Heaven Dou Royal Academy

As the center of imperial power, the Crown Prince's Mansion was tied to the empire's decisions. Naturally, spies from every faction lurked around it under various identities, all eager to learn the empire's next move.

Shen Tianchen being invited into the Crown Prince's Mansion by Xue Qinghe left the other factions greatly astonished. Many had already begun secretly investigating his background and affiliations.

The nobles did the same. To prevent members of their families from offending someone they could not afford to provoke, they secretly had portraits of Shen Tianchen drawn and posted throughout their estates.

Shen Tianchen was thoroughly puzzled by all the activity around him. Did he not look enough like a spoiled young master?

After entering the Crown Prince's study, Pufferfish, Snake Lance, and Ghost Leopard skillfully concealed themselves in the shadows, sealing off all news from this place.

"You should have guessed who I am by now, right?" Xue Qinghe said with a smile.

"For someone to have Elder Pufferfish and Elder Snake Lance, two Titled Douluo, at their side, and be called Young Master by Elder Ghost Leopard... there can't be a second person like that in all of Spirit Hall, can there? Am I right, Sister Xue?" Shen Tianchen replied calmly.

"Grandfather already sent me word about you earlier. I found it hard to believe at first, but now it seems the letter spoke the truth. A Soul Ancestor under seven years old at level forty-five, with three purple Spirit Rings and one black one, such meticulous thoughts, and even a Self-Created Soul Skill... any one of these would be enough to shock the Spirit Master World." Xue Qinghe praised.

"You flatter me, Sister Xue," Shen Tianchen said modestly.

"What are your plans now?" Xue Qinghe asked.

"I want to enroll in Heaven Dou Royal Academy to study and prepare for the next Spirit Master Tournament. Could you help me, Sister Xue?" Shen Tianchen asked.

"Of course. I'll notify the academy."

Xue Qinghe lowered her head in thought for a moment before adding, "You probably don't have a place to stay yet, do you? There's a courtyard east of the imperial palace. It isn't particularly large, but few people go there. It should suit you well, and it'll be convenient for me to notify you if anything comes up. I'll take you there to have a look first."

Shen Tianchen asked in surprise, "Sister Xue, aren't you handling state affairs today?"

"It's not far. It won't delay me for long. It's fine. Come on, I'll take you there first."

After saying that, Xue Qinghe gave Shen Tianchen no chance to respond and took the lead toward the eastern side outside the palace. Shen Tianchen could only follow with a wry smile. Naturally, this drew the attention of many spies from various factions.

After walking for roughly half an hour, Xue Qinghe slowly came to a stop in front of a secluded courtyard.

"Your Highness, is this the place?" Shen Tianchen asked. Xue Qinghe nodded, then had a guard open the gate. The two entered one after the other.

The first thing Shen Tianchen saw was a peach tree. It looked quite old, but it was also clear that the courtyard was regularly cleaned. Otherwise, it would not have been so spotless.

Beyond it stood a two-story house. Its overall color was dark brown, giving off a tranquil feeling.

Behind the house was a small pond, with a pavilion in its center. It would be a fine place to rest and pass the time during moments of leisure.

After looking over the courtyard, Shen Tianchen nodded in satisfaction. It suited his requirements quite well.

After handing Shen Tianchen the key to the house, Xue Qinghe said, "Let's leave it at that for today. I still have matters to attend to, so I'll be going."

Shen Tianchen nodded, escorted Xue Qinghe to the gate, and then returned to the house.

After returning inside, he tidied up the house a little before sitting on the bed and beginning to think about enrolling in Heaven Dou Royal Academy in a few days, as well as his future plans.

Judging from the current timeline, Tang San has probably awakened his martial soul by now. I need to speed things up even more. The members of Heaven Dou Royal Team's first squad are all highly talented, but they never received proper guidance and regrettably missed out on the final championship. Since I've appeared, I won't let that happen again.

The next morning, in the courtyard east of the imperial palace.

Shen Tianchen had just finished washing up and was about to return to his room when someone knocked on the gate.

