This kid sure is crafty despite his small size! Mu Jin grabbed Huo Yuhao, who kept wriggling toward her chest, her face flushing red, and tossed him away without much thought.
"Teacher Mu, I passed the entrance exam!" Huo Yuhao immediately scrambled up, shamelessly reporting.
"Ahem, ahem." Mu Jin coughed irritably, then shifted her attention to the two girls from Wufeng beside him. "I didn't expect this year's freshmen to include heirs from the Jiubao Liuli Sect. Looks like I hit the jackpot."
"Hello, Teacher," Ning Tian led the greetings with a bow toward Mu Jin. The Wufeng girls quickly followed suit.
"Remember to register for my class—Class 9, Grade 1—when signing up," Mu Jin said, pulling three sets of academy uniforms from her storage Soul Device and handing them to Huo Yuhao and the two girls, not forgetting to remind them.
"Teacher, does the class number relate to the overall strength level of the class?" One of the Wufeng girls cocked her head, appearing a bit naive but actually asking the crucial question.
Only Huo Yuhao, with his godlike perspective, knew that in three months they would face their first official assessment at Shrek Academy. Passing the assessment was required to become a full-fledged first-year student and truly join the academy.
Afterward, the freshmen who passed would be divided into four classes, ranked by their overall class strength. The teacher whose team won the freshmen assessment would become the homeroom teacher of Class 1, Grade 1, gaining significant prestige.
"I'm Teacher Mu's student in life, and Teacher Mu's ghost in death. Even as a ghost, I'll be suave—sign me up for Freshman Class 9!" Huo Yuhao struck a dramatically heroic pose, as if ready to face death. Mu Jin was tempted to kick this shameless guy far away but figured it might only excite him more, so she held back.
Unlike the disdain Wufeng showed toward Huo Yuhao, Ning Tian clearly understood this opportunist's nature. Though playful and carefree, he'd turn out to be the biggest winner in the end.
So, all in!
"Teacher Mu, I also want to join Class 9," Ning Tian said respectfully.
Seeing Ning Tian join, Wufeng had no choice but to follow suit.
"This girl's interesting. Not bad!" Huo Yuhao mentally praised Ning Tian when he caught her scrutinizing gaze.
Freshmen who passed the entrance exam could be registered by in-service teachers on the spot or be randomly assigned by the academy. In the original timeline, Huo Yuhao was assigned to Class 1 with Zhou Yi.
Due to gender segregation, Huo Yuhao headed alone to the dormitory building.
After paying ten Gold Soul Coins, he received his badge and dorm key. Seeing the badge number was completely different from before, Huo Yuhao relaxed—this time, he wouldn't be sharing a dorm with Tang Fozu's daughter disguised as a boy.
Passing between the white freshman teaching building and the yellow second- and third-year buildings, Huo Yuhao spotted the dormitory. Though a single building, it was painted in four colors—white, yellow, purple, and black—representing the living areas for different grade levels. It was six stories tall.
At the entrance of the white building sat an elderly man, looking quite old. He wore plain gray clothes, his face deeply wrinkled enough to trap dozens of flies, his eyes dim and heavy-lidded—a portrait of a man at the sunset of life. The sunlight falling through the buildings lit him gently as he reclined comfortably in his chair.
Huo Yuhao recognized him immediately—Mu En, the Dragon God Douluo and head of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion, one of the few top-tier limit Douluos alive today.
Dragon God Douluo—wouldn't that cause confusion with the future Dragon God? Oh right, the other one doesn't have the "Douluo" title.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward respectfully, "Hello, grandpa. I'm a freshman here to move into the dormitory. Do you need to check my badge?"
Huo Yuhao admired Mu En, who was among the few wise souls at Shrek, far-sighted and dedicated to guiding him even in his twilight years. After his demise, Mu En's remaining soul fragment still chose to burn out entirely, providing critical help to Huo Yuhao when forming his complementary dual soul core.
The old man seemed to see the admiration in Huo Yuhao's eyes. His half-closed eyes shifted slightly as he raised a trembling right hand and rasped in a low voice, "Show me your badge and dorm key."
Huo Yuhao quickly handed them over.
The old man waved them in front of his eyes briefly and returned them. "Go ahead. Dorm 66 is on the first floor, ninth room on the right. The fourth floor and above are girls' dorms—don't go up there. Anyone caught will be expelled."
