The tall walls belonged to Donghai Academy. Not far ahead stood the school's entrance—a towering stone archway built from massive slabs of rock, exuding an air of solemn grandeur.
Donghai Academy was a large-scale soul master institution, offering both intermediate and advanced-level education. As such, it was divided into two departments: the Intermediate Division and the Advanced Division. Liu Yuxin was a student from the Advanced Division.
But don't be misled—"intermediate" and "advanced" weren't just a step apart; the gap between them was truly immense.
The Intermediate Academy was part of the nation's compulsory education system and charged no tuition. Donghai Academy, being a soul master academy, dedicated two-thirds of its campus to this Intermediate Division. However, its true core lay in the Advanced Division, which occupied the remaining one-third.
As long as you had a recommendation letter from a junior academy within Donghai City or its surrounding towns, you could enroll in the Intermediate Division for six years of soul master training. But by the time graduation rolled around in sixth year, less than ten percent of students would make it into the Advanced Division.
The Advanced Academy wasn't free—it required rigorous exams to enter. Those who passed were the true elites.
If the Junior Academy focused on the fundamentals of martial souls and soul master knowledge, then the Intermediate Division taught how to apply that knowledge—how to use your martial soul, how to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and how to define your future. Only the Advanced Division was considered true advanced education.
As they entered the campus, lush trees lined the path. A wide road extended left and right, while the stone path ahead was paved with blue-grey slate, giving the area a sense of old-world charm.
With Liu Yuxin's introductions along the way, Nan Fusheng quickly developed a rough understanding of the academy.
The Intermediate Division's main teaching building stood on the east side of the campus—an impressive 12-story tower. The higher your grade, the higher your classroom floor. As a new student, Nan Fusheng would be assigned to either the first or second floor.
"That's the Academic Affairs Office," Liu Yuxin said, pointing. "You can report in there. Your dormitory is just behind the teaching building."
After providing that final bit of guidance, Liu Yuxin left.
Nan Fusheng chose to wait a bit, letting the others finish their registration before walking into the office himself.
Using the metal badge Liu Yuxin had given him and the recommendation letter from Hongshan Academy, he completed the enrollment process smoothly.
He received:
Two sets of free uniforms
A dormitory key
The learning materials would be distributed once classes officially started.
Nan Fusheng was assigned to Class 5 of Grade 1. From this moment onward, he was officially a first-year student in the Intermediate Division of Donghai Academy.
Carrying his luggage, Nan Fusheng made his way around the teaching building and arrived at the dormitory. The building was just as tall—12 stories. His room was on the second floor, labeled Room 205.
The hallways were crowded and chaotic. It was registration week, and the building was filled with students and their parents, noisy and bustling.
After some searching, Nan Fusheng finally found Room 205, and the door was already open. Someone was inside.
The dorm had two bunk beds, enough for four students. Two rectangular desks, four chairs, two wardrobes, and a ceiling light—that was all.
What surprised him was that all three of his roommates were already present. As soon as he entered, a sturdy-looking boy walked up to him with a grin.
"Looks like you're our fourth roommate. Perfect timing—we're cleaning up the room. Want to lend a hand?"
"Sure." Nan Fusheng nodded and joined them.
The room wasn't especially dirty, and with four of them working together, they had it spotless in no time.
During the cleanup, they quickly grew more familiar with one another.
"I'll start with introductions," said the burly boy. "Name's Wang Ba, martial soul is Battle Tiger, Rank 11 Battle-Type Soul Master."
"Yun Feng, martial soul is Dagger, Rank 11 Battle-Type Soul Master."
"Zhao Xiao, martial soul is Mountain Goat, Rank 11 Battle-Type Soul Master."
"Nan Fusheng, martial soul is Worm of Time, Rank 13 Battle-Type Soul Master."
Hearing Nan Fusheng's soul power level, the other three were surprised.
"Wow, Fusheng! You're already Rank 13? Looks like you're the most qualified to be our dorm leader!" Wang Ba laughed.
"Haha, Wang Ba, don't tease. We're all classmates—no need for dorm leaders. Let's just get along," Nan Fusheng replied, laughing too.
With the joking aside, the four became even more at ease with one another. Nan Fusheng was relieved. After all, he had no interest in carrying on the Douluo tradition of fighting his roommates on the first day.
He chose a lower bunk and began organizing his belongings. After settling in, he went straight to the cafeteria for a meal, then returned to the dorm to cultivate.
Wang Ba and the others observed his schedule and quietly admired him.
No wonder his soul power's higher than ours—he's this disciplined!
Their initial thoughts of fooling around and being lazy quickly faded. Influenced by Nan Fusheng's example, they also got onto their bunks and started cultivating.
What they didn't notice was that, as they began their meditation, a faint, ghostly insect emerged atop each of their martial souls.
It slowly and silently drew their soul power away.
This was Nan Fusheng's first soul skill: Parasitism—a technique that allowed him to absorb others' soul power to accelerate his cultivation.
He used shallow parasitism, and with the Worm of Time altering their sensory perception, the others felt nothing unusual. Even if an outsider were to inspect them now, they'd only see four hardworking students cultivating diligently.
Nan Fusheng didn't take too much, just half of their cultivation output.
The stolen energy passed through the soul spirit filter before being absorbed by him.
As for why Wang Ba and the others suddenly felt motivated to cultivate? That, too, was because of Nan Fusheng's subconscious manipulation via parasitism.
The soul spirit itself had extremely faint spiritual fluctuations, and since Nan Fusheng had fully overtaken its consciousness, he could suppress its signature completely when using abilities.
"This is for their good," Nan Fusheng rationalized. "They're already in the Intermediate Academy. How can they afford not to work hard?"
As for the soul power he was taking, he considered that fair compensation.
And so the days began: the four would eat together, cultivate after meals, and rest properly. After all, even though meditation can partially replace sleep, Wang Ba and the others weren't yet capable of long-term, continuous meditation.
After their rest, they ate breakfast and continued cultivating.
Until suddenly, Nan Fusheng was interrupted by a loud bang followed by a voice shouting:
Why are you city folks always so bad?!