Dormitory 208

Hearing that Jiang Yue had already left, Tang Ya felt a little regretful, but the feeling lasted only a moment. She had only said it casually anyway. It would be nice if he joined, but it was no problem if he did not.

Over the years, Tang Ya had invited quite a few people at Shrek Academy to join the Tang Sect, and without exception, they had all refused. Shrek Academy was a gathering place for geniuses from across the continent. If she did not recruit within Shrek Academy, was she supposed to try her luck elsewhere?

In terms of material conditions, Shrek Academy's Outer Court was not much different from the advanced Soul Master Academies of other empires. However, the geniuses and connections one could make here were far beyond what any advanced Soul Master Academy in a single country could compare with.

The Outer Court was essentially a place for talented youths of the same generation from across the continent to mingle. The descendants of major clans and powerful factions within Shrek Academy could also meet and recruit other geniuses in the Outer Court, strengthening their influence within their families or sects in the future.

The declining Tang Sect clearly had no appeal beyond its secret arts. Unless someone was a commoner, who would join a sect that existed in name only for the sake of a few secret arts without their family's permission?

No, even commoners would not join. Anyone who could enter Shrek Academy was at least a level-fifteen Soul Master. As long as one was a Soul Master, one was no longer a commoner in the true sense. They were merely geniuses from poor families.

Such people were highly sought after in the eyes of those sensible descendants of great clans. As long as they chose to wait for a better offer rather than joining the Tang Sect from the start, the Tang Sect would naturally have no advantage later on.

That was why Tang Ya had not found a single person willing to join the Tang Sect over the years. Bei Bei had joined of his own accord. Tang Ya had not even been proficient in the Tang Sect's secret arts at first; only with Bei Bei's help had she begun to understand them.

Even Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya's good friend and roommate, had not been successfully persuaded to join the Tang Sect.

Therefore, Tang Ya's claim that she wanted Jiang Yue to join the Tang Sect had merely been talk. After all, no normal person would willingly jump into a fire pit.

Receiving Huo Yuhao this time had already made Tang Ya very happy. Although Huo Yuhao's talent was not particularly outstanding, Tang Ya's own talent was not strong either. Tang Ya believed that taking in Huo Yuhao was only the beginning. In the future, she would surely bring more people into the Tang Sect and ultimately revive it.

From Bei Bei's account, Tang Ya learned what had happened during the absorption of the Soul Ring. She immediately decided to visit the place Jiang Yue had mentioned. If there truly was a Mental Attribute soul beast there, they would definitely make it in time for Shrek Academy's admissions.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yue returned to the temporary campsite and began preparing the flesh of the Soft Bone Rabbit and Datura Snake. Once he was done, he hung the meat over the extinguished campfire to smoke.

After filling his empty stomach and turning the remaining meat into jerky, Jiang Yue stored it along with some daily necessities from the camp in his Storage Soul Tool, then headed out of Star Dou Forest.

Over the past few days, under Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's guidance, he had collected the belongings of some Soul Masters who had been blown apart by Sky Dream Ice Silkworm in the outer region. Leaving them in Star Dou Forest would only be a waste. They might as well shine and serve a purpose by staying with Jiang Yue.

However, several Storage Soul Tools had been damaged for various reasons, and the items inside had naturally vanished without a trace.

The remaining intact Storage Soul Tools all had very limited space. None of them was as large as the bracelet on Jiang Yue's wrist. Only after comparing them with other Storage Soul Tools did Jiang Yue realize just how valuable the bracelet the old man had given him truly was.

Still, the number of Gold Soul Coins in those Storage Soul Tools was pitifully small. Even added to the Gold Soul Coins Jiang Yue already had, the total was nowhere close to one hundred thousand.

That was normal enough. Any Soul Master of slightly higher rank would not stuff useless things like Gold Soul Coins into their Storage Soul Tool. There were specialized Gold Soul Cards for spending money.

Jiang Yue had indeed found several Gold Soul Cards, but they were not something just anyone could use to withdraw money. In Jiang Yue's hands, those antique Gold Soul Cards were worth less than two Gold Soul Coins.

When the tournament began, one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins would be enough to obtain the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife. But if he wanted to get it in advance, he might need even more Gold Soul Coins. No matter what, the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife was a listed carving knife. Unless it failed to sell enough times, the Starlight Auction House would not easily lower its price.

Jiang Yue felt it would be better to acquire the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife sooner. Only then could he unlock Electrolux, his cheat, from his offline state as early as possible.

Compared to the benefits Electrolux and Living Gold could provide him, Jiang Yue only needed to spend a few more Gold Soul Coins. The return was simply astonishing.

Jiang Yue was still very confident about obtaining enough Gold Soul Coins. Setting everything else aside, the reward for the champions of this year's Freshman Assessment in the original story was a thousand-year Soul Bone. Though a thousand-year Soul Bone was too low-level to be worth absorbing, he could still sell it for money if he did not absorb it.

Soul Bones were priceless. Not everyone had sufficient fortune and backing to obtain ten-thousand-year or even hundred-thousand-year Soul Bones. For ordinary Soul Masters, a thousand-year Soul Bone was already quite good.

