Just then, a commotion broke out in the crowd ahead.
Qian Renxue and Jiang Nannan looked up and saw that a boy had released his Martial Soul.
The boy had pink-and-blue hair and exceptionally striking features.
He held his chin high, exposing his slender neck, just like a proud white goose.
A pair of blue butterfly wings fluttered behind him. The colors at the tips of the forewings shifted from deep blue to azure to pale blue, while a string of brilliant halos blossomed across the wings, shimmering and dazzling.
I've seen this Martial Soul before.
Qian Renxue gave the boy a few more looks, her feelings difficult to place.
The Light Goddess Butterfly. She had once read about this Martial Soul in the Spirit Hall's records.
According to legend, this Martial Soul appeared only in exceedingly beautiful women.
So that boy is a girl disguised as a boy?
I'm disguised as a man to work undercover. What is she doing it for? Is she undercover too?
But with that conspicuous Light Goddess Butterfly, the people at Shrek Academy should know she's a girl, unless they're idiots.
Well, seeing how oblivious the Shrek Academy registration teacher was, Qian Renxue smiled for some reason.
Shrek Academy had the best pool of students on the entire continent, but its teachers hardly seemed to be the continent's best.
Seeing Qian Renxue staring so intently at a boy, Jiang Nannan pursed her lips almost imperceptibly, a trace of reproach appearing in her eyes.
She looked down at herself. She couldn't see her toes!
Huh? Yuhao clearly liked them so much before, so why are his eyes so blank now? He won't even give me a second glance, but he's paying so much attention to a boy?
"Yuhao? Yuhao!"
Jiang Nannan leaned close and called out to her, the girl's warm breath brushing Qian Renxue's cheek.
Qian Renxue came back to her senses and instinctively took two steps back, a flash of embarrassment crossing her face.
Jiang Nannan looked down and gauged the distance between them, her gaze growing even more reproachful.
Qian Renxue guiltily looked away, feeling as though she were sitting on pins and needles.
She was an unmarried maiden herself; she truly had no experience dealing with women.
Even while she had been undercover as Xue Qinghe, she had always kept herself above reproach and hadn't even taken a crown princess.
Qian Renxue cursed Huo Yuhao inwardly. He really was a piece of work, leading this girl astray at only eleven or twelve. How was she supposed to handle this?
Surely I can't actually marry her someday?
Qian Renxue had lost all hope in life.
"Next!"
It was finally her turn. At the registration teacher's call, Qian Renxue felt as though she had found a treasure and hurried forward.
"Registration fee, one hundred Gold Soul Coins."
The registration teacher didn't even look up.
Qian Renxue felt in her trouser pockets. They were even cleaner than her face.
Just then, Jiang Nannan stepped forward, carefully took a small pouch from her waist, and counted out a hundred Gold Soul Coins from it.
Qian Renxue watched. Clearly, neither she nor Jiang Nannan was well-off.
She felt even guiltier toward Jiang Nannan.
The registration teacher counted the Gold Soul Coins, then checked Qian Renxue's Soul Power Level, bone age, and recommendation letter from the city lord after confirming the amount was correct. Everything was in order, and the teacher nodded.
"Release your Martial Soul."
Qian Renxue's eyes shone with a dazzling golden light, and a spectral pair of Spirit Eyes appeared behind her, radiating the same sacred, radiant light.
A Yellow Soul Ring rose beneath her feet at the same time.
A white Soul Ring with four Soul Skills would have been far too conspicuous. Qian Renxue had a flash of inspiration and used Mental Simulation to disguise it as yellow.
The registration teacher abruptly looked up.
"Such a sacred, radiant presence! And this Martial Soul suppression! Could this be a Body Martial Soul with an Ultimate Attribute?"
He felt a suppression of his attributes, something only an Ultimate Martial Soul could accomplish.
This was an Ultimate Martial Soul!
As a Soul Saint, she would be a match for a Titled Douluo!
And this child also had a Body Martial Soul. If it could undergo a Second Awakening-
He drew a sharp breath. Then Shrek Academy's future would be assured!
He wouldn't have dared dream of something like this!
They had struck treasure! The academy had struck treasure this time!
Beaming with delight, the registration teacher patiently helped Qian Renxue complete the paperwork. He stood up and said with a smile:
"Next, I'll take you to the academic affairs office to register. Once that's done, they'll issue you a uniform and assign you a dorm room. I happen to be passing by the office anyway."
In this era, Shrek Academy had no entrance examination. As long as a student's Soul Power Level, Martial Soul, age, and recommendation letter from the city lord were in order, they could enroll. The real assessment would only take place three months after the new students entered.
"Sorry for the trouble, teacher."
Qian Renxue nodded politely.
The three arrived at the academic affairs office, where a long line stretched outside the door.
Qian Renxue saw Wang Dong again. She was at the end of the line, waiting with an impatient look on her face.
The registration teacher led Qian Renxue and Jiang Nannan straight to the front of the line.
Wang Dong's face darkened, indignation rising in her heart.
The sky over Shrek has finally turned black! Even registering means running into someone with connections!
I'm the young master of the Clear Sky Sect, and even I'm lining up properly to register, yet someone dares cut in front of me!
I'll remember you! You already have a way to court death!
As the academic affairs teacher assigned Qian Renxue a dorm room, she frowned slightly.
"Teacher, are there only rooms for two? Are there no single rooms?"
The academic affairs teacher shook his head. "As students, you should be prepared to endure hardship. How could we let you enjoy the privilege of single rooms? It would corrupt your will. There's no room for discussion."
Qian Renxue's frown deepened.
She had become a man now, but that didn't mean she was willing to share a dorm room with another man.
After thinking for a moment, Qian Renxue asked, "If my roommate had to move out of the dorm, the academy wouldn't assign me a new roommate, would it?"
"No."
Qian Renxue knew what to do. She glanced at Wang Dong at the end of the line and said to the academic affairs teacher:
"Teacher, could you assign me to the same room as her, then?"
The academic affairs teacher looked at the registration teacher who had accompanied them and nodded.
Soon, Qian Renxue received her uniform and dorm key.
The registration teacher took his leave of the two and headed straight for the dean's office.
Jiang Nannan and Qian Renxue headed toward the new students' dormitory, though Jiang Nannan's gaze toward Qian Renxue had grown even stranger and more reproachful.
"Sister Nannan, what are the academy's dorms like? Tuition is so expensive, so the dorms can't be too bad, can they?"
Qian Renxue asked curiously.
Her requirements weren't high; a private bathroom would be enough.
Jiang Nannan put it tactfully. "They might be a little worse than you expect."
Soon, the two crossed the teaching area and arrived at the dormitory building.
At the dormitory entrance, an old man lay in a reclining chair, his face covered in wrinkles, his eyes dim and yellowed and his eyelids drooping. Bathed in sunlight, he looked like a guttering candle in the twilight of his years.
Qian Renxue gave him a couple of extra glances.
An old man like that at the continent's number one academy couldn't be ordinary, no matter how she looked at it.
Qian Renxue didn't deliberately approach him and walked straight into the dormitory.
Mu En opened his eyes and looked in the direction Qian Renxue had gone. He murmured, "Such a pure presence of light, with a hint of the sacred attribute too. Are people from the Angel Clan willing to come all the way to Shrek to study now?"