Eastsea Academy

Eastsea Academy, the highest institution of learning in Eastsea City.

The academy had both a middle division and an advanced division. The middle division was part of compulsory education, charged no tuition fees, and accepted all school-age students from Eastsea City and its surrounding affiliated towns.

As long as one possessed a recommendation letter from a primary academy, they could enroll.

The advanced division, however, required students to meet certain conditions.

The program lasted six years. Upon graduating from the sixth year, those whose cultivation had reached three rings could advance to a higher academy for further study.

Its mecha piloting program, in particular, ranked among the very best even within the Skysea Alliance, drawing countless students to enroll.

After the short holiday following primary academy graduation, Eastsea Academy also welcomed the day its new students enrolled.

At that moment, the entrance to Eastsea Academy was bustling with noise.

Xu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan were surrounded by a group of senior girls.

"Junior, you're so handsome! Let your senior sister hold your... Ahem, ahem, I mean... your senior sister will show you the way."

"This little junior sister must be your younger sister, right? Come! Senior sister will take you to the dormitory."

Faced with the enthusiasm of so many senior girls, Xu Yue felt rather helpless.

Though Xu Xiaoyan wanted to stop them from getting close, there were simply too many people around. Her two fists were no match for five, six, seven, or eight hands.

Damn it! Xu Xiaoyan, you're so weak. You can't even protect the person you like. You need to work harder from now on.

Just then, a voice that sounded like heavenly music to Xu Xiaoyan, yet brimmed with blazing fury, rang out.

"What are all of you doing?!"

The angry shout made the scene fall silent.

When they turned to look, they immediately lost their nerve.

That was because the newcomer was also enormously famous within the academy, her reputation thunderous.

It was Mu Xi, hailed as the middle division's genius forging girl.

Ouyang Zixin and Xu Xiaoyan's older brother, Xu Xiaoyu, were following beside her.

However, the distance between the three was clearly greater on Mu Xi's side.

"Hello, Senior Mu Xi!"

Mu Xi strode over in a fury, her beautiful eyes immediately sweeping over the many junior girls.

"Is this how you welcome new students?"

Then, without another word, she grabbed Xu Yue's hand and led the two of them into Eastsea Academy.

As Xu Yue entered Eastsea Academy, he could vaguely hear sighs behind him.

"You really are overflowing with dominance, Sister Mu Xi." Xu Yue looked at the girl beside him and teased her with a smile.

"That's right! The way Sister Mu Xi stepped in to save the day just now was so cool!" Xu Xiaoyan blinked as she praised her as well.

"Of course!" Hearing their praise, Mu Xi lifted her chin proudly. "Why don't you ask around about my reputation at Eastsea Academy?"

Xu Yue did know about that.

Ever since Mu Xi's martial soul had undergone a transformation under Eden's Star's influence, the speed of her soul power cultivation and forging progress had both increased dramatically.

Mu Xi was currently a fifth-year student in Eastsea Academy's middle division. Her martial soul was Blazing Sun, she was a rank 37 Soul Elder, and a level-three master forger.

That was right—Mu Xi's martial soul was no longer Radiant Sun.

The "radiant" in Radiant Sun had merely meant bright, while Blazing Sun was not only dazzling, but even hotter than before.

The evolution of her martial soul had improved her cultivation talent, causing her cultivation speed to soar over the past two years, as though she were making up for all the time she had fallen behind in earlier years.

Just then, a male voice, faintly restrained, suddenly called out from behind the three of them.

"Xiaoyan!!"

Hearing that familiar call, Xu Xiaoyan's smile froze. She turned around blankly.

"Brother, why are you here too?!"

Xu Xiaoyan's words made Xu Xiaoyu, who was hurrying over, abruptly stop in his tracks, his face twitching slightly.

What did she mean... why was he here too?

He had been here the whole time, okay?

Beside him, Ouyang Zixin covered her cherry lips with her delicate hand and giggled at Xu Xiaoyu's expression before looking at Xu Xiaoyan.

"Xiaoyan, that's not very nice of you."

"Um... I understand, Sister Zixin!" Xu Xiaoyan's face reddened slightly as she felt a little embarrassed.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful in the future."

"Brother Xiaoyu, long time no see."

Xu Yue spoke up at just the right moment, breaking the somewhat awkward atmosphere.

Xu Xiaoyu's expression was still somewhat unfriendly, but he nodded in response to Xu Yue's greeting.

As for the brother-in-law his father had more or less chosen for his sister, he was quite satisfied with Xu Yue's talent, personality, and everything else.

It was just that Xu Xiaoyu's gaze discreetly swept over Xu Xiaoyan and Mu Xi at Xu Yue's sides, making the corner of his eye twitch slightly.

This was the only point he found rather objectionable.

"Alright, alright!" Mu Xi waved them off. "You two go do whatever you need to do. I'll take care of A-Yue and Xiaoyan!"

With that, she led the two of them toward the dormitory building.

"Alright, stop staring. They've already gone far away." Ouyang Zixin looked at Xu Xiaoyu, who was still standing there, and spoke irritably.

"That's my sister!" Xu Xiaoyu said through gritted teeth, staring at the backs of the three as they left with sorrowful indignation.

"It's been so long already, and you still haven't gotten used to it?!"

Ouyang Zixin looked helpless. "Don't they get along just fine? A-Yue isn't going to bully Xiaoyan!"

"But... that's my sister!" Xu Xiaoyu was still unwilling to let it go.

At that, Ouyang Zixin rolled her eyes.

Yeah, yeah. You sister-obsessed freak!

Under the guidance of Mu Xi, the genius girl, Xu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan quickly got everything settled.

When he opened the dormitory door, the familiar figures inside made him stop in his tracks.

"Jinxi? Yangzi?"

"Brother Yue, you're here!" Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi both smiled when they saw Xu Yue arrive.

"Brother Yue! Me too!"

Xu Yue looked over at the voice and saw Wei Xiaofeng.

"What a coincidence," Xu Yue said with a smile.

But he understood that this was probably the school's arrangement.

He quickly made up his bed, then looked at the three of them.

"Want to go eat together in a bit?"

"Really?" Wang Jinxi's face lit up.

"Something's off." Zhang Yangzi shook his head seriously. "Xiaofeng, go check the door."

At his words, Wei Xiaofeng shot to the doorway like a green shadow.

When Wei Xiaofeng returned, he spread his hands at Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi with an expression that said, Just as expected.

"Senior Mu Xi and Sister Xiaoyan are both waiting in the hallway!"

"Tut, tut, tut..." Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi exchanged a look and clicked their tongues. "We're not doing something as awkward as being third wheels."

Back at the junior academy, Xu Yue had invited them out plenty of times.

But whenever Xu Xiaoyan or Mu Xi was present, the atmosphere made all three of them feel uncomfortable from head to toe.

"Alright, then." Xu Yue shrugged helplessly. "Forget it if you're not going. See you in class!"