Ning Rongrong Enrolls at Heaven Dou

When Ning Rongrong's feet touched the ground again, she found herself standing before the gates of a magnificent academy.

The six gilded characters "Heaven Dou Royal Academy" were engraved upon the towering stone gatehouse, gleaming brilliantly beneath the afternoon sun.

Ning Rongrong stood at the entrance, looking up at the gatehouse with sparkling eyes.

She had grown up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and had seen countless grand buildings, yet the scale and splendor of Heaven Dou Royal Academy still left her amazed.

More importantly, it lacked Shrek's rundown, stifling atmosphere. In its place was a vibrant sense of youthful vigor.

"So this is Heaven Dou Royal Academy?" She turned to Lin Chen, excitement in her voice. "It's so beautiful!"

"It's decent." Lin Chen smiled. "Come on. I'll take you to meet the education committee and get your enrollment sorted out."

Ning Rongrong nodded vigorously, then naturally reached out and grabbed the corner of Lin Chen's clothes, following him inside.

Lin Chen first took her to the administrative building, where they found the chief education committee member, Meng Shenji.

Meng Shenji was reviewing files in his office. When he saw Lin Chen enter, he was just about to greet him when he noticed the white-clad girl following behind him and froze for a moment.

"Lin Chen, this is...?"

"Committee Member Meng, this is Ning Rongrong, daughter of Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect." Lin Chen introduced her directly. "She wishes to transfer to our academy, so I brought her here to handle her enrollment."

Meng Shenji raised a brow. The daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Sect Master?

That was one of the continent's foremost families of support-type martial souls.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy naturally could not have asked for a better student.

He asked no further questions and immediately welcomed her. He personally arranged for someone to handle Ning Rongrong's enrollment and placed her in Class A alongside Lin Chen.

By the time the procedures were complete, evening had arrived.

Lin Chen took Ning Rongrong to the logistics office to collect her dormitory key, bedding, and other daily necessities, then led her to the girls' dormitory building.

Ning Rongrong's room was on the second floor. It was not large, but it was clean and tidy. Its south-facing window provided excellent light, with a small grove in the distance and the outlines of mountains farther beyond.

Ning Rongrong stood by the window, gazing at the scenery outside as she took a deep breath.

The air carried the scent of grass and earth, mingled with a faint fragrance of osmanthus, making her feel refreshed and at ease.

She turned around and looked at Lin Chen, who was helping her spread the bedsheet. The corners of her lips rose on their own.

"Lin Chen, thank you."

Without looking back, Lin Chen said, "What for? It was nothing."

"I'm not thanking you for making my bed." Ning Rongrong walked over and looked at him earnestly. "I'm thanking you for taking me away from Shrek. If I hadn't met you, I might still be crying in the streets of Suotuo City, or Flender might have dragged me back to keep suffering there. Thank you for giving me a fresh start."

Lin Chen stopped what he was doing, straightened up, and looked into her earnest eyes with a smile. "No need to thank me. I told you, who wouldn't like a sweet, soft young lady who knows how to act cute?"

Ning Rongrong's cheeks flushed faintly, but instead of lowering her head shyly as before, she gathered her courage and met his gaze. "Then... do you like me?"

Lin Chen paused, then flicked her forehead. "You're still a kid. Don't think so much. Focus on improving your cultivation first. When you can turn the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into an Eight Treasure Pagoda, then you can think about things like that."

Ning Rongrong covered the spot he had flicked and pouted, though a trace of amusement hid in her eyes. "Hmph, just wait. I'll definitely do it."

Meanwhile, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi sat in his study, holding a letter that had just arrived.

The letter had come from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and its contents were simple.

Ning Rongrong had successfully completed her enrollment and been assigned to first-year Class A alongside Lin Chen. It bore the personal signature and seal of Chief Education Committee Member Meng Shenji.

After reading the letter, Ning Fengzhi was silent for a moment. Then he set it down, lifted the teacup on his desk, and took a light sip. A faint smile gradually appeared on his lips.

Of course, he knew that Ning Rongrong had run away from Shrek.

In fact, the moment Ning Rongrong left Shrek, the people he had stationed near Suotuo City had already sent word back.

He had originally planned to send someone to bring her home, but the news that followed changed his mind.

Ning Rongrong had been taken away by a boy named Lin Chen, and that boy was the very same twelve-year-old Soul King who had recently caused a stir throughout Heaven Dou City.

Ning Fengzhi did not immediately send anyone after her.

He first had someone investigate Lin Chen's background, only to discover that the boy's circumstances were far more complicated than he had imagined.

He was a star student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, an honored guest of Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, the holder of Spirit Hall's Saintess Token, and had even made Yu Yuanzhen, Sect Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, personally come to apologize. Someone like that was no ordinary young genius.

What interested him even more was that the details of Lin Chen and Ning Rongrong's meeting in Suotuo City had also been reported to him in full.

This included what Lin Chen had told Ning Rongrong about support-type soul masters, as well as his statement that "seven treasures can become eight treasures, or even nine treasures."

When Ning Fengzhi read that passage, the hand holding his teacup paused.

Seven treasures becoming nine treasures. This was the dream he had pursued all his life, as well as the shared long-cherished wish of every Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Yet no one had ever achieved that dream, to the point that later generations had already accepted it as an impossible fantasy.

But that boy had said those words to his daughter in such a casual tone.

Ning Fengzhi set down his teacup and leaned back in his chair, gazing at the moonlight beyond the window as he fell into thought.

Naturally, he would not place blind faith in a mere sentence from a young boy.

But neither would he dismiss it. A twelve-year-old Soul King who could make Poison Douluo owe him a favor, receive a token from Spirit Hall's Saintess, and force Yu Yuanzhen to lower his head in apology.

Words from someone like that deserved to be taken seriously.

Besides, he understood his daughter. Ning Rongrong might have been spoiled, but she was not foolish.

The fact that she had willingly followed a boy she had only just met showed that there was truly something about him that convinced her.

Since that was the case, why did he need to play the villain?

Letting his daughter remain at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, by that boy's side, might truly allow her to walk a different path.

He picked up his pen and wrote a reply to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The letter contained only a few brief lines:

"My daughter is unruly, and I am deeply grateful that you have taken her in. During her time at your academy, all matters shall be handled according to the academy's arrangements. Should she cause any trouble, I hope you will be lenient. Also, please convey my greetings to young friend Lin Chen. Should he have the time someday, I hope he will visit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as a guest."

After finishing the letter, he sealed it and handed it to a servant to deliver.

Then he rose and walked to the window, looking toward the brightly lit Heaven Dou City in the distance, anticipation in his eyes.

Lin Chen... he wanted to see just how far this boy could go.

Meanwhile, outside distant Suotuo City, Flender sat on the steps in Shrek Academy's courtyard, clutching a jug of cheap ale and drinking it mouthful by mouthful.

His face was filled with exhaustion and anxiety.

He had sent people to search the area around Suotuo City for two days, but Ning Rongrong seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

What he did not know was that the person he desperately sought was currently lying in a soft bed at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, hugging her new quilt with a sweet smile on her lips as she drifted into her first dream since arriving in Heaven Dou City.