Qin Ming, Leader of the Imperial Fight Team

Under Zhi Lin's gaze, Xiao Wu grew even more flustered. Zu Zong smiled helplessly. Perhaps she had been a rabbit for so long that, even after becoming human, she still retained a psychological shadow.

Clearing his throat, Zhi Lin said seriously, "Young Girl, could you show us your Martial Soul?"

Zu Zong took Xiao Wu's hand and comforted her. "It's fine. They just want to see your Martial Soul."

With Zu Zong's reassurance, Xiao Wu visibly calmed down. She nodded, gathered her courage, and said, "Xiao Wu, Martial Soul: Rabbit. Level 33 three-ring assault-type Soul Elder."

A red glow lit up around Xiao Wu. Under its faint radiance, her eyes began turning red, while her ears slowly lengthened and rose from the sides of her head, covered in soft white fur. Her figure seemed to grow a little taller, and a gentle aura of Soul Power rippled around her body. The Soul Rings rising beneath her feet were the same as Zu Zong's earlier—yellow, yellow, purple. Three rings in total.

The three members of the Education Committee all nodded. "Mm! Not bad."

Meng Shenji looked at the middle-aged man standing nearby and laughed heartily. "Qin Ming, what do you think? Are these two qualified to join the Imperial Fight Team?"

The middle-aged man was extremely excited, delight written across his face. He replied with a smile, "Three Education Committee members, if they aren't qualified, then I'm afraid there are scarcely a few people on the entire continent who are."

When Meng Shenji had summoned him earlier and informed him that two new students would be joining the Imperial Fight Team today, he had initially refused.

It was not that he held much prejudice against new students. Rather, most of those admitted were noble children. The Heaven Dou Empire's nobility was infamous across the continent for its extravagant and depraved ways. Even some seedlings with decent talent ended up accomplishing nothing after spending every day fooling around with their disreputable friends. The Heaven Dou Empire's Fourth Prince, Xue Beng, was a prime example.

It had already been difficult enough for the Imperial Fight Team to gather promising talents like Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan. He did not want one bad apple to spoil the whole batch. But Meng Shenji was, after all, the chairman of the academy's Education Committee, so Qin Ming could not bring himself to refuse outright. He proposed meeting them first before making a decision, never expecting reality to give him such an enormous surprise.

The middle-aged man smiled. "My name is Qin Ming. I'm thirty-two years old, a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the leader of the Imperial Fight Team. My Martial Soul is the mutated Martial Soul, Blazing Azure Wolf. I'm a level sixty-two, six-ring assault-type Soul Emperor. From today onward, you are members of my Imperial Fight Team."

Zu Zong: What?

Xiao Wu: Nani? (She had learned it from Zu Zong.)

After handling Zu Zong and Xiao Wu's enrollment procedures, Qin Ming led them toward the Imperial Fight Team's gathering place.

As the three walked, Qin Ming introduced the surroundings to them along the way.

"This is the academy cafeteria. The food is fairly decent, and it's all free."

"This is the Martial Soul Mimicry Cultivation Field. You may use it in the future, but you'll need to apply first."

"This is—"

Without the three Spirit Douluo of the Education Committee around, Xiao Wu returned to her carefree self, wanting to touch and inspect everything she saw. When she heard about the cafeteria in particular, she could not move another step, her eyes staring fixedly at Zu Zong. Helpless, Zu Zong had no choice but to sign a series of unequal treaties with her, including A Day Trip to Heaven Dou City, before she finally let it go.

Only after the buildings gradually disappeared did Xiao Wu settle down and ask Qin Ming, "Teacher Qin, didn't they say new students all have to take an entrance examination? Is it really okay for us to use connections like this?"

Zu Zong's expression turned solemn. Damn, apart from eating, this rabbit actually knows how to care about other things? As he spoke, his right hand reached for Xiao Wu's forehead.

The moment Zu Zong touched her, Xiao Wu's face immediately flushed red. Yet she made no move to push his hand away. Pretending to scold him coquettishly, she said, "What are you doing?"

Zu Zong raised his free left hand and touched his own forehead, smiling. "No fever! You actually said something serious today! I thought you were going to ask Teacher Qin what time the cafeteria opens!"

"Go die. Awooo!" Xiao Wu pushed aside Zu Zong's right hand, grabbed it, and bit down on it "viciously."

"Ah! What a sin! You dead rabbit, let go!"

"I won't!"

"Are you letting go or not?!"

"I'm absolutely not letting go!"

Watching the two fool around, Qin Ming smiled knowingly. They really were childhood sweethearts. At the same time, he observed a moment of silence for himself: This was pure wolf abuse.

Qin Ming's Martial Soul was a wolf, while Grandmaster Su Yuntao's was a dog. So Qin Ming was being abused as a wolf, while Su Yuntao was the one being abused as a dog. Mm! That was right.

The two noticed Qin Ming's gaze.

Zu Zong did not care. He was an old hand.

But Xiao Wu could not take it. She had actually done something so embarrassing in front of her new teacher. How humiliating! Releasing Zu Zong's hand, she hurriedly hid behind him.

Seeing Xiao Wu's reaction, Qin Ming smiled faintly. "Your abilities have been acknowledged by the academy's three highest-ranking Education Committee members, so the examination the day after tomorrow will merely be a formality."

At this point, Qin Ming changed the subject and let out a helpless sigh.

"Besides, entrance examinations at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy have now become something that might as well not exist.

As long as someone obtains an admission slot, most of them have powerful family backgrounds. Whether they can pass the examination or not, they will ultimately be admitted. Once inside, most of them do not cultivate diligently and merely occupy the academy's vast resources for nothing.

As for those capable of passing, if they lack connections, they cannot even get through the gates.

You two are lucky. You met Education Committee member Meng Shenji's granddaughter. Otherwise, no matter how outstanding your talents were, if the academy's upper ranks did not know about you, you still would not have been able to enter.

However, things have improved somewhat ever since His Highness the Crown Prince became the Dean, though it is still only a drop in the bucket.

The relationships among the nobility are far too tangled."

Zu Zong nodded in deep agreement. The current situation resembled the late Eastern Han Dynasty on Blue Star in his previous life. The root of the chaos lay in the aristocratic clans controlling most of the land and population, leaving the common people unable to feed themselves. In the end, war erupted, setting off a decades-long struggle for supremacy. Ridiculously, after Wei, Shu, and Wu fought back and forth, the final victor was the aristocratic class represented by the Sima Clan. Several decades later, civil strife broke out among the aristocratic clans once more, foreign enemies invaded, and the people of the Han Dynasty suffered centuries of slaughter. What bitter irony.

And the original course of Douluo Continent was so similar to that of the Three Kingdoms. The "righteous" protagonist helped the "righteous nobles" win this "evil" war launched by Spirit Hall. Decades later, with Spirit Hall no longer serving as an enemy, war erupted once again and continued spreading for tens of thousands of years without ever stopping.

After becoming a god, the protagonist remained high above, watching warfare rage on and Evil Soul Masters run rampant. He claimed not to interfere in mortal affairs, yet when the continent once again had a chance to unite, that lofty god stepped in and forcibly prevented unification. The continent once again fell into a state where war could erupt at any moment.

Thinking of this, Zu Zong clenched his fists and silently thought, Perhaps I can change something!

These chapters were only a transition. They would not be so padded afterward.

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