Breaking Through Level Thirty

At the Great Soul Arena, in a private room.

Qin Ming had Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, and the others return to the hotel to rest first, while he entered the private room with Xia Liang.

The two were not very familiar with each other. After awkwardly chatting about some trivial work matters, Qin Ming finally got to the point.

It turned out that he wanted to speak privately to ask whether Xia Liang was willing to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy. If he was, the academy would help him obtain the highest-quality Third Soul Ring.

Xia Liang told Qin Ming that he would consider it for three days before deciding.

Three days later.

Having just finished his work in the Academy Kitchen, Xia Liang did not go to the Great Soul Arena for Soul Battles again.

He had already achieved his goal.

He had fought Dugu Yan in two Soul Battles and won both times.

Not only had he gotten close to Dugu Yan and left an unforgettable impression in her heart, but he had also unexpectedly obtained the Ruyi Hundred Treasures Pouch mentioned in the original story.

Now, it seemed Tang San had lost his opportunity to obtain the Soul Tool for storing Immortal Herbs. Could his opportunity to obtain the Immortal Herbs be far behind? After planning what he needed to do next, Xia Liang entered the Wodefake Grand Hotel.

This was where he had lived for the past year and a half. It was said that the hotel owner was a host at the Great Soul Arena who had made his fortune through gambling there.

Xia Liang could also be said to have made his start through the Great Soul Arena. Ten days ago, his savings had barely amounted to one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

After ten days of Soul Battle gambling, his savings had surged from one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to seven hundred and fifty thousand.

With money in hand, naturally, he went to buy all kinds of Cultivation Resources.

The day before yesterday, Xia Liang had made a Whale Rubber deal with Skywater City and the Shui Family, purchasing ten pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber.

At the same time, he had purchased various milk drinks with supportive effects from the Food System Female Soul Emperor of the Shui Family, whose Martial Soul was milk.

This female Soul Emperor with the Milk Martial Soul truly loved money. Seeing that Xia Liang was willing to pay ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, she asked some healing-type Soul Masters to help restore her Soul Power at the side and produced six barrels of milk overnight.

Each barrel of milk corresponded to the effect of a different Soul Skill. There was the Milk Hot Drink that could ward off cold, the heat-resistant Milk Cold Drink, the Milk Candy Drink that detoxified and cured various abnormal conditions, and more.

These six barrels of milk drinks with different supportive effects were now stored in the green compartment of the Three-colored Ring, which was equivalent to carrying six food-system Soul Skills with him.

After consuming a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber softened by high heat, Xia Liang sat on the soft, comfortable bed.

After two hours, Xia Liang finally refined the Whale Rubber successfully. The endurance of his muscles, meridians, and bones all improved to a certain extent.

He discovered that the effects of Whale Rubber were not as overbearing as those fanworks on Blue Star had described. Taking only one or two pieces of Whale Rubber did not have much effect.

This stuff needed to be stacked in large quantities before it could bring about a qualitative change.

He had previously consumed two pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, greatly improving his physical strength.

Once he refined all ten pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, the physical qualities built up by so much high-age Whale Rubber, coupled with his excellent bone endurance, should allow him to absorb a Third Soul Ring of around five thousand years across ranks.

After refining Whale Rubber, his entire body would carry a fishy odor, and he would become damp and sticky as though drenched in sweat. It was the perfect time for a comfortable hot bath.

After the water in the bathtub began to boil, Xia Liang placed the advanced medicinal herbs previously gifted by the Shui Family into the bathtub in order.

This was already his sixth time soaking in an Advanced Medicinal Bath. He was thoroughly familiar with every step of adding the medicine, and he only needed four more sessions to complete one cycle's dosage.

By then, his Level Twenty-Nine Soul Power should be able to break through the Level Thirty bottleneck through absorbing the medicinal effects.

About half an hour passed.

The scents of the various medicinal herbs finally evaporated under the soaking hot water, filling the entire bathroom with a faint medicinal fragrance.

