What, You Came to Enroll at Heaven Dou Royal Academy Without Preparing Anything?

It wasn't that she didn't understand how the world worked. There was no such thing as free power. As long as she could escape the Zhu Family's control and personally defeat Zhu Zhuyun and Dai Weisi, what was this small price to pay?

Ning Yuan watched her force a cold expression despite her ears having turned bright red from nervousness, and nearly laughed out loud.

What a stubborn little kitten. Exactly like in the original story—resilient enough, decisive enough.

Far more useful than that useless prince, Dai Mubai.

He had not even said anything, yet she had already offered to follow him.

That worked too. If he took her away, he could also break up Shrek Academy's Hell White Tiger pairing. A guaranteed profit.

"You don't need to sell yourself into servitude."

He waved a hand and turned toward the edge of the forest.

"If you really want to follow me, you can."

"I happen to be heading to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. It's on the way."

"If you have nowhere else to go, come with me."

"We can be companions for now. As for what you want to do afterward, I won't stop you."

Without waiting for Zhu Zhuqing's response, he turned and left.

Zhu Zhuqing stood there in a daze.

Did she really have a chance to stay by his side?

That could not have been better.

And he was going to Heaven Dou Royal Academy?

It was the finest academy on the continent. Its resources surpassed a shabby little academy like Shrek Academy by who knew how much. She had originally wanted to go there, but she had heard the requirements were high. A runaway young lady without a background like her could never get in.

She watched Ning Yuan's retreating figure walk several steps away, then lowered her gaze to the hand that still retained the warmth of the black battle armor. With almost no hesitation, she hurried after him.

Dai Mubai?

It did not matter.

Now that there was a more reliable path and greater power, why should she gamble on a fiancé she had never met and who had a terrible reputation?

Following behind Ning Yuan, her gaze occasionally fell upon the black Sleeper spinning around his fingertip. Her goal had never been clearer.

She wanted to grow strong—strong enough to hold her own fate in her hands, strong enough to drag down everyone who had ever trampled on her without relying on anyone.

With that thought, she no longer hesitated. She quickened her pace and caught up to Ning Yuan.

A faint, knowing smile curled at Ning Yuan's lips.

The two figures gradually vanished down the forest path, heading straight toward Heaven Dou City.

After three days of travel, they finally saw Heaven Dou Royal Academy's mountain gate in the distance.

The gateway, built from white marble, towered into the clouds, while the gilded plaque glittered so brightly under the sun that it was almost blinding.

A long queue of applicants stretched before the entrance. They were all noble children dressed in fine silk training clothes, attended by servants and retainers. Everywhere one looked, there were jewels and lavish displays. It looked less like an entrance examination and more like some kind of banquet.

Zhu Zhuqing followed behind Ning Yuan. Her black training outfit accentuated her slim waist and long legs, while her cold face remained expressionless.

"Here, this is for you."

Ning Yuan had somehow bought a candied hawthorn skewer and held it out to her. The bright red hawthorns were coated in sugar and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Zhu Zhuqing froze for a moment.

No one had ever bought her a snack like this before.

The Zhu Family's teachings had always been survival of the fittest. It was either cultivation or fighting. Things like candied hawthorn skewers were for children; she had only ever seen other children eating them on the streets.

The tips of her ears quietly turned a little red. She accepted it in silence and softly said thank you.

After taking a bite, the sourness made her wrinkle her nose, but she did not spit it out. Instead, she unconsciously moved a little closer to Ning Yuan.

[Oh? The little kitten wrinkles her nose when she eats candied hawthorn. So cute!]

Venom bounced around in his mind.

[Had I known, I would've made you buy a few more. I want to know what sweet tastes like too! I'm sick of eating brains every day!]

[You don't even have a sense of taste. Taste my ass.]

Ning Yuan snapped back internally before walking toward the end of the queue.

Today, he had deliberately used the Sleeper's ability to adjust his aura, suppressing his Soul Power to the level of a level forty-five Soul Ancestor. His soul ring configuration had been made to mimic the standard two yellow, two purple rings.

Dressed in a faded blue training outfit, he looked like an ordinary wandering student from a modest family.

It had to be said, Heaven Dou Royal Academy truly deserved its reputation as the royal advanced Soul Master Academy. Its conditions were nowhere near comparable to some backwater academy like Shrek Academy.

Those poor bastards were desperate for money. That rundown place charged every applicant a full Gold Soul Coin just to register.

The two noble youths ahead of them were chatting while holding gilded documents.

"Did you bring your Spirit Hall Soul Power certification? I heard that this year, Heaven Dou-level students also have to present the graduation seal from their elementary academy. If even one thing is missing, they won't let you into the examination grounds."

"How could I forget? My father went to Spirit Hall three months early to get it stamped. He even prepared three copies of our family crest certification, just in case the process gets held up..."

Zhu Zhuqing had only taken half a bite of her hawthorn, and the sourness had not even faded when her movements suddenly stopped. The hand holding the skewer hung in midair.

