Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang), following Mao Peilan's directions, searched all the way and finally arrived at Elder Tong Rui's residence. However, the house looked quite ordinary from the outside, nothing like the luxurious palace she imagined an elder would live in.
"Excuse me, is Elder Tong Rui here?" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) politely knocked on the door.
After waiting for a while without a response, Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) knocked twice again, still no answer. She then put her ear to the door, trying to hear if there was any movement inside.
Before she could discern anything, a voice suddenly came from behind her, "Why are you, a little demon, here instead of cultivating properly?"
Startled, Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) quickly turned around, almost colliding with the speaker. Standing before her was an elder who appeared to be around fifty years old, wearing a black robe with cloud and talisman patterns, and a unique belt with a lifelike silver snake head ornament. Upon closer inspection, it seemed the snake's eyes were moving.
She then shifted her gaze to the token by the belt. The color was different from the white tokens exclusively for new students like herself; it was blue. The token bore the inscription: "Beast Hall, Tong Rui."
The tokens of the entire "Tong Ling Academy" were divided into five grades based on the practitioners' strength. New students were the lowest grade, white. Those who passed the first assessment were yellow. Students who successfully passed a major trial were red. Those who mastered all the moves of their practiced techniques and passed the elders' evaluation were awarded blue tokens and promoted to academy elders. The most formidable were the two great powers of the academy, who would ascend to the "Starry Land" after undergoing one final lightning tribulation, and they wore black tokens.
"Greetings, Elder Tong Rui. My name is Bai Qiushui, a new student reporting today. Senior Brother Hu Wantong asked me to find you for an arrangement."
Tong Rui's expression then softened. "So you are a new student, that explains it."
The "Tong Ling Academy" had a strong academic atmosphere. Since the academy was divided into human and demon races, these two major groups would first compete openly.
Within the human race, there were divisions into alchemy cultivators, artifact cultivators, magic cultivators, and body cultivators. Of course, these four types of practitioners also competed among themselves. The demon race was divided into two major categories: flying creatures and terrestrial beasts. Practitioners of the demon race also competed in secret.
Among the demon race, terrestrial beasts were the most diligent in their cultivation. This was because they were inherently weaker than flying creatures, hence their fervor for cultivation ranked first in the entire academy. It was precisely for this reason that Tong Rui became so angry seeing a demon not studying or on their way to study.
At this moment, Tong Rui conjured a booklet from thin air, flipped through it for a while, and finally stopped at a certain point. He said, "You are a rabbit, so I'll arrange for you to have room twenty-six in the east. I see your neighbors are relatively gentle, a cat demon and a dog demon."
Tong Rui then cast a divine sense spell on her. "I have placed the dormitory key into your spiritual consciousness. Once you get there, follow the instructions to operate it yourself, and only you will be able to enter and exit this room in the future."
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) knew that although Tong Rui appeared cold on the surface, he had patiently explained a few extra things in private. Otherwise, she would have been completely clueless about all of this!
So she thanked him gratefully, "Thank you for your guidance, Elder. However, there is still one thing I do not understand. May I ask if you know how our academy's courses are arranged? Is there a class schedule or anything like that?"
Tong Rui frowned upon hearing this, looking confused. "What class schedule? We learn whatever we want and whatever we are good at. You'll know the specifics once you return to your room."
Although she still didn't fully understand, since Elder Tong Rui had said so, she would check her room. After thanking Tong Rui again, she bid farewell and headed towards the new dormitory.
Arriving at the so-called dormitory area, she looked at the rooms one by one starting from the east and finally reached the room labeled "East Twenty-Six." Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) observed her neighbors on both sides, but their doors were tightly shut. They were likely all out studying.
The door was a push-open type. As soon as Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) stepped inside, a light screen appeared before her eyes. On the screen was a large white circle, with the words "Please enter the key" displayed beside it.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) was a bit dumbfounded. Although Elder Tong Rui had said he had sent the key into her spiritual consciousness, she hadn't learned how to retrieve it yet! She could only blankly place her finger on it and tap. Immediately, the light screen before her changed again.
"Key verified. Please input your own demon power to set access permissions." The light screen then transformed into the shape of a white hand.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) couldn't help but exclaim to the system, "86365, this world is too advanced! I love places that have both metaphysics and high technology!"
[There is no high technology here, only a fantasy world system.] System number 86356 was quite rigorous.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) pouted and said nothing, continuing to gather her demon power into her palm and then pressing it against the projected hand on the screen.
A flash of white light appeared before her eyes. The pattern on the screen changed into a mouth chewing up and down, and finally rotated to stop, forming the shape of a little white rabbit. This time, instead of subtitles, a child's voice spoke, "Input successful, welcome home, my master. From now on, no one can enter this room without your permission! Little rabbit will guard the door for you!"
"Thank you!" Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) was charmed. The door access system actually changed according to the owner's original form, which was wonderful!
The light screen dissipated, and the space behind the door revealed itself. It was not the small room like a university dormitory that Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) had initially imagined, but a rather large courtyard. The door she had just passed through seemed to be a teleportation array; stepping through it revealed a separate dimension.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) looked around and found a cultivation room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Although none of them were particularly large, all basic needs were met.
She entered the cultivation room first and immediately saw a colored jade tablet on a desk. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, and it displayed a request to drip blood for recognition of ownership.
Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) dripped her demon blood into it as instructed. Soon, a light screen appeared on the front of the jade tablet, displaying her information at the top: "Beast Hall, Bai Qiushui."
After careful examination, she discovered that this jade tablet was actually a communication device similar to modern mobile phones. It contained an internal forum for "Tong Ling Academy," with categorized modules for the Human Hall and Demon Hall below. Many messages were flickering on the screen. Bai Qiushui (Xiao Wenqiang) noticed that some posters and repliers displayed their real information, while others were completely grayed out. It seemed that anonymity was an option on this forum.