Soul Land—Chapter 21: Paying Homage to the Mountain
On the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, about twenty miles away, Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing stopped in front of a mountain that was a thousand meters high.
The sun was setting, the sky was full of rosy clouds, and the lake at the foot of the mountain sparkled like a pearl reflecting the light. The various plants on the mountain made this place colorful and picturesque.
This entire mountain, along with the lake at its foot, is where the Heaven Dou Royal Academy is located.
As a direct academy of the Heaven Dou Imperial family, most of the students here are children of nobles and descendants of sects.
They are rich and powerful, possessing abundant resources and connections in the Heaven Dou Empire, although their actual combat ability is relatively weak.
Compared to Shrek Academy, which rents a village as an academy outside Suotuo City, this place is simply a paradise, with no shortage of funds and numerous places for martial soul mimicry training.
The only student Shrek can be proud of is probably the instructor Qin Ming, the first graduate of Shrek and the best graduate since its establishment, as well as the second youngest soul emperor on the mainland.
He just doesn't know what this guy thinks about Shrek bragging that one of their students is an elder whose status is second only to the Pope.
A group of soul saints and soul emperors teaching a titled Douluo? Or a titled Douluo in his early 30s? It's funny.
The enrollment slogan used to deceive people—don't think too deeply about it; the key is that some people believe it.
"Stop! Who are you?"
Several soul masters, around 18 years old, blocked the way of Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing, their yellow school uniforms indicating their identities.
"This is Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Non-students and non-faculty members are not allowed to enter without permission. What do you want?" A young soul master, who seemed to be the leader, looked at Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing with a bit of arrogance and scrutiny in his eyes.
When he looked at Zhu Zhuqing, a flash of surprise crossed his face, and he was stunned for a moment.
"Take care of your eyes; otherwise, I don't mind taking them off and giving them to those who need them." Zhu Zhuqing's voice was extremely cold, and her eyes swept across the young soul master like a cold light, making him shudder and quickly retract his gaze.
Ling Qianyao's voice also became a little blunt. "Paying respect to the mountain."
"What? What?" The leading young soul master's eyes flashed with astonishment, and the soul masters following him also looked surprised.
He sneered and said, "Paying respect to the mountain? Do you think we are a small sect here? Heaven Dou Imperial Academy is not a place that anyone can challenge casually. Judging from your age, your cultivation is probably just that of a soul master. Where do you get the courage to come here to pay respect to the mountain? It's better to go back to where you came from as soon as possible so that you don't get bored."
They laughed.
Heaven Dou Imperial Academy divides students and teachers into different levels of strength.
Students with soul power less than level 25 are called Tianwei level; those between 25 and 30 are called Tianzhi level; and those above level 30 are called Tiandou level.
These students guarding the gate of the academy are Tianwei-level soul masters.
"Oh, is that so?" Ling Qianyao smiled, summoned the Star-Breaking Sword, and gestured for the soul masters to fight.
"Ling Qianyao, martial soul Star-Breaking Sword, 24th level strong attack system battle soul master!"
"Damn, big brother, kill him!" A group of younger brothers started to make noise behind him, and he gritted his teeth and responded for the sake of his face.
"Huang Chang, martial soul Ghost Fire, 23rd level strong attack system battle soul master."
The battle was about to break out. Huang Chang snorted coldly, and the yellow first soul ring on his body suddenly lit up.
"First soul skill, Ghost Fire Assault!"
He was surrounded by green flames, and his whole person was wrapped in ghost fire, rushing toward Ling Qianyao aggressively.
Ling Qianyao narrowed his eyes and did not use his soul skills. At a certain moment when Huang Chang approached him, he slightly turned his body and dodged Huang Chang's unstoppable ghost fire attack at an almost impossible angle.
Huang Chang's attack failed, and his body rushed forward involuntarily. Ling Qianyao chopped down, and the Star-Breaking Sword accurately hit Huang Chang's Chest Center acupoint.
"Ah—"
Huang Chang cried out in pain, staggered, and fell to the ground. He covered his wound and looked at Ling Qianyao in disbelief. "You—"
"Go and inform the instructor of the academy. With your qualifications, you are not qualified. Let me see how strong Heaven Dou Imperial Academy is."
As he spoke, the soul ring on Ling Qianyao's Star-Breaking Sword floated, and two soul rings, one yellow and one purple, reflected each other on the sword.
"Thousand-year second soul ring?!" Huang Chang and his companions were stunned for a moment, shocked into silence by the scene.
The upper limit of the first soul ring is about 400 years, and the upper limit of the second soul ring is about 750 years. This is almost a recognized fact in the soul master world, but the thousand-year-second soul ring displayed by Ling Qianyao undoubtedly broke this conventional understanding.
"Gudu. Quick, go to the academy to ask for the teacher!"
Huang Chang jumped up and ran to the mountain first, not caring about his bleeding wound. The humiliation of falling before disappeared in an instant.
"Damn it, I want to report someone for cheating. How can I deal with this?"
Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing smiled at each other and ran up the mountain behind the group.
At the main entrance, two soul master guards in gorgeous school uniforms stood like pine trees. Seeing Huang Chang and his group running in a panic, one of the guards frowned and asked, "Huang Chang, what's wrong with you? Why are you so panicked?"
Huang Chang panted and said breathlessly, "Hurry up and inform the teacher that someone is here to mess up the place, and he has a thousand-year-old second soul ring!"
"What? A thousand-year-old second soul ring? Is it true?" The two guards were shocked when they heard this.
"Really! If it's fake, I won't be able to do anything in the future!"
What a bold oath! I respect you for being a man.
After the guards looked at each other, one of them quickly turned around and ran into the courtyard to report.
However, before he could step into the campus, a hand pressed on his shoulder.
An identity token was handed over to him, and a male voice sounded in his ear, "Take my identity token and go directly to the Education Committee to find three members of the Committee. I will bring people to the central reception room."
The guard was stunned, then nodded and left. "Yes, Teacher Qin Ming."
"A thousand-year-old second soul ring? Could such a peerless genius be from my Shrek Academy? After all, Shrek only accepts monsters~"
Qin Ming stood at the main entrance of the academy, looking expectantly at Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing, who were walking slowly in the distance, secretly speculating on the origins and strengths of these two young people.
Ling Qianyao and Zhu Zhuqing stopped in front of Qin Ming and bowed.
Qin Ming smiled. "Welcome! Do you want to join our Heaven Dou Imperial Academy? I can make the decision and put you in the first team as seed students."
Ling Qianyao also smiled warmly. "Teacher, before we talk about this, I want to see the strength of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Besides, whether your academy dares to accept us is still uncertain."
"What does this mean?" Qin Ming was puzzled.
"Ling Qianyao, martial soul Star-Breaking Sword, 24th level strong attack system battle soul master."
"Zhu Zhuqing, martial soul Nether Spirit Cat, 21st level agile attack system battle soul master."
Qin Ming and the guards opened their mouths wide, staring at the yellow and purple soul rings jumping on the two people, especially the thousand-year-old second soul ring shining so brightly in the afterglow of the setting sun. Their hearts were full of shock.
Qin Ming's heart skipped a beat. "The Hell Spirit Cat, the Star Luo Zhu Family?"
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(End of this chapter)