The Freshman Teaching Building was exceptionally lively.
It was currently the admissions season, and the lobby was packed with children and parents who had come to enroll, the noisy human voices intermingling with a variety of accents.
Some came from the Heaven Dou Empire, some from the Star Luo Empire, and others from the Dou Ling Empire, while occasionally one could even hear a few dialects of unknown origin.
A few long tables were set up in the corners of the lobby, piled with registration forms and crystal balls, and several teachers were surrounded by parents, busy to the point that they didn't even have time to raise their heads.
Zhang Lan and Nan Qiuqiu had just stepped through the doors when a female teacher rushed up to greet them.
She looked to be in her early twenties, dressed in a sharp, dark blue uniform, with her hair tied up neatly, moving with a brisk momentum.
She held a stack of registration forms in her hand, sweeping her gaze over Zhang Lan and Nan Qiuqiu, pausing on the luggage at their sides, and immediately flashing a polite smile.
"You two, here to register?"
Zhang Lan nodded.
The female teacher expertly flipped open the registration form in her hand, speaking as she turned the pages:
"Let's do the assessments first. There are two items in total."
"First, bone-age testing. The age must not exceed twelve years old."
"Second, a Soul Power Level test. The admission requirement is that the Soul Power cannot be lower than level fifteen."
"Do you both understand?"
"Understood."
Zhang Lan and Nan Qiuqiu simultaneously extended their hands.
The female teacher took each of their wrists in turn, her fingers lightly pressing down on their bones with a professional and practiced technique.
Her fingertips paused for a fleeting second on Zhang Lan's wrist, seeming to notice something, but she didn't ask further, quickly letting go and moving to press Nan Qiuqiu's wrist.
"Bone-age is suitable, twelve years old."
She withdrew her hand, picking up a crystal ball from the table. It was smooth and translucent, with fine Soul Power lines slowly flowing across its surface.
"All right, let's test the Soul Power Level. Which of the two of you will go first?"
Nan Qiuqiu extended her hand and accepted the crystal ball.
She cradled the crystal ball in her palm, closing her eyes for a brief moment.
A speck of white light lit up on the surface of the crystal ball, instantly growing brighter and brighter. The radiance spilled out from between her fingers, bathing half the lobby in a white glow.
That light climbed rapidly, reaching an almost blinding degree of brightness, and several nearby freshmen couldn't help but raise their hands to shield their eyes.
Crack.
A fissure split across the crystal ball in Nan Qiuqiu's hand.
The crack spread from the center outward, and the entire ball shattered into dozens of pieces amidst a crisp sound, the fragments sliding from her palm and clattering all over the floor.
The lobby fell silent.
The smile on the female teacher's face froze.
The hand she had extended to catch the crystal ball remained suspended in mid-air, her fingertips trembling slightly.
The surrounding teachers also halted their actions, turning their heads one after another to look.
The freshmen and parents had been chatting among themselves, but at this moment, it was as if someone had pressed the mute button on everyone simultaneously, every single face frozen in blank shock.
The registration form held in the hand of one parent dropped to the ground, and he didn't even react to pick it up.
"Teacher, do I need to pay for this?"
Nan Qiuqiu asked.
Only then did the female teacher snap back to her senses. Subconsciously, she swallowed hard, her gaze falling upon the fragments on the floor as her mind calculated rapidly.
This crystal ball was used for testing lower-grade students, capable of withstanding a maximum of thirtieth-rank Soul Power.
Since it had shattered, it meant this young girl's Soul Power was above the thirtieth rank.
Twelve years old, above the thirtieth rank.
"T-that won't be necessary."
The female teacher hurriedly waved her hand, her voice a bit tight.
"What is your Soul Power Level?"
"Forty-third rank."
The female teacher opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
She stared at Nan Qiuqiu for two breaths, her mind a complete blank.
Twelve years old, a Soul Ancestor.
Children of this age mostly still struggled around the twentieth rank. Those with good talent reaching the twenty-seventh or twenty-eighth rank were already considered decent, while those in the early thirties were extremely rare.
