Chapter 172: Just This Building

Soon, Chen Mobai arrived at the first stone platform.

Two students, a male and a female, responsible for welcoming new students, sat behind a long table. Seeing Chen Mobai approach, they immediately motioned for him to come over. Unlike Ma Xiaoming, they showed no discrimination. After confirming his admission certificate and identity, they assigned him a dormitory and processed his student ID.

"Alright, your information has been entered into the school system."

"The academy's library and classes both require your student ID. You can also transfer your student ID to your phone, as most places support electronic student IDs, except for the Martial Arts Hall."

"Only by swiping your student ID can you enter there. Furthermore, the cultivation techniques and secret manuals in the academy's library are freely accessible to students of this academy, but downloading them requires the appropriate permissions."

"Generally, those at the Qi Cultivation stage can only download content related to Qi Cultivation."

The senior student in charge of reception provided an example, and Chen Mobai nodded slightly, understanding her meaning.

"Alright, your counselor is… huh… it's Daoist Master Shaoyang…"

After the senior student entered Chen Mobai's information and checked the academy's assignment, she couldn't help but look surprised.

"Could there be a mistake? This Daoist Master has been in seclusion for ten years already."

The senior student refreshed the page again, confirmed there was no mistake, and then looked at Chen Mobai with a pitiful gaze.

"Excuse me, is there a problem with Daoist Master Shaoyang?"

"Not exactly, but he's been in seclusion for too long. If you're assigned to him, you likely won't see him for ten years. But don't worry, academy students can freely choose courses they are interested in. As long as you earn 10 credits by the end of the semester and don't fail any courses for three consecutive years, you won't be advised to withdraw from the academy."

Chen Mobai immediately seized the opportunity to ask which academy courses offered easy credits and how to earn enough credits in the shortest amount of time.

"That still depends on you. I shouldn't say too much."

This senior student, who had her hair tied in a ponytail and wore round-rimmed glasses, was quite delicate. She avoided answering Chen Mobai's question.

"Here, this is your student ID."

At that moment, the senior male student on the other side retrieved a newly refined, rectangular chest badge from a small engraving machine on the table.

Chen Mobai took it and discovered that it was actually a magical artifact.

"Keep it safe. Replacing it will cost 100 merit points."

After nodding lightly in thanks, Chen Mobai continued up the stairs with his backpack and soon arrived at the new student dormitory building. He walked in and, following the information provided by the senior student, found his dormitory.

On the third floor, 303!

Pushing open the door, Chen Mobai found that he was the first to arrive. This was a four-person room.

"This won't do."

At the new student reception platform, the senior male and female students had just sat down when they saw Chen Mobai walking back down.

"Oh, did you put your belongings away so quickly?"

"It's like this, does the school have any single rooms?"

Chen Mobai shook his head, then asked a question that made both of them exchange a look of dismay.

"There are some better double rooms. If you want a single room, you'd have to go to the teacher's dormitory building, but you certainly can't stay there."

The senior male student assumed Chen Mobai came from a wealthy family and wasn't used to dormitory living, so he informed him beforehand, dispelling his illusions.

"This won't do!"

Chen Mobai listened, couldn't help but shake his head again, and then asked another question that neither of them knew how to answer.

"Can new students rent off-campus housing?"

"Well, there's no rule against it, but the spiritual vein quality outside Mount Chicheng is definitely not as good as it is on campus. Are you sure you want to rent off-campus?"

He had too many secrets, and Chen Mobai had just joined the Divine Wood Sect in the Sky River Realm. He needed to frequently travel between the two realms during this period, so he definitely needed to live alone. However, the senior student had a point. Mount Chicheng was a fifth-grade spiritual vein. If he couldn't enjoy that benefit by living off-campus, it would indeed be putting the cart before the horse.

"The school has cultivation rooms, right?"

However, Chen Mobai quickly realized. The academy certainly wouldn't allow students to cultivate in their dormitories; there would clearly be specialized places for cultivation.

"Naturally, there are. From the lowest second-grade high-rank to the highest fourth-grade high-rank, these are provided free of charge to students and teachers of the corresponding realms."

"Are fifth-grade ones not provided?"

"A professor at the Daoist Master level needs to apply, and the Dean must sign off on it for access to a fifth-grade spiritual land."

After the senior student finished speaking, she realized she had said a bit too much. Such information was too premature for new students and completely unnecessary.

"If you truly want to live off-campus, you should inform your counselor and register it."

"But my counselor is in seclusion, and I don't have their contact information."

Chen Mobai shrugged helplessly, and the senior male and female students exchanged glances, acknowledging his point.

"Then I'll be going now."

Finally, Chen Mobai headed down the mountain with his backpack. He walked for about ten minutes in the direction Meng Huan'er had disappeared and indeed found a very modern small town. He asked a few people and quickly found a real estate agent.

"Young man, do you have any requirements for renting?"

"Quiet, preferably a detached house, with few people nearby."

"I understand, that means you're looking for a villa in a quiet area, but the rent might be a bit expensive."

The agent showed Chen Mobai several houses, but he wasn't satisfied with any of them.

"Do you have any mountain cave-dwelling villas? Ideally, only one within several hundred meters, but it must have electricity, water, and spiritual energy."

Chen Mobai further specified his requirements. The agent looked troubled.

"There are some, but these are mostly rented by reclusive masters who come to the Mount Chicheng range. The remaining ones are in less desirable locations."

"Take me to see them."

Half an hour later, he led Chen Mobai to a two-story wooden cabin nestled in a ravine.

"It's built against the mountain and by the water, but the lighting isn't very good."

The agent awkwardly led Chen Mobai inside to look around. There was a lot of dust, and not much furniture—only wooden beds, tables, and stools, with no appliances.

Chen Mobai looked up from the second-floor balcony and saw a luxuriously decorated wooden villa at the mountain's summit, commanding all the beauty and scenery of the area.

"That's the residence of the famous star Meng Huan'er. She often comes out to practice her singing in the morning. If you live here, young man, you can be woken up daily by the beautiful voice of this 'human nightingale.' That is this wooden cabin's biggest advantage."

The agent, facing this dilapidated wooden cabin, truly couldn't think of any other advantages. After using a cleaning spell to clear away the dust, he could only point to the mountain-top villa and say this.

Chen Mobai heard this, recalled the dream that had sparked in his mind the first time he heard Meng Huan'er's singing, and immediately made up his mind!

"This is the one!"