New Student Registration

Shrek City, East Gate

This was the period when Shrek Academy recruited students from across the continent. Young Soul Masters of every sort, along with the relatives and family attendants accompanying them to Shrek City, had all gathered here. The east gate belonging to Shrek Academy in particular was packed with a sea of people, the air filled with deafening chatter as shoulders pressed against shoulders.

However, Lu Yuan did not immediately head for the crowded registration area. Instead, he changed direction, followed several small paths, turned this way and that, and arrived before the gate of a small courtyard.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Sister Nannan, I'm back!"

At Lu Yuan's call, the courtyard gate opened, and a girl stepped out.

She was tall and well-proportioned, with long golden hair cascading down her back in loose waves. Her skin was whiter than snow, and her eyes resembled a pool of clear water. Every glance she cast carried an air of elegant refinement. Her face was like jade, like a crescent moon haloed in soft light, like snow piled upon flowering branches. Tender and graceful, charming even in speech, she possessed a beauty beyond compare. She was Jiang Nannan, one of the Shrek Seven Monsters from the original story, known as the most beautiful girl in the Outer Court.

In this life, Jiang Nannan's family had been Lu Yuan's neighbors when he was young. After Lu Yuan's parents died in a hunting accident, Jiang Nannan's family had taken considerable care of him as well.

After a fortunate use of the Great Tortoise Shell Technique had rolled the "Heal" die, Lu Yuan secretly cured Jiang Nannan's mother of her severe illness. Because of that, Jiang Nannan had not suffered the tragic fate she had faced in the original story.

As the courtyard gate opened, Jiang Nannan saw Lu Yuan outside. A delighted smile bloomed across her face, and her peerless beauty seemed to dim every color around her.

"Xiao Yuan, you're back! Did your soul hunt go smoothly?"

Lu Yuan said nothing and merely displayed three Soul Rings: yellow, purple, and purple.

"Our Xiao Yuan is the best!"

Seeing Lu Yuan's display, Jiang Nannan's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. She pulled him over and ruffled his hair.

Jiang Nannan had always known that this younger neighbor of hers possessed extraordinary talent. But an eleven-year-old three-ring Soul Elder, with an unprecedented configuration of one yellow and two purple Soul Rings, would have been a rare sight even in the Shrek Outer Court.

Even Beibei and Xu Sanshi, known as the twin stars of the Outer Court, were merely three-ring Soul Elders at present. Yet they were already upper-year students of the Outer Court.

When Lu Yuan had first proposed going out to hunt a soul beast, she had wanted to ask Beibei, who happened to be hunting a third Soul Ring for his girlfriend Tang Ya, to take Lu Yuan along. But under Lu Yuan's insistence, she had ultimately chosen to respect his wish to hunt alone and temper himself.

Fortunately, Lu Yuan had now returned safely and successfully obtained his third Soul Ring.

"Oh? Is Xiao Yuan back? Come in and sit down!"

Mother Jiang, who had been busy inside the courtyard, came out upon hearing the commotion. She looked very much like Jiang Nannan. She must have been a great beauty in her youth as well, but time had still carved several lines into the corners of the middle-aged woman's eyes.

"Mom, today is the academy's registration day. I still need to take Xiao Yuan to register!" Jiang Nannan explained as she held Lu Yuan's hand and looked at her mother, who wanted to welcome him inside.

"Alright, alright, registration comes first. Our Xiao Yuan is such a genius; he'll definitely make it! Xiao Yuan, remember to come to Auntie's house for dinner after you finish registering!"

After a brief farewell to Mother Jiang, Jiang Nannan brought Lu Yuan to the Outer Court's registration area.

With someone familiar leading the way, Lu Yuan did not have to queue beneath the blazing sun like the people outside. Instead, aided by Jiang Nannan's purple academy uniform, he reached an unoccupied registration station tucked farther inside.

"Young man, please inject your Soul Power into this crystal ball!"

After quickly filling out his personal information and measuring his bone age, the student in charge of registration gestured for Lu Yuan to test his Soul Power level—

A Soul Elder?!

