Six Years Later

Six years later, Eastsea Academy

Eastsea Academy was a large institution, qualified to operate both intermediate and advanced divisions. Do not think the difference between intermediate and advanced was merely one step. Intermediate academies provided compulsory education and charged no tuition.

Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master Academy. The intermediate division occupied two-thirds of its grounds, but the true heart of the academy was the advanced division, which took up the remaining third.

Any Soul Master within Eastsea City and its surrounding affiliated towns who had a recommendation letter from a primary academy could enroll in the intermediate division here to receive Soul Master education.

The intermediate division lasted three years. Upon graduating from the third year, fewer than one in ten students could truly advance to an advanced Soul Master Academy.

The advanced division was no longer compulsory education. Only those who passed a series of rigorous examinations had a chance of being admitted. Those who could enter the advanced division were the true elite.

Eastsea Academy

Liu Tianran looked at the sign before him. When choosing an academy a month ago, he had ultimately decided to make his way to Eastsea Academy.

Wu Changkong had taught here for several years already. It seemed the story of Legend of the Dragon King was about to begin as well.

Now that he had come to Eastsea Academy, he could see whether he could obtain any good materials and make energy collection more convenient.

Liu Tianran was now a first-year student in the advanced division.

His Soul Power had already reached level thirty-eight. As a healing-type Soul Master, such cultivation speed qualified him as a genius. This was also the result of Liu Tianran deliberately holding himself back.

It was to create the impression that he was a genius, but not one who stood out too much.

His first Soul Spirit was the thousand-year Soul Spirit, Lightfeather Pegasus, which had granted Liu Tianran three Soul Skills: Healing Light, Holy Light Purification, and Holy Light Protection.

During the fusion, Liu Tianran had deliberately enhanced the attributes of Lightfeather Pegasus and his Martial Soul, bringing his healing ability to a level no weaker than that of a Soul King.

As for its age, although Liu Tianran could use his sea of consciousness space to directly increase his Soul Spirit's age, doing so would certainly draw attention.

Therefore, so that he could legitimately increase his Soul Spirit's age in the future and gain access to higher-quality geniuses as materials for his clones, Liu Tianran had joined the Spirit Pagoda.

And because of his outstanding talent, he had already become a key trainee of the Eastsea Spirit Pagoda.

At the academy entrance, a towering gatehouse built of massive stone stood in majestic splendor.

They simply studied for longer. Eastsea Academy was Eastsea City's only large academy, with both intermediate and advanced divisions.

The intermediate division was compulsory education, with full tuition exemption and no entry requirements, similar to middle school in his previous life. The advanced division required selection through a series of examinations, similar to high school in his previous life, except its program lasted longer.

As he entered the academy, lush trees cast shade everywhere, as though the grounds were enveloped in emerald green. A broad avenue stretched left and right before him, while directly ahead, an ancient bluestone path greeted him.

Liu Tianran went to the Academic Affairs Office and used his intermediate division graduation certificate and recommendation letter to complete his enrollment procedures without issue.

He also collected two sets of first-year uniforms and a dormitory key from the Academic Affairs Office.

Naturally, he was assigned to Class One, the best class.

Liu Tianran went around the teaching building and arrived at the dormitory building behind it.

The dormitory building was as tall as the teaching building, with twelve floors in total. His room was 213 on the second floor. During these days of enrollment, the hallways were bustling with people coming and going.

Following the crowd, Liu Tianran found Dormitory 213 and discovered that three people were already inside. He was the last to arrive. As he pushed open the door, a standard four-person dormitory came into view.

There were two bunk beds in the room. Beside them stood two rectangular tables with four matching chairs, while two cabinets stood against the wall. The space was not large, but it was particularly neat and orderly.

When Liu Tianran stepped into the dormitory, he saw the three of them busy with brooms and rags, nearly done with the cleanup. The floor was spotless, the tabletops gleamed, and the two lower bunks had already been claimed, with luggage arranged neatly upon them.

"Hello. I think I'm the last one here," Liu Tianran said with a smile.

"You're here, classmate. We've already cleaned the beds and agreed that each person will take a day to clean," one of the busy students replied.

No fighting. This was a good start.

"One day each? Fine, I have no objections. I'm Liu Tianran. What about you?" Liu Tianran said as he walked toward the last empty bed.

Seeing that the bed had already been cleaned spotless, he set down the items he had collected from the Academic Affairs Office, along with the luggage from his storage Soul Tool, one by one.

Wu Lang was carrying a trash bag and preparing to leave. Hearing this, he gave a hearty laugh, lifted his chin, and said, "I'm Wu Lang. The one on the left bed is Fu Hongtao, and the one on the right is Zhang Yong. Welcome. We're roommates from now on!"

Wu Lang radiated cheerfulness. He was tall and broad, and though they were all only fifteen or sixteen, he looked twenty-five or twenty-six. A patch of stubble had even begun to grow on his chin.

Liu Tianran clicked his tongue inwardly. Soul Power might promote physical development, but this was far too exaggerated. There was no need to be in such a hurry to grow up, right? Compared to the eye-catching Wu Lang, Fu Hongtao and Zhang Yong appeared utterly ordinary.

The two had average builds and unremarkable features. It would have been difficult to notice them at first glance in a crowd.

Liu Tianran quickly arranged his bed, then raised his wrist to check the time. Seeing that it was already mealtime, he turned to his roommates and warmly invited them, "I'm planning to eat. We can check out what the cafeteria food is like while we're at it. Want to come together?"

