Hearing the young boy’s self-introduction before him, Su Daqiang’s expression grew even more puzzled:
“Lu Yuan, is it?
It’s not time for enrollment yet.
Why have you come now?”
After handing his martial soul certificate to Su Daqiang, Lu Yuan explained:
“I heard from Master Su Yuntao of the Spirit Hall that spirit masters with innate spirit power need a matching Meditation Method to rapidly increase their cultivation.
I’m an orphan, so I have no way of obtaining a Meditation Method.
That’s why…”
Before Lu Yuan could finish, Su Daqiang interrupted: “So you want to enroll early, so you can get the Meditation Method ahead of time?”
“Mm-hmm!” Lu Yuan nodded deeply.
After a moment of silence, Su Daqiang set down the martial soul certificate in his hand and said to Lu Yuan: “Release your martial soul.
Let me have a look.”
“Yes!”
Without any unnecessary words, Lu Yuan immediately began to summon his martial soul.
“Martial soul possession!”
Seeing the humanoid martial soul behind Lu Yuan, Su Daqiang was so startled that he shot up from his chair.
He quickly walked over to Lu Yuan’s side and carefully examined this strange martial soul.
“A beast martial soul?
But humanoid?”
After scrutinizing it for quite a while and racking his brain, Su Daqiang still couldn’t find any record of this type of martial soul.
However, based on his years of teaching experience, he felt that this martial soul was definitely extraordinary.
Even if it was a mutated martial soul, it had to be a beneficial mutation.
Without the slightest hesitation, Su Daqiang immediately approved Lu Yuan’s request.
“I approve your request for early enrollment.
After all, students as eager to learn as you are rare.”
“Our academy places great importance on students like you.”
With that, he walked over to the side, picked out a new uniform of roughly the right size, and handed it to Lu Yuan.
“Your dormitory is at Seven Dorm.
After you’ve settled in, you can come find me.
I’ll give you the Meditation Method you want then.”
“Go on.”
Lu Yuan bowed deeply to Su Daqiang, his eyes filled with gratitude, and sincerely thanked him: “Thank you, Director Su!”
Leaving the Academic Affairs Office, Lu Yuan excitedly ran toward the school gate.
Meanwhile, Su Daqiang stood by the window, watching Lu Yuan trotting along, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
“At last, Notting City Primary Spirit Master Academy has welcomed its very own genius!
Hahaha—I was the one who discovered him!
Truth be told, Su Daqiang had also entertained the idea of taking Lu Yuan as a disciple, but he ultimately abandoned the notion.
After all, even Su Yuntao of the Spirit Hall hadn’t been able to recruit him—there was no guarantee he could either.
If things turned awkward between them, that would be no good.
For now, this kind of relationship was just fine.
Walking out of the school gate, Lu Yuan approached the old chief and said with a smile: “Grandpa Niu, Director Su agreed to let me enroll early.”
“Good, good, good!” Hearing this news, the old chief’s eyes were barely able to conceal his delight.
Then he urged: “You must eat well inside the academy.”
With that, the old chief pulled out a new embroidered pouch sewn with needle and thread from his bosom and pressed it into Lu Yuan’s hands.
“This pouch was sewn by your Sister Chunlan.
Inside, there are some silver soul coins and copper soul coins from your uncles and aunties in the village.
Take it—and make sure you never go hungry.”
Looking at this pouch embroidered with his own name, Lu Yuan’s eyes suddenly grew moist.
The pouch was light—only a few hundred grams or so.
Holding it felt no different from holding a feather.
Yet the pouch was also heavy—filled with the profound care of all those who worried about him.
Lu Yuan would need both his heart and his full strength to carry it.
Wiping away the misty blur at the corners of his eyes, Lu Yuan replied earnestly:
“I will, Grandpa Niu.
Please take care of yourself too.
Once I become a spirit master, I’ll come back to the village to visit you and everyone else!”
After a few more exchanges of pleasantries, Li Erniu, who had gone off somewhere, returned driving the cart.
Under Lu Yuan’s surprised gaze, Li Erniu pulled out a brand-new set of bedding from the cart and handed it to him.
