"Is this Shrek Academy?"
Standing before Shrek City's eastern gate, Huo Yuhao sighed in wonder.
A magnificent gate, towering walls... this was the entrance to Shrek Academy, the strongest academy on the continent.
After less than a week of travel, they had journeyed from the southern edge of the Star Dou Great Forest to the junction of the three great empires.
Many vendors gathered outside the academy gate, making it a bustling scene.
But Bei Bei noticed something unusual.
These vendors... why were there so few of them?
During previous freshman enrollment seasons, the crowds outside the gate had been several times larger.
Puzzled, he and Tang Ya led Huo Yuhao toward the eastern gate.
A dozen or so students in purple and black uniforms stood scattered around the area, their expressions solemn.
Behind them, there was even a student wearing a red uniform.
Bei Bei was utterly shocked.
The uniform colors followed the same classifications as soul rings. Purple marked fourth- and fifth-year students, black marked sixth-years, and red uniforms could only be worn by senior students of the inner court.
In the past, only lower-year students had stood guard here. What on earth had happened?
Bei Bei hurried forward to ask.
"Hmm? Bei Bei?"
The inner court senior actually knew Bei Bei and called out his name.
Bei Bei, however, did not recognize him. He could only ask respectfully, "Senior, has something major happened at the academy recently?"
The inner court senior replied, "You haven't heard? Five days ago, the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest went berserk, and there were signs that a beast tide might break out. The headmaster and the others were extremely nervous. Fortunately, it subsided before the beast tide could begin. The academy has ordered us to maintain strict vigilance here for the time being."
Bei Bei was startled. "How could that happen?"
The senior asked, "I heard you went to the Star Dou Great Forest. You didn't run into any danger, did you?"
"No."
"That's good."
After chatting briefly, the senior let them through.
Once Huo Yuhao and the others entered the academy, a student in a purple uniform teased the inner court senior. "Senior, I didn't expect someone from the inner court to know our outer court's Thunderbolt Bei Bei."
A mischievous grin appeared on the senior's face. "Heh, who in our inner court doesn't know him? He's Zhang... ahem, never mind."
He had been about to drop a bombshell, but reason made him hold his tongue.
He knew better than to be a blabbermouth. It was fine for the inner court to pass that gossip around among themselves, but if it caused an uproar, he would definitely have a bitter pill to swallow.
"Senior, he's what? Don't leave us hanging!"
"What's with all the nosy questions? Stand up straight, all of you!"
After entering the academy, Huo Yuhao waved goodbye to Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
"Brother Bei Bei, I'd like to look around the academy on my own. Go take care of your own business."
Tang Ya asked, "Aren't you going to register, Brother Huo?"
"I'll get familiar with the surroundings first. I can go register by myself in a little while."
Bei Bei said, "All right, Brother Huo, we'll part ways here. If you need any help, you can find me in room 316 of the dormitory."
"Goodbye, Brother Huo! I'll miss your grilled fish!"
Huo Yuhao was very independent, and Bei Bei and Tang Ya had their own assessments to deal with, so they parted there.
"The surroundings are pretty nice."
He strolled down the academy's broad avenue, admiring the beautiful scenery.
Green trees offered shade, birds sang amid fragrant flowers, and hills, lakes, and rivers dotted the grounds.
"We're doomed... doomed..."
Tian Meng's dejected voice rang out in his mind.
"They must have discovered what happened to the Emperor Auspicious Beast. Otherwise, those fellows in the Star Dou Forest wouldn't start a beast tide so readily."
Huo Yuhao said, "But it never actually started, did it? Looks like the Emperor Auspicious Beast is still alive and well."
"Doesn't that mean we're even more doomed? If we run into her again, she'll definitely take revenge!" Tian Meng wailed.
Huo Yuhao looked dismissive. "We'll deal with the future when it comes."
As he walked, he suddenly stopped, his gaze drawn to two rows of towering statues.
There were three figures in the first row and seven in the second, all carved from hard granite. They stood a full ten meters tall and were exquisitely crafted.
