Chapter 35: Reporting In
“Hello elder sister, my name is Tang Wulin. I’m here to report,” Tang Wulin said politely.
Liu Yuxin was a bit surprised when she sized up the little boy in front of her. He looked to be about 11 or 12 years old, but he was actually a new student here to register. Since he definitely had an academy’s recommendation, this meant he was actually just nine years old!
Although he was young, he still had a very pretty appearance. That’s right. Liu Yuxin had to use ‘pretty’ to describe this boy’s appearance. He had large eyes and long eyelashes that even made her a bit jealous. In front of this pretty boy, she couldn’t help but be at a loss as her face cramped up a bit.
“Hello, my name is Liu Yuxin. I’m a first grader at the Eastsea Advanced Academy and I’m in charge of receiving new students this year. I’m your senior sister here. Come and fill out this form and afterwards, show me your recommendation letter from your elementary academy.”
Liu Yuxin passed a form to Tang Wulin.
Tang Wulin relaxed a bit in his heart as he took a furtive glance at the senior sister in front of him.
Liu Yuxin watched as Tang Wulin filled out the form, and couldn’t help but read out loud as he did so, “Tang Wulin. Nine years old. Graduated from Glorybound City’s Red Mountain Elementary Academy. Rank 11 plant system Soul Master. martial soul: Bluesilver Grass. Ah! Your martial soul is Bluesilver Grass?”
Tang Wulin nodded.
Liu Yuxin smiled sweetly, “To be able to reach rank 11 at your age with a martial soul like Bluesilver Grass, it truly isn’t easy at all.”
When he didn’t hear the usual disdain in this senior sister’s words, Tang Wulin’s gained a much more favorable impression of her. He scratched his head as he said, “Elder sister, you’ll even recognize a Soul Master who has Bluesilver Grass for a martial soul?”
Liu Yuxin smiled. “Of course! Of course our academy recognizes it, even if it is just an alright martial soul. Soul Masters have been developing for several tens of thousands of years all the way until now. The martial soul isn’t nearly as important as it was back in ancient times. You can definitely improve it with spirit souls and furthermore, you’ll discover that martial souls won’t be that significant in your upper years.
“More importantly is your soul power rank and your talent with mechas. Afterall, a mecha can turn a Soul Master with an ordinary martial soul into a powerhouse! So you must cultivate properly, little brother. In the future you can also just call me Senior Sister.”
“Thank you, Senior Sister.” Tang Wulin wholeheartedly thanked this pretty senior sister. Her words had dispelled much of the worries Tang Wulin had upon first arriving in such a large city.
Liu Yuxin looked over Tang Wulin’s recommendation letter before stamping it and handing it back to him along with a small metal placard.
“Wear this metal placard around your neck as it’s proof that you’ve been admitted to the academy when you get to the gates. You still need to go check-in and receive your supplies. Get on the bus behind me and we’ll take off for the academy once a few more students arrive.”
Tang Wulin thanked her once again and greeted the others as he walked over to the big bus.
An upper gradestudent from Eastsea Academy who stood beside Liu Yuxin gave Tang Wulin a glance as his mouth twitched. “Yuxin, what are you telling that bumpkin? He’s already carrying such a big burden with his martial soul being Bluesilver Grass. That’s a trash martial soul and it’s not like all Bluesilver Grass martial souls possess the lineage of our senior’s Bluesilver King.”
Liu Yuxin stared at him wide eyed. “You can’t discriminate against our junior brother. He’s only nine years old and he was able to cultivate his Bluesilver Grass to the realm of Soul Master. How would you know if that Bluesilver Grass carries the lineage of a the king or not? Don’t cheat those younger than you, haven’t you ever heard of that before? Who knows if our pretty junior brother will become a proud son of heaven in the future.”
Tang Wulin hadn’t heard those words, otherwise he would have viewed this senior sister even better.
The Eastsea Academy’s bus was exceptionally wide and could hold fifty people. There were already some on the bus. Some of them were his peers, while the others were adults. These were clearly parents who had come to accompany their children to report.
A trace of envy flashed through Tang Wulin’s eyes. Even if his willpower surpassed his peer, he was still just a nine year old child in the end! How could he not wish for his mother and father to accompany him here?
He sat on a seat by the window and peered through to observe the unfamiliar city as he tightly hugged his arms. This was where he was going to live from now on.
After finding the Eastsea Academy’s bus, most of his nervousness had been dispelled. In this strange new environment, however, he still felt as lost and helpless as he did before.
