Outside the gate.
It was finally Su Yu's turn to enter. He stepped through the gate, officially entering the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy. Towering trees dotted the landscape while colorful flowers could be seen all around the streets. The entire academy was akin to a garden. And in the middle of all that nature, small animals could be seen freely frolicking around. Not far away, some man made lakes could be seen, decorated by elegant lotuses.
"How beautiful!"
Liu Ke exclaimed. The others nodded in agreement. The main campus was truly beautiful. The oppressive atmosphere from before couldn't be felt anymore. Zhou Hui was already used to this environment so she felt nothing.
After giving the new students some time to look around, Zhou Hui said, "Let's go to the Registration Office. You have plenty of time to enjoy this view in the future."
...
A few minutes later, they arrived at the arrival hall.
They still needed to line up.
But this time, 10 counters had been opened for the registration. Thus, the process was rather quick. After about 10 minutes, it was their turn to register.
"Liu Ke...high-tier. Are you staying in the Mental Tempering Garden?"
The person on the counter was an instructor instead of a researcher. The instructor asked, "If you're staying in the Mental Tempering Garden, you need to pay either 50,000 dollars or 1 merit point as the fee."
"I'm staying there." Liu Ke hurriedly nodded. She had heard about the normal dormitory from Zhou Hui. There, she would have to stay with seven other students. It was too crowded for her liking.
She added, "I'm paying in cash, not merit points."
"Ok. 67,000 dollars in total."
After swiping her card, the registration was completed. The entire process did not take long. In the blink of an eye, 67,000 dollars were spent.
Su Yu was in a gloomy mood as he cursed at the academy for being so greedy. What should he choose?
Next, it was his turn. When he submitted his acceptance letter, the instructor checked his profile before looking up in surprise, "Su Yu?"
"Here."
"So you're Su Yu." The instructor smiled, "You're quite famous around here. The Mental Tempering Garden is split into several zones as well. So which zone do you prefer? The common zone or high-level zone?"
...
Su Yu was speechless. Why wasn't the instructor asking if he wanted to stay in the Mental Tempering Garden or not?
But his interest was piqued so he asked, "Teacher, is there a difference?"
"Yes. The common zone is basically a zone of apartment blocks. Each unit is small, but you can still get a unit for yourself. However, you will be surrounded by neighbors. In the high-level zone, you will get an independent villa for yourself. The environment is good and it's suitable for cultivation.
/p>
"There's also the special zone. You can get an independent villa there too, but the source qi density there is far higher.
"For the common zone, you need to pay 1 merit point per year. For the high-level zone, it's 10 merit points per year. The special zone is even more expensive, at 100 merit points per year.
"I suggest you pick the high-level zone. The special zone will put too much pressure on you while the common zone is not too good. As a high-high student, you will get 3 merit points per month from the academy. A fee of 10 merit points per year is really not that expensive for you.
"Not everyone will be given this offer. I'm only asking you because you're a high-high student. Those lower-tier students won't be able to go further than the common zone even if they have the merit points. To enter the high-level and special zones, you need enough total earned merit."
Su Yu felt helpless. He did not have enough money. Or to be precise, he lacked merit points. He had spent all the merit points he had earned previously while the points he had earned on the way had yet to be transferred to him.
"Teacher, I'll be staying in the ordinary dorm."
"Huh?" The instructor looked at Su Yu in astonishment and said, "Kid, don't be too stingy or you'll regret it."
Su Yu helplessly said, "I don't have merit points..."
"Don't worry. I checked. You just received a credit of 42 merit points earlier. I wouldn't have asked otherwise."
...
Su Yu did not know whether to laugh or cry. So it turned out this instructor could see the balance of his merit points. No wonder he was offered the high-level and special zones immediately.
It would seem like the academy had already processed his rewards. They were quite efficient with their work.
Su Yu heaved a breath of relief. With some merit points in pocket, he would no longer feel as stressed. After giving it some thought, he said, "I'll pick the common zone."
He could still afford one merit point. As for the high-level zone, that was too expensive for him. After all, he really didn't want to stay at the regular dorm. There were too many people there for him to cultivate in peace. He could also easily expose himself when consuming blood essence for cultivation there.
"I still suggest that you stay in the high-level zone..."
Despite saying so, the instructor still completed the registration process for him. After completing the paperwork, he said, "Go pick up your books and uniform in the afternoon. You will be given more instructions in regard to that at the dorm."
"Thank you, teacher."
After thanking the instructor, Su Yu was given a key.
...
When Su Yu returned to the group, Zhou Hui asked, "Are you staying in the Mental Tempering Garden?"
"Yeah."
