After breakfast, Zhu Ziyang resumed his usual habit—reading.
He sat at his desk, flipping through a book titled Angel's Revelation.
It was a text from the Church Era, around 13,000 years old, filled with secrets and records related to the royal family of the Spirit Hall.
Why was he reading such a book? It all started with the memory fragment from his past life.
The night before, after his Sea of Spirit had fully opened, the once-fuzzy memories had been completely absorbed by his spiritual awareness. Now, what once felt distant and unclear had fully become his own memory.
Strangely, these memories caused him to feel intense contempt and disgust toward someone named Tang San. He found this deeply confusing and decided to search through those inherited memories for answers. That's when he discovered fragments of a book called Peerless Tang Sect (Jue Shi Tang Men). Although he had never read it before, he felt an unresolved emotional pull toward it—clearly a remnant from his previous life.
Upon reviewing the memory fragments, Zhu Ziyang realized his disdain for Tang San stemmed directly from that book. However, he could only find a few disjointed excerpts and a vivid image from the ending.
The ending left a deep impression on him:
The Sun Moon Empire's million-strong army stood at the gates of Shrek City, when a so-called great god, worshiped by the people, descended. He took a child hostage, using the child's life to threaten the boy's mother, demanding that she retreat her forces...
That god was Tang San.
The child? The young emperor of the Sun Moon Empire.
The mother? The one known as the War Goddess Empress.
Zhu Ziyang wasn't sure whether this ending was factual, but emotionally, he was appalled. A god using a child as leverage to coerce a mother—he found that utterly disgraceful. What kind of "divine figure" resorted to such dirty tactics?
This single image made him suspect that Peerless Tang Sect could very well be a record of future events. The names in the story—Tang Sect, Sun Moon Empire, Shrek City, the god Tang San—were all real and existed in the world today.
The Sun Moon Empire and Shrek City were both prominent. The former was one of the four great empires and the origin of soul technology; the latter was home to the continent's number one academy, Shrek Academy. The Tang Sect appeared in historical texts as once the number one sect in the land, allegedly founded by Tang San himself—now regarded as a divine figure, savior, and Sea God.
Could it be that the Sea God worshiped across the continent, the so-called savior Tang San, was actually a hypocrite in disguise?
Zhu Ziyang's curiosity was now insatiable.
He couldn't wait to scour the library for historical records from ten thousand years ago to learn more about that turbulent and epic era.
So fascinating!
He couldn't stop himself from grinning with excitement.
Half a month later
With the start of the academic term, Zhu Changhe brought Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, and two other village children to enroll at Anyang City's Junior Soul Master Academy.
As the only soul master academy in the city, Anyang Academy had the best location, buildings, and materials. Its tallest structure was even the student dormitory.
Generations of city lords had poured resources into the school. In fact, half of the city's annual budget went to the academy. The city lord usually served as principal, and teachers were selected from the city's best soul masters—those ranked Grand Soul Master and above.
Students studied for six years, and during that time, the academy assisted with soul ring hunts for eligible students at no charge.
Thanks to such support, Anyang Academy produced students each year who gained admission to elite academies like Tianhun Academy and Dio Academy.
—
At the academy gates, Liang Ying had already been waiting. After handing the children over to her, Zhu Changhe had to leave. Because the school was a closed campus, outsiders weren't allowed inside without a warrant from the city lord. Liang Ying, however, was a teacher at the academy.
Before leaving, Zhu Changhe pulled Zhu Ziyang aside for some final words of advice.
"Son, you're now a soul master. You've always been clever, but I still hope you'll stay humble and learn something here—like how to work with others," he said earnestly.
"I will, Dad," Zhu Ziyang nodded. He had no other choice.
"And don't waste too much time. Your main focus should be training hard, and maybe—just maybe—you'll become the first student from Anyang City to enter Shrek Academy!"
"I'll do my best, Dad," Zhu Ziyang replied.
With nothing left to say, Zhu Changhe finally let him go, leaving the rest to Liang Ying.
She brought Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, and the other two children to the registration desk.
"Teacher Liang, what brings you here?" the receptionist quickly stood up when he saw her.
"I'm here to register these children," she said with a smile, pointing to the four kids behind her.
"Oh, I see!" the staff member nodded and began processing the paperwork.
Enrollment went smoothly—all four had soul power and met the requirements. Next came tuition—one gold soul coin per year. For the Zhu family, that was pocket change. Liang Ying paid Zhu Ziyang's full six-year tuition in advance.
She also paid Jiang Nannan's tuition. In her heart, Jiang Nannan was already her future daughter-in-law. Besides, she knew Nannan's family situation well—a single gold soul coin was a huge burden. Without help, Nannan would've had to enroll as a work-study student, which meant shared dorms with ten others and poor treatment. Liang Ying would never allow that.
Once registration was complete, she led the kids to the dorms—the tallest building in Anyang City, a four-story structure.
After helping the two other children settle in, she pulled Jiang Nannan aside and took Zhu Ziyang aside to speak in private.
"Mom, what's going on?" he asked, puzzled by her secretive look.
"Yangyang, Mom pulled some strings to assign you and Nannan to the same dorm room," she whispered with gleaming eyes. "Now do your best—lock her down before graduation!"
"…Huh?!"
Zhu Ziyang was dumbfounded. It took him a while to stammer, "Mom… we're only six!"
"So what? You'll be twelve when you graduate. All the uncles in the village married at twelve or thirteen!" she said excitedly. "Yangyang, Nannan is an amazing girl—you can't let her slip away!"
"I'm out of here."
Zhu Ziyang couldn't take it anymore. If this conversation went on, he might combust from embarrassment.
Without another word, he turned and ran into the dorm building. Jiang Nannan, who had been nearby, quickly followed him.
"What's he so shy about?" Liang Ying muttered as she watched them go, a little annoyed.
Muttering to herself, she finally left.