Could it be Tang Wulin?
Gu You clicked his tongue a couple of times. "Forget it, who cares who it is? I'm magnanimous, I won't sweat the small stuff."
Looking around, the room appeared to have about twenty-something rooms. The walls were worn and some of the windows didn't even have glass, making it look rundown and shabby.
Based on some memories, Gu You found what should be Xie Xie's room and knocked on the door.
"Who's there?"
The door opened, and Xie Xie, looking quite annoyed, walked out. Upon seeing it was Gu You, he asked, "Are you done with the exam?"
The room was about 30 square meters, not small, but it only had two metal bunk beds, and even the bed slats were missing. Aside from that, the room had nothing else. From the looks of it, there were no divisions between men and women. Xu Xiaoyan sat on the metal bed frame, looking just as troubled.
The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, and two of the window panes were broken. Oh, there was something else, a wire hung from the ceiling, connecting to a small light bulb. It was unclear whether this was meant as a decoration or a functional item, but it was coated with dust, making it look like the light would be dark when turned on.
"Gu Ge!" Xu Xiaoyan also called out softly.
"Mm."
Gu You responded with a sound, noticing that it was only them two. "Where's Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin should still be in the hospital, unconscious and not waking up for a few days, and Gu Yue—he was curious about where she was. He had forgotten to mention that he could study in the inner courtyard, but he didn't want to. The beginner classes seemed more interesting.
"She?"
"No need to ask. I'm back," Gu Yue appeared silently at the door.
Gu You nodded.
"Gu… no, boss! This, this is too miserable. Are we really in Shrek Academy and not a slum?" Xie Xie complained, comparing their conditions here to those in East Sea Academy, which felt like heaven and earth apart. There were no living necessities, not even basic beds. This was really…
When Gu You first heard the term "boss," it felt wrong, but then again, it seemed reasonable. "Stop complaining. You'd better start cleaning up. Since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. Working-study students, obviously, this won't be easy."
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "Boss, we only have one room. How are we supposed to live? Men and women can't share a room."
Xie Xie stifled a laugh. "How old are you, and you're worried about that?"
"Hmph!" Xu Xiaoyan snorted, but her gaze turned toward Gu Yue, who was looking at Gu You.
Boss?
Gu You thought about it for a moment, and since they were calling him that, he figured, why not? It wasn't like he would crash and burn.
"Since the academy has arranged this for us, we'll have to accept it. Let's first set up the basic living conditions. We'll clean the floor, cover the glass with something, and hang a curtain down the middle, separating the two sides. Once we do that, we'll have a temporary partition. Afterward, we'll see how we can slowly improve things."
Gu You didn't intend to use his connections to improve the environment right away. He thought it would be fine to take things slow. Enduring hardship was no big deal, and he felt that the process of advancing from a low-level student to a high-level one would be very interesting.
Gu Yue was the first to support him. "Good."
Gu You's authority now was very high.
The cleaning process went quickly, and they found a piece of cloth to block the window. For several Soul Sovereign-level soul masters, this was not a challenge.
However, during the cleaning, they came to realize how tough it was being a working-study student.
The entire working-study dormitory area only had one water pipe that could supply clean water. If they wanted hot water, they had to go to the main teaching building. The shower area was also in the main teaching building.
And that was it. There were no other facilities. The cafeteria was also in the main teaching building, and to get there, they had to cross almost half of the Spirit Ice Plaza.
Gu You didn't mind. As for bathing, what was bathing to him? He could use his Destruction Power to cleanse himself of any dirt instantly.
"Let's go. We need to fetch some water and clean the Spirit Ice Plaza," Xie Xie said. They had a working-study task for the day.
The Spirit Ice Plaza was large, and they had to start cleaning early. Otherwise, they wouldn't finish before dark.
Gu You also felt he had nothing much to do. As for forging Battle Armors, there wasn't even a place to forge right now. He would have to wait until Saturday. Shrek Academy didn't have weekends, but Gu You did. No way, his forging talent was just that good.
The academy couldn't possibly make things difficult for a future master craftsman.
When the four of them arrived at the water pipe to fetch water, someone was already there. A thin boy was standing, a towel draped over his shoulder, with a water bucket on the ground collecting water.
Xie Xie swallowed his saliva involuntarily.
This boy was the second-ranked student who had beaten Xie Xie last time.
However, the thin boy didn't say much. He merely glanced at them, filled his bucket, and left.
"This task didn't say we couldn't use our martial souls for cleaning, right?" Gu Yue suddenly asked.
"Of course not. If we don't use our martial souls, we'd probably be cleaning all day," Xie Xie said, carrying two buckets of water.
When they arrived at the Spirit Ice Plaza, Gu Yue walked all the way to the center before stopping. She took a deep breath, squinted her eyes, and three soul rings emerged from beneath her feet.
The first soul ring flashed brightly, and Elemental Tidal Force activated.
She made a cupping motion with her hands, and small green light dots began to gather in her palms. This wasn't all, as blue light also began to appear, and two different colors of light were almost evenly split in her hands.
The blue and green lights became more intense, swirling rapidly in her hands, forming a delicate vortex. The vortex spun so fast that the blue and green merged into one, blending perfectly. This was the fusion of wind and water elements.
The second soul ring lit up, and the speed at which the two-colored lights gathered increased dramatically. With the amplification of her Elemental Control, and thanks to her Spiritual Sea realm, the vortex spun even faster and became larger, growing to over two meters high in just a short time, still expanding.
The third soul ring glowed, activating Elemental Fusion. The two-colored light merged even more rapidly and continued to grow. Gu Yue used all three of her soul skills without any sign of difficulty. It felt like she had complete control.
Even Gu You couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for his existence, Gu Yue, with her mastery of the Heart of Elements, would definitely be one of the most talented individuals.
The vortex continued to grow to about five meters high before slowly moving forward, the blue and green vortex spinning…
(End of Chapter)