The first day of school-another child with innate full soul power?

On the first day of school, the entrance to the junior academy affiliated with the Heaven Dou Institute of Advanced Science was packed with people.

Parents held their children's hands, and the children carried schoolbags stuffed with all sorts of odds and ends. Some had brought snacks, others toys, and still others Soul Tool models—a little of everything.

Ye Jiyang led Ye Zhiqiu through the crowd. After waiting in line at the entrance for a while, their turn finally came.

Registration went quickly: identity verification, confirmation of guardian information, and then the Soul Power test.

The teacher handling registration was a woman in her thirties wearing thin-framed glasses. She looked quite kind. She glanced down at Ye Zhiqiu's application form, then up at him, and smiled. "Ye Zhiqiu, six years old. Father, Ye Jiyang. Mother, Shen Qingwan. I need to verify your identity. Tell me your date of birth..."

Ye Zhiqiu gave his date of birth and answered a few routine questions, passing the identity check without a hitch.

Next came the Soul Power test.

The tester was a metal device about half a person's height, with a palm-shaped indentation on top. An upright display marked with graduations was attached beside it.

Ye Zhiqiu placed his hand on it. The device gave a faint hum, and a column of light began rising on the display.

One inch, two inches, three inches...

The column stopped at one foot and one inch.

Level eleven.

A ripple of hushed exclamations rose from the people waiting in line.

"Level eleven? How old is he?"

"Six, right? Level eleven just after awakening?"

"Innate full soul power! That kid has innate full soul power!"

"And he must already have a Soul Ring, or he couldn't have reached level eleven..."

"Are geniuses a dime a dozen these days? A little blue-haired girl just went through, and she was level eleven too..."

Ye Zhiqiu had sharp ears. Hearing the words "little blue-haired girl," he felt a stir of interest.

Blue hair? Dong Qianqiu?

His expression gave nothing away. He withdrew his hand and gave the teacher a well-behaved smile.

The teacher was somewhat surprised too. She gave him another couple of looks and made a note on his registration form. "All right, you can go in. All new students are gathering on the field. The class placement test will be held there."

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, turned, and headed inside.

Ye Jiyang called after him, "Zhiqiu, I'll pick you up tonight!"

"Got it, Dad!"

Without looking back, Ye Zhiqiu waved and disappeared into the stream of people.

A crowd of children was already standing on the field, their chattering filling the air.

Ye Zhiqiu swept his gaze over the dense sea of more than three hundred children. He found a spot near the edge and stood there with his hands in his pockets, idly surveying his surroundings.

He soon locked onto a target: a little girl with deep blue hair standing about ten meters ahead and to his left.

She was slender and stood straight, tall for a child her age.

Her eyes were deep blue as well, clear and limpid.

Her rosy little face still had the soft roundness of baby fat, but that did nothing to diminish her beauty. If anything, it made her even cuter.

She was half a head shorter than him and wore a blue-and-white dress, her hands hanging at her sides. Unlike the other children, she neither looked around nor whispered to anyone.

Ye Zhiqiu's gaze lingered on Dong Qianqiu for two and a half seconds before he casually looked away.

Blue hair—deep blue, like the color of the deep sea.

He sifted through his memories of the original story. Dong Qianqiu was a Demon Soul Great White Shark princess who had taken human form. Her real name was Bai Xiuxiu. Overwhelming grief after her parents' deaths had caused her to lose her memory. She had been rescued as an apparent orphan and given the name Dong Qianqiu.

At this point, she should have only recently arrived on Heaven Dou Star. She knew no one and kept to herself.

Ye Zhiqiu had no intention of approaching her.

It was not that he did not want to get acquainted. Mostly, with over three hundred children crammed onto the field, suddenly running over to chat up a little blue-haired girl would look, from any angle, like a little hooligan harassing a female classmate.

Besides, there was plenty of time. He would have no shortage of opportunities later.

He withdrew his gaze and continued standing there, bored out of his mind.

After another short wait, a middle-aged man in a formal gray suit stepped onto the stairs at the front of the field, holding an Amplifying Soul Tool, and cleared his throat.

"New students and parents, welcome to the junior academy affiliated with the Heaven Dou Institute of Advanced Science."

His voice, amplified through the Soul Tool, echoed over the field. More than half of the three hundred-odd children immediately fell quiet. The rest kept whispering, only to be silenced by their parents pressing down on their heads.

"I am Qian Zilai, this academy's dean of students. Today is the first day of school, and the procedure is simple. First, the class placement test. Second, assignment to classes based on the results. Third, each class's head teacher and assistant head teacher will show everyone around campus. Parents of boarding students may wait in the dormitory area. Parents of day students, please pick up your children at the school gate at six this evening."

