The two of them followed the lakeside path southward for nearly a quarter of an hour before turning west. After walking for more than another quarter hour, the path narrowed, and a wide rectangular square came into view. Beside it stood a sign reading Shrek Square.
Beyond Shrek Square were towering teaching buildings, painted in different colors—mainly white, yellow, purple, and black. In the distance, there were also gray teaching buildings.
Because of their earlier conversation, Xu Sanshi, who now had a good impression of Xu Zihuang, took the initiative to explain a few things.
"The colors of the teaching buildings represent different grades, just like the colors of soul rings. White is for new students, like ten-year soul rings. Yellow is for the second- and third-year outer court students. Purple is for the fourth and fifth years. Black is for the sixth years. Once you walk out of the black teaching building, you'll already have your graduation certificate from the outer court."
"Those gray buildings in the distance belong to the Soul Tool Department. Besides these main teaching buildings, there are many other specific places: the Spirit Battle Arena, the assessment area, the dormitory area, the teachers' offices, and so on. Once you've studied here for a while, you'll gradually become familiar. The white freshman building is at the far south—you can just go there to register."
After speaking, Xu Sanshi patted Xu Zihuang on the shoulder and hurried back the way he came.
If Xu Zihuang hadn't left him with a good impression, he wouldn't even have bothered saying this much. After all, he had only volunteered to receive new students to stay close to Jiang Nannan.
Today was the last day of new student enrollment, and there weren't many like Xu Zihuang who had already passed the assessment and come to register.
Apart from special admissions—those from major clans or with extraordinary talent—the rest of the freshmen were assigned to classes purely by registration time.
At this point, only three classes still had openings: Class Eight, Class Nine, and Class Ten. In front of the white freshman building, three short lines had formed.
Xu Zihuang already knew at the eastern gate of Shrek City that he had been assigned to Class Nine.
His registration went smoothly. He only needed to pay ten gold soul coins as an enrollment fee and hand in his recommendation letter.
The recommendation letter recorded in detail the student's martial soul and current soul power rank.
However, this information could only be viewed by the homeroom teacher of the new student's class. Not even Du Weilun, the dean of the Martial Soul Department's outer court, could overstep this rule. Since the martial soul was the root of a soul master, Shrek Academy's practice was a sign of the utmost respect.
After receiving his dormitory key, two sets of school uniforms, and a white freshman badge, Xu Zihuang headed toward the dorms behind the teaching building.
But as he passed a bulletin board, he stopped instinctively.
Written on it was:
Freshman Class One Homeroom Teacher: Zhou Yi
Freshman Class Nine Homeroom Teacher: Mu Jin
"Zhou Yi and Mu Jin?"
By the timing of enrollment, Huo Yuhao, who had registered on the first day, must have been placed in Class One.
This didn't surprise Xu Zihuang. After all, in the original story, Huo Yuhao was indeed taught by Zhou Yi.
What he hadn't expected was that he himself had been placed in the class of Zhou Yi's nemesis, Mu Jin.
Calmly retracting his gaze, Xu Zihuang didn't dwell on it. The feud between Mu Jin and Zhou Yi had nothing to do with him. His reason for coming to Shrek Academy was to have this kind of environment to enhance his cultivation.
On Moon Pivot Island, he could indeed enjoy top-level cultivation resources and didn't need to worry about acquiring soul rings. But there, he couldn't be surrounded by so many talented soul masters of his age.
Even just sparring with his fellow new students, or with the so-called Twin Stars of the outer court, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, would be highly beneficial to him.
Not to mention the even stronger inner court students.
Most importantly, he hoped to gain the attention and guidance of Xuan Lao and Elder Mu—two peak-level powerhouses—to help him avoid unnecessary detours. He had to admit, in the study of martial soul cultivation, the Sun Moon Empire still couldn't compare with Shrek Academy.
Beyond that, he also had another purpose: to use Shrek Academy as a platform to attract the attention of the Body Sect.
During his three years of bitter cultivation on Moon Pivot Island, he had always tried to push himself to his limits, hoping to trigger a second awakening of his Body Martial Soul. But he had never succeeded. That was why he now set his sights on the Body Sect, which held the secret methods of secondary awakening.
Passing between the white freshman building and the yellow second- and third-year buildings, the dormitory came into view.
The dormitory occupied a vast area. Though it was a single building, it had sections in white, yellow, purple, and black—obviously corresponding to the different grade levels. It had six floors in total, matching the six grades of the Martial Soul Department's outer court.
At the dormitory entrance sat an old man who looked extremely aged. Dressed in gray cloth, his deeply wrinkled face could probably trap dozens of flies at once. His eyes were dim, his lids drooping, his figure like a flickering candle in the wind. Yet as sunlight fell on him between the buildings, his half-reclined posture looked almost comfortable.
Xu Zihuang only gave him a glance before walking inside. Though his expression didn't change, his heart was anything but calm.
Because he knew this old man was one of the top experts of the era—the Dragon God Douluo, Mu En.
Facing a Limit Douluo who stood at the very peak of the soul master world, how could he not feel pressure? Especially with such a unique identity.
Mu En didn't move, maintaining his posture. But after Xu Zihuang left, his clouded eyes opened a crack, and he murmured softly:
"Eleven years old, rank thirty-four soul power. Deeper cultivation and foundation than I had at that age. Truly remarkable. For the first time in centuries, this old man feels curious about such a youngster. The pure aura of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon… Little one, you're forcing this old man to make an exception."
The student dormitory was a long corridor building, with rooms on either side marked with numbers.
Xu Zihuang's dormitory key was numbered 180, near the end of the right corridor.
"Hm?"
When he reached his room, he found the door wide open.
The dorm was small, only about ten square meters. Two beds occupied most of the space, with just one desk and two metal wardrobes left.
The soul tool lamp on the ceiling made the small space bright.
A boy about Xu Zihuang's age was lounging lazily on one bed. Seeing Xu Zihuang at the door, he blinked, then quickly stood up and extended his right hand with a cheerful smile.
"Hello, my name is Tuoba Yu. You must be my new roommate."
Tuoba Yu wasn't nearly as handsome as Xu Zihuang, but he was decent-looking, with dark skin and short white hair and eyebrows, which gave him a unique, wild sort of charm.
"Hello, I'm Yu Tianhuang." Xu Zihuang nodded politely, smiling as he shook Tuoba Yu's hand.
Then he took out the Flame Lion King pelt bedding he had made and began setting up his bed.
"That Flame Lion King pelt… judging by the quality, its cultivation must have been at least five hundred years, right?" Tuoba Yu whistled at the fiery-red, luxurious bedding.
"Impressive."
"Not really." Xu Zihuang replied casually as he tidied his things, glancing back at Tuoba Yu.
As the saying went, you don't slap a smiling face. Since they would likely be living together for years, there was no need to act aloof.
Studying at Shrek Academy was also a way to temper his character.
And ever since he had learned to project his spiritual power outward, he had become very sensitive to people's emotional fluctuations. From Tuoba Yu, he could feel genuine straightforwardness, not pretense.
The dorm had clearly already been cleaned by Tuoba Yu, saving Xu Zihuang the trouble.
Through their casual chatter, the two quickly became familiar with each other.
Their first meeting as roommates had no melodramatic "I can't stand you" fights, nor any instant brotherhood.
Everything was simple and ordinary.