"Thank you." Huo Yuhao bowed again and entered the dormitory.
The old man resumed his position, murmuring, "Is this the 'Holy Son' Xiao Yao spoke of? Not as vicious as I imagined."
As he spoke, a few more freshmen passed by but didn't notice the old man sitting by the door. They entered directly, and he made no move to stop them, dozing lightly.
Following Mu En's directions, Huo Yuhao soon found his dorm. The dorm was a long corridor flanked by dorm rooms, each with a number plate. The interior looked worn and old, no telling how many years it had been in use. Restrooms were at the ends of both sides of the hall.
"Damn, this is worse than my middle school dorm!" Huo Yuhao grumbled silently as he unlocked the door. A stale smell hit him, and he quickly stepped aside. After waiting a bit, he held his breath and rushed in to open the window. The room hadn't been used for over a month—dust covered everything.
Huo Yuhao instantly lost any desire to settle in—not because he was lazy, but because he was dissatisfied with how Shrek treated freshmen.
Other places had rich heirs or royal descendants coming here to enroll, yet they got such a terrible living environment?
You could say the academy promoted thrift or toughness, but how could the continent's top academy have dorms this filthy? Huo Yuhao didn't believe there weren't a few water-attribute Soul Masters who could do cleaning.
Fuming, Huo Yuhao stormed out of the dorm and ran into the equally displeased Ning Tian and the two girls.
"What a coincidence! Getting used to living here?" Huo Yuhao joked with a grin.
"Unlivable! This dump's filthy. I even found leftovers from last year's female students under the bed…" Wufeng began cursing loudly but was quickly silenced by Ning Tian to save face.
Next to Ning Tian and Wufeng was a delicate-looking girl with long light green hair flowing down her back and gentle dark green eyes, a stark contrast to Wufeng's fierceness. She gave off a fragile aura that instinctively evoked sympathy.
This must be the minor character—Nanmen Yun'er, a sensitive offensive Soul Master who'd be off the scene in a few chapters, owner of the Jade Green Bird martial soul. It reminded Huo Yuhao of a certain terrifying Soul Beast in later Douluo series—the Emerald Demon Bird.
If Nanmen Yun'er had a hint of the main cast's aura, her martial soul could awaken a second time to become the Emerald Demon Bird—one of the most vicious bird-type Soul Beasts. It moved like lightning, faster than sound, feeding on the brains of various creatures to grow, a terrifying killer of its era.
Nanmen Yun'er's assigned dorm was even worse; her bed frame was mysteriously broken. Who knew what last year's freshmen had done in these rooms?
"The new school year officially starts in three days. Let's go buy a place in Shrek City," Ning Tian coughed softly, suggesting first. The others quickly agreed.
As the young sect leader of the Jiubao Liuli Sect, Ning Tian had no shortage of Gold Soul Coins. Nanmen Yun'er wasn't from an ordinary family either. Even Huo Yuhao, after leaving the Holy Spirit Sect, shamelessly begged Zhongli Wu for a hundred million Gold Soul Coins—though he didn't ask how the sect got the money.
Once outside the academy, into Shrek City, surprisingly, no matter how much money Ning Tian offered, outsiders were forbidden from buying property in the city.
Left with no choice, the four searched for rentals.
Since it was the same time all eligible young Soul Masters came to Shrek for enrollment exams, even their accompanying elders needed places to stay. Rentals were overcrowded.
By evening, they barely found a two-person room in a remote building.
Huo Yuhao looked weird—did this good luck really exist?
"Ahem, Huo Yuhao, why don't you tough it out and stay at the academy a few days? The three of us can squeeze in here," Ning Tian said shyly.
"No way! I found this place using all my spiritual power!" Huo Yuhao blushed angrily, clearly unwilling to return.
"Why don't the four of us just make do together?" Nanmen Yun'er was the easiest to talk to, not wanting Huo Yuhao to retreat to the academy.
"Exactly. We're all young. What's there to be afraid of?" Huo Yuhao crossed his neck defiantly.
Even fiery Wufeng couldn't argue; after a full day of wild city rampages, she was exhausted and definitely wouldn't return to the academy just yet.
Ning Tian, being a support-type Soul Master, also had poor stamina.
"Let's live together!" Huo Yuhao grinned, flashing his white teeth.
(End of chapter)
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