Eastsea Academy

"Let us respectfully welcome the Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor—Mr. Qi Ji, the Golden Dragon Princess—Tang Wuling, and the Silver Dragon Princess—Gu Yuena—to our academy."

At the entrance of Eastsea Academy, a huge red banner had been hung high overhead, its gilded letters filled with words welcoming the three of them.

Streamers and balloons hung from both ends of the banner, and the entire school gate had been decorated with the grandeur of a festival.

Clearly, Eastsea Academy had received the news long ago and made thorough preparations in advance—one could even say that they regarded this visit as the academy's most important publicity opportunity of the year.

As for why Qi Ji's nickname was "Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor"—well, his martial soul had been assessed by the Federation as being more powerful than every known True Dragon martial soul.

However, the name of this martial soul had been chosen by Qi Ji himself, its holder, and the official records still used the plain name "Seven-Colored Dragon."

Thus, some gossipmongers and media outlets added the word "Emperor" after "Seven-Colored Dragon" to highlight Qi Ji's power, displaying the nobility of his bloodline and the boundlessness of his potential.

Over time, the title "Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor" spread and became Qi Ji's best-known nickname among the public.

By the time Qi Ji and the other two stepped out of the black high-end soul-guided car, Eastsea Academy's entrance was already packed with teachers and students lined up to welcome them.

From the dean to the teachers, from upperclassmen to younger students, almost everyone had flocked to the gate, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the Federation's number one genius.

Qi Ji swept his gaze over a sea of sparkling eyes and waving arms as cheers rose and fell without pause.

Fortunately, Qi Ji, Tang Wuling, and Gu Yuena had long grown accustomed to such fanfare over the past three years.

The three calmly signed a few autographs and took a few photos with the students in the front row, then followed Long Hengxu, the director of the intermediate division, through the crowd and into the campus.

Long Hengxu was a lean middle-aged man in his forties. An eager smile hung on his face as he tirelessly introduced Eastsea Academy's layout and history to them, his tone unable to conceal his excitement and pride.

"Director Long, you mentioned before that Eastsea Academy has a class for cultivating geniuses called Class Zero, right?"

Walking beside Long Hengxu, Qi Ji asked casually.

Long Hengxu froze for a moment before hurriedly nodding. "There is indeed a Class Zero. But they're only little local geniuses. Compared to you, Young Master Qi Ji, they can hardly be called geniuses at all!"

He was not saying it purely to flatter him.

The Qi Ji before him was a heavily publicized genius of the Federation, and news reports were published every time he broke through to a new cultivation rank. Long Hengxu had long known that this teenager was already a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor—and a Soul Ancestor with all Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings at that.

According to the battle records released by the Federation, Qi Ji had recently sent the sixty-eighth-ranked Yu Xiaogang flying with a single kick. He had been a Shrek Inner Court student close to the level of a Soul Sage and equipped with Two-Character Battle Armor.

Long Hengxu lowered his head to look at his own Soul King cultivation, and could not help breaking out in a secret sweat—afraid that this young man kicking him to death would not be any harder than sending Yu Xiaogang flying.

Then he suddenly thought of someone—Wu Changkong.

Wu Changkong had come to Eastsea Academy ten years ago, supposedly after leaving Shrek Inner Court.

Long Hengxu clearly remembered that Wu Changkong had already been rank sixty-nine back then.

But for some reason, he seemed not to have cultivated at all over the past decade. His cultivation had remained at rank sixty-nine without budging.

Long Hengxu could not help comparing them in his heart—between Wu Changkong and the Qi Ji before him, who was stronger?

He quickly shook his head and silently dismissed the thought.

Qi Ji was only nine this year and already had four rings. Wu Changkong should have been in his twenties when he arrived at Eastsea Academy ten years ago. The gap in age was right there; their talent simply could not be compared.

"What's wrong, Director Long?"

Seeing Long Hengxu suddenly space out, Qi Ji could not help asking.

"Nothing, nothing—"

Long Hengxu came back to his senses, hurriedly wiping away sweat that was not on his forehead as he continued leading the way. "Young Master Qi Ji, the children of our Class Zero are already waiting for you. They're all your fans! But... our Class Zero teacher is somewhat peculiar, and his temper isn't very good. If he offends you later, I hope you won't blame him."

Long Hengxu's tone was somewhat cautious as he said this.

He had seen Wu Changkong's aloof manner before and feared that the cold-faced teacher would embarrass Qi Ji in public, leaving everyone looking bad.

"It's fine." Qi Ji smiled faintly. "Heavenly Ice—Wu Changkong. I've looked into him."

That was no joke.

Qi Ji really had read the intelligence files on Wu Changkong in the Federation archives.

After all, Wu Changkong had once been a strong candidate to inherit the position of master of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion. He had been considered an unparalleled genius among the younger generation. How could the Federation possibly lack intelligence records on such a talent?

Though Qi Ji's understanding of Wu Changkong mainly came from her memories of reading The Legend of the Dragon King in her previous life.

"This..."

Long Hengxu glanced at Qi Ji in surprise.

He knew Wu Changkong had come from Shrek, but he had not expected even a genius standing at the pinnacle of the Federation like Qi Ji to have heard of his name.

It seemed that this Heavenly Ice Douluo—or rather, former Heavenly Ice Douluo—had truly been an arrogant and peerless genius in his day.

"Young Master Qi Ji, we're here. This is our Class Zero classroom."

Long Hengxu stopped before an independent little building.

Eastsea Academy truly treated Class Zero well—they not only had their own teaching building, but also separate dormitories and training grounds. The academy had poured nearly all its resources into this class.

And the students of Class Zero had not disappointed the academy's expectations. In the original story, every one of them had entered Shrek Academy and become one of that generation's Shrek Seven Monsters.

For a local academy's publicity, this was undoubtedly an enormous advantage—every student they had trained got into Tsinghua and Peking University. What better enrollment advertisement could there be?

Long Hengxu took a deep breath, stepped forward, and knocked on the door three times, neither too hard nor too softly.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in." A voice so indifferent that it carried almost no emotional fluctuation came from inside.

Long Hengxu pushed open the door, and the scene inside the Class Zero classroom came fully into Qi Ji's view.

It was exactly as she had expected—the classroom was not large, but it was clean and tidy.

By the window sat a man in a white robe. His features were cold and stern, while his long pale-blue hair fell casually over his shoulders. His temperament was as chilly as a lake frozen over in winter.

Though he merely sat there quietly, he possessed a presence that could not be ignored.

Wu Changkong.

Before him, four children turned their heads in unison, looking curiously toward the doorway.

In the front row sat a delicate-featured boy whose eyes gleamed with lively spirit. He was Xie Xie.

Beside him sat a round-cheeked little girl with a ponytail. Her bright eyes were filled with excitement and anticipation—Xu Xiaoyan.

The two boys in the back row were one sturdy and honest-looking, while the other was taller and thinner, his gaze carrying a hint of defiance as he sized them up. They were Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi.

The four members of Class Zero in this timeline were all here.