"Who is it this early in the morning?" Shen Tianchen muttered. He walked straight to the gate, opened it, and found several guards standing outside.

The lead guard handed Shen Tianchen a letter and said, "Hello, Mr. Shen. We are guards from the Crown Prince's Mansion. By order of His Highness the Crown Prince, we have come to deliver this letter to you today. Please accept it."

Shen Tianchen nodded. After thanking him, he accepted the letter.

Shen Tianchen returned to the room and opened the envelope.

The letter paper was Moonlight Silk Linen Paper supplied exclusively to the Heaven Dou Royal Family, warm and smooth to the touch.

The recommendation letter's contents were official and concise. It contained only his name and an order requiring the academy to admit him unconditionally. The handwriting was neat.

Yet another sheet of paper had been tucked behind it, and a line of entirely different handwriting came into view.

The strokes were graceful, with a faint sharpness that was difficult to detect, like a blade hidden within its sheath.

"There are three members of the academy's education committee. They have strange tempers and only acknowledge strength. Grandfather has paved the way for you, but you must walk it yourself. —Xue."

Shen Tianchen's fingertips lightly brushed over the character for "Xue," and a knowing curve rose at the corner of his lips.

This was no recommendation letter. It was clearly an examination paper from Qian Renxue.

She wanted to see whether he was a fledgling who needed the shelter of her wings, or a bird of prey capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with her.

You want to see what I'm made of?

Shen Tianchen thought to himself.

Fine. It'll save me the trouble of hiding my abilities. I can use them to test the swordsmanship I've recently worked out.

He folded the recommendation letter, tucked it into his clothes, and pushed the door open before heading out.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was located on the western side of the imperial city. Its architecture was magnificent and entirely different from Spirit Hall's austere, imposing style. Every brick and stone carried the weight of scholarship and the elegance of nobility.

The guard at the entrance leaned lazily against a stone pillar carved with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's totem.

When he saw a seven-year-old child approaching alone, he had intended to casually wave him away.

Shen Tianchen did not waste words and directly handed over the letter.

The guard accepted it impatiently and swept his gaze across the paper. The instant he saw the unique Purple Gold Seal on the back of the envelope, symbolizing the Crown Prince's personal presence, the disdain on his face froze.

His pupils suddenly constricted. His body snapped straight as if struck by lightning, and a thin layer of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"P-please come in!"

The guard's attitude made a complete reversal. He bowed respectfully and personally led the way.

After passing through a courtyard filled with exotic flowers and strange plants, Shen Tianchen was brought to an antique office.

"Three Education Committee Members, he has arrived."

The guard's voice carried a faint, barely detectable tremor.

Shen Tianchen pushed open the door and entered.

Inside, three figures were seated.

The old man in the center was lean and had a gentle aura. He was Meng Shenji, an eighty-sixth-level Soul Douluo.

The old man to the left was built like a mountain. Simply sitting there, he resembled an unshakable fortress. He was Bai Baoshan, an eighty-fifth-level Defense Type Soul Douluo.

The old man on the right looked like an ordinary scholar. He wore a pair of crystal glasses on the bridge of his nose and was lowering his head to wipe them. He was Zhi Lin, an eighty-third-level Control Type Soul Douluo specializing in Mental Strength.

The three old men looked at the little child before them, who was not even as tall as the desk. Though they knew he held the Crown Prince's recommendation letter, they did not bother concealing the scrutiny and doubt in their eyes.

Meng Shenji spoke first, his voice neither servile nor overbearing. "We naturally would not dare neglect His Highness the Crown Prince's recommendation."

"But Heaven Dou Royal Academy has its own rules. Every student, regardless of background, must prove that they are qualified to enroll. Little friend, do you understand?"

"I understand," Shen Tianchen answered calmly.

Zhi Lin pushed up his crystal glasses, and a gleam flashed through his eyes behind the lenses.

"Child, don't be nervous. This old man merely wishes to see whether your Mental Strength is sufficient, so that you do not go astray in your future cultivation."