She suddenly realized there was a very serious problem.

She had escaped from the Star Luo Imperial Family. Let alone proof from an elementary academy in the Heaven Dou Empire, she did not even have a presentable identity document.

All along the way, Ning Yuan had seemed so casual and certain that she had instinctively assumed he had already handled these trivial matters. She had not asked a single question.

Lowering her voice, she moved closer to Ning Yuan. Her pale, cold face tightened further.

"Did you... bring an elementary academy graduation certificate and a Spirit Hall Soul Power certification?"

Ning Yuan had been looking toward the academy gates, wondering whether Dugu Bo's medicinal garden might be hidden in the mountains behind them. He blanked for two seconds upon hearing her question. Only when he looked down and met her tense cat-like eyes did he realize there was that issue as well.

He spread his hands with complete frankness.

"No."

"..."

Zhu Zhuqing's cat-like eyes widened slightly. She nearly snapped the stick of candied hawthorn in her grip.

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy requires proof for enrollment. You didn't prepare any? How are we supposed to get in?"

She had thought he had everything planned out.

After all, he had confidently said he would take her into Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and his strength was absurdly powerful. Perhaps he had already established connections with the academy and even arranged their future cultivation resources.

So after all that, he had just come on an impulse?

He had not even considered the most basic enrollment materials?

[Hahahaha, I thought you had already sorted out all this stupid paperwork!]

Venom rolled around laughing in his mind.

[So you came here to try your luck? That old man handling registration up front looks like he has a pretty soft brain. How about I bite him when he isn't looking? I guarantee he'll cry and beg you two to enroll!]

[Go eat something.]

Ning Yuan shot back internally, then plucked a sesame seed from her candied hawthorn. His tone remained completely calm.

"What are you panicking for? The boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge."

"If they really hold us up over procedure, we'll just beat a few examiners into submission on the spot. They'll naturally beg us to enroll."

He paused, deliberately teasing her.

"If that doesn't work, we can trade you, a genius agility-type Soul Master, to the academy. They might even pay me extra."

Zhu Zhuqing's lips twitched. She stared at his utterly unconcerned expression and could not say a word for a long while.

For the first time, she felt a subtle doubt about her decision to follow Ning Yuan.

She had thought she had found an incredibly dependable pillar of support. Turns out this pillar did whatever he pleased and had not even checked what was needed for enrollment?

She was a runaway without papers, so there was nothing she could do about it. But why did he look even more like someone who had come here just for fun?

Forget it. Since they were already here, they might as well take things as they came.

The moment the two settled into place, several mocking laughs sounded nearby.

"Where did this poor brat come from? He dares apply to Heaven Dou Royal Academy dressed like that?"

"That girl beside him is quite pretty, but what a shame she followed a pauper. They probably can't even afford the registration fee."

Several richly dressed noble youths looked the two of them over with slanted eyes, their tones full of contempt.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze turned cold as she was about to look up, but Ning Yuan patted her shoulder, signaling that there was no need to care.

If a dog bit you, you could not exactly bite it back.

[Little Ning Yuan, it looks like they're looking down on you. Once they learn you're the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, they'll be scared to death.]

Venom teased in his mind.

[But speaking of which, why is that pretty boy up ahead with the fan coming over here? He's staring straight at the little kitten. It makes me want to gouge his eyeballs out.]

Ning Yuan looked up.

A youth dressed in luxurious brocade robes was pushing through the crowd toward them with a folding fan in hand and three broad, burly lackeys at his side.

The youth had a pale, plump face and frivolous eyes.

He was Xue Beng, the infamous wastrel Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

This fellow was usually lazy and useless. Though he bore the title of a Heaven-class student at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he spent every admissions season loitering around the entrance.

Whenever he spotted a beautiful female student, he would always go over to flirt with her. If he could seduce her, he would. If he could not, he would resort to threats and temptation. He had long angered many people.

But because of his identity as a prince, no one dared say anything.

At the moment, his gaze was glued to Zhu Zhuqing, and he was nearly drooling.

"Who would have thought I'd encounter such a beauty again?"

Xue Beng waved his fan and stepped directly in front of them. He completely treated Ning Yuan as air and gave Zhu Zhuqing a grinning cupped-fist salute.

"Little beauty, which family are you from? What's the point of following this poor brat?"

He fanned himself, deliberately revealing the jeweled thumb ring on his hand.

"Come with this prince. I guarantee you can enter the Heaven-class directly without taking the examination. Cultivation resources, Gold Soul Coins—you'll have more than you can spend. Isn't that better than following this pauper and sleeping rough?"

In his view, once he displayed all that, any beauty with half a brain would know what to choose.

At those words, Zhu Zhuqing's face instantly turned as cold as ice.

With a swish, three-inch Hell claws sprang from her fingertips. Black Soul Power flowed over their tips as she prepared to strike.

A warm hand reached out and firmly stopped her.

Ning Yuan stepped forward half a pace, placing himself directly in front of Zhu Zhuqing. He swept Xue Beng with a glance.

"Move."