At the name "Qian Zilai," the corner of Ye Zhiqiu's mouth twitched.

Qian Zilai? Money comes by itself?

Now that was an inspired name. You could tell at once he loved money.

He forced the corners of his mouth down and maintained his quiet, well-behaved appearance.

Dean Qian went on with a whole string of reminders: no snacks in class, no chasing or roughhousing in the corridors, school rules had to be followed when taking in Soul Spirits, and so on. It all went in one of Ye Zhiqiu's ears and out the other. He only remembered the most important details, such as day students leaving at six in the evening.

"All right, the class placement test will now begin. All new students, gather in the center of the field. Follow the numbers you received at registration and form ten rows of ten. Listen to the teachers' instructions."

Ye Zhiqiu followed the crowd over.

The class placement test was simpler than he had imagined—so simple it was a little boring.

All they had to do was release their Martial Souls. A teacher would take a look, make a note, and that was it.

After all, an entrance test for a junior Soul Master Academy could hardly involve actual combat. These were six-year-old little kids, most of whom had yet to figure out what their own Martial Souls even were.

The academy's task was to divide students into classes according to their Martial Soul types and cultivation paths: power attack with power attack, agility attack with agility attack, control with control, and support with support.

Ye Zhiqiu was assigned to the seventh row.

Once in position, he glanced to either side. A chubby little boy stood on his left, and a little girl with twin ponytails stood on his right.

Then he looked ahead and froze for a moment.

In the row ahead, directly in front of him, stood Dong Qianqiu.

She seemed to sense someone watching her. Turning her head slightly, she met Ye Zhiqiu's gaze.

Her deep blue eyes were utterly still, like a pool whose bottom could not be seen.

Ye Zhiqiu smiled at her. Nothing exaggerated—just a slight lift of his lips and a gentle curve of his eyes, a little brighter than the sunshine.

Dong Qianqiu paused, then quickly turned her head back.

Ye Zhiqiu was inwardly amused.

She looked so cool and aloof, but she was actually pretty easy to fluster.

Just then, the teacher directing the test spoke.

"Seventh row, get ready. Follow my instructions and come up one at a time. State your name, release your Martial Soul, and hold it for five seconds."

Hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu set his wandering thoughts aside and focused.

Either of his two Martial Souls, Absolute Gravity and Absolute Blade, would draw plenty of attention.

But he had not forgotten Ye Jiyang's instructions: in the early stages, he should try to use only one.

He had originally planned to use Absolute Gravity. That silver-gray orb certainly looked impressive, with a miniature galaxy slowly turning inside it. Anyone could tell it was no ordinary thing; everyone who saw it would stare for at least two seconds.

But on second thought, he changed his mind.

The orb of Absolute Gravity looked too much like a magic-type Martial Soul. If a teacher classified it as control or support and assigned him to one of those classes, how dull would that be?

A real man takes the power attack path. Weapon Martial Soul power attack—now that sounds exciting.

The first from the seventh row was a chubby little boy. He stepped onto the platform and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Li... Li Zhuangzhuang."

Then he released his Martial Soul. A clump of earthy-yellow light gathered in his palm and turned into a round lump of dirt.

An earth element Martial Soul, suited to defense.

The square-faced teacher nodded and wrote a few words on his clipboard. "You can go down. Next."

The second was a little girl with twin ponytails. She bounded onto the platform and said brightly, "Zhou Yaoyao. Martial Soul, ice crystal bird."

She turned her palm upward, and the translucent blue phantom of a palm-sized bird appeared. A flap of its wings scattered a trail of tiny ice shards, while a similar phantom appeared behind her.

The teacher's eyes brightened slightly. He made a few more notes. "Not bad. Agility attack path. Next."

The third, fourth, and fifth were all at roughly the same level. Their Martial Souls were fairly decent, but their Soul Power generally ranged from level six to level nine. None particularly stood out.

Dong Qianqiu was sixth.

As she stepped onto the platform, the buzzing chatter across the field grew a little quieter without anyone realizing it.

Whether it was a coincidence or her presence truly was a little different, no one could say.

"Dong Qianqiu." Unlike the other children, her voice did not tremble. It was level, with a trace of coldness rising from her throat.

Then the phantom of a deep blue shark appeared behind her. Its open mouth was filled with sharp, serrated teeth, its fangs stark white and its body streamlined. The moisture around it rapidly condensed into tiny ice crystals that glittered in the sunlight.

A Demon Soul Great White Shark!