Chapter 26: Enrollment

A few days later.

Monday, September 3rd.

Today marks the start of the new academic year at the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy. The original start date was set for September 1st, but since that fell on a Saturday, it was postponed to Monday.

"I just got back yesterday and now I have to be in school today. What kind of life is this!" Xu Zhao muttered to himself, stepping out of the private car and glaring at the imposing gate of the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy's Elementary Division.

On the Douluo Continent, soul master academies are divided into three levels: elementary, intermediate, and advanced. This system has evolved over ten thousand years and is now vastly different from ancient times. Looking back at history, ten thousand years ago, an elementary soul master academy followed a six-year system. Those who awakened with innate soul power would enroll at age six and graduate at twelve. Intermediate and advanced academies had no fixed duration; once a student broke through to become a first-ring soul master before age twelve, they met the minimum requirement for an intermediate academy. Breaking through to level 25 soul power before age eighteen qualified one for an advanced academy, and graduating as a three-ring soul elder before age twenty-five marked the completion of one's studies.

Ten thousand years have passed. The current system, with the exception of Shrek Academy, has been standardized and reformed under the Douluo Federation Constitution. Elementary soul master academies are now three-year programs. Any citizen of the Douluo Federation who awakens soul power is guaranteed enrollment, starting at age six and graduating at nine. Before graduation, achieving the rank of a first-ring soul master grants the student a letter of recommendation for a designated intermediate academy.

Intermediate soul master academies are six-year programs, spanning from age nine to fifteen. To qualify for an advanced academy, one must break through to become a three-ring soul elder before graduation. Mecha pilots follow a different set of standards.

Advanced soul master academies are nine-year programs, from age fifteen to twenty-four. While mecha pilot graduation criteria are calculated separately, soul masters must break through to become four-ring soul ancestors before age twenty-four to earn their diploma.

To Xu Zhao, this system feels remarkably similar to the educational structure of his previous life: Elementary school equates to junior high, intermediate school to high school, and advanced school to university. The minimum entrance requirement for an intermediate academy is akin to the minimum passing grade for high school entrance exams, and the requirement for an advanced academy mirrors the cutoff for university admissions. As for the graduation standard of an advanced academy, it feels just like university: completing all credits, passing grades, successfully defending a thesis, and—in this case—passing the equivalent of a Level 4 English proficiency test.

The Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy is a premier institution encompassing all three levels. While there are many such schools across the Douluo Federation, only a handful can be considered top-tier. Shrek Academy, the continent's finest, is not among them—not because it lacks an elementary division, but because Shrek operates outside the jurisdiction of federal law. All academies under federal governance offer tuition waivers and scholarships to high-talent students. Unlike Shrek, where even the most gifted student must work as a "work-study student" if they cannot afford tuition, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy—the second-oldest institution in the Federation and the finest in Mingdu—provides a different environment.

The threshold for the elementary division alone is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Consequently, attending this academy is a status symbol in Mingdu. The student body is composed entirely of the wealthy and the elite. Here, "wealthy" refers not to money, but to family lineage, and "elite" refers not to status, but to natural talent. Thus, the academy itself has become a complex social web.

...

Xu Zhao walked into the Elementary Division and headed toward his classroom. Like other academies, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Master Academy sorts students by talent. However, beyond the standard numbered classes, they have established two elite tracks: the Sun Class and the Moon Class. Named after the sun and moon, the Sun Class ranks above the Moon Class. Together, these two classes hold seventy-two spots. Among students of the same grade, the top seventy-two in comprehensive talent are selected: the top thirty-six enter the Sun Class, and the subsequent thirty-six enter the Moon Class.

The criteria for comprehensive talent are twofold: the level of innate soul power and the grade of one's martial soul. By combining these, the top seventy-two are admitted. Xu Zhao’s displayed talent—both his mutated body martial soul, the "Sun-Moon Pupils," and his innate full soul power—would each individually guarantee him a spot in the top thirty-six. Naturally, he belongs to the elite Sun Class.

As one of the two elite classes, the Sun Class does not share a building with ordinary classes. Instead, it occupies a larger, more luxurious independent building alongside the Moon Class. The building has six floors: the first and second floors for the first grade, the third and fourth for the second, and the fifth and sixth for the third. Odd-numbered floors house the Moon Class, while even-numbered floors house the Sun Class. As a first-year student, Xu Zhao’s classroom is on the second floor.

When he entered the room, a middle-aged man was already standing at the podium—presumably the homeroom teacher.

"It's him," Xu Zhao thought, catching a clear look at the man’s face as he walked in. "The Dean of the Advanced Division? Why is he here at the Elementary Division?"

Before enrolling, his family had shown him holographic images of the academy's senior leadership, so he recognized the man instantly. Zhang Xuanfeng, a level 95 Titled Douluo, a three-word battle armor master, and a top-tier mecha pilot, who had served as the Dean of the Advanced Division for ten years.

"Is it because this generation of elementary students has produced several geniuses with exceptional talent?" Xu Zhao wondered, walking straight to a seat near the back.

Soon, students trickled in, and within moments, all thirty-six were present. The classroom was spacious, with far more than thirty-six seats, but everyone tacitly chose the back rows. If the homeroom teacher were a beauty, the situation might have been different.

"Huh?" Xu Zhao scanned the room and noticed someone was missing. He leaned toward his seatmate, Xu Yucheng, and whispered, "Where is the person from the Ye family?"

"Boss, you mean Ye Xinglan?" Xu Yucheng paused, realizing whom he meant, then whispered back, "According to the gossip I've heard, she seems to have caught the eye of an Elder from the Sea God's Pavilion at Shrek Academy. She was specially recruited into Shrek’s inner court ahead of schedule. Accompanying her is that little chubby kid from another branch of the Xu family—what was his name... Xu Lizhi, I think."