Yue: "What about my brother?"

"Your brother?"

Qin Yue paused, only then realizing that the boy had also come to enroll. She looked at the anticipation in Tang Shan's eyes, nodded helplessly, and turned to Lan Yu to ask: "Student Lan Yu, what is your soul power level?"

She had already calculated that as long as he was over level ten, with her status, she could easily squeeze him into the Heaven-Minor Grade student roster. This was the confidence of the youngest Heaven-Supreme Grade teacher.

"Lan Yu, nine years old, Martial Soul Primordial Dragonman, thirty-third-level Battle Soul Venerable."

The moment his words fell, three dazzling purple soul rings rose slowly from beneath Lan Yu's feet.

Qin Yue's previously smug expression froze instantly. She stood rooted to the spot, unable to even speak clearly: "You... you..."

"Is there a problem, Teacher Qin? I should be qualified to join the academy, right?" Lan Yu raised an eyebrow and smiled calmly.

Qin Yue's face burned. She had just been thinking about pulling strings for him, only to be slapped in the face by three thousand-year soul rings. Embarrassed and annoyed, she rolled her eyes at Lan Yu.

Well, this was fine; now she would have to let the academy's Education Committee handle the reception to show the academy's level of importance.

"Let's go."

She muttered, turned around, flicked her long, fire-red hair, and walked out first in her high heels, a lingering flush of red still on her face.

"Brother, what's wrong with the teacher?"

Lan Yu shook his head, took the girl's hand, and followed, lowering his voice to laugh: "She must be going through menopause."

The journey was silent, with only the clack-clack of high heels against the floor echoing in the corridor.

Halfway there, Qin Yue likely felt the atmosphere was too stiff, so she slowed her pace and asked casually: "Are you locals from Tiandou City?"

"No, we came from Nuoding City," Lan Yu replied.

"That's quite far." Qin Yue nodded, unable to find another topic.

"Super far! My brother and I took so many detours," Tang Shan said, swinging Lan Yu's hand.

"Soto City, Xilu City, and then we came from Jialing Pass." Tang Shan counted on her fingers, then added as if remembering something, "We even played in Soto City for a whole day!"

"What? You've been to Soto City?"

Qin Yue's footsteps faltered. She turned around, her voice rising sharply, her willow brows knitting together.

Tang Shan was startled by her sudden reaction. Lan Yu immediately shielded Tang Shan behind him, his brow furrowing as his tone turned cold: "Is there a problem?"

Why are you shouting so loudly?!

Qin Yue realized she had lost her composure and quickly explained: "It's nothing, I just wanted to ask... have you ever been to Shrek Academy?"

Don't tell me this Qin Yue is the same as Qin Ming in the original work—a Shrek fanatic?!

"Shrek Academy? Is that the academy that grants noble titles upon graduation?"

"Nonsense! Don't listen to their rubbish!" Qin Yue bristled instantly, her tone filled with indignation, "Shrek is a cancerous academy!"

Seeing Lan Yu's "you've got to be kidding me" expression, she assumed he didn't believe her, so she steadied her breathing and said: "It isn't officially registered anywhere in the Empire; it doesn't even have legitimate qualifications to operate.

Furthermore, their enrollment requirements are: age no older than twelve, and soul power must reach the Great Soul Master level."

"Yet, upon graduation, they force students to enter the Spirit Beast Forest alone to hunt for their fourth spirit ring. I don't know how many promising talents have perished in there over the years."

Speaking of this, the anger on her face faded slightly, replaced by a trace of bitterness: "If the teachers from Heaven Dou Academy hadn't found me on the verge of death in the wild back then, I probably would have... Forget it, why am I telling you all this?"

Having said that, she paid no mind to the thoughtful look on Lan Yu's face, turned around, and waved her hand: "Follow me."

They hadn't walked long before the three of them reached the third floor. Just as they arrived at the entrance of the teaching committee office, an academy deacon reached out to block their path, his tone polite: "Teacher Qin, the three committee members are currently inside discussing matters with the Crown Prince and a group of nobles. They have given orders that, unless it is an emergency, they are not to be disturbed."

Hearing this, Qin Yue frowned slightly. She glanced back at Lan Yu, then, as if having made up her mind, she spoke: "I truly do have an urgent matter to report."

"This... very well." The academy deacon hesitated for a moment, nodded helplessly, pushed the door open, and walked slowly to the side of committee member Zhilin, lowering his voice to report.

Zhilin first furrowed his brows, then let out a low sigh and said to Meng Shenji: "Qin Yue has an urgent matter to report."

"An urgent matter?" Meng Shenji was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

He certainly knew of this child, Qin Yue. At only twenty-eight years old, her spirit power had already reached level 57, and she was expected to become a Spirit Emperor before the age of thirty.

She was not the type of person to lack a sense of propriety.

"Let her in."