Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Part Two

After reaching an agreement, Xia Liang did not take any money and directly gave the ten recipes to the Head Chef.

Perhaps because he had received a benefit, the Head Chef was exceptionally efficient. They had only discussed applying for access to the Mimicry Cultivation Field yesterday, and the results came in today.

After hearing that the new dishes in the cafeteria these past few days had all been created by a newly hired chef, and that this chef was also an ambitious Soul Master, Meng Shenji, the commissioner in charge among the Three Education Commissioners, immediately approved the application and granted Xia Liang permission to use the academy's Mimicry Cultivation Field at night.

From then on, Xia Liang's daily life became fulfilling.

At six in the morning, he was already atop the thousand-meter-high mountain behind the academy, doing all sorts of physical training to build his strength and endurance.

At seven in the morning, he would shower, then return to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the students and teachers.

Chefs received three free meals a day from the kitchen, although none of those meals included Soul Beast Meat.

However, Xia Liang had already applied to the Head Chef. Whenever he processed Soul Beast Meat, he could select one or two jin of various high-grade cuts to keep for himself as ingredients for researching new dishes.

Naturally, he would take them back to the inn and cook them for himself.

Eating Soul Beast Meat could provide the body with more nutrients.

A Martial Soul could naturally absorb the body's nutrients and convert them into Soul Power, so eating more Soul Beast Meat could help increase one's Soul Power.

This was especially true for meat from Soul Beasts capable of producing Soul Power-enhancing skills.

It could be said that the lavish meals the academy cafeteria provided to its students were also a top-tier cultivation resource.

After preparing breakfast for the students, Xia Liang had two hours of rest. He spent all of that time consuming and refining Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

By the time he finished refining the Whale Rubber, it was just time to prepare lunch.

After returning to the kitchen and finishing lunch, he had another two hours of rest, which happened to coincide with the academy's lunch break for students and teachers.

After lunch, Xia Liang climbed to the thousand-meter summit and began training his physical strength while developing Self-Created Soul Skills.

In this way, stealing moments of leisure amid his busy schedule, he did not have any truly free time of his own until he finished preparing dinner and got off work.

A day's work as a chef brought him an income of thirty Gold Soul Coins each month.

Although it could not compare to the rewards he had earned from missions with the Speed Reach Mercenary Group, Xia Liang had not come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to be a chef for money.

Cultivating with the help of its abundant Mimetic Fields was merely a convenient arrangement.

His main purpose in staying at Heaven Dou Royal Academy was to inquire about Dugu Bo's whereabouts so that he could find an opportunity to enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and obtain an Immortal Herb opportunity.

One week later.

Eight at night.

The night breeze was slightly cool, and the bright moon hung overhead.

The chefs responsible for stir-frying and cooking in the kitchen had all gone off work. Only a few older women remained to prepare supper.

Having just finished dinner, Xia Liang wandered around the academy.

He did not begin searching for a Mimicry Cultivation Field suited to him until his food had mostly digested.

It was said that Heaven Dou Royal Academy had been built around a mountain precisely to develop richer and more advanced Mimicry Cultivation Fields.

Different Martial Souls required different Mimicry Cultivation Fields.

For example, a fire-attribute Martial Soul should cultivate in a volcanic Mimetic Field or one with high temperatures.

For animal or plant Martial Souls without attributes, the most suitable Mimicry Cultivation Fields were naturally places with an abundance of animals or plants.

An Undead Attribute Skeleton Martial Soul, on the other hand, should cultivate in places where death and Dark Aura were especially dense.

Death Canyon, mentioned in the original work, and Slaughter City were both quite suitable as natural Mimicry Cultivation Fields for a Skeleton Martial Soul.

Unfortunately, both places were far too dangerous for him to venture into at present.

Cemeteries, where many Dead Persons rested, were also quite suitable for cultivating a Skeleton Martial Soul.

The stronger the Dead Persons had been in life, the denser the death aura lingering around their burial places would be, and the better the cultivation effect for a Skeleton Martial Soul would naturally become.

By that logic, Douluo Hall, known as the graveyard of Titled Douluo, was probably the most suitable place for cultivating a Skeleton Martial Soul.

During his previous meditations, he had always had the illusion that his Soul Power cultivation speed was noticeably faster at night than during the day.

Now that he possessed knowledge related to mimetic environments, Xia Liang finally understood. No matter where he was, any dark and eerie environment could assist the cultivation of his Skeleton Martial Soul to a certain extent.

Since he had been given such a rare opportunity, he wanted to experience every Mimetic Field in Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

By comparing them, he could both find the Mimetic Field most suitable for cultivating his Skeleton Martial Soul and gain experience with cultivation in mimetic environments, as well as a better understanding of this type of cultivation resource.

Over the past week, he had already visited seven different types of Mimetic Fields. The one that left the deepest impression on him was the cave Mimetic Field near the lake at the foot of the mountain.

The cave's gloomy, dark environment, along with the bones and Skulls deliberately piled inside, gave it an eerie sense of danger lurking everywhere.

This sort of mimetic environment somewhat resembled a place of death and darkness. If countless Ghost Fires were added to set the atmosphere, then the environment within the cave Mimetic Field would be exceptionally suitable for cultivating a Skeleton Martial Soul.

Once he had tried all hundred-odd Mimicry Cultivation Fields in the academy, if he found no better option, he would make the cave Mimetic Field his fixed cultivation spot every night.

After making a round of the academy, Xia Liang followed the stone steps toward the plant Mimetic Field at the mountain summit.

When he had first conceived the development path of Bone Transformation Susanoo, he had wondered whether it might be possible to possess a Second Martial Soul—a plant Martial Soul.

The Skeleton Martial Soul represented death, while a plant Martial Soul represented life. With death as yin and life as yang, he could then cultivate Yin-Yang Escape.

Unfortunately, there were no plant Soul Beasts on the continent with a cultivation of one million years, so obtaining a plant as a Second Martial Soul was simply impossible.

Upon reaching the summit, Xia Liang saw a building before him bearing the words "Principal's Building." Beside it stood another building which, judging by the sign, was a teaching building.

The plant Mimetic Field was seven hundred meters to the right of the teaching building. It was a semicircular structure without a ceiling.

When he arrived at the entrance of the semicircular building, a forest ranger was standing guard there.

Only after showing the ranger his permit was Xia Liang allowed to step through the entrance and enter the plant Mimetic Field.

The first thing that met his eyes was an endless expanse of plants.

There were grasslands formed from all kinds of herbaceous plants, as well as dense groves, shrubbery, flower beds, and more.

The moment he walked in, Xia Liang smelled all kinds of Floral Fragrance. The fresh air entering his nose instantly lifted his spirits.

Though it was nighttime in both places, his Skeleton Martial Soul seemed to resonate more strongly with the cave Mimetic Field he had visited earlier than with this plant Mimetic Field.

It was said that advanced cultivation resources like Mimetic Fields employed the same sensing technology as the Soul Power Crystal Ball used for testing Soul Power.

Any Soul Master who entered the area covered by a Mimetic Field would have their perception enhanced, allowing them to sense energy similar to their Martial Soul's attributes more keenly.

For example, a plant Mimetic Field consisted of a mimetic environment formed from various plants and contained an enormous amount of wood-element energy.

Once a plant Soul Master's perception was enhanced, while their Martial Soul absorbed natural energy from the outside world, it would also absorb the surrounding wood-element energy, thereby increasing the amount of Soul Power converted.

The more Soul Power was converted, the faster one's Soul Power would improve. This was the principle behind how Mimetic Fields could assist Soul Power cultivation.