He still clearly remembered the meaningful and heartfelt words his father had told him before he left.
“Lin Lin, you must remember that in this world, the only person you can completely trust and rely on is yourself. No matter what kind of setbacks you encounter, or bad affairs you run into, you have to ask yourself if this was just because you weren’t powerful enough.”
When these words were spoken to a nine-year-old child, they had a shocking impact. After separating from his mother and father, he could only rely on himself now.
He lowered his head and peered down at the modest looking Heavy Silver Rings on his wrists. The rings originally had extra space which could have been used for his luggage. Instead, Mang Tian had him bring his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers in addition to the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers he was already bringing. With only one eighth of a cubic meter of space, there naturally wouldn’t be much room left after those four hammers.
Tang Wulin closed his eyes and rested. He went over the words of his father and his teacher once more and thought, ‘I can do it!’ Subconsciously, he had regained his confidence.
Tang Wulin quickly fell asleep in a dazed state. When the bus began making its way to the academy, Tang Wulin woke up and looked out the window.
The bus was already full. Everyone else was accompanied by their parents, leaving him the only one who was sitting alone.
He watched as the scenery outside of the window changed to stores that lined the streets. The bus was travelling amongst an endless stream of vehicles. Urgency and the scent of steel permeated the atmosphere. Everyone on the streets were bustling about. At the very least, it was countless times busier than the streets of Glorybound City.
A lofty building slid into view after the 20 minute long bus ride. In front of them was a high wall.
“We’ve arrived at the academy. Please get off the bus now, everybody.” A familiar voice came from the front, drawing Tang Wulin’s attention. It was Senior Sister Liu Yuxin who had been sitting all the way at the front. She greeted all of the students, along with their parents, who had come to report in.
When Tang Wulin hastily got off the bus, Liu Yuxin instantly recognized him as this junior brother of hers had left a profound impression upon her. “Ah that’s right. Tang Wulin, come with me in a moment.”
Chapter 36: Roommates
The wall in front of them was precisely a part of Eastsea Academy. Not too far off were the large stone academy gates which gave off an imposing feeling.
Eastsea Academy was a large academy which was actually comprised of both an intermediate academy and an advanced academy. Liu Yuxin was a student of the advanced academy.
One simply couldn’t assume that the intermediate academy and the advanced academy were just a single step apart from each other. In reality, the two had a myriad of differences between one another.
The intermediate academy still fell under a compulsory education, so it didn’t require any tuition fees. Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master academy and the intermediate academy took up two thirds of the total area. On the other hand, the advanced academy, which only took up one third of the area, was still the most important part of the academy.
As long as one was a Soul Master and resided within the greater area of Eastsea City, or had a recommendation letter, one would be able to enter the intermediate academy and receive a Soul Master’s education. They would study at the intermediate academy for six years. After graduating, students would then be able to take the entrance exam to enter an advanced Soul Master academy, but no more than a tenth of the applicants pass.
Advanced academies weren’t part of the compulsory education, so a series of rigorous exams would be used to test the applicants. Anyone who was accepted into an advanced academy would definitely be considered an elite.
If it was said that elementary academies taught the basic Soul Master and martial soul knowledge, then intermediate academies taught students how to use this knowledge and the direction in which they take to cultivate their martial souls. Their studies still wouldn’t truly begin until they entered an advanced academy.
Tang Wulin passed through the gates and began walking on a wide, tree-lined road that cut through a courtyard. The road was paved with limestone, which gave it a simple and unadorned appearance.
Liu Yuxin smiled. “For the sake of everyone’s safety, the academy doesn’t allow the use of vehicles within its grounds. If any vehicles enter campus grounds, they will have to immediately head off to the side and enter the underground parking lot. The advanced academy division is on the west side, while the rest of the campus is part of the intermediate academy.”
Thanks to this senior sister’s introductions, Tang Wulin quickly understood that the academy wasn’t as simple as he had first thought.
The intermediate academy’s school building was located on the east side of the campus grounds. It was a massive building with twelve floors in total. The upperclassmen would be in the higher floors while the newer students would be on the lower floors. Being a first graderstudent himself, Tang Wulin would be attending classes on the first and second floors.
“Those are the administrative offices over there. Go on over and report in. Your dormitory should be behind the school building. If you need anything in the future, come over to the advanced academy and find me. I’m a first grader in class one of the advanced academy.”
“Thank you Senior Sister.”