After another reminder to eat well, the two climbed onto the cart and set off on the road back to the village.
Lu Yuan watched them leave until their figures disappeared at the end of the road.
He didn’t linger too long in the sorrow of parting.
Hoisting his luggage onto his back, Lu Yuan stepped through the gate—into his first stop on the path that would one day lead him to godhood.
Following the guard’s directions, Lu Yuan quickly arrived at a dormitory building at the very edge of the academy.
Climbing to the second floor, he could plainly see the boldly written characters “Seven Dorm” on the door.
Pushing open the door, there was no foul stench of smelly feet.
The room was cool, clean, and tidy.
This was somewhat unexpected for Lu Yuan.
Seeing Lu Yuan laden with bags and bundles, the several children who had been chatting and laughing inside immediately fell silent, their faces showing wary looks.
Among this group of children, a taller boy walked toward Lu Yuan, sizing him up from head to toe, and asked coldly: “Who are you?
What are you doing in Seven Dorm?”
While the boy was sizing up Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan was sizing him up in return.
Seeing the hopeful gazes all the other children were casting at this boy, Lu Yuan guessed that this was probably Wang Sheng from the original work.
In response to the boy’s question, Lu Yuan said cheerfully: “My name is Lu Yuan.
Since I wanted to get a feel for the spirit master academy, I came to report in early.”
After hearing Lu Yuan’s explanation, the boy understood and let out a breath of relief, relieved that this person wasn’t here to cause trouble.
After all, fighting with others brought no benefits—victory meant physical injury, defeat meant both mental and physical injury.
Fortunately, this person before him was going to be his future roommate.
So the boy began to introduce himself: “Hello, my name is Wang Sheng.
My martial soul is the Battle Tiger, and I’m the boss of Seven Dorm.”
Pausing briefly, Wang Sheng continued:
“We have a rule in Seven Dorm—every new work-study student has to spar with the current boss to see who’s better suited to be the leader of Seven Dorm.
Of course, this isn’t aimed specifically at you.
The reason we do this is mainly to ensure that us work-study students don’t get bullied by other students.”
Lu Yuan thought to himself, just as I expected.
Just like the saying, “Iron-clad Su Yuntao, flowing Wang Sheng.” These two, in the early stages of the Douluo Continent, were like NPCs in the newbie village of a game, giving fixed quests to every outer-world demon who came before them.
Truth be told, Lu Yuan wasn’t particularly interested in being the boss.
But for someone as competitive as Lu Yuan, admitting defeat was not really an option either.
After only a moment’s thought, Lu Yuan agreed.
“Alright.
I’ll spar with you.”
“But for now, could you move aside?
I need to put my luggage away.”
“Oh, oh—sure.”
Wang Sheng answered with a foolish nod, then stepped aside to make way.
Choosing the innermost empty bunk, Lu Yuan spread out his sheets and bedding, then walked to the open area in the center of the room.
“Wang Sheng, is it?
Come on.”
“Wang Sheng, martial soul Battle Tiger, spirit power level nine—please instruct me!”
“Lu Yuan, martial soul Kula, spirit power level eight—please instruct me!”
Imitating the other’s embarrassingly formal lines, Lu Yuan felt as though he was about to die of second-hand embarrassment.
If his classmates from his previous life ever found out, they’d surely chant these words in his ear every single day.
“Kula?
I’ve never heard of that martial soul.” Hearing Lu Yuan’s introduction, Wang Sheng and the other students all looked puzzled.
But Lu Yuan had no intention of enlightening them.
He just wanted to finish dealing with Wang Sheng quickly so he could go to the Academic Affairs Office and get his Meditation Method from Director Su.
Since it was just a simple sparring match, both of them tacitly agreed not to use their martial souls.
Wang Sheng fixed his gaze firmly on Lu Yuan.
He had clearly heard Lu Yuan say earlier that his innate spirit power was level eight.
Therefore, Wang Sheng immediately grew cautious.
Seeing that Wang Sheng wasn’t making a move, Lu Yuan grew impatient.
He dashed forward and closed the distance in an instant.