Musu Junior Soul Master Academy!
Ma Hongjun, wearing a dark red robe, walked in.
Today was the day for new students to enroll, and the faces coming and going were all young, mostly accompanied by elders.
The lonely Ma Hongjun seemed somewhat out of place; his precocious appearance made him look unlike a six-year-old.
Ma Hongjun touched the jade ring hanging on his chest, took out a certificate issued by the Spirit Hall, and handed it to the gatekeeper.
This ring was Ma Ming's storage soul tool; because it was too big to wear on his wrist, he hung it around his neck.
After returning home yesterday, Ma Ming woke up and, upon learning of his injuries, was also stunned for a moment, but he didn't show any sadness in front of Ma Hongjun.
He gave the ring soul tool to Ma Hongjun, instead comforting him not to worry about him, to study hard at the Soul Master Academy, and to become a powerful Soul Master in the future.
Ma Hongjun still remembered what his father had said to him last night.
"Don't feel burdened, son. Your well-being is my greatest wish. Actually, this is good. I've been so busy with the Soul Hunter Team all these years that I haven't had a chance to spend much time with your mother. Now I can be with her every day, and she'll need to take care of me every day, haha, I'm just afraid she'll get annoyed with me!"
His mother was standing outside the door, but she couldn't smile; tears welled in her eyes.
Ma Hongjun actually envied his parents; their relationship was truly pure and touching.
Soul Masters rarely choose to marry ordinary people, as it feels like there's a gap between the mortal and immortal realms. Ma Ming chose the ordinary Li Hui without hesitation, partly because of her beauty and virtue, but also because of their deep love.
Marrying a Soul Master also brought pressure to Li Hui; it was a union of two social classes. Some envied, some were jealous, and some didn't approve.
Even though they were together, they couldn't avoid the gaze and pressure from the outside world. Even if they ignored it, there were still some unspeakable knots in their hearts—that's reality, unavoidable.
Now that Ma Ming was also an ordinary person, the two of them had let go of their resentment.
Ma Ming told Ma Hongjun not to be sad. If Ma Hongjun were to sink into a low mood because of him, then his injury would have been in vain, and he would only feel bad about it.
After all, parents all want their children to be healthy and happy!
"Here you go, you can go in!"
After the gatekeeper finished checking, he handed the certificate back to Ma Hongjun, who then came to his senses and took it with both hands!
Then he walked into the academy with a smile!
There were no obstacles. Registration had started yesterday, and there were fewer people today, saving him from queuing. Everything went smoothly, and Ma Hongjun arrived at his dormitory building.
Basically, the conditions at the junior soul master academy weren't very good, and since there weren't many people who could become soul masters, the entire academy only had one seven-story dormitory building, and everyone lived there.
Freshmen lived on the first floor, in seven dorm rooms. Ma Hongjun lived in Dormitory 1.
From Dormitory 1 to Dormitory 7, the number of people gradually increased, and the conditions gradually became more basic, due to the registration fee.
Ma Hongjun paid a registration fee of one gold soul coin, making him a rich second-generation in the academy, given that his father was a Great Soul Master. Many other students, however, had ordinary parents or were just average Soul Masters—after all, it was a small town.
Dormitory 7 at the back was for work-study students, the poorest students who didn't have to pay tuition and received subsidies; their conditions were the worst.
Tang San in Notting City was probably currently fighting with Xiao Wu in Dormitory 7 of the Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.
The door to Dormitory 1 was open, and a noisy commotion came from inside. Ma Hongjun went in.
The room was spacious, about 300 square meters, with ten beds and a large open space for movement. Unpacked luggage was scattered in the corner.
The beds were on either side, with ten small tables and chairs in the middle, presumably for studying.
Nine people were huddled together arguing, looking ready to fight at any moment.
"What are you talking about? It's so noisy!"
Ma Hongjun called out loudly, interrupting their discussion.
"Who are you?!"
"This is Dormitory One, you've come to the wrong place."
"Are you a senior student?!"
"We're choosing a dormitory leader."
...
With everyone talking at once, Ma Hongjun finally understood the gist of it. It was another dormitory leader election. It seemed that dormitory leaders weren't necessary in Douluo Continent; it was more like a social game.
"Oh, so we're choosing a leader. No wonder the discussion is so heated.
My name is Ma Hongjun, a freshman this year, also from Dormitory One.
Why didn't you wait for me to arrive before you started choosing a leader? It's pointless if you choose without me!
Besides, when did you start choosing a leader with words? Shouldn't you use this?"
Ma Hongjun raised his fist, the size of a sandbag, at the nine people.
"Ma Hongjun, you're so arrogant!"
"I thought you were someone special, turns out you're just a freshman like us."
"Why should we wait for you to choose a leader?!"
"Yeah, why should we wait for you? Just because you're tall doesn't mean you're all that great!"
"Being tall doesn't mean being strong. Since you said you'd choose a leader based on strength, I agree. Let's have a contest, and whoever is the strongest will be the leader."