As she looked at the junior brother who had thanked her countless times, Liu Yuxin couldn’t help but giggle and smile. “No need to be so restrained. The atmosphere in the academy is very good. I wish you good luck. You’ll be assigned a class once you’re done reporting, then you’ll be tested. You’ll gain some benefits if you do well in these tests.”
Tang Wulin’s eyes followed the departing figure of Liu Yuxin until he couldn’t see her anymore. It was only then that he entered the administration building.
Thanks to the recommendation as well as the metal placard Liu Yuxin had given him, the enrollment procedures were completed without a hitch.
Two sets of the school uniform were provided free of charge, as well as a dormitory key. He wouldn’t receive any learning materials until his first class.
He had been assigned to class five of the first graders. From now on, he was a new student at Eastsea Academy.
Tang Wulin greeted everyone as he walked past the school building. He soon arrived at the dormitory, which was nearly as tall as the school building as it also contained twelve floors. His dorm room was on the second floor, room number 205.
The corridor was noisy and in disarray as countless new students were reporting in during these last few days. The noise also wasn’t limited to just the new students; parents who accompanied their children were also contributing to the chaos.
After some difficulties, Tang Wulin was able to find his dorm room. The door was already open and there was already someone inside.
Inside of the room were two bunk beds, enough to accommodate four people. In addition, there were two square desks, four chairs, two cabinets and a roof lamp. This was the entirety of the room’s features.
The two bottom bunks were already occupied and the occupants cast their gazes towards Tang Wulin as he walked into the room.
The one on the bottom left bunk was even taller than Tang Wulin. He was at least half a head taller than Tang Wulin in addition to having a thicker build. He had short hair and eyes that bulged outwards somewhat. Even at such a young age, he had an air of ferocity around him.
The student on the right side was thinner and weaker looking in comparison. His young nose was already supporting a pair of glasses, giving him a scholarly appearance. In fact, he was even holding a book at that moment.
“Hello, my name is Tang Wulin. I have just arrived.” Tang Wulin looked at the two occupants on the left and right bottom bunks, acknowledging them as he introduced himself.
The frail looking student nodded and said, “My name is Yun Xiao. The Yun(云) from cloud(云彩) and the Xiao(小) from big and small (大小).”
Tang Wulin smiled as he nodded in acknowledgement. The tall student on the other side rolled his eyes and said, “Newcomer, clean the room first.”
Tang Wulin was a newcomer so he was unclear about the current situation and could only nod. “Oh.”
There was a broom in the corner and a cleaning rag along with a washbowl on the table. He took the bowl and went out to fill it up with water.
Yun Xiao shot a glance at that tall student. “Zhou Zhangxi, what are you pretending for?
Zhou Zhangxi mischievously laughed and got off from the bed. “You’re the mastermind, so you won’t interfere. I don’t like how pretty that newcomer looks, so if we’re going to be staying in the same room from now on, I need to give him a show of strength. These chores are his to do now. As long as I tell him to do it, he’ll go do it. He’s clearly a soft egg. If I don’t bully someone like him, then who else would I bully?”
Yun Xiao sighed. “Be careful so you aren’t met with retribution.”
Zhou Zhangxi snorted in disdain. “By him?” As he said this, he grabbed the things Tang Wulin had put on the top bunk.
He unzipped the cloth bag and shook all the things within it onto the floor. There was some plain clothing, some goods for personal use and a quilt scattered all over the floor.
Yun Xiao stared blankly at him. “You’re crossing the line here!”
Zhou Zhangxi laughed, “Look, look! What are these toys? Could that brat be a beggar? This blanket even has a flower stitched into it. How ridiculous.”
At that moment, Tang Wulin returned with the washbowl.
He was shocked the moment he entered the room. The floor was scattered with his things and Zhou Zhangxi was holding his bag.
His blanket, clothes and personal goods were all over the floor. Even the two uniforms were on the floor.
The floor was dusty and clearly, his things had already been covered in dust.
“What are you doing!?” Tang Wulin put down the washbowl and furiously asked.
Zhou Zhangxi curled up his lips. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just looking at what a bumpkin like you brought here.”
“Pick it up!” Tang Wulin’s voice had already turned cold.
Zhou Zhangxi raised an eyebrow with narrowed eyes, making him look even more fierce. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Pick it up!” Tang Wulin’s voice was almost sinister now.
Zhou Zhangxi frowned as he stared at Tang Wulin. He stepped on the blanket, forcefully rubbing it into the floor. The place he stepped on was precisely the flower design that was stitched into the blanket.
Dumfounded, Tang Wulin could only mumble, “That was embroidered by my little sister…”
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment