The freshmen registration area was located in an ancient stone building. The person in charge of registration was Du Weilun, a stern-faced teaching director who appeared to be in his thirties.
During the start of the term, he had a lot on his plate and spoke very quickly:
"Name, age, martial soul, soul power level, soul ring configuration, recommendation letter."
When it was Gu La's turn, he answered each question one by one.
"Gu La?" Du Weilun's voice remained brisk, but he glanced up at Gu La. Martial souls like Angel were nearly extinct now, and ten thousand years ago, the Angel God of the Spirit Hall had perished at the hands of the Sea God.
"The Sun Angel martial soul?"
"Yes, teacher." Gu La's response was concise and clear, his tone steady.
"Soul rings?"
"Yellow, Purple, Purple." Gu La mentally willed it, and three soul rings instantly rose beneath his feet—two purple and one yellow. Their colors were pure, their glow stable, representing the top-tier configuration for soul rings.
Du Weilun's gaze lingered for a moment on the second thousand-year old purple ring, a flicker of barely noticeable surprise flashing in his eyes.
A second soul ring of a thousand years was absolutely top-tier among the freshmen.
Ultimately, Du Weilun just nodded without asking further questions and marked the roster accordingly. "Dormitory 106, here's the key."
"Thank you, teacher." Gu La took the key, his expression calm and unruffled, then turned and left, blending into the flow of new students heading to their dormitories.
The freshmen dormitory area of Shrek Academy carried an air of ancient hustle and bustle.
Gu La found Dormitory 106 according to the room number on the key. He pushed open the slightly worn wooden door but hadn't yet taken a good look at what would be his home for the next year when he was interrupted by an abrupt argument from the neighboring dormitory.
"Are you blind? Can't you see this is my spot?"
"Who says this is yours? First come, first served, ever heard of that?"
"Hmph, a country bumpkin like you thinks you can talk about rules with me?"
The voices grew closer, and soon the conflict spilled into the corridor. Gu La leaned casually against the doorframe of his own room, watching the spectacle unfold with amusement.
A blue-haired boy dressed plainly, with a handsome but stubborn face, stood face-to-face with another "boy" clad in fine clothes, whose delicate features bordered on being otherworldly. Now, however, her brows were furrowed, and the tension between them was palpable.
"Outside on the open ground, you dare?" Wang Dong lifted her chin defiantly.
"You think I'm afraid?!" Huo Yuhao shot back without hesitation.
The two charged down the stairs one after the other. At the entrance of the dormitory building, an elderly man with white hair and beard, wearing faded gray clothes, lay leisurely in a broken recliner basking in the sun. He paid no attention to the impending fight, his cloudy old eyes even carrying a hint of amusement as if watching a show.
Gu La's roommate, a youth who seemed serious but had a somewhat carefree gleam in his eyes, came over too. Watching the two below, who were already exchanging blows and raising dust, he smirked disdainfully, "Tsk tsk, they fight so ugly, what's there to watch?"
Gu La glanced at him sideways. "And you are?"
"Cao Jinxuan. And you?"
"Gu La." Gu La withdrew his gaze and turned his attention back to the scene downstairs.
Time Elapsing Clock? Interesting, but alas… far too immature for him. Not even as entertaining as watching a play.
The fight downstairs was devoid of any grace. Huo Yuhao, relying on the precise foresight granted by his Spirit Eye and sheer determination, managed to put Wang Dong at a disadvantage, leaving her battered and bruised.
Wang Dong was both shocked and furious, wanting to back out but unwilling to lose face, feeling utterly humiliated. She looked up and saw Gu La leaning against the doorway in the shadow of the corridor, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips.
To Wang Dong, that smile was dripping with mockery!
"What are you looking at!"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, Wang Dong's pent-up anger found an outlet. She pointed at Gu La and shouted furiously, "Never seen a fight before? Get lost!"
The smile on Gu La's face vanished.
Watching a proud young lady get humbled might be amusing, but being on the receiving end of such unwarranted rage only made him feel that this spoiled "young miss" deserved a lesson. A good beating might teach her some respect.
He straightened himself, calmly meeting Wang Dong's fury with a steady gaze. His voice, though not loud, reached everyone clearly downstairs: "Can't beat others, so you vent on passersby? What, want to spar with me now?"
"Why not?!"
Wang Dong, still seething, was provoked by Gu La's calm yet taunting tone and accepted without thinking.
