Enrollment at Heaven Dou Royal Academy

The very next day,

Qian Renxue arrived at the inn where Ye Yu was staying. With a gentle smile, she delivered the good news.

Her father, Emperor Xue Ye, had agreed to let Ye Yu enroll in Heaven Dou Royal Academy!

Although Heaven Dou Royal Academy did indeed require a nobility title for admission,

a nobility rank was ultimately not that big of a deal!

Fief-holding nobles above the rank of viscount might require careful consideration.

But noble ranks below viscount could be granted by Emperor Xue Ye at will.

And with Ye Yu's contribution of the Curved-shaft Plow,

he had more than earned a baronial title.

Thus, Emperor Xue Ye directly bestowed upon Ye Yu the rank of baron,

granting him the qualifications to enroll in Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

"Ye Yu, you probably don't know where the Royal Academy is yet, do you?"

"I happen to be heading there this afternoon. Would you like to come with me?"

"If you do, I can also take care of your enrollment procedures while we're there!"

After informing him of the good news, Qian Renxue continued with a gentle smile.

"Then I must thank His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Ye Yu bowed in respectful thanks.

Afterward, at Qian Renxue's warm invitation,

Ye Yu was taken to a private room in a restaurant for a meal.

During the banquet,

Qian Renxue curiously asked Ye Yu how he had developed the Curved-shaft Plow.

Ye Yu merely smiled and said that he had created the Curved-shaft Plow by observing the principles of nature.

Besides the Curved-shaft Plow, he had actually developed other things as well.

For example, he had noticed that grass leaves with serrated edges could easily cut people.

Thus, he had designed a tool called a saw, which could cut through trees

more easily than chopping them down with an axe.

He had also noticed that grass grew more luxuriantly in places where animal droppings were common.

Therefore, he had developed a method called Fertilizing, which could enrich the soil

and increase crop yields!

This made Qian Renxue admire him greatly.

Though she still did not know how talented Ye Yu was as a spirit master,

his powers of observation alone, along with his eloquence, made him a promising talent.

That afternoon, Qian Renxue took Ye Yu by carriage to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

After entering Heaven Dou Royal Academy,

Ye Yu followed Qian Renxue all the way to the Committee Members' office building behind the academy's teaching buildings.

There, they met the Heaven Dou Three Committee Members: Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin.

All three committee members supported Qian Renxue's faction.

With Emperor Xue Ye's approval and all the paperwork in order,

the three committee members admitted Ye Yu without hesitation.

They took out a registration form and had Ye Yu fill in his information.

Once he had finished filling it out,

Meng Shenji was stunned when he saw the registered details.

"Twelve years old, Innate Soul Power rank 1, currently a rank 10 Soul Warrior, Martial Soul: mutated Blue Silver Grass—Blue Silver Vine?"

"A mutated Blue Silver Grass?"

Zhi Lin, whose Martial Soul was the plant-type Martial Soul Azure Vine, could not help frowning as he moved closer.

"Student Ye Yu, with only rank 1 Innate Soul Power, your Martial Soul should have been an ordinary Blue Silver Grass."

"How could it be a mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul?"

Meng Shenji could not help asking in confusion and curiosity.

Ye Yu had long prepared for this, and he answered respectfully.

"Committee Member Meng Shenji, my Martial Soul was indeed an ordinary Blue Silver Grass at first."

"But perhaps because I frequently consumed spiritual medicines such as Hundred-year Ginseng and Hundred-year Lingzhi, the abundant life essence in those medicines affected my Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul."

"It gradually began to change, growing thicker and longer until it looked more and more like a vine."

"So I called it Blue Silver Vine."

"Hundred-year Ginseng and Hundred-year Lingzhi causing a Martial Soul mutation? That's not reasonable!"

Meng Shenji looked utterly incredulous, as though this were challenging everything he knew.

But Ye Yu had his own reasoning and spoke earnestly.

"Committee Member Meng Shenji, other Martial Souls might not be like this, but mine is Blue Silver Grass."

"Blue Silver Grass is the weakest plant-type soul beast."