"Great. I'm staying there too." Zhou Hui smiled, "My mission is now over. You and Liu Ke can come with me. We'll be going the same way."
Su Yu had been worried about getting lost. Therefore, he was relieved to hear the offer.
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
"Don't worry about it."
Zhou Hui was no longer concerned about the other students who were still waiting in line. They would receive their accommodation after completing the registration process. She had already told them about the location of the dorms on their way here, so she didn't need to worry about them anymore.
Dragging two large suitcases with her, Liu Ke walked alongside them. While walking, she looked at Su Yu curiously and asked, "Student Su Yu, did you receive merit points from your family earlier?"
She had overheard that Su Yu had received 42 merit points earlier today. He was so rich! Of course, as a high-tier student, she didn't really lack merit points either. She was merely curious since Su Yu was from Nanyuan. She had heard that he came from an ordinary family. How did he get so many merit points?
Su Yu smiled and answered, "Yeah. My father transferred the points to me."
"Uncle Su is so generous." Liu Ke said enviously, "Before I left, my father told me to rely on myself and only gave me 30 merit points."
Su Yu had nothing to say. Was everyone here so rich? Why did it feel like they could easily throw dozens of merit points out at will?
But that was understandable. Their daughter was leaving home and coming to an academy alone. It wasn't cheap to study in the academy and her family would naturally support her the best they could. Even Chen Hao had secretly told Su Yu that his father had given him over 20 merit points before leaving Nanyuan.
They conversed while walking and before long, a garden neighborhood appeared before them. Some guards could be seen around the entrance. Even from the outside, they could see the towering trees in the neighborhood.
Zhou Hui introduced, "The Mental Tempering Garden is very big, but only students below 30 can stay here. New students can enter if they are high-tier students while old students need to be at the Mental Tempering Stage. In fact, most of the Mental Tempering Stage students are staying here. There are nearly 5,000 of them here.
"There are 50 ordinary apartment blocks here. Each block is six-storey tall with 20 units per floor. A single block can house 6,000 students. There's also the high-level zone that is separate from the common zone."
With 50 blocks, this place could be considered a large neighborhood.
Zhou Hui smiled, "The two of you have probably been assigned to block 3 and 4. The students above 30 have already moved out of those two blocks. The academy has emptied them to accommodate the new students."
Su Yu looked at the number on his key and nodded, "Unit 609 of block 3."
"In that case, Liu Ke would be staying in block 4. Block 3 is for the guys while block 4 is for the girls."
Liu Ke looked at her key and said, "Yeah. I'm staying at unit 303 of block 4."
Zhou Hui pointed at the blocks ahead of them and said, "Your blocks are over there. I'm staying at block 28. Feel free to visit me if you're free. You can also ask me if there is anything you don't understand."
As they walked, they could see some old students passing by. But most of the students appeared to be in a rush and were ignoring them. Fôllôw 𝒏ew stories at n𝒐/v(e)lb/incom
...
A few minutes later, they arrived at block 3.
That was a regular apartment block. As the Mental Tempering Garden had quite a long history, the building looked rather old even though it had been refitted in the past.
"Su Yu, I won't send you up." Zhou Hui took his leave. With a happy smile, she said, "You have my number. Remember to call me if you need me."
"I will. Thank you for everything, Senior Sister."Gett your 𝒇avorite 𝒏ovels at no/v/e/lb𝒊ncom
"Don't worry about it." Zhou Hui said, "If you stumble on anything good, don't forget your Senior Sister. Old students like us have it hard. Any random benefit from geniuses like you would be enough to satisfy us."
Su Yu nodded with a smile, but he didn't say anything. He could barely get anything for himself, so he couldn't promise anything. Furthermore, he wasn't exactly close to Zhou Hui. Of course, if there was something he could do to help her without much effort on his end, he wouldn't mind helping.
"Goodbye, Student Su Yu." Liu Ke waved at him and hurriedly ran off with Zhou Hui, as though she was afraid of him.
Su Yu was speechless. He did not look like a bad guy. Why did Liu Ke keep treating him like he was some villain?
...
As this was an old building, there was no elevator.
There were very few people in the building since it had been allocated to the new students. The entire building was silent.
On the 6th floor, unit 609.
When Su Yu opened the door, a moldy smell waffled out. It had been a while since the previous resident moved out, so the smell was quite bad.
Before Su Yu could enter the unit, someone laughed heartily beside him and said, "Student, do you need help?"
...
Su Yu turned his head and was greeted by the sight of a chubby, honest, and comical looking guy. When he saw Su Yu looking at him, the guy smiled and said, "Student, you must be a new student as well. The unit is very dirty. I checked earlier. Do you need my help cleaning it?"
Su Yu looked at him and asked, "Is it free?"