These ten people were the founders of Shrek Academy and the original Shrek Seven Devils!
Huo Yuhao ignored the others, fixing his eyes on the tall man at the head of the second row.
That was the leader of the Shrek Seven Devils, the ancestor of the White Tiger Duke's lineage: White Tiger Douluo Dai Mubai.
Strictly speaking, a trace of his blood also flowed through Huo Yuhao's veins.
"Tch. I don't acknowledge him!"
With a disdainful expression, Huo Yuhao did not linger long.
He checked the academy map and continued forward.
Ahead lay a vast expanse of water called Sea God Lake. An island in the lake housed the inner court.
He continued onward until he reached a square, with a cluster of teaching buildings behind it.
"Finally here. Time to register."
Huo Yuhao was now a first-year freshman and had not yet been assigned to a department, so he had to register at the freshman teaching building along with everyone else.
He entered the white freshman teaching building and headed toward the registration desk.
It was already noon, and enrollment had only begun in the last couple of days, so there were not many freshmen coming to register yet.
Only one teacher sat at the registration desk, his eyes narrowed and his manner languid.
He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, but his soul power was not particularly high. Tian Meng told Huo Yuhao that he was probably only around rank fifty.
Huo Yuhao approached and handed him the stack of documents. "Hello. I'm here for freshman registration."
"Pay the tuition first. Ten Gold Soul Coins a year." Before even taking the documents, the old man was already thinking about tuition, his eyes still narrowed.
Only after Huo Yuhao placed the coins on the desk with a crisp clink did he open the documents. As he read, he asked the routine questions. "Name, age, soul power."
"Huo Yuhao. Eleven years old. Rank eleven."
"Hmm?" Surprise crossed the old man's face. His lazy demeanor vanished, and he frowned as he sized Huo Yuhao up.
The boy before him really did have soul power only just above rank ten.
"You're not even rank fifteen? Who recommended you? Don't you know the academy's assessment requirements?" His tone was aggressive and rather unpleasant.
Huo Yuhao did not mind. He simply explained calmly, "I'm a special admission student from the Star Luo Empire, exempt from the entrance examination. It should say so in the documents."
"A special admission student?"
The old man did not read the documents closely. He merely glanced over the recommending party's seal and signature to confirm they were not forged, then gathered the documents and handed them back to Huo Yuhao. He casually pointed toward another room. "Go over there to collect your uniform, academy badge, dormitory key, and everything else."
"All right."
Huo Yuhao did not linger and left the registration desk.
Narrowing his eyes at the boy's departing back, the old man snorted, disdain showing on his face.
He had seen plenty of noble students enter Shrek Academy through special admissions. Their abilities were mediocre, yet they dreamed of gilding themselves with Shrek Academy's prestige. In the end, they would invariably be expelled before long under the pressure of the academy's assessments.
"Shrek Academy trains monsters, not nobles."
He snorted and was about to close his eyes again when he spotted a woman approaching the admissions desk. He hurriedly smiled and greeted her warmly. "Teacher Zhou, what brings you here?"
The elderly woman responded with a smile. "I'm returning to teach freshmen this year, so I came to take a look around the teaching building first."
"Oh dear, this year's freshmen are in for it!"
After collecting his things, Huo Yuhao stopped before a noticeboard. He had already learned that he had been assigned to Freshman Class One.
The noticeboard listed the homeroom teachers for each freshman class. The homeroom teacher for Freshman Class One was named Zhou Yi.
"Child, are you looking for your homeroom teacher?"
As he studied the notice, a slightly hoarse voice sounded beside him.
Huo Yuhao looked toward the voice and saw an elderly woman with white hair and an aged face. She wore a smile, her expression kindly.
Huo Yuhao said, "Yes. Are you a teacher at Shrek Academy?"
The elderly woman nodded slightly in acknowledgment and said, "The freshmen enrolling now should all be in Class One. You'll have to work hard, then. After all, Class One's homeroom teacher is a frighteningly strict teacher."