On the day Shrek Academy officially began admitting new students for the year, Nan Zhuliu brought Huo Lingtong to Shrek City's eastern gate, where the academy's entrance stood.
Perhaps because Shrek's students were returning to school, vendors had gathered around the eastern gate, offering a dazzling array of novel little trinkets and food.
"Handsome young man, pretty young lady! Come take a look, have a look..."
Nan Zhuliu and Huo Lingtong were merely passing by, yet the vendors called out all sorts of flattering names to draw them in.
Huo Lingtong, who had hardly ever seen such a bustling scene, looked this way and that at all the novel little things, unconsciously tightening her grip on the few silver and copper soul coins in her purse that she and her mother had saved over years of scrimping and scraping.
Noticing her little movement, Nan Zhuliu said nothing and simply kept walking.
When they reached a spot still some distance from Shrek Academy's entrance, Nan Zhuliu handed her a banknote worth one hundred gold soul coins. "I won't be coming out anytime soon. You can look around nearby first and see if there's anything you want to buy."
"Of course, these hundred gold soul coins aren't for you to spend however you please. Your tuition for this year has to come out of this too. If you feel bad about it, you can pay me back once you have money."
Only after hearing that last sentence did Huo Lingtong, who had initially felt somewhat uncomfortable accepting it, reach out and take the banknote with an easy conscience.
"Don't go too far, or I won't be able to find you. Remember that, all right?"
Huo Lingtong nodded obediently.
Nan Zhuliu turned and headed toward Shrek Academy's entrance.
More than a dozen Shrek students stood outside the entrance in matching yellow uniforms, with green Shrek-head badges pinned to their chests.
Yellow uniforms meant these were second- and third-year students from Shrek Academy's outer court. Before long, they might become fourth-year students.
The Shrek students were chatting merrily when they suddenly saw an unfamiliar, odd-looking figure with a pair of golden horns atop his head walking toward them. They immediately wanted to call out and order him to stop.
But then they saw the newcomer take out an envelope.
"Hello, seniors. I'm a first-year student here to register for this year."
Who else could it be but Nan Zhuliu?
They were somewhat surprised, but after confirming that the main city's stamp on the envelope was genuine, they told him that new-student registration took place in the first-year teaching building and let him inside.
After completing his registration, Nan Zhuliu randomly picked one lucky person to ask where Wang Yan's office was, then headed straight there.
Yes, the first person Nan Zhuliu had thought of was Wang Yan, who was almost obsessed with researching Martial Souls and had Xuan Zi, the Holy Spirit Church's supreme elder, backing him.
As the saying went, the willing fish took the bait.
Judging by his attitude toward researching Body Martial Souls in the original story, there was still a very good chance.
As long as Wang Yan was willing to speak up, Huo Lingtong's admission to Shrek Academy would be no problem at all, even if she was only rank eleven now.
Arriving at Wang Yan's office door, Nan Zhuliu saw a middle-aged male teacher sitting inside. He looked around forty, with ordinary features and a gentle bearing.
Presumably, this middle-aged male teacher was Wang Yan.
Nan Zhuliu was just about to knock when Wang Yan seemed to sense something and lifted his head from a desk covered in books.
When he saw Nan Zhuliu standing in the doorway, with golden dragon horns like sharp blades atop his head, his sleeves rolled up, and large patches of golden scales growing on his exposed arms, Wang Yan abruptly stood up like a child who had spotted a beloved toy.
"Student, please stay."
The divine skill, practically on the conceptual level, made Nan Zhuliu freeze for a moment.
In that brief moment, Wang Yan had already hurried up to Nan Zhuliu and reached out to grab the dragon horns on his head, his eyes shining.
Fortunately, Nan Zhuliu reacted in time and stepped back to avoid him.
Wang Yan froze at first, then realized in embarrassment just how presumptuous his actions had been.
"Hello, student. I'm Wang Yan, a teacher of the academy's Martial Soul theory school." Wang Yan introduced himself first, then asked impatiently, "May I venture to ask whether your horns and the scales on your arms are real?"
Nan Zhuliu nodded.
"This must have been a mutation during your Martial Soul awakening, right?"
Nan Zhuliu feigned surprise. "How did you know, Teacher Wang?"
Wang Yan smiled confidently. "When a Beast Martial Soul master awakens their Martial Soul, there's an extremely small chance that it will affect the soul master themselves, giving them some of their Martial Soul's traits. But the probability is truly minuscule. Even over the ten thousand years of soul masters' development, it has only happened a handful of times."
"From the look of it, you should have a dragon Martial Soul, but I can't tell exactly what Martial Soul it is..."
In Wang Yan's memory, golden dragons had never existed in history, while the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King existed only in legends, so he had never even considered that possibility.
Nan Zhuliu answered, "I have a mutated lightning-attribute dragon Martial Soul."
Understanding immediately dawned on Wang Yan. "I see. So it's actually a mutated Martial Soul."
Martial Soul mutations could produce all sorts of strange changes. No wonder he could not recall golden dragons ever having existed in history.
"It seems you've done quite a bit of research in this area, Teacher Wang?" Nan Zhuliu asked.
Wang Yan smiled bashfully. "I can only say I'm rather interested. I'm still far from being able to claim that I've done extensive research."
Nan Zhuliu asked again, "Teacher Wang, are Beast Martial Souls and Tool Martial Souls the only categories of Martial Souls?"
Wang Yan nodded. "That's true for most of them, at least. After so many years of development, new branches of Martial Souls have emerged. But because their numbers are so scarce, no one has created separate categories specifically for those branches."
"Then would an eye Martial Soul count as a Beast Martial Soul or a Tool Martial Soul?"
At the words "eye Martial Soul," Wang Yan became like a starving wolf that had finally spotted a piece of fatty meat after a long hunger. "You mean you know a soul master with an eye Martial Soul?"
Nan Zhuliu nodded. "I made a new friend not long ago. Her Martial Soul is her eyes, and it's even spiritual-attribute."
Hearing this, Wang Yan's breathing instantly grew considerably heavier. "Is this friend of yours also a student at our academy?"
Nan Zhuliu shook his head. "My friend was born deficient. She only broke through rank ten recently and obtained her first Soul Ring. She's still far from meeting our academy's admission requirements."
Wang Yan rubbed his hands together excitedly like a fly. "Could you take me to meet this friend of yours?"
Nan Zhuliu thought for a moment, then nodded. "All right."
On their way to find Huo Lingtong, Wang Yan, unable to wait any longer, eagerly began asking Nan Zhuliu about her Soul Skill.
Nan Zhuliu shook his head, however, and said, "I can't describe what I felt in words, so I suggest you experience it yourself, Teacher Wang."
Nan Zhuliu's deliberate air of mystery made Wang Yan look forward to it even more.