The three of them nodded in agreement. It was indeed time for lunch.

"Then let's go together!" Wu Lang said with a warm smile. The four of them left the dormitory together and headed side by side toward the cafeteria.

Before long, they arrived at the advanced division's dining hall.

It was a three-story building beside the main teaching building, quite sizable in scale. The aroma of food drifting from the first floor reached their noses first. That floor was for first- and second-year students; bright light shone through the second-floor windows, where the third- and fourth-year dining hall was located; the third floor was the exclusive dining area for fifth- and sixth-year students.

Eastsea Academy's cafeteria had only tables, supposedly to heighten the students' sense of urgency.

Liu Tianran frowned slightly. "Did they copy this rule from Shrek Academy? Besides, Shrek Academy has already abandoned this practice."

There were three service windows in the cafeteria, offering meals according to different grades. Grade C meals were free and consisted of ordinary food; Grade B meals cost half price and used somewhat better ingredients; Grade A meals cost full price and used the finest ingredients, most of them Soul Beast meat. A Grade A meal cost one thousand Federation coins, which was truly not cheap.

Liu Tianran headed toward the Grade A meal window. Wu Lang immediately followed him there, while Fu Hongtao and Zhang Yong exchanged a glance before following them to the Grade A window as well.

Eastsea Academy was extremely particular about the ingredients used in its Grade A meals. There was quite a bit of meat from artificially raised hundred-year Soul Beasts, as well as sea Soul Beasts freshly caught from the ocean. Thanks to Eastsea City's coastal location, its marine resources were abundant. The chefs were highly skilled and meticulous in their preparation, so the food naturally tasted excellent.

The four stood in the cafeteria, eating while complaining about Eastsea Academy's strange rule requiring them to eat standing up. They also shared their respective experiences and stories. Before long, they had gained a preliminary understanding of one another.

Wu Lang and Liu Tianran were locals of Eastsea City, while Fu Hongtao and Zhang Yong came from nearby towns.

No wonder Wu Lang and Liu Tianran had chosen Grade A meals without hesitation when ordering, while Fu Hongtao and Zhang Yong had paused before following suit.

The atmosphere between them also grew increasingly lively.

Liu Tianran wolfed down a Grade A meal, then went to get two more.

Liu Tianran usually maintained a normal appetite and did not expect to obtain too much energy from food. Even so, a single meal of his was enough for two people.

Liu Tianran had just returned to the table carrying two Grade A meals when the usually quiet Zhang Yong suddenly wore a look of intoxicated delight and slowly spoke.

Zhang Yong's eyes shone, unable to conceal the excitement on his face. His voice unconsciously rose. "I heard there are lots of beauties among the younger girls at Eastsea Academy! Ouyang Zixin, the number one school beauty of the intermediate division—I happened to catch a glimpse of her before. Damn, she was really gorgeous!"

Liu Tianran silently mocked him. Well, damn. He looks so honest, but he's actually such a closet pervert. You really can't tell when he keeps his mouth shut. The topic instantly went off track, yet the four of them became closer instead. They chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere grew animated.

Seeing that they had nearly finished eating, Liu Tianran picked up a cup of juice and said with a smile, "May all of us have a good future!" The other three echoed him.

After the meal, the four could not think of anything else worth exploring at Eastsea Academy, so they decided to return to the dormitory together.

That night, lying in bed, Liu Tianran thought that Tang Wulin should have just arrived in Eastsea City this year. The plot was about to begin. So what attitude should he take toward Tang Wulin?

Liu Tianran could not say he particularly disliked Tang Wulin, the protagonist. On the contrary, he even pitied him somewhat.

This son of a God King, this so-called "protagonist," had spent his entire life as nothing more than a puppet in a carefully arranged play orchestrated by his God King "father."

From the moment he was born, his own "father" had placed a ticking time bomb inside him. For the rest of his life, he had been pursued and coerced by its countdown, repeatedly thrown between life and death, all merely to survive.

Throughout his life, he had endured his parents' departure, his lover's betrayal, and his friends' departures. He had shouldered one responsibility after another that others forced upon him.

And when he thought fate had finally taken pity on him and was willing to grant him a happy family, that "father" showed him through his actions—

His entire life had been nothing more than an arranged farce.

He was merely a catalyst, a tool for taming the new Dragon God, nothing more than a puppet with a somewhat larger role in the "ten-thousand-year grand plan."

The stripping of the Golden Dragon King's divine core and the birth of the new Dragon God turned the blood and tears he shed each time he risked his life to break a seal into a joke.

Perhaps the happiest period of his life had been when he was a carefree boy in Aolai City, without those mountain-like pressures, able to spend time with his true parents.

The one thing Liu Tianran truly found objectionable was that Tang Wulin lacked firm political convictions. As a youth, he had declared that he wanted to become a Federation soldier and defend his country, yet when his homeland went to war with an enemy nation, he helped that enemy nation fight against his own country. Such treachery was truly difficult to accept.

However, Tang Wulin's values were still relatively—

Forget it. Those who follow me shall prosper; those who oppose me shall perish. As long as he doesn't hinder my growth, who cares?

Besides, he won't be easy to kill. That "Old Tang" inside him will be troublesome.

I am not strong yet. Once I grow strong, things will change.

In the future, let him and the clones draw the attention of the three continents in public, while I quietly develop in the shadows.