Lu Chen occasionally tossed out questions he had been holding back for ages. The bottlenecks that had stalled his forging for nearly half a month were unexpectedly pierced like paper over a window by the guidance of Dragon Clan Alchemy, and everything became clear.
He reckoned that tackling the two hurdles of Spirit Refinement and Soul Refinement would be much easier in the future.
Only when he noticed daylight gradually brightening outside did he reluctantly leave his cultivation state, still wanting more.
Early the next morning, the cafeteria door had barely creaked open a crack before Lu Chen dragged Tang Wulin over, charging forward like a starving wolf that had not tasted meat in days.
The two settled in at a dining table and swept through the steamed buns like a gale scattering clouds, eating with downright ferocity.
The cook responsible for steaming the Class C meal buns in the kitchen was rolling wrappers so fast his hands nearly left afterimages, yet he still could not keep up with their chopsticks.
They ate until the sun was high overhead, practically shining on their backsides, before finally wiping their gleaming, greasy mouths, slinging their uniform jackets over their shoulders, and hurrying toward the plaza for the opening ceremony.
Eastsea Academy held its opening ceremony in the enormous central plaza, which could accommodate over ten thousand people.
Students from every grade crowded together in a dense, shifting sea of heads.
Lu Chen stood shoulder to shoulder with Xie Xie among the new students. Both had their hands stuffed in their trouser pockets and their shoulders tilted, occasionally lifting a hand to cover a yawn, their eyelids practically sticking together.
They had simply eaten too much earlier. With their stomachs now full of carbs, they felt so groggy that even standing seemed like hard work.
Watching the school administrators speaking at length on the podium, he suddenly remembered his days at Shilan School. The principal back then had spoken in exactly the same manner, long-winded and dull.
I wonder how that brother I got saddled with, Chu Zihang, is doing now. Sigh.
Thinking of this, he also felt that Wu Zhangkong really did resemble Chu Zihang in temperament. Both were icy and spoke little.
As for class assignments, Lu Chen had already asked around and learned that he was definitely going into Class Five. He had no anticipation whatsoever.
Twenty people stood in Class Five's line, yet Lu Chen was the one who stood out most.
Why?
Everyone else hung their heads like eggplants wilted by frost, with "nothing left to live for" written all over their faces.
Lu Chen alone, though slouching lazily and giving off the impression that he cared about nothing, had an indescribable vigor about him. His unhurried presence even faintly suggested the bearing of a born ruler.
Moreover, Lu Chen was noticeably taller and bigger than the others, and occasional glimmers of gold flashed through his eyes.
Five homeroom teachers walked slowly over, and Lu Chen immediately spotted the figure in white with a blue sword.
Wu Zhangkong was also approaching Class Five at an unhurried pace.
"Follow me."
Wu Zhangkong spoke mildly, the words drifting lightly into everyone's ears.
Lu Chen, however, keenly caught an extremely faint elemental fluctuation, like an invisible shard of ice flashing through the air.
It seemed to be power erupting from his soul. It was probably his Martial Soul.
The group of twenty followed him toward the far end of the teaching building's first floor.
Sure enough, Class Five's classroom was the most out-of-the-way one. When they pushed open the door, they found thirty-odd sets of desks and chairs inside, with some dust still gathered in the corners, giving the room a desolate air of having been forgotten.
Lu Chen looked around, then went straight to a seat near Tang Wulin. He had just stuffed his schoolbag into the desk compartment when Wu Zhangkong's chilly voice rang out.
"Everyone, sit down."
He stood at the front of the classroom, his gaze sweeping over the students scrambling to find seats. Only after the room had fallen completely silent did he speak slowly. "My name is Wu Zhangkong. For the next six years, you will all be my students."
"Also, let Director Long Hengxu's words earlier go in one ear and out the other." His tone barely fluctuated, yet carried an unquestionable force. "Even if you are a bunch of trash right now, I can train you into the best among your peers."
Some students secretly clicked their tongues at this, but Wu Zhangkong ignored them and casually pointed. "Introduce yourselves, starting with you."
His finger pointed directly at Lu Chen.
Lu Chen stood up without any hurry. "Hello, everyone. My name is Lu Chen. My Martial Soul is a dragon, and my Soul Power is rank thirteen. My goal is to become an assault-type battle Soul Master."
It was a perfectly conventional introduction, yet Wu Zhangkong visibly paused when he heard "my Martial Soul is a dragon." Upon hearing his Soul Power rank, his brows instantly knitted.
Without saying anything more, he walked straight down from the front and stopped before Lu Chen. "Hold out your wrist."
Lu Chen did as instructed. The next second, bone-chilling Soul Power bored into his meridians, as though probing along his blood vessels to uncover his secrets.
But the moment that Soul Power touched the Soul Power within him, an even more overbearing force violently flung it out.
Wu Zhangkong seemed to have detected something, yet also seemed to have detected nothing at all.
Wu Zhangkong's pupils contracted slightly, his face filled with disbelief.
He only froze for an instant, however, before quickly recovering. A rare trace of excitement actually flashed through his eyes as he looked at Lu Chen. "Good. Excellent talent. An ultimate attribute. No wonder your cultivation is so slow."
"Huh?" Lu Chen was momentarily dumbfounded and instinctively scratched his head.
He did have some idea himself, though. After all, what his Martial Soul contained was the "strength" in the Dragon Clan's authority and strength.
That strength alone was enough to crush any Soul Master of the same rank.
After all, this was power originating from the laws of heaven and earth. Moreover, his Martial Soul was actually the Black King, Nidhogg, who had yet to fully recover.
"Next." Wu Zhangkong walked back to the front of the classroom, then glanced indifferently at the other students as he spoke.
His gaze, however, kept drifting involuntarily toward Lu Chen.
An ultimate Martial Soul!
Whatever else might be said, this Martial Soul would definitely receive ample attention at Shrek Academy.
Ultimate Martial Souls were simply too rare-so rare that the world had nearly forgotten their might.
"My name is Tang Wulin. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and my Soul Power is currently rank eleven." Tang Wulin stood, picked at the hem of his clothes, and scratched his head a little sheepishly. "As for my goal... I haven't decided yet."
He had barely finished when someone in the back row snickered and chimed in mockingly, "Tch, a trash Martial Soul. What goal could he possibly have..."
Before he could finish, a streak of white light shot over with a whoosh, followed closely by a pale white bone. One after the other, both objects plugged themselves squarely into his mouth.
The first was a piece of chalk Wu Zhangkong had flung out. The second was something Lu Chen had casually pulled from his Storage Soul Guidance Device.
Watching the boy's face turn red as he choked out muffled noises, unable to speak, Lu Chen belatedly froze.
He blinked a few times before remembering where the bone had come from.
A few days earlier, while passing the gates of Red Mountain Academy, he had seen a pitiful stray dog, so thin it was nothing but skin and bones. He had gone to the cafeteria and asked one of the ladies there for a leftover gnawed bone.
But when he returned to feed it, the puppy was already gone. He had casually put the bone into his Soul Guidance Device, then gotten busy coming to his new school and promptly forgotten all about it.