…
"Stop!"
"A bunch of brats, you talk too much. Come here, all of you. Whoever can beat me—no, just beat me—I'll make them the leader!"
Ma Hongjun walked into the spacious activity area and said to the nine boys.
"That's too much!"
"That's outrageous!"
"Brothers, go!"
"Beat them!"
…
A minute later, the nine boys lay on the ground, grimacing and howling.
"Shut up!"
The world fell silent. Ma Hongjun took out the bedding his mother had prepared for him from his ring. It still had a fresh scent.
Seeing Ma Hongjun produce the bedding out of thin air, the boys were all astonished. Some were surprised because they knew how valuable spatial storage soul tools were, while others were amazed because they didn't know. Looking
at the beds, the only empty bed was next to a pile of garbage, and in a rather undesirable location.
Ma Hongjun shook his head, indicating his dissatisfaction. He re-examined all the beds, chose a satisfactory spot, and tossed the rolled-up bedding onto the empty bed.
The child lying on the floor looked at him, too afraid to speak. One of them tried to stand up.
"That's mine..." He
only got halfway through his sentence before Ma Hongjun turned his head, startling him into swallowing his words.
Tears welled up in his eyes, but he dared not utter a sound, like a child who had suffered a great injustice.
Oh, he was just a child.
Ma Hongjun was suddenly taken aback.
"Wouldn't this count as bullying a child!"
Ma Hongjun finished making the bedding, then turned to look at the nine children, who all looked aggrieved.
Ma Hongjun couldn't help but want to laugh, thinking to himself that although they would become Soul Masters in the future, they were still children for now.
"From now on, what will you call me?!"
"Boss!"
"Louder!"
"Boss!"
"Get up, all of you, stop pretending to be dead. Now that I'm your boss, I won't treat you badly.
Come on, I'll take you to eat something good!"
"Boss, I can't get up!"
"It really hurts, Boss!"
...
The cafeteria hadn't opened yet, and the food there was generally not very good. As the newly appointed boss, Ma Hongjun naturally wouldn't be stingy. He led his nine underlings to the restaurant near the academy gate.
With a slap of his hand, he slammed a gold soul coin onto the counter, saying, "Today it's on me. This is the deposit; any overpayment will be refunded, and any underpayment will be collected!"
One gold soul coin was enough for an ordinary family to live on for a year. Even after becoming a Soul Master, he only received a monthly subsidy of one gold soul coin, equivalent to Ma Hongjun's monthly salary.
"Wow!"
"Gold soul coins!"
"Boss has gold soul coins!"
"It's just a meal, and he's using gold soul coins!"
...
These underlings are such a disgrace to him!
Most of them earned their tuition of one gold soul coin through family savings; their living expenses were mostly in copper soul coins, with the highest being silver soul coins. Nobody had a gold soul coin.
Even the pretty receptionist was surprised. This kid was so young, yet he had gold soul coins, and it seemed like he had more than one—he was practically a real-life rich kid. She couldn't help but wink at Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun ignored the receptionist's advances. He wasn't a child—or rather, his mind wasn't—so he could resist temptation.
The main reason was that this girl wasn't stunning enough.
Thinking back to his past life, he and his gang frequented various entertainment venues; nightclubs were their paradise. He'd been with hundreds, if not thousands, of women, so his standards were naturally high.
They chose a private room, and the group sat down, flipping through the menu for a long time, but none of them dared to order anything; they were all staring at the prices.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up, order whatever you want!"
Ma Hongjun scolded. These underlings were embarrassing him; they all lived in Dormitory 1. If they lived in Dormitory 7, they probably wouldn't even be able to hold the menu properly.
"Boss, it's too expensive. The cheapest is 100 copper soul coins."
"Order!"
"Then boss, I'll have this stir-fried greens, it's only 100 copper soul coins."
"Order!"
"Boss, I'll have pork stew with vermicelli, it's 500 copper soul coins!"
"Order!"
"Boss, I'll have braised rabbit, it's a bit more expensive, 1 silver soul coin!"
"Order!"
"Boss, I want spicy rabbit head, one silver soul coin!"
"Order!"
"Boss, I want steamed tiger meat, ten silver soul coins!"
"Order!"
...
"Then boss, I'll add a honey-glazed bear paw!"
"Boss, I'll also add a fried bee larvae!"
"Boss, I'll also add a roasted lamb leg!"
"Order!"
"Order!"
"Order!"
...
The nine underlings, starting with the first tentative order, gradually loosened up, each ordering more and more, becoming increasingly excited, ordering everything they had wanted to eat but couldn't get before.
In the end, they had basically ordered the entire menu, some even ordering more than one plate.
Tsk tsk, these were the underlings who were initially too afraid to order, Ma Hongjun's face turned green.
However, they called him "boss" more and more naturally, and it sounded more and more natural!
This made Ma Hongjun very comfortable!