A thousand-year Soul Bone could definitely fetch a high price. It would certainly sell for at least one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. Wouldn't that cover the cost of the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife?

Perhaps the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife had already appeared at the Starlight Auction House and might even have entered the auction process. By the end of this year, its price likely would not differ much from the one-hundred-thousand-Gold-Soul-Coin starting bid in the original story. At that point, he could acquire it and stabilize Electrolux's remnant soul.

Moreover, Jiang Yue was a Mental Attribute Soul Master. With Electrolux's help, the purified Living Blade could fully open up a Second Sea of Consciousness, and the growth speed of his spiritual power would triple!

For a Mental Attribute Soul Master like Jiang Yue, the growth speed of spiritual power was especially important. Before adulthood, spiritual power naturally increased slowly alongside the body's growth. With Living Gold's assistance added on top, it would be like adding wings to a tiger.

With Jiang Yue's cultivation, he quickly left the outer region of Star Dou Forest without any hindrance and headed toward Shrek City on the Lima Plains.

This was the time each year when Shrek Academy's Outer Court recruited students from across the continent. Thus, Shrek City became exceptionally lively during this period, especially the eastern gate belonging to Shrek Academy. Even from afar, one could see the dense sea of people there.

Most of these people were not students applying to Shrek Academy, but accompanying parents or servants. Many left with smiles once they confirmed that their children could enter Shrek Academy to study.

Jiang Yue did not know anyone here and had no back door to use, so he could only queue up honestly. Fortunately, the line moved quickly. In just over ten minutes, it was his turn.

He took out the letter of recommendation personally written by the Maple Leaf City Lord. The person handling registration glanced at it, confirmed that the Maple Leaf City seal was genuine, then casually tossed the letter aside without another look.

Following the instructions, Jiang Yue placed his hand on the table. The student opposite him began performing the procedure he had repeated countless times, recording Jiang Yue's bone age as eleven on the registration form before gesturing for him to place his hand on the crystal ball used to test Soul Power.

This crystal ball was specially made. Only those with Soul Power at level fifteen or above could make it light up. It could withstand Soul Power above level thirty, but it could not display the specific Soul Power Level.

Shrek Academy's admission requirement was to have Soul Power at level fifteen or above before the age of twelve. Generally speaking, reaching the twenties and becoming a Soul Grandmaster at that age already indicated very good talent.

He was not too sure about specially recruited students, but among freshmen admitted through the standard process, no genius had reached level thirty before enrollment for several years.

The student responsible for admissions had originally guessed that this freshman before him, whom even he found inexplicably handsome and extraordinarily approachable, probably had Soul Power in the twenties. After all, someone with a recommendation letter could not possibly be below level fifteen. Combined with the excellent first impression Jiang Yue gave, it was only natural to assume his talent was not low.

Appearance was a person's calling card. As long as someone did not look bad and was a little approachable, others would not form a poor first impression of them. Naturally, they would not think the worst of them.

But the instant the crystal ball touched Jiang Yue's palm, the entire sphere turned into a massive glowing light bulb, radiating dazzling blue light.

The student responsible for admissions widened his eyes and stared at Jiang Yue in disbelief. His gaze kept shifting between Jiang Yue's face and the crystal ball, as though he wanted to etch the scene before him permanently into his mind.

"Eleven... eleven years old, and above level thirty?!"

"A genius! Junior, you're a true genius! How did you cultivate?! You reached level thirty at eleven? Even legendary Ancestor Tang San had only just broken through to Soul Elder at twelve!"

"Your cultivation is no worse than that of many third-year seniors! How did you do it? Did you start cultivating in the womb?!"

After a brief daze, the student's eyes filled with fervor and disbelief. He had not expected to truly encounter a genius today.

The most famous Twin Stars of their Outer Court were only Soul Elders now, yet they were three or four years older than Jiang Yue! In the eyes of these students handling registration, Jiang Yue was unquestionably a future Inner Court student.

"What do you mean? No matter how poor someone's cultivation talent is, could they really fail to reach Soul Elder by eleven?"

The moment he said that, the other student felt as though someone had stabbed him squarely through the chest. He was already thirteen and had yet to break through to Soul Elder!

Yet there was not the slightest hint of mockery on Jiang Yue's face. No matter how one looked at him, he was entirely sincere. He genuinely thought that way.

Jiang Yue had already been a Soul Grandmaster before turning eight. Now, at eleven, he was only a level-thirty-six Soul Elder. Jiang Yue felt that this pace was rather slow. Ten thousand years later, leaving aside Ha Luosa, who became a Titled Douluo at nineteen, there were also quite a few young geniuses on the youth rankings who became Soul Ancestors at twelve.

"Ahem. Junior, go on in. Just head directly to the freshman teaching building to register. You can collect your dormitory key and freshman uniform there."

"All right. Thank you, Senior."

"Mhm."

At that moment, the student responsible for registration found a little comfort. Jiang Yue was probably some sheltered genius raised by a reclusive family who knew nothing of the world.

