Two days later.
The two arrived at Heaven Dou City, the imperial capital of the Tianhun Empire.
Looking at this bustling imperial capital with a touch of ancient charm, the two decided to rest here for one night.
Heaven Dou City, as the former imperial capital of the Heaven Dou Empire and now the imperial capital of the Tianhun Empire, is one of the five most prosperous cities on the Douluo Continent. Its scale and prosperity are far beyond what Anyang City, a small town in the northern frontier, could compare to.
Facing the brightly lit, bustling streets, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan wandered back and forth, yet always felt somewhat out of place. The prosperity of Heaven Dou City and the desolation of the villages they encountered along the way seemed like two different Worlds. The huge disparity made the two youths experience true reality for the first time.
The two did not wander for long before returning to their inn to rest.
Speaking of the inn, Zhu Ziyang couldn't help but sigh. After all, it was the imperial capital of the Tianhun Empire; an inn cost ten gold coins for one night. If this were in Anyang City, it would be enough to rent a house with a small courtyard.
Early morning, six o'clock.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan resumed their journey. After walking more than ten kilometers, they passed a forest.
Seeing this forest, Zhu Ziyang subconsciously stopped, his gaze filled with inquiry and thought. This made Jiang Nannan a little strange. She said, "Yang-ge, what's wrong?"
"I just saw a forest," Zhu Ziyang said.
"What kind of forest is this?" Jiang Nannan asked curiously, "It's so close to Heaven Dou City. Are there Spirit Beasts gathered inside?"
"Yes, not only are there Spirit Beasts, but it is also said to have a blessed land!" Zhu Ziyang said, a half-smile on his face.
In the early records of the Tang Sect, a place name was repeatedly mentioned: the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well! This was a treasure land renowned and mysterious in ancient continental records, containing a vast amount of natural treasures.
In the rise of Sea God Tang San, this blessed land provided him with crucial help, and the complete deification of the Original Shrek Seven Devils was also closely related to it.
However, Zhu Ziyang learned another thing from some books: the original owner of this blessed land was a Jade Phosphor Serpent Titled Douluo.
Of course, these matters were irrelevant to Zhu Ziyang; he only wondered if he could obtain some fortuitous encounter from this blessed land. Considering that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had disappeared from the continental historical records for nearly seven thousand years, Zhu Ziyang had reason to believe that some kind of protective mechanism should have been laid around it.
He decided to come back and explore it once his strength grew stronger.
Jiang Nannan was unaware of these things, so her curiosity stopped there. She said, "Oh, so that's how it is."
"Let's go," Zhu Ziyang said.
The two bypassed the Sunset Forest and headed directly towards Soto City, the main city of Sonan Province.
It took them about three days to reach Soto City.
After another two days, they finally arrived at Shrek City.
Shrek City, the location of Shrek Academy.
Shrek Academy truly lives up to its name as the number one Academy in the World. A large city that arose because of an Academy is unique on the entire Douluo Continent.
As a city built around Shrek Academy, Shrek City's scale and prosperity are among the best on the Continent. Although its population is only over two million, more than 1.7 million of these people are Spirit Masters! Just this number of Spirit Masters alone makes it stand out across the entire Continent.
Therefore, the City Lord of Shrek City is also the only City Lord on the Continent with the strength of a Titled Douluo.
"Is this Shrek City? It's so magnificent!" Jiang Nannan couldn't help but exclaim as she looked at the grand city before her.
"Let's go register first. Once we become students of Shrek Academy, we'll have plenty of time to look around," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.
As someone aspiring to enter Shrek Academy, Zhu Ziyang's understanding of Shrek Academy was definitely no less than that of its students. He had read about eighty percent of everything recorded in text.
The location of Shrek Academy is not in the center of Shrek City, but rather in the eastern part of Shrek City, simply because it faces the Star Dou Great Forest.
Shrek City has major roads extending in all directions—south, east, west, and north—making transportation easily accessible. Because it is the location of Shrek Academy, it has also become the most important commercial city at the border of the original Three Great Empires of the Douluo Continent. Due to the Academy's existence, Shrek City has excellent public order; transactions here are not only fair but also more reassuring. Therefore, merchants from the Three Great Empires mostly choose to conduct cross-border trade in Shrek City.
Of the four main gates of Shrek City, the south, west, and north gates can be entered and exited freely. Only the East Gate is exclusively for Shrek Academy; only Shrek students are qualified to use it.
At this time, it was the annual enrollment day for Shrek Academy. Thousands of people gathered outside the East Gate, including young men and women coming to register, as well as various vendors attracted by the bustle, making it very lively.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan did not pay too much attention to these. Their current task was to register, then participate in the assessment, and finally join Shrek Academy.
They bypassed the crowd and went directly to the East Gate.
At this moment, at the East Gate, a dozen young men and women, one or two years older than them, were diligently recording the information of the registrants. Each person wore a yellow uniform with a green emblem on the chest. This was the uniform for second and third-year students of Shrek Academy's Outer Courtyard.
There were only three or four people ahead of Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan, so it was soon their turn.
"Hello," Zhu Ziyang said politely.
"Hello, please fill out the registration form, then present your City Lord's letter of recommendation and pay the fee." The student in charge of their group was a beautiful young girl. After seeing Zhu Ziyang's appearance, she first paused, then her pretty face flushed red as she handed Zhu Ziyang a registration form.
Zhu Ziyang smiled slightly, said nothing more, and lowered his head to fill in his information.
Name, age, country, city, City Lord—the registration form only had five brief pieces of information, but Zhu Ziyang felt a strong sense of exclusion from it.
Exclusion of whom? Naturally, Spirit Masters from the Sun Moon Empire!
After Zhu Ziyang finished filling it out, a helpless smile appeared on his lips. To be honest, he did not agree with the approach of the original Douluo Continent's nations. Rejecting new things, being stubbornly conservative—this was destined to lead to backwardness, and once backward, it was destined to be eliminated!
This was a principle Zhu Ziyang had summarized from history.
One could only say that the Three Great Empires would one day pay the price for this.
After filling out the registration form, Zhu Ziyang took out the Dragon City Lord's letter of recommendation and ten gold coins, and handed them to the young girl.
Participating in Shrek Academy's assessment requires a payment of ten gold coins. If you successfully enroll in Shrek Academy, these ten gold coins will be your tuition for the next year. Note, this is only tuition and does not include food and accommodation fees. If you do not pass the assessment, unfortunately, these ten gold coins will not be refunded to you but will be kept by Shrek Academy as a registration fee.
It was a domineering approach, but neither the students nor the parents who came for the assessment felt that Shrek Academy's method was wrong. This was the influence brought by strength and reputation.
"Okay, please go to the room over there for the assessment. As long as you pass the assessment, you will become a student of Shrek Academy. Good luck!" The young girl took Zhu Ziyang's registration form and fee, then stamped the form, handed it back to him, and finally pointed to a room behind her that should have been the city gate guard's lounge, saying, not forgetting to cheer Zhu Ziyang on.
"Don't worry, I will! Senior Sister!" Zhu Ziyang replied with a confident smile.
Seeing his smile, the young girl's face flushed even redder, and she shyly turned her face away, not daring to look at Zhu Ziyang anymore.
As expected, being handsome is great, Zhu Ziyang sighed.