As Lu Yuan injected his Soul Power, the crystal ball instantly filled with dazzling light. This was a specially made crystal ball that only reacted to Soul Power above Rank 15. To fill it entirely with light required cultivation at Rank 30. As for any higher or more precise level, it could not measure that.

The registrar sucked in a cold breath and said in shock, "Eleven years old... a Soul Elder?"

"Is that strange? Surely no one fails to reach Soul Elder at eleven, right?" Lu Yuan said calmly, shaking his head.

Looking at the registrar's disbelieving expression, Lu Yuan felt that the man had suffered from being born too early. After all, during the era of Dragon King Legend ten thousand years later, let alone eleven-year-old Soul Elders, there were even eighteen- and nineteen-year-old Titled Douluo.

Amid Jiang Nannan's gratified expression and Lu Yuan's calm demeanor, the registrar politely pointed them in the direction of the Academic Affairs Office.

After politely declining the registrar's offer to lead the way, Jiang Nannan brought Lu Yuan to the Academic Affairs Office. Before long, they paid the ten Gold Soul Coin tuition fee and received a student uniform and a dormitory key.

"Huh? Nannan, the one beside you is... Little Brother Lu?"

Just as Jiang Nannan was leading Lu Yuan around to admire the statues and glorious deeds of the Tang Buddha Ancestor, the first generation Seven Monsters, and the master who broke through Rank 30 at fifty years old, a familiar crisp female voice rescued Lu Yuan.

It was Beibei and Tang Ya, who had just finished registering Huo Yuhao as a new student and come out for a walk.

"Little Brother Lu, what a coincidence. We meet again." Beibei held Tang Ya's arm. After briefly greeting Jiang Nannan, he offered Lu Yuan a warm smile.

"Nannan, you two are—" Tang Ya gestured between Jiang Nannan and Lu Yuan, a meaningful smile appearing on her face.

"You little brat, don't talk nonsense. Xiao Yuan is still young!" Seeing Tang Ya's strange expression, Jiang Nannan hurried forward and covered her mouth.

"Mmph, mmph, what nonsense did I say—"

After the two girls frolicked for a while, everyone explained how they knew one another.

"Xiao Yuan, I never expected it to be such a coincidence. You're the genius little brother Nannan always talks about!" Tang Ya had long since left Beibei to the side as she playfully tangled herself up with Jiang Nannan. Hugging Jiang Nannan's arm, she looked Lu Yuan over with a grin.

"Yes, Sister Xiaoya. I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence either!"

"By the way, Xiao Yuan," Tang Ya suddenly said as though she had remembered something, "do you want to join our Tang Sect? Xiao Yuhao joined our Tang Sect too, and he entered Shrek Academy using a special admission slot."

"Uh, sorry, Sister Xiaoya, but I don't have any plans to join a sect right now." Lu Yuan answered just as Tang Ya was about to further introduce the Tang Sect's various benefits and treatment.

For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. Beibei, standing nearby, also looked rather helpless. His girlfriend was beautiful, kind, and wonderful in every way, except that she was sometimes a little too straightforward.

Of course, there was nothing wrong with her, as the Tang Sect's sect master, wanting to recruit talent and revive the Tang Sect. But Lu Yuan before them was different from Huo Yuhao. An eleven-year-old Soul Elder, even if he came from commoner origins, would certainly never lack offers from major powers in the future.

Moreover, Jiang Nannan was right beside them. As Tang Ya's close friend, Jiang Nannan naturally knew the Tang Sect's true situation. Tang Ya had once invited Jiang Nannan as well, but Jiang Nannan had politely declined. And now Tang Ya had made this invitation in front of everyone again—

Just as Beibei was preparing to smooth things over for his girlfriend, Tang Ya did not seem particularly bothered. Instead, she smiled brightly, waved her hand with bold cheer, and indicated that it was nothing.

"It's alright, Xiao Yuan. It's perfectly normal for a super genius like you to refuse me. There's no need to feel sorry about it. I invited Nannan back then too, and she turned me down. Didn't that stop us from being good friends?"

Raising the arm she had linked with Jiang Nannan's, Tang Ya instead began comforting Lu Yuan.