Touring Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Mo Hui's Disappointment

"Let's head up the mountain. Although Heaven Dou Royal Academy doesn't allow outsiders in, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has close ties with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Quite a few disciples from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's branch lines study there as well. If we only want to look around, we just need to let them know."

As he spoke, Ning Yuan led Mo Hui into Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Along the way, Ning Yuan introduced the specific functions of the various facilities whenever they passed one, greatly broadening Mo Hui's horizons.

"Wait!"

Not long after Ning Yuan brought Mo Hui into Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a voice called out to them from behind.

The two turned around to see a plainly dressed, ordinary-looking middle-aged man in his thirties walking toward them. He asked, "You aren't students of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. How did you get in?"

Seeing someone question them, Ning Yuan immediately said, "Hello, Teacher Qin. I'm Ning Yuan, an outer disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Although Ning Yuan was not much younger than the man before him, he treated him with exceptional respect because he had recognized him.

Ning Yuan was now twenty-six years old, yet his Soul Power was only level 36. The man before him was merely four years older, but his Soul Power Level had already reached 56. The gap between them was far greater than a single rank.

"You know me?"

A trace of surprise flashed through Qin Ming's eyes. He had not expected the person before him to recognize him.

Ning Yuan smiled faintly. "Teacher Qin became a Soul King at only thirty years old and may even break through to Soul Emperor in the next few years. Of course I would recognize such a genius."

"I see."

Qin Ming nodded, then asked, "So, did you come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy for something?"

"It's not me. It's this little brother who has business here."

Ning Yuan shook his head, then patted Mo Hui's shoulder. "This little brother came to Heaven Dou City to study. He greatly admires Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so I brought him here to take a look around."

As he spoke, Ning Yuan gave Mo Hui a meaningful look.

"Hello, Teacher Qin. My name is Mo Hui."

Mo Hui immediately understood and greeted Qin Ming with a smile.

He remembered Qin Ming as well. He had come from Shrek Academy and was said to be the second-youngest Soul Emperor, though later on there had been plenty of Soul Emperors younger than him.

"Little fellow, do you want to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"

Qin Ming looked Mo Hui over and asked.

Mo Hui nodded. "I heard that Heaven Dou Royal Academy has the best conditions among all Advanced Soul Master Academies. With such good conditions and resources, the students studying here should cultivate very quickly, right?"

"..."

Hearing this, Qin Ming touched his nose, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Mo Hui's words had struck directly at Heaven Dou Royal Academy's sore spot. Although the academy's conditions were excellent, most of its students were spoiled young masters who did not cultivate diligently at all. As a result, aside from a very small number of students, its overall quality was even inferior to that of many ordinary Advanced Soul Master Academies.

"Cough, cough~"

Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, Ning Yuan immediately coughed lightly. "Teacher Qin, we won't disturb you any longer. I still need to take little brother Mo Hui to see some other places."

With that, Ning Yuan prepared to leave with Mo Hui.

"Wait!"

Just as the two were about to depart, Qin Ming called after them again.

Seeing the puzzled looks in Ning Yuan and Mo Hui's eyes, Qin Ming smiled slightly. "I happen to be free right now. How about I show this little brother around Heaven Dou Royal Academy myself?"

"Uh... wouldn't that be too much trouble?" Ning Yuan asked hesitantly.

"Ah, it's no trouble, no trouble!"

As he spoke, Qin Ming walked over to them and began introducing Heaven Dou Royal Academy of his own accord.

Seeing this, Ning Yuan helplessly shrugged at Mo Hui, and the two followed Qin Ming onward.

Along the way, Qin Ming casually asked Mo Hui, "Little Mo Hui, what level are you now?"

Although Ning Yuan had introduced Mo Hui as someone seeking to study, Qin Ming did not think Mo Hui intended to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy right away. After all, Mo Hui was far too young, only ten years old. He assumed Mo Hui merely wanted to enroll in one of Heaven Dou City's Intermediate Soul Master Academies.

"Me? I broke through to level 22 not long ago," Mo Hui replied without hesitation.

"What? You're already level 22?"

Qin Ming froze, then looked at Mo Hui in disbelief.

"Little brother Mo Hui is a genius, and his martial spirit is quite unique as well. It's one of the rare detached Beast Spirits on the continent."

At this moment, Ning Yuan explained.

A detached Beast Spirit?

Hearing this, Qin Ming immediately looked toward Pidgey, which had been perched on Mo Hui's shoulder the entire time.

He had originally assumed it was just an ordinary pet bird. He had not expected it to be the other party's martial spirit.

"Brother Ning, you flatter me. I've only worked a little harder in the early stages. Compared to true geniuses, I still have a great deal of ground to make up."

Mo Hui sincerely meant it. Although the Bobo Meditation Method had undergone some slight improvements at his hands, its cultivation speed still lagged considerably behind the Meditation Methods that true geniuses naturally possessed.

The reason Mo Hui could display a cultivation speed no weaker than that of a genius could basically be summed up in one word: grind!

He would leave the difference in speed to time. By cultivating far longer than ordinary people, Mo Hui had kept his level from falling behind.

However, this strategy was only useful in the early stages. The further he progressed, the more apparent the limitations of his martial spirit would become, and the harder it would be to keep pace with those geniuses.

Fortunately, his martial spirit was Pidgey, and Pidgey had not remained stagnant either.

According to Mo Hui's estimates, once he absorbed his third, or at most his fourth, soul ring, Pidgey would evolve into Pidgeotto. At that point, Mo Hui's cultivation speed would increase dramatically.

After learning Mo Hui's Soul Power Level, Qin Ming became noticeably more enthusiastic. Before long, he had taken Mo Hui through nearly all of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, even visiting the library, giving Mo Hui a basic understanding of the academy.

The conditions really were excellent, but Mo Hui still felt something was lacking. In particular, when it came to wind-attribute cultivation methods, even though he had only seen the first floor of the library, Mo Hui could already roughly gauge Heaven Dou Royal Academy's standards. They were much weaker than he had imagined.

Were my expectations too high?

After leaving the library, Mo Hui frowned slightly. Were his standards too high, or was this world's level simply no better than this?

They had visited most places open for touring. The only place left was the Soul Duel Arena, so Qin Ming finally took him to watch the students of Heaven Dou Royal Academy engage in soul duels.

However, when Mo Hui saw Heaven Dou Royal Academy's so-called soul duels, his brow furrowed even more deeply.

He had long known that the academy's ordinary students might not be very capable, but their level was still far worse than he had imagined. Mo Hui even felt that he could easily crush most students below level 30.

At that moment, Mo Hui suddenly realized something. If the standards of most Advanced Soul Master Academies were like this, then perhaps he had wronged Shrek Academy somewhat. If their resources could be made up for, they might truly teach better than most Advanced Soul Master Academies.

The overall standard of the Douluo Continent seemed to be even lower than he had expected.