Forty-third rank?
She suspected she had misheard.
The surrounding freshmen and parents also exploded into an uproar.
"Forty-third rank? Did I hear that right?"
"A twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor? How is that even possible?"
"What background does that girl have?"
The wave of discussions rose and fell, and everyone's gazes converged on Nan Qiuqiu.
Nan Qiuqiu stood in the center of the crowd, quiet and still, her fingers still maintaining the posture of holding the crystal ball from just moments ago, with no superfluous expression on her face, as if she had long been accustomed to this kind of scene.
The female teacher took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
The smile on her face became ten times more enthusiastic than before, and even her tone grew somewhat brisk:
"Classmate, what is your name? I'll take you to register."
"Nan Qiuqiu."
"Good, good, good."
The female teacher was just about to lead Nan Qiuqiu toward the registration window when she suddenly remembered something and turned her head to look at Zhang Lan standing off to the side.
Her gaze lingered on Zhang Lan for a fleeting moment.
This young boy had stood next to Nan Qiuqiu from beginning to end without a sound, yet his positioning posture was very natural, as if he were accustomed to walking in front.
Before Nan Qiuqiu took the crystal ball earlier, she had subconsciously glanced at him.
The female teacher could tell that this young boy was the one calling the shots between the two of them.
"Classmate, what is your name?"
She asked.
"What is your Soul Power?"
She still had a spare crystal ball in her Storage Soul Tool, but she didn't take it out.
Nan Qiuqiu was already at the forty-third rank, so this boy's Soul Power would only be higher.
Whether she took out the crystal ball or not, the result would be the same.
"Zhang Lan, fiftieth-rank Soul Power."
Another wave of sharp gasps echoed through the surroundings.
Those who had just been discussing Nan Qiuqiu now turned their heads in unison, shifting their gazes from Nan Qiuqiu to Zhang Lan, their facial expressions transforming from shock to numbness.
What kind of day was today?
During the Shrek Academy admissions season, a twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor was already outrageous enough.
And now another twelve-year-old Soul King comes along?
Instead, the female teacher wasn't quite as surprised anymore.
She merely nodded, the smile on her face deepening:
"Very well, you two classmates, come with me."
She led the two of them to the registration window and personally processed the paperwork.
The registration process went smoothly, with the tuition totaling ten Gold Soul Coins.
Zhang Lan fished twenty Gold Soul Coins out of his Storage Soul Tool and placed them on the table. The teacher efficiently completed the paperwork, then went to the back to retrieve two sets of white school uniforms and two white freshman badges.
The fabric of the uniforms was of good quality, with a dense texture, a white base, and silver-threaded phoenix patterns embroidered at the collar and cuffs.
The badges were circular, engraved with the emblem of Shrek Academy on the front and the characters for "Freshman" on the back.
The female teacher handed the uniforms and badges to the two of them respectively, the smile on her face never fading.
She escorted Zhang Lan and Nan Qiuqiu all the way to the entrance of the teaching building, extending a finger to point at those grey-brick small buildings situated directly behind the teaching building.
"The dormitories are right behind the teaching building. Those two largest buildings in the entire academy are them."
"The boys live in the building on the left, and the girls live in the one on the right."
"You can head over yourselves in a moment."
"Freshmen won't officially start classes until four days from now. You can take these few days to familiarize yourselves with the environment."
"The cafeteria is on the west side of the teaching building, the training grounds are behind the dormitories, and the library is next to the Soul Fighting Arena. If you don't understand anything, just ask the teachers in the buildings."
"Thank you, Teacher."
Zhang Lan cupped his fists in salute.
The female teacher smiled and waved, watching the two of them walk out of the teaching building gates before turning back.
When she stepped into the lobby, her pace was much brisker than before, and the smile at the corners of her mouth couldn't be suppressed no matter what.
This admissions season, two monsters had arrived in the first year.
She needed to report this news to the dean of students right away.
Before you continue