"Whoa, quite a crowd."
The next day, Su Yuan entered Shrek Academy alone through the east gate without bringing Mo Yunxing along, admiring the sight of ignorant people from Douluo eagerly lining up to Shrekify themselves.
It truly was a sea of people. As far as the eye could see, the long queue ahead was nothing but heads.
Yet few were actually there to enroll; most were family members accompanying them.
Despite the crowd, everything was orderly. This was Shrek, after all. Any fool who caused trouble here would long since have been punished by Shrek's righteous iron fist.
In that respect, it bore a striking resemblance to ten thousand years ago.
Only, the long queue before damned old Shrek's gates remained, while the war god Xiao Bai of those days was nowhere to be seen~
No, wait. That should be bodyguard Little Dai.
As his thoughts wandered, Su Yuan followed the crowd toward the front of the queue. Without an old hand like Bei Bei to pull strings, he could only obediently wait his turn.
More importantly, queuing barely took any time. His turn came quickly, which was why he had the patience for it.
Only when it was his turn to register did Su Yuan learn why things moved so quickly.
Enrollment involved just three steps, all very simple.
First, present a recommendation letter from a major city.
Second, have one's bone age and soul power level tested.
Third, pay the enrollment fee of ten Gold Soul Coins.
After that, students could collect their dorm keys and enter the academy to find their rooms. Freshman uniforms and academy badges would be distributed before classes officially began, while entering their personal information and assigning classes would take a little longer.
For registration and payment alone, all three steps could take as little as ten seconds, or three to five minutes at most.
As for why it could take ten seconds...
Some people had no major-city recommendation letter and had come purely to bluff their way through. They were rejected outright before even passing the first step. There were quite a few such people in the queue, which naturally made things move faster.
After paying his enrollment fee, Su Yuan received his dorm key.
Room 110.
"Interesting. What a coincidence. With this room number, I'll have to head up to the girls' dorms on the third floor and above and give them a few thorough investigations." Su Yuan smiled, put away the key, and followed the crowd with interest as he wandered around Shrek Academy.
Shrek Academy was enormous. Su Yuan spent almost half the morning strolling leisurely before familiarizing himself with its various facilities.
First was Sea God Plaza, the place commemorating the heroic figure of their great Third Butcher. The original Shrek Seven Devils and the Golden Iron Triangle-ten people in total-stood as ten statues in the center of the plaza for the world to admire.
Then came the teaching buildings.
Following the colors of soul rings, there were four buildings ranging from white to black, corresponding respectively to freshmen, second- and third-year students, fourth- and fifth-year students, and sixth-year students.
There were also expansive training grounds, the Soul Fighting Arena, and the Beast Fighting Zone, followed finally by the cafeteria and dormitory buildings.
The Inner Academy was on Sea God Island in Sea God Lake. Freshmen like Su Yuan had no permission to enter, so he did not go there to check it off his list.
After touring the Outer Academy's facilities, Su Yuan did not head straight to the dormitory. Instead, figuring he might as well since he was already here, he went to the cafeteria and ordered a top-tier Grade A Meal.
According to that old hag Zhou Yi, the Grade A Meal was the only meal Shrek sold at a loss. Its ingredients were purchased fresh and included parts from soul beasts at least a hundred years old. The combination of various spices and medicinal ingredients made it both delicious and nourishing.
One Grade A Meal cost Su Yuan over a hundred Gold Soul Coins and consisted of two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a soup.
The meat dishes were sweet-and-sour hundred-year Ironhide Boar ribs and sauce-fried hundred-year azure bird marrow. The vegetable was something called earth dragon tendon, which was actually rather like Chinese yam. The soup was stewed from Ironhide Boar lean meat and small intestine, along with some nourishing medicinal ingredients.
Even the rice was heavenly sun rice, each grain plump and translucent.
After a quick assessment, Su Yuan discovered that old hag Zhou Yi really had not been bullshitting.
At market prices, a meal like this would probably cost around a hundred and fifty Gold Soul Coins. Su Yuan had paid only a little over a hundred, saving some forty Gold Soul Coins.
Even Shrek's enrollment fee was only ten Gold Soul Coins.
Su Yuan thought it over again and realized that, although Shrek was losing money at this price, it did not seem to be losing all that much.
Shrek City bordered the Star Dou Great Forest and could be considered the largest trading city for soul beast resources on the Douluo Continent. Its costs were lower than elsewhere.
Moreover, a large portion of those resources were brought back by Shrek's own soul-hunting teams. There was no need to buy them from others; only some labor costs were involved.
On top of that, aside from a tiny handful of people who had no shortage of money and the core disciples, no one at Shrek Academy would buy a Grade A Meal.
"It does taste great." Su Yuan happily enjoyed his food.
Incidentally, the cafeteria in the Shrek Outer Court really did have no seating. Su Yuan was using a table and chair he carried in his Soul Tool.
After lunch, Su Yuan left the cafeteria and arrived at the freshman dormitory.
As soon as he reached the building, Su Yuan spotted an old man quietly sunning himself in a recliner. His facial wrinkles were deep enough to trap flies, and his entire body carried an air of fading twilight.
Dragon God Douluo, Mu En.
Su Yuan paused, turned toward Mu En, and gave a slight bow.
In the recliner, Mu En opened his eyes in surprise and looked up at Su Yuan.
"Child, do you know me?"
"An elder in my family instructed me to pass along her greetings if I encountered you, Senior Dragon God Douluo," Su Yuan said with a smile.
"Which old friend is this elder of yours?" Mu En smiled as well, asking in a relaxed tone.
"Wang Xian'er, the Medicine Immortal Douluo, an honored retainer of the Imperial Family in Star Luo City." Su Yuan took a token from his Soul Tool and showed it to Mu En.
On the front of the token was a dazzling Star Crown; on the back was a compassionate Ten-Winged Angel.
"So it's her..." Mu En nodded, a trace of complicated emotion and melancholy in his eyes.
"Though I don't know why you came to Shrek Academy instead of the Star Luo Royal Academy, now that you're here, make yourself at home. If anything comes up, you can come to me, or find Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department."
With that, Mu En tossed Su Yuan a token as well. Unlike Wang Xian'er's ostentatious token, however, this one appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary wooden plaque.
Only the character "Mu" on its front, its strokes winding like serpents and soaring like dragons and phoenixes, hinted at its extraordinary nature.
This material...
Su Yuan weighed the surprisingly hefty wooden token in his hand and sensed the gentle power of light contained within it.
"Don't tell me this was made from the Golden Tree?"
Holy shit, that's pretty generous!
This was exactly why they said no one took offense at excessive courtesy, and why one should show respect to the strong. Respect others, and they would naturally respect you in return.
Mu En was one of the few people at Shrek whom Su Yuan found fairly agreeable.
"All right, off you go. Don't interrupt this old man's sunbathing!" Mu En smiled faintly and closed his eyes again.
Before you continue