Making Trouble?

What a coincidence.

When Tuoba Yan and Spirit Eagle Douluo passed through an alley, they happened to see Flender handing out flyers to about six people.

Someone handed a flyer to Tuoba Yan.

The flyer stated that Shrek Academy was recruiting students. It included the academy's address and briefly described its strengths.

Since its founding twenty years ago, the academy had admitted only forty-two students in total.

The most outstanding of them had now become the youngest elder in Spirit Hall.

Any student who graduated from the academy would be granted a noble title by the empire.

"Yan, what are your plans today?"

"Let's look around Suotuo City first!"

Suotuo City was an important economic city in the Balak Kingdom. Merchants came and went in an endless stream.

Yesterday, Tuoba Yan had found an incredible bargain at Flender's shop. He wanted to try his luck and see whether he could find anything else worthwhile.

"Yan, when you graduated from the Junior Soul Master Academy, you were awarded 1,000 Merit Points and received the lowest White Badge. I have to remind you that among the new batch of Seed Candidates, Xie Yue and Hu Liena have already obtained White Badges, while you have spent this entire period improving your cultivation."

Any soul master selected during the trials would directly enter the Seed Candidate ranks, preparing for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament held once every five years.

Spirit Hall's teaching style was completely different from that of other academies.

When soul masters graduated from the Junior Soul Master Academy and entered the seed ranks, they were all three-ring Soul Elders.

The Simulated Training Grounds no longer improved their cultivation as much as meditation had before.

Especially once their cultivation broke through level forty, the benefits of the Simulated Training Grounds to a soul master's cultivation could be ignored.

Spirit Hall would have the seed ranks go out and undertake missions, improving their combat strength through actual battle.

At the same time, they could earn Merit Points by completing missions.

From lowest to highest, badge ranks were divided into the White Badge, Yellow Badge, Purple Badge, Black Badge, and Red Badge.

The lowest White Badge corresponded to 1,000 Merit Points.

The Yellow Badge required 10,000 points.

The Purple Badge required 100,000 points.

The Black Badge required one million points.

As for the highest-ranked Red Badge, it required a cumulative total of ten million points.

At present, Tuoba Yan had 1,000 points.

The higher one's badge rank, the better the treatment.

Spirit Hall was essentially an institution.

The higher one's Merit Points, the more likely Spirit Hall was to prioritize that person when selecting talent among soul masters of the same rank.

Spirit Hall possessed countless reasonable and fair promotion rules. That was the true reason it had endured for a thousand years and remained unshakable.

Of course, before top-tier bloodlines, Merit Points were a joke.

Over the past thousand years, every Pontiff, Platinum Bishop, and other high-ranking figure in Spirit Hall had to have countless ties to the Qian Clan.

Even so, Spirit Hall had continued to grow stronger in a healthy manner.

While valuing bloodlines, Spirit Hall had not forgotten to leave ordinary soul masters a path of hope.

Any soul master whose cultivation broke through to Title Douluo could unconditionally become an elder of Spirit Hall, even if he had been a commoner. His status would surpass that of the Pontiff and Platinum Bishops.

The major soul master academies of Suotuo City were recruiting students, and the streets were crowded with pedestrians.

"Hey, are you blind? You bumped into me."

While walking, someone bumped into Tuoba Yan.

Tuoba Yan had just intended to go around him and continue onward, but the other party rudely accused him of being blind.

He was a young man around 1.6 meters tall.

His shoulders were broad, and his handsome face carried a hint of resolve.

A head of golden hair draped down his back, hanging nearly to his waist.

His eyes were wicked and possessed Double Pupils. His dark blue gaze carried a chill from the depths of his heart, and a sinister gleam flickered between his half-lidded eyes.

"Double Pupils!"

Spirit Eagle Douluo's brows drew together slightly.

As a Title Douluo, Spirit Eagle Douluo had once represented Spirit Hall in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.

She had fought representatives from the Star Luo Royal Academy.

Very few people possessed Double Pupils.

"Golden hair!"

Spirit Eagle Douluo noticed another distinctive feature of his appearance, and confusion rose in her heart. "This is a subordinate kingdom of the Tiandou Empire. Why would he appear here?"

The golden-haired youth had a girl tucked under each arm.

The girls were dressed flamboyantly and looked to be just over twelve. They were tall and slender, with the bashfulness appropriate for their age.

Most astonishingly, their faces were exactly identical. They were actually twins.

When Spirit Eagle Douluo noticed the pair of twins in the golden-haired boy's arms, disgust showed in her eyes.

Facing the other party's accusation, Tuoba Yan straightened his chest and asked proudly, "Which eye of yours saw me bump into you?"

The youth sneered. "Heh heh, are you looking to make trouble?"

"Give me a break. Who exactly is looking to make trouble here? I can tell you're a soul master too. If you want trouble, I'll fight you to the end!"

As Tuoba Yan finished speaking, the golden-haired youth released the slender waists of the twin sisters. His eyes narrowed, and a sinister light bloomed within them.

Suddenly, the golden-haired youth raised his right fist and launched a sneak attack at Tuoba Yan's chest.

His movement was simple, without any flourish.

At such close range, no one could evade it.

Bang!

A fist carrying strength and speed at their peak struck Tuoba Yan's chest.

Tuoba Yan took half a step back, his blood and qi churning from the impact.

A flash of surprise appeared in the youth's eyes.

He clearly had not expected that the boy before him, who looked several years younger than he was, would only take half a step back after receiving his punch head-on.

Tuoba Yan gathered strength in his abdomen, arched his back slightly, and clenched both fists. Then, he suddenly thrust his chest forward with explosive force.

The movement was slight, but with skillful force and stored power behind it, it produced a remarkable combat effect.

The youth's fist was still pressed against Tuoba Yan's chest when Tuoba Yan's slight tremor sent him staggering backward three steps in succession.

"Hm?"

The golden-haired youth frowned slightly. He clearly had not expected the boy before him to possess such adaptability.

At once, the golden-haired youth cast aside his contempt and charged at the boy again. His fist smashed toward him once more.

Borrowing the force of his forward charge, the golden-haired youth had pushed this punch to its limit.

Without abundant combat experience, how could he have achieved that?

At this moment, Tuoba Yan could not retreat.

If he retreated, he would only allow his opponent's momentum to surge.

Tuoba Yan planted his feet firmly, clenched his right hand into a fist, and red flames covered it.

Not only did he not retreat, he instead stepped forward and met force with force, fist against fist.

With a dull bang, the golden-haired youth's forward charge came to an abrupt stop. A rebound force formed, sending him stumbling back four or five steps before he managed to steady himself.

Tuoba Yan, meanwhile, did not move an inch.

More surprise filled Dai Mubai's eyes. He clearly had not expected that the boy before him, who looked several years younger, would be just a little stronger than him in terms of raw strength.