Her soul power surged, and magnificent wings of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess instantly unfolded behind her.
The top-tier light attribute, coupled with breathtaking beauty, immediately drew everyone's attention. Even Mu En, lying in the recliner, let a glimmer of deep interest flash across his cloudy old eyes.
"Heh," Gu La chuckled openly, his contempt unmasked, "I thought your martial soul was a true dragon, but this? Let me show you what real light looks like!"
Before his words faded, an indescribable heat and brilliance enveloped the entire front of the dormitory. The light didn't come from outside but erupted directly from Gu La's body!
A towering angelic phantom clad in golden flames, wielding a sword of light, its features blurred but exuding a divine aura, appeared before Gu La.
It wasn't attached to Gu La's body but floated independently. This was Gu La's carefully crafted "detached martial soul" form.
The terrifying heat caused the ground to crack instantly, the air distorted, and nearby grass turned yellow in an instant.
The purity of that light and heat, like a tangible tide, instantly overshadowed the radiant light brought by the Radiant Butterfly Goddess.
"Detached martial soul?" Cao Jinxuan's eyes widened in astonishment.
"More or less."
Gu La responded offhandedly, his gaze locking onto Wang Dong, whose expression had subtly changed.
Beneath his feet, one yellow and two purple soul rings rose, their glow solid and stable, exerting a pressure far beyond that of an ordinary Soul Master, pressing down like a mountain.
Wang Dong felt her breath catch, as if standing at the edge of an erupting volcano. The soul power of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess became sluggish under this extreme light and heat. But pride wouldn't allow her to retreat.
"Wing Guillotine!" she cried, and the edges of her butterfly wings instantly transformed into sharp blades of light, slashing fiercely toward Gu La.
Gu La's eyes remained calm. The flame sword in the hand of the Sun Angel phantom simply raised lazily and tapped forward lightly.
Ping!
A crisp sound rang out. The tip of the flame sword struck precisely at the weakest core node of the force circulation of the Radiant Guillotine.
Wang Dong felt an overwhelming force mixed with scorching heat surge through her butterfly wings. Her body flew uncontrollably backward, landing awkwardly, her blood surging, and the glow of her butterfly wings dimmed visibly.
The Sun Angel phantom continued its movements, the flame sword tracing several simple yet profound trajectories, either blocking or lightly tapping. With every contact, Wang Dong felt her gathered strength easily dissolved and defeated, like waves crashing against a reef, futile.
In just a few breaths, Wang Dong was thrown off balance repeatedly, pushed back by a gentle yet irresistible force. She steadied herself clumsily, drenched in sweat, panting heavily, her pretty face flushed red.
Huo Yuhao watched in utter shock. For the first time, he realized that this new roommate of his, when angry, had quite a cute flushed face?
He quickly shook his head to dispel that strange thought.
Gu La willed the Sun Angel phantom to retract into his body in a streak of light, and the suffocating aura of light and heat disappeared along with it.
He brushed off nonexistent dust, his tone as matter-of-fact as if stating the obvious: "Without strength, don't spout nonsense. Out there, no one will indulge you."
"Wait!" Wang Dong had never suffered such humiliation. She stared fiercely at Gu La, her eyes burning with defiance. "It's not over yet!"
She took a deep breath, raised her right hand sharply, and a massive hammer, entirely black with intricate ancient patterns, materialized in her grasp. An oppressive, domineering, and terrifying aura capable of smashing mountains spread explosively!
The Hao Tian Hammer!
Mu En's cloudy eyes suddenly flashed with sharpness. Even Cao Jinxuan, who had shown little interest, unconsciously straightened up, his face full of astonishment.
"Oh? Twin martial souls?" Gu La raised an eyebrow, genuinely intrigued but still calm. "Alright, let's play a bit more."
Wang Dong gripped the massive Hao Tian Hammer tightly, her petite figure starkly contrasting with the heavy hammer.
She let out a cry and spun her body forcefully.
First strike, second strike, third strike... the force compounded with each rotation, the momentum rising steadily, and a muffled thunderous sound filled the air.
This was the Hao Tian Sect's ultimate technique—the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique!
Facing this ferocious attack that could terrify soul masters of the same level, a barely perceptible smirk played on Gu La's lips.
Too familiar. In his eyes, the trajectory of the hammer was clear, the nodes of force flow shining like beacons in the night.
The Sun Angel phantom reappeared, the flame sword not enlarged but instead condensed further.