Upon entering Shrek Academy, the first thing Jiang Yue saw were the statues of the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters. Passing through the plaza and beyond those statues, he hurried toward the white freshman dormitory building.

The registration process went smoothly. After paying ten Gold Soul Coins in tuition, Jiang Yue received two sets of freshman uniforms and a dormitory key. He then left the freshman teaching building and looked toward a notice board nearby.

Listed on the notice board were the homeroom teachers for this year's ten freshman classes. The homeroom teacher for Class One was Zhou Yi.

Of course, Jiang Yue was not in Class One, but Class Five. The homeroom teacher of that class was unimportant anyway. In the original story, they were a background character whose name never even appeared. No, they were not even worthy of being called a background character.

Among the freshman homeroom teachers, aside from Zhou Yi, only Stone from Class Nine had a slightly larger role. As for Class Five, the only related people Jiang Yue could recall seemed to be Dai Huabin and the others.

The thought of that brainless fool Dai Huabin gave Jiang Yue a headache. He had registered for the control system. If nothing unexpected happened, he would have to form a team with Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu during the Freshman Assessment.

The Freshman Assessment rules prohibited two assault-type Soul Masters from being on the same team, but they did not prohibit two Soul Elders from being together. As long as his homeroom teacher had a functioning brain, there was no way they would separate Jiang Yue and Dai Huabin, two Soul Elders who could form a team.

What would be the point of splitting them up? To help people who might otherwise be eliminated pass the Freshman Assessment? But that would basically eliminate any chance of becoming champions. Averaging out each team's strength to ensure that the weaker students in a class could pass the Freshman Assessment was inherently unfair to those who were already capable. No sensible teacher would do such a thing.

Jiang Yue could accept teaming up with Dai Huabin, but only on the condition that the thousand-year Soul Bone went to Jiang Yue and that Dai Huabin did not provoke him.

The former was still somewhat possible. The latter...

That was most likely impossible. After all, Dai Huabin did not even have half the brains of his brother, Dai Yaoheng.

"Dormitory 208. Is it above Huo Yuhao and the others? Good. That should mean I won't run into a certain someone, right?"

Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao's dormitory was Room 108. Unless something unexpected happened, Jiang Yue would have no interaction with them before the Freshman Assessment began.

When he arrived beneath the freshman dormitory building, an elderly man dressed in gray cloth and covered in wrinkles lay in a reclining chair, basking in the sun. He looked as though he could be extinguished by the slightest breeze.

Dragon God Douluo Mu En, one of the three Limit Douluos among humanity today. At the same time, because his spine had been broken and his body was being eroded by the baleful energy within the Dragon Pill, he did not have much time left to live. He was the weakest of the three Limit Douluos.

Noticing someone looking at him, Mu En opened his somewhat cloudy eyes and looked toward Jiang Yue. With just a single glance, Mu En felt his mood brighten considerably.

The unreasonable sense of affinity around Jiang Yue surprised Mu En somewhat, but only somewhat. There were countless varieties of martial souls in the world. Such a situation was not particularly strange.

"Grandpa, how do I get to Dormitory 208?"

"Second floor, third room on the left. The fourth floor and above are the girls' dormitories. Boys aren't allowed up there. If you're caught, you'll be punished."

"Mm, got it. Thank you."

The dormitory building was very old. One glance was enough to tell that it had been around for many years. There were no private bathrooms in the rooms; instead, each floor had a communal bathroom at both ends of the corridor.

Everything in the dormitory was covered in a thick layer of dust. The overhead lamp was a Soul Tool. It only required Soul Power to be injected into the raised metal point on the wall to activate it. This was already one of the few Soul Tools that could be found on the Martial Soul Department's side.

"Not bad. At least it isn't backward enough to require oil lamps."

Clearly, Jiang Yue's standards for Shrek Academy were far too low. The mere presence of a Soul Tool lamp was enough to satisfy him.

Sure enough, as long as one set the bar low enough, there was nothing one could not accept.

"That's a lot of dust. How long has no one lived here? Looks like it needs a thorough cleaning."

His other roommate had not arrived yet, and Jiang Yue could not wait any longer. If he waited for that person so they could clean together, and that person did not come today, Jiang Yue would have nowhere to sleep.

It was only cleaning a dormitory. He would treat it as the first step in building a good relationship with his future roommate. After all, unless something unexpected happened, Jiang Yue would be living with that roommate for several years.

His roommate could not possibly be Wang Dong, or some noble clan descendant even lazier and more arrogant than Wang Dong, right?

How could he possibly run into such a tiny chance so easily? He was just scaring himself.

With the physical fitness of a Soul Elder, cleaning a dormitory was effortless. Jiang Yue did not even break a sweat. After cleaning the room, he took out a set of bedding from his Storage Soul Tool, made from the shed down of unknown bird-type soul beast hatchlings.

The bedding had been given to him by the headmaster of Maple Leaf City's junior Soul Master Academy before he left Maple Leaf City. Supposedly, it had been custom-made through a contact and could not be bought outside.

Jiang Yue did not know whether that was true, but he could be sure that the bedding was not only fluffy and soft in appearance, but genuinely comfortable to the touch.