Could it be… Tang Wulin? Gu You clicked his tongue twice. "Forget it — whoever it is, I'm magnanimous. No need to fuss over small things."
Looking around, the whole row of dorm rooms seemed to have about twenty or so units. The walls were mottled and peeling; some rooms didn't even have window glass, just broken frames. The place looked completely shabby and dilapidated.
Relying on some memories, Gu You found what he figured was Xie Xie's room and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
The dorm door swung open. Xie Xie came out, looking irritated — but when he saw Gu You, his eyes widened in surprise. "You're done with the exams already?"
The room inside was roughly thirty square meters, not small — but there were only two metal bunk beds, without even bed boards. Beyond that, nothing. Judging by the setup, it seemed like there wasn't even a gender separation. Xu Xiaoyan sat on one of the bunks, looking just as annoyed.
The floor was layered in thick dust; two windowpanes were shattered. Oh, and there was one more thing: a cord hung down from the ceiling, ending in a small lightbulb. It wasn't clear if it was meant as decoration or actually functional — the bulb was caked in dust, and it looked like if you turned it on at night, the light would come out black.
"Gu-ge!" Xu Xiaoyan called out softly.
"Mhm."
Gu You nodded, noticing only the two of them. "Where's Gu Yue?"
Tang Wulin, of course, was still in the infirmary, probably unconscious for several days. But Gu Yue — he'd forgotten to tell her. She could study directly in the inner court, but he himself wasn't interested; he found the beginner class more fun.
"She—"
"No need to ask, I'm back." Gu Yue appeared silently at the doorway.
Gu You gave a small nod.
"Gu— no, Boss! This… this is too miserable. Did we really come to Shrek Academy and not some slum?" Xie Xie protested bitterly. Compared to their conditions back at Eastsea Academy, this was like heaven and earth. No basic living supplies, not even the simplest beds — this was just…
At first, Gu You found the word "Boss" a bit odd, but after thinking about it, it felt reasonable. "Don't complain. Rather than wasting time griping, let's get this place sorted out. Since we're here, we might as well settle in. Being a work-study student obviously isn't going to be easy."
Xu Xiaoyan smiled. "Boss, it's just one room — how are we supposed to live like this? Boys and girls shouldn't share space, you know."
Xie Xie snickered. "You're barely how old? Talking about propriety already?"
"Hmph!" Xu Xiaoyan huffed, but her gaze drifted toward Gu Yue — and Gu Yue, in turn, looked at Gu You.
Boss?
Gu You thought for a moment. Well, sure, let them call him that. It's not like he'd shoot himself down.
"The academy put us here, so we'll just accept it for now. Let's first set up the basic living conditions. Everyone, help clean the floor. Use something to cover the broken windows, then hang a curtain through the middle to divide the room — all the way to the door. That way, we can at least split the space a bit. We'll work on improvements over time."
Gu You didn't plan to pull any strings to improve their setup. He was fine with taking things slowly — enduring a little hardship wasn't a big deal. Plus, the process of rising from a beginner student to an advanced student sounded pretty interesting.
Gu Yue was the first to express her support. "Okay."
At this point, Gu You's authority was very high.
They cleaned quickly and found a cloth to cover the window. For soul masters at the Soul Elder level, this kind of task was simple.
But during the cleanup, they got a deeper sense of how rough the life of a work-study student really was.
The entire work-study dorm zone only had one single water spigot where they could get clean water. For hot water, they'd have to go all the way to the main academic building — and the same for the bathing area.
And that was it. There were no other facilities. Even the cafeteria was over in the main building, and to get there from the dorms, you basically had to cross half of Lingbing Plaza.
Gu You didn't care at all. Bathing? What was bathing? A sweep of his Destruction power across his body, and all filth was wiped clean.
"Come on, let's fetch some water and go clean Lingbing Plaza." Xie Xie and the others had signed up for a work-study task today.
Lingbing Plaza was enormous — they had to get an early start, or there was no way they'd finish before dark.
Gu You figured he had nothing else to do anyway. As for forging the two-word battle armor — right now, there wasn't even a forge available. He'd wait until Saturday and Sunday. Normally, Shrek Academy didn't give weekends off, but he, Gu You, was special. With his forging talent, how could the academy make things difficult for a future Divine Craftsman?
Just as the four of them reached the water spigot, they saw it was already occupied. A thin youth stood there, a towel draped over his shoulders, with a water bucket on the ground collecting the flow.
Xie Xie instinctively swallowed hard.
That boy — he was the Number Two student, the same one who had defeated Xie Xie the other day.
But the thin youth said nothing, merely glanced at them, then collected his water and left.
"There's no rule saying we can't use our martial souls to help clean, right?" Gu Yue asked suddenly.
"Of course not. Without martial souls, we'd never finish in a day." Xie Xie hoisted two buckets of water, sighing.
Once they arrived at Lingbing Plaza, Gu Yue walked straight to the center and finally stopped. She took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing slightly — and three soul rings rose beneath her feet.
Her first soul ring shone brightly — Elemental Tide, activated.
She cupped her hands together, and dots of green light began gathering in her palms. That wasn't all; faint blue light soon joined in as well. The two colors blended almost evenly, swirling rapidly between her hands, forming a small, refined vortex. The vortex spun faster and faster, merging wind and water elements.
Her second soul ring lit up, and the speed of the energy flow surged. With the amplification of Elemental Control and her Spirit Sea spiritual realm, the vortex under Gu Yue's control spun faster and faster, growing larger and larger — soon over two meters tall, and still expanding.
Her third soul ring flashed — Elemental Fusion, activated. The two colors fully blended, rapidly growing in size. Despite using three soul skills simultaneously, Gu Yue showed no strain at all. She had the air of someone fully in control.
Even Gu You couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Without his presence, Gu Yue — having comprehended the Elemental Heart — would undoubtedly rank among the most gifted of all talents.
The vortex kept expanding, until it reached five meters in height, then began slowly moving forward. The blue-green whirl spun steadily…
(End of Chapter)
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