Skywater Academy's Male Student

The sun had already begun its descent, casting a hazy light over the clouds on the horizon and staining the sky orange-red with the evening glow.

Looking out through the carriage window, Yu Tianshuang gazed at the majestic Heaven Dou Imperial City in the distance. Wisps of cooking smoke rose from homes throughout the city, and together with the twilight that had quietly descended, painted a peaceful scene above it.

"Skywater Academy is located in the Falling Star Mountain Range on the outskirts of Heaven Dou Imperial City. It has Falling Star Mountain at its back. There's a great deal of Falling Star Stone on the mountain, which is very beneficial to the cultivation of ice-attribute Soul Masters."

Watching Yu Tianshuang lean his head out to look at Heaven Dou Imperial City, Shui Xinrou explained gently.

"Hey, hey, dummy, stop looking. We're not going into the city anyway. Once you're officially enrolled, I'll take you there for a good look at how bustling Heaven Dou Imperial City is. A little city in a kingdom like Hagen-Dazs City can't compare."

Yu Tianshuang pulled his head back in, then looked Shui Yue'er seriously in the eyes and said, "All right!"

Taken aback by the sudden seriousness on Yu Tianshuang's face as he looked at her, Shui Yue'er blushed and turned her head away. "Why did you get so serious all of a sudden? Are you afraid I'll go back on my word? Hmph~."

As the carriage rolled slowly along the bluestone road, Yu Tianshuang and his two companions finally arrived at the gates of Skywater Academy.

Yu Tianshuang stepped down from the carriage and looked up at Skywater Academy before him.

Judging by its outline alone, Skywater Academy was almost as large as Hagen-Dazs City. The words "Skywater Academy" inscribed on the arched stone gate at the entrance showed that this was only an academy.

Although Yu Tianshuang had grown up in the Cold Jade Ice Heart Pavilion, a major cultivation sect, in his previous life, most of the sect's buildings had been mountain peaks and cave residences. Even its main hall had been no more than a single-story glazed hall. It was truly hard to imagine an academy being so vast and magnificent.

"Pfft~, why are you staring again, dummy? Don't tell me you've been struck dumb again."

Seeing Yu Tianshuang stop and gaze into the distance, Shui Yue'er couldn't help laughing again.

"All right, Yue'er. Tianshuang, come along. I'll take you to your dormitory and get you settled in first. Have a good rest tonight, and tomorrow I'll take you to complete your enrollment."

Shui Xinrou, who had paid the carriage fare, walked over to Yu Tianshuang as she spoke.

As the three of them walked, Shui Xinrou continued speaking to Yu Tianshuang.

"This is the main teaching building. Students attend their theory classes here. It has four floors; the fourth is for the instructors' offices, and each of the other three is for a different grade. You and Yue'er are both Soul Masters between levels 10 and 20, so you'll attend class in the first-year classroom on the first floor."

As she spoke, she pointed to the largest building in the middle.

Since it was already evening, only a few students were coming out of the teaching building and heading in the same direction as Shui Xinrou and her companions.

The few students they passed along the way greeted Shui Xinrou and her two companions from a distance, bowed, and moved on. The darkness also kept them from noticing that Yu Tianshuang was a boy.

"The building on the left is the library. It has a large collection of books and teaching materials. When you have time, you can read more there and learn more."

Following the direction Shui Xinrou pointed, Yu Tianshuang silently committed the building marked with a book to memory.

As Shui Xinrou continued explaining things along the way, they arrived at the dormitory area.

"This is the dormitory area. The separate houses on the left are the instructors' dormitories, while the three-story building on the right is the students' dormitory. Since you're the academy's first male student, we can't put you in the shared dormitory. After all, it's full of girls, so that would inevitably be somewhat inconvenient. As it happens, there are still a few instructors' dormitory houses vacant. I'll take you to complete the formalities in a moment, and then you can move in."

"Dummy, getting to live alone in such a big house is a privilege for academy instructors. Even my sister and I have to stay in the shared dormitory. You'd better thank Aunt properly, or you'd have to sleep on the street."

"Yue'er, you should hurry back and rest too. I'll take Tianshuang to complete the move-in formalities."

