Chapter Thirty-Three: The Dormitory

The young mentor looked at Chen Bo with some surprise. A boy with such delicate features hardly looked like a blacksmith at all! If someone had said he was an alchemist or perhaps a formation master, that would have been more believable. After all, blacksmiths at the postnatal stage needed to swing heavy hammers, only using energy to forge once they reached the innate level. However, remembering that the Blacksmithing Department already had Yu Shifei and Yu Xiner, he let it go. These days, strange people seemed to be everywhere.

Old Zhao had mentioned this boy was the younger brother of that Chen Jingjing. The sister was a genius, so the brother probably wasn’t far behind. He just wondered how skilled the boy really was at smithing.

Zhao Qing spoke softly to the young mentor, so only Chen Bo, who was standing closest, overheard their conversation. Now that he was no longer in Flame Town, he wasn’t afraid of his identity as a blacksmith being discovered by the people there. Even if they found out, so what? They wouldn’t dare attack the Chen family openly, and coming to attack Tianyang Academy was even more out of the question.

After bidding farewell to the young mentor, Zhao Qing turned to Chen Bo and the others. “Let me show you to your lodgings. Make sure you remember the way—there are no signposts in Tianyang Academy. If you’re someone who gets lost easily, I suggest you buy a map.”

“If you want source stones in the academy, you can set up a stall in the commercial district, fight in the arena, or participate in the various competitions held here.”

“The academy is basically a miniature city, only filled with geniuses—and your family’s influence can’t reach in here. As long as you have source stones, you can buy anything you want.”

“Remember, never run up a tab. The students who dare set up stalls or even rent shops are much stronger than you. If you try to skip out on payment, that’s a dead end for sure.”

“Killing is forbidden inside Tianyang Academy, but outside its walls, the rules don’t apply. For example, if the academy sends you on a mission beyond the bounds of Tianyang, then you’re on your own.”

Damn, they can actually send people out of Tianyang Academy by force? Chen Bo began to feel a deep sense of insecurity once more.

“Dear viewers, your host has arrived at the number-one academy in Tianyang Prefecture—Tianyang Academy! Although it’s called an academy, this is a school in another world, filled with violence and bloodshed. Compared to this place, so-called campus bullying on Earth is nothing at all.”

“You all heard what the mentor-uncle just said! Tianyang Academy isn’t safe—it’s actually extremely dangerous! What’s worse, ever since I transmigrated here, I’ve somehow managed to offend so many people.”

“Now I’m really in trouble. If you don’t want me to drop dead early, please send your gifts and donations right away!”

As Chen Bo interacted with the audience in his live stream, his expression in reality didn’t betray a thing. The split-attention skill the system had given him truly was amazing.

“You’ve said all this, but after getting my hopes up, all you want is a tip?”

“I still want to know what you really did to my two goddesses.”

“Anonymous Rockefeller has tipped the host one million gold coins, donation received.”

“Hao An Yi has tipped 9,999 gold coins. Damn, even foreigners are this generous? Where are all our Chinese tycoons?”

“Bookish Fool has tipped 188,888 gold coins. For the glory of China, a little offering to help you out.”

“I’m Not Alibaba has tipped one million gold coins. I’m going all in! My secret savings are bawling in the restroom.”

“Ma Yun’s made a move—truly a tycoon. The world of the rich is terrifying.”

“Milk Tea Girl has tipped 666 gold coins. Popping up, poking myself, poked until I’m pregnant, off to nurture the baby.”

“Milk Tea Sister has tipped 2,333 gold coins. Eh? Milk Tea Girl? Only one character off from my name!”

Led by Zhao Qing, Chen Bo and the others arrived at the new students’ residential area of Tianyang Academy. This was the otherworldly version of a dormitory.

Rows and rows of one-story wooden cabins interlaced throughout the area. From above, there must have been at least a thousand such cabins.

“This is where you’ll be living from now on. Each of you gets your own cabin. They’re not large, but each has a kitchen, a lavatory, a bedroom, a living room, and a storage room—small, but everything you need.”

“It’s a bit simple, but the academy’s budget is tight these days, so these are the conditions we can offer,” Zhao Qing explained.

Simple? If this was considered simple, then the dorms back on Earth—where four, six, eight, even ten people squeezed together—didn’t even dare use the word. And yet you call this simple?

Chen Bo couldn’t help remembering his high school days. It was a third-rate school, with ten people to a room. Some of the bigger ones had more than a dozen jammed together!

If Earth’s schools had dorms like those at Tianyang Academy, students would be laughing themselves silly.

“Damn, damn, damn! Important things must be said three times!”

“Damn, I’m so jealous. Host, I want to swap dorms with you.”

“How is this a student dorm? This is a house! I’ve been working for years and still can’t afford a place. These otherworldly students get one just for enrolling!”

“You’ve got it easy. I’ve been working for over a decade and can’t buy one either. My monthly salary is ten or twenty thousand, but it can’t keep up with rising prices—and house prices go up faster than my son grows.”

“Uncle, what does your son’s height have to do with house prices?”

“While you’re still burning the midnight oil hoping to get into a good university, someone else’s kid already has a free house.”

“Over a thousand of these houses! If this were China, you could cram in four or five thousand people!”

The live stream was filled with envy, jealousy, and bitterness at how unfair life could be. Countless viewers were crying in the restroom.

“Let me tell you your room numbers: Chen Long, 358; Chen Yue, 963; Qin Jinyin, 250; Chen Bo, 666.”

“Alright, find your own dorms. Tomorrow you can explore the academy and get familiar with the place. The day after tomorrow is the freshman welcoming ceremony.”

“That ceremony is quite something, especially for new students like you,” Zhao Qing said with a slightly wicked smile.

“Um, Mentor Uncle, I have a question,” Chen Bo suddenly asked.

“Yes?” Zhao Qing, about to leave, paused. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing much—I just wanted to ask if the academy provides meals. Where do we eat? Do we need to pay?” Chen Bo rubbed his empty stomach. He hadn’t eaten a thing all day and was now starving.

“The academy doesn’t provide meals; you’ll need to buy your own. But there’s food for sale inside the academy, and it’s quite close to the dorms. Just walk east and you’ll find it.”