Sitting cross-legged in the bathtub, Xia Liang caused the water level to rise to his chest. A closer look would reveal that the bony feel of his frame had faded, replaced by full, defined muscle lines.

His pale, gaunt face had also regained a trace of color, no longer bearing that withered, deathly appearance.

While soaking in the Advanced Medicinal Bath, Xia Liang also reviewed the combat experience he had accumulated from his Soul Battles these past few days.

He could not help recalling his second cross-rank Soul Battle with Dugu Yan three days ago.

At the time, Qin Ming had conceded defeat on Dugu Yan's behalf. Afterward, Dugu Yan wanted another match, but Qin Ming stopped her.

"Master Xia, have you considered resigning from your position as a chef and joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy as a student?"

That had been the main topic of Qin Ming's conversation with Xia Liang in the private room three days ago.

Xia Liang did not understand why Qin Ming had invited him to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Only after asking for the reason did he learn that Qin Ming had noticed him during his sixth Soul Battle after he registered at the Great Soul Arena.

Afterward, Qin Ming went to Spirit Hall to look through the records and discovered that Master Xia, the academy chef who appeared several years older than Dugu Yan, was actually only thirteen years old.

What shocked Qin Ming most was that this Master Xia possessed only Innate Level Five Soul Power. With such an unremarkable talent, he had actually cultivated to Level Twenty-Nine Soul Power at just thirteen years old? At that rate of cultivation, breaking through the Level Thirty bottleneck would take no more than a few months.

A thirteen-year-old Soul Elder with only Level Five Innate Soul Power could no longer be described as a genius. He was a monster.

As someone from Shrek Academy, Qin Ming valued students with monstrous potential above all else. After watching Xia Liang's first cross-rank Soul Battle with Dugu Yan, he had already conceived the idea of recruiting Xia Liang into Heaven Dou Grade One Class.

After Xia Liang won his second cross-rank Soul Battle against Dugu Yan, he became even more determined.

To prevent Xia Liang and Dugu Yan from developing a conflict over their cross-rank Soul Battles, which would be detrimental to their future teamwork, Qin Ming had stepped in to end that Soul Battle and ease the relationship between them.

"Master Xia, if you can join Heaven Dou Royal Academy, I will report your situation to the Three Education Commissioners and ask them to help you obtain the highest-quality Thousand-Year Third Soul Ring."

During their conversation three days ago, Qin Ming's words had tempted Xia Liang, because joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy would grant him the qualifications to enter the academy Library.

It contained a vast amount of advanced knowledge about Soul Masters and Soul Beasts, as well as introductions to rare Soul Ring Techniques such as Ring Fusion.

Furthermore, with the Three Education Commissioners helping him obtain the highest-quality Third Soul Ring, the temptation was absolutely enormous for a commoner Soul Master without any backing.

Faced with Qin Ming's sincere invitation, Xia Liang had replied that he would consider it for three days.

Now that the three days had passed, Qin Ming would probably come looking for an answer tomorrow when Xia Liang went to work in the Academy Kitchen.

As for whether he would join Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Xia Liang was still hesitating. Over the past few days, he had finally figured it out.

Why was Qin Ming so insistent on pulling him into Heaven Dou Grade One Class? He was surely preparing for the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament three years from now.

If he joined Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he would have to follow the academy's arrangements and participate in the Elite Tournament, which would waste a great deal of time that could be used to improve his strength.

However, according to the original story, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team advanced directly to the finals.

In other words, during the Elite Tournament's preliminary and advancement rounds, he could go elsewhere to improve his strength.

Once the finals began, he could return and lead the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team against Tang San, showing off a little. Perhaps he could even use winning the Elite Tournament championship as grounds to trade with Xue Ye for the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, the nation's treasured artifact.

Thinking about it that way, joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy did not seem so bad.

As though some energy within his body had suddenly grown immense, Xia Liang abruptly opened his eyes. He instinctively relaxed his Spiritual Power, and a powerful aura burst from within him, stirring the medicinal water in the bathtub.

He had broken through? Two more chapters would be updated at 11:59 p.m. and midnight. They were still being revised and written, so please forgive the delay.