Just as Wang Dong's momentum climbed to a critical point, where the old force had just ended and the new force was about to emerge, in that subtle instant—
Whoosh!
The flame sword darted like a snake's tongue, lightning-fast and striking at an extremely tricky angle.
The sword tip didn't clash directly with the hammerhead brimming with terrifying force but instead stabbed precisely at the connection between Wang Dong's wrist and the hammer handle—a point where force transmission was most unstable and fragile.
Puff!
A soft thud. Wang Dong felt her wrist go numb, a surge of scorching heat instantly invading her meridians. The wildly compounding force, like a burst balloon, collapsed spectacularly.
Her spinning body lost balance instantly, the massive Hao Tian Hammer flying out of her hands and smashing heavily onto the ground with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Wang Dong herself lost balance due to the backlash of force, staggering a few steps before plopping down on the ground.
She stared blankly at the deeply embedded Hao Tian Hammer not far away, then at her numb wrist, and finally looked up at the youth who had retracted the flame sword, his face still expressionless.
"No... impossible!" Wang Dong exclaimed, her voice trembling with disbelief and immense frustration.
Her prideful Hao Tian Hammer, her invincible Chaotic Wind technique... how could it be so easily dismantled by a single, effortless sword strike? He hadn't even used a soul skill!
Gu La glanced at Wang Dong sitting on the ground, her face pale with shock, and muttered a light yet crushing remark:
"There's nothing impossible."
With a wave of his hand, Gu La returned to the dormitory.
The brief conflict in the freshmen dormitory area of Shrek Academy was like a stone tossed into a lake; the ripples quickly dissipated.
Gu La returned to Dormitory 106, his gaze sweeping over the simple furnishings of the space he was destined to share. His brows imperceptibly furrowed.
He had too many secrets—his true strength, his origins, and the inspirations that needed handling at any moment—all making him intolerant of having a stranger around.
"Troublesome." He muttered quietly, barely exchanging a word with his newly acquainted roommate Cao Jinxuan, and promptly turned to leave the dormitory building.
He planned to find a hotel for a long-term stay. As for the accommodation fee? Finding a notorious "fat sheep" to rob the rich and help the poor was as easy for Gu La as picking a cabbage at the market.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, in Classroom 1 of the freshmen teaching building at Shrek Academy.
The air was filled with the unique nervous excitement of the new students.
Gu La sat near the back by the window, his expression calm, distinctly out of sync with the excited or anxious atmosphere around him.
When he saw Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong walk into the classroom one after the other, there was no surprise in his eyes.
The protagonist of the plane's fate was like a beacon in the dark night, naturally attracting beings similarly burdened with destiny or anomalies to gather around.
As for the concentration of fate, Huo Yuhao, the final struggle of the plane consciousness, probably equaled three of him, Gu La. Being assigned to Zhou Yi, the "devil teacher," in Class 1 was almost inevitable.
Heavy footsteps approached, and the classroom instantly fell silent.
Zhou Yi, dressed in a black outfit with a stern and rigid face, strode to the podium. Her sharp gaze swept across every corner of the room like a cold razor blade.
The formidable presence of a six-ringed Soul Emperor was unleashed without reserve, pressing down like an invisible boulder on the hearts of the new students, crushing the last whispers completely.
"My name is Zhou Yi, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next year." Her voice was cold and hard, devoid of warmth. "In my class, there is only one rule—obey! Absolute obedience! Those who can't do that can leave right now!"
She paused, her gaze scanning the room with scrutiny. "Yesterday, on the first day of school, there were fights in the dormitory area. Disrupting order, ignoring discipline! Now, all those involved in the fighting, stand up!"
Her command was like a thunderclap. Huo Yuhao hesitated, remembering that he had indeed fought with Wang Dong yesterday, and reluctantly stood up.
Wang Dong wore an expression of reluctance and defiance but, under Zhou Yi's icy glare, slowly rose to her feet.
The classroom was silent, all eyes focused on the two standing students.
However, Gu La remained seated firmly in his chair, his back straight, his gaze fixed ahead, as if Zhou Yi's words and the two standing students had nothing to do with him.
Huo Yuhao looked at Gu La in surprise, his eyes filled with confusion.
Wang Dong regretted standing up, then seeing Gu La's detached demeanor, her new and old grudges surged forth. She immediately pointed at Gu La and loudly reported:
"Teacher, and him too! He also fought yesterday, he had a match with me downstairs in the dormitory!"
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