Conflict at the Rose Hotel, New Student Registration

That morning, Dai Mubai leisurely rode back to Suotuo City.

After returning the horse to the station, he hummed his way back to Shrek, clearly in an excellent mood.

His trip to Holy Spirit Village had been an immensely fruitful one.

By the time he strolled back to Shrek, it was nearly noon. Crossing the empty training ground, he ran into Oscar at the entrance to the cafeteria, just as Oscar was about to eat.

"Little Ao!"

Hearing the call, Oscar whipped around, his eyes lighting up. "Boss Dai! You're back!"

Dai Mubai smiled and swept his gaze around. "Where's Fatty?"

"The Dean gave us two days off. Fatty took advantage of the break and went to Suotuo City early this morning to blow off some steam."

Oscar lowered his voice.

Dai Mubai shook his head without saying much.

The two entered the cafeteria side by side.

Dai Mubai got his food, and just as he and Oscar sat down, familiar footsteps sounded from the doorway.

"Boss Dai! Oscar!"

Ma Hongjun's lean figure appeared at the cafeteria entrance.

Dai Mubai raised a brow and looked him over, teasing him playfully. "Fatty, didn't you go blow off some steam? Why are you back so soon? Don't tell me... you couldn't do it?"

"How could that be?" Ma Hongjun plopped down on the bench and thumped his chest. "Boss Dai, I may be no match for you in a fight, but don't underestimate me in that department! With the firepower of my Evil Fire Phoenix, I could battle for a whole day and night without even catching my breath!"

At those words, genuine envy flickered in Dai Mubai's eyes.

Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire truly was an exceptional gift. The traits of the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul gave him energy far beyond that of ordinary people. In his previous life, that would absolutely have been top-host-club talent.

"Then why did you come back?" Oscar leaned closer, his face full of curiosity.

Ma Hongjun waved a hand, looking thoroughly annoyed. "Don't mention it. I'd already made plans with a girl and was about to go three hundred rounds at the Rose Hotel. But when I got to the front desk, that blind new attendant actually gave away the room I always use to someone else! And that person refused to give it back."

The Rose Hotel?

Dai Mubai's heart jolted, and the hand holding his chopsticks paused slightly.

"You really are overbearing. Then what happened?"

"Then what?" Ma Hongjun snorted. "I, Ma Hongjun, have been around Suotuo City for so long. How could I let someone walk all over me? I immediately had a fight with him!"

"Oh? You don't look injured at all. That person wasn't very strong, then?"

"Of course!" Ma Hongjun lifted his small chin smugly. "Boss Dai, you know me. My Evil Fire Phoenix is the natural nemesis of all plant-type Martial Souls! That kid's Martial Soul was just Blue Silver Grass. My flames burned it so badly he couldn't even get close. He was no match for me at all!"

Blue Silver Grass.

Dai Mubai was now certain that it had been Tang San and Xiao Wu.

He had not expected Tang San and Xiao Wu, who should have clashed with him, to run into Ma Hongjun instead this time.

Dai Mubai could not help marveling at the strangeness of fate.

And Tang San had actually been completely countered by Ma Hongjun this time. But why had he not used his hidden weapons?

With Tang San's vindictive personality, Ma Hongjun should not have returned unscathed!

"Since you won, why didn't you keep going? Why did you come back instead?" Dai Mubai asked curiously.

Ma Hongjun's eyes darted around. Scratching his head, he said, "They looked about the same age as me, and that girl was pretty cute. They're probably here to register for our academy too. I figured that if we end up classmates, it wouldn't be good to make things too ugly. So I didn't go too hard on them. After exchanging a few moves, I gave them the room."

Dai Mubai could not help laughing.

After three years of being knocked around, this fatty had improved his judgment somewhat. He knew how to assess the situation now.

He patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder. "Fine. Since you're back, the two of you clean the dorms this afternoon. The academy is recruiting tomorrow. We might get some new classmates."

Oscar sighed helplessly. "Forget it. Our academy hasn't recruited anyone in two years. With the Dean's standards, how many people in the entire Heaven Dou Empire could qualify?"

"Exactly." Ma Hongjun echoed.

Dai Mubai smiled. "You never know!"

As the three talked, an old man dressed in a gray linen robe slowly walked in.

It was Teacher Li Yusong, the one responsible for Shrek Academy's new student registration.

He appeared to be in his sixties, thin in build, a level-sixty-three assault-type Battle Soul Emperor with the Dragon Pattern Staff as his Martial Soul.

Li Yusong's gaze swept over the three of them before he called to Dai Mubai, "Mubai, you know about tomorrow's admissions, right?"

"I do, Teacher Li."

Li Yusong continued, "The Dean instructed that, as last year, you'll serve as the examiner for the fourth test, practical combat ability. Also, come to the academy entrance early tomorrow morning to help out."

"Understood, Teacher Li!" Dai Mubai agreed readily.

Li Yusong nodded in satisfaction, said nothing more, and turned to get his meal.

Early the next morning, Dai Mubai arrived at the academy entrance.

He efficiently helped the teachers set out the tables and stools, then prepared the pens and ink for registration and the crystal ball for testing Soul Power.

After finishing, Dai Mubai dusted off his hands and leaped onto the old crooked-necked tree nearby. Leaning against a sturdy branch with his arms beneath his head, he closed his eyes to rest.

The sunlight gradually grew brighter.

At first, only scattered figures approached from the direction of Suotuo City.

Most were parents bringing their children, dressed plainly.

When most of them saw the academy's shabby signboard, anticipation gave way to unease.

Yet despite that, within less than two hours, a long line had formed before the academy.

"Dad, this academy... why does it look so run-down?" a young boy muttered softly, tugging on his father's sleeve.

The boy's father felt helpless as well. He rubbed his son's head. "We're already here, so let's take a look first. I heard they don't care about your background here, as long as you have enough talent."

Up in the tree, Dai Mubai occasionally opened his eyes to look at the crowd, fully understanding the situation.

The Douluo Continent had a rigid class hierarchy. Most advanced Soul Master Academies were controlled by noble forces and accepted only noble students.

For example, at Canghui Academy, also located in Suotuo City, no commoner could enter its gates no matter how talented they were.

For commoners, the best path was to attend an intermediate Soul Master Academy under the Empire.

But intermediate academies certainly did not have teachers as capable as those of advanced Soul Master Academies. Moreover, the academies only handled theoretical instruction; acquiring Soul Rings was entirely up to the students themselves.

That was an extremely dangerous task, and ordinary commoners found it difficult to obtain Soul Rings of ideal age.

Therefore, a proper advanced Soul Master Academy willing to accept commoners was extraordinarily rare on the Douluo Continent.

As far as Dai Mubai knew, only Blue Tyrant Academy from the original story and Skywater Academy, one of the Five Element Academies, accepted commoner students.

But Skywater Academy admitted only female students, while Blue Tyrant Academy's dean, Liu Erlong, was an old acquaintance of Shrek's dean, Flender.

Regardless of their ability to run an academy or how demanding they were of their students, at the very least, they did not restrict students based on their origins.

That was why, although Shrek was merely a shabby, unofficial academy, and although it was dilapidated despite its living conditions improving somewhat over the past two years, Flender's "advertising" still drew many commoners from around Suotuo City every admissions season.