After sending Shui Yue'er on her way, Shui Xinrou led Yu Tianshuang toward the instructors' dormitory area.

Yu Tianshuang looked back at Shui Yue'er as she waved her little hand, her pretty figure and the graceful shadow stretching across the ground bathed in hazy moonlight. Looking at this lively, adorable girl who had called him "dummy" all the way here, he smiled, then turned and followed Shui Xinrou.

After helping Yu Tianshuang complete the move-in formalities, Shui Xinrou said to him, "The dormitory is well supplied with bedding and daily necessities. If you're missing anything, the house to your left is my dormitory." As she spoke, she pointed to the house on the left.

"You can come find me anytime. All right, it's getting late. Get some rest."

Having escorted Yu Tianshuang to his dormitory door, Shui Xinrou finished speaking and turned toward her own dormitory.

"Goodbye, Teacher." Yu Tianshuang waved at Shui Xinrou's retreating figure.

Early the next morning, Yu Tianshuang, who had cultivated all night, washed up and waited for Shui Xinrou in the sitting room. Before long, the sound of high heels striking the ground-"clack, clack, clack"-drew closer to the door. Then he heard three knocks.

"Tianshuang, are you up?"

A voice as gentle as a big sister next door came from the doorway. It was a voice that belonged only to Shui Xinrou.

"I'm up, Teacher." He opened the door to see Shui Xinrou's waist-length, sky-blue hair set off against the clear blue morning sky.

He walked with Shui Xinrou from the dormitory area toward the teaching building. Along the way, they saw Skywater students in sky-blue uniforms. Some held books and chatted with classmates beside them, some ate breakfast as they walked, and others played and jostled with their classmates. On this summer morning, their presence filled the academy with the spirit of youth.

"Hey, hey, look at the little one next to Vice Dean Shui Xinrou. Is that a boy? How come he's walking with the dean from the instructors' dormitories?"

"Where, where? Let me see, let me see! Oh my heavens, it really is a boy! Look how cute that white-haired boy is. Hey, do you think he might be the vice dean's child?"

"Probably not. I haven't heard that Dean Shui is married. Could he be a child from Shui Yue'er's family? But that doesn't seem right either. The Shui Family has never sent a boy to the academy before. Still, look how cute he is. We're looking at him, and he's lowered his head in embarrassment. Hee-hee~."

As Yu Tianshuang walked beside Shui Xinrou, the girls of Skywater Academy chattered and teased him like a flock of orioles and swallows. When had Yu Tianshuang ever seen anything like this in his previous life? His little face red, he kept his head lowered and silently walked beside Shui Xinrou the whole way.

"It's all right. You don't have to pay those girls any attention. They're just curious because they've never seen a boy at the academy. Once you've been here longer and they've gotten used to you, the novelty will wear off."

Seeing how adorably embarrassed Yu Tianshuang looked, Shui Xinrou couldn't help smiling too.

After taking Yu Tianshuang to complete his enrollment, Shui Xinrou said, "All right, go on by yourself. Your classroom is room 101 on the first floor."

After saying goodbye to Shui Xinrou, Yu Tianshuang came to the door of room 101 on the first floor. Just as he was about to speak to the teacher, a familiar voice rang out from inside.

"Hey, hey, dummy, over here, over here! Come sit here!" Shui Yue'er called from the left side of the classroom, standing up and waving to Yu Tianshuang at the door.

"Shui Yue'er, sit down. Shouting in the classroom-what kind of behavior is that?"

The teacher in charge of the class was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses. When she heard Shui Yue'er shout, she scolded her as she waved.

Scolded by the teacher, Shui Yue'er had no choice but to sit down and stick out her tongue playfully.

"All right, quiet down. We have a new classmate today, a disciple of Vice Dean Shui Xinrou. Come on, introduce yourself so everyone can get to know you."

With that, the teacher stepped aside from the middle of the lectern and gestured for Yu Tianshuang to come up.

Looking at all the curious eyes below the lectern and the girls whispering among themselves, Yu Tianshuang steadied himself.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Yu Tianshuang. My Martial Soul is the Frost Dragon, and I'm a level 10, one-ring Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."