"As a Martial Soul, its essence is also the weakest."

"I have studied spirit masters whose Martial Souls were also Blue Silver Grass. When they reached rank 10 and let their Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls absorb their first soul rings,"

"the forms of their Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls changed dramatically, such as directly turning from Blue Silver Grass into vines."

"This proves that the essence of the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is extremely susceptible to outside influence."

"Although I have not yet absorbed my first soul ring, I frequently consume spiritual medicines such as Hundred-year Ginseng and Hundred-year Lingzhi, so it is entirely possible for the same effect to occur."

After hearing Ye Yu's explanation, Meng Shenji, Zhi Lin, and Bai Baoshan felt that it did seem to make some sense.

As committee members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Meng Shenji and the others naturally knew

that the weaker a Martial Soul was, the greater the changes in form it would undergo after gaining soul rings!

By that logic, as the weakest plant-type Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass did indeed seem the most easily affected.

Perhaps this student Ye Yu had accidentally bought Thousand-year Ginseng

when purchasing Hundred-year Ginseng and lingzhi,

causing his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to undergo a change in form.

That was entirely possible as well!

"Student Ye Yu, could you let us see your Blue Silver Vine Martial Soul?"

"We have never seen a mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul before."

"The quality of your Martial Soul will largely determine which class you are assigned to, so we need to examine it carefully."

After pondering for a moment, Meng Shenji spoke.

"Of course, Committee Member Meng Shenji!"

Ye Yu responded politely and extended his right hand.

With a thought, he summoned his Blue Silver Vine Martial Soul.

When a Blue Silver Vine nearly two inches in diameter emerged from Ye Yu's hand, entirely blue-silver in color, clearly retaining the characteristics of Blue Silver Grass, its surface as crystal-clear and lustrous as blue crystal,

Meng Shenji, Zhi Lin, Bai Baoshan, and even Qian Renxue were all greatly astonished.

From the aura of the Blue Silver Vine, they could clearly sense

that Ye Yu's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul had undergone a beneficial mutation.

It was a Martial Soul Evolution!

"Third Brother, what do you think of the quality of Student Ye Yu's mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul?"

Since Zhi Lin's Azure Vine Martial Soul was also a plant-type Martial Soul,

Meng Shenji stroked his beard thoughtfully and turned to Zhi Lin as he asked.

"This mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul should be above average among intermediate-grade Martial Souls!"

After thinking it over, Zhi Lin gave his answer.

Among the Martial Souls of the Spirit Master World, if they were divided into low-grade, intermediate-grade, high-grade, and top-grade,

then the Clear Sky Hammer, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, and Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul would all undoubtedly be top-grade Martial Souls.

His Azure Vine was a high-grade Martial Soul.

As for Ye Yu's Blue Silver Vine Martial Soul, he believed it fell between intermediate and high grade.

Its future potential should reach Soul King, or perhaps even Soul Emperor!

"Student Ye Yu, since your Martial Soul has evolved, your innate aptitude will certainly have changed as well."

"According to Committee Member Zhi Lin's assessment, your mutated Blue Silver Vine Martial Soul should be an intermediate-to-high-grade Martial Soul."

"In the future, you will most likely be able to cultivate to the level of Soul King, or even Soul Emperor."

Meng Shenji stroked his beard and chuckled.

"Congratulations!"

"In that case, at your age, you should be able to enroll in the first-year Class A of the Intermediate Spirit Master Academy division."

"There are three first-year Class A groups in the Intermediate Spirit Master Academy. Which one would you like to join?"

At those words, Ye Yu was immediately delighted.

Although he had chosen to reveal his Blue Silver Vine Martial Soul,

it was because he knew he could not keep it hidden forever.

It would definitely be exposed eventually.

Rather than letting others speculate wildly,

it was better to lay his cards on the table, prepare an explanation, and guide their thoughts in other directions.

At the same time, by displaying his evolved new Martial Soul,

perhaps he could be assigned to a better class.

That would give him a chance to get closer to Dugu Yan.

And now, it seemed that was indeed the case!