His smile was gentle, but before his words had even faded, an invisible pressure had already spread through the room.

The pressure surged toward Shen Tianchen like a tide, carrying countless negative emotions that made one feel discouraged and doubt oneself.

Shen Tianchen could clearly "see" the illusions emerging within that pressure.

The instant he had been struck by a truck in his previous life, his parents' worried tears outside the Spirit Hall Branch, the frustration of encountering bottlenecks in cultivation...

Yet he merely stood there quietly, his expression unchanged.

To someone with the soul of two lifetimes, whose Sea of Consciousness had been tempered by a Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, these things were no more than a breeze brushing past his face.

With a thought, the Dragon Abyss Sword within his Sea of Consciousness let out a clear sword cry.

Sword Intent, cold as frost, instantly shattered every illusion.

A trace of deep blue light flashed through the depths of his eyes.

Ten seconds passed.

Shen Tianchen remained utterly motionless.

Zhi Lin felt as though he had been challenged. He gave a muffled grunt and increased his Soul Power output.

The air in the office seemed to solidify in an instant, and a tyrannical pressure bore straight down on Shen Tianchen's knees.

The obsidian floor beneath his feet let out an overloaded creak.

The corners of his clothes fluttered despite the absence of wind.

Shen Tianchen's knees seemed to sink slightly.

The gazes of the other two Education Committee Members also sharpened. They thought this was already the child's limit.

Shen Tianchen was growing impatient.

He let out an extremely soft snort through his nose.

A wisp of nearly imperceptible Soul Power quietly emerged from the Wind God Pearl in his dantian, forming a tiny vortex around his body that was completely invisible to the naked eye.

The heavy mental pressure from Zhi Lin, a Soul Douluo—enough to crush a Soul King—was effortlessly shredded and diverted to both sides the instant it touched the vortex.

Zhi Lin only felt as though the full-force punch he had thrown had landed in a mass of empty cotton.

Then, a soft but sinister force rebounded along their mental connection.

His body suddenly swayed, and he actually took half a step back involuntarily. His face instantly turned somewhat pale.

What... was that power?

It actually dispersed my Spirit Shock so easily!

Zhi Lin was horrified.

Shen Tianchen did not stop there.

He took a step forward.

Thump.

That step seemed to land upon the hearts of the three Education Committee Members.

An entirely different aura, cold to the extreme, erupted violently from his small body.

The sharp Sword Intent of the Dragon Abyss Sword mixed with the ultimate dragon might and icy chill of the Ice Crystal Ancient Dragon and the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Prison Ice Flood Dragon.

The temperature in the office plummeted.

The surface of the clear water in the vase at the corner of the room instantly froze over with a fine layer of white frost.

What the three Education Committee Members felt was not the oppression of power, but a terror that came from the depths of their souls.

It was as though an invisible icy sword hung at their throats, ready to fall at any moment.

This pressure from the level of life itself was far more terrifying than a mere collision of Soul Power.

The three long-renowned Soul Douluo were completely stunned.

Meng Shenji reacted the fastest. The shock on his face instantly became excitement and wild joy. He hurried forward, his face full of an appreciative smile.

"This old man failed to recognize greatness! For a young friend with such talent, it is Heaven Dou Royal Academy's honor! Please, you must join the Heaven Dou Class. The three of us will personally guide you!"

He even bowed slightly, assuming the posture of a senior respectfully welcoming talent.

Shen Tianchen withdrew his aura, and the temperature in the office slowly rose again.

He calmly accepted the invitation, but put forward one condition.

"I require absolute freedom. I may choose not to participate in the academy's regular classes."

He paused, sweeping his gaze over the three of them.

"And I have the right to observe, and even guide, the Heaven Dou Team's daily training."

This condition stunned the three Education Committee Members once more.

This was no longer a student's request. He was demanding privileges on the level of an Education Committee Member.

Yet Meng Shenji hesitated almost not at all and immediately nodded.

"No problem! Everything will be as you wish! For a genius like you, any rule can be broken!"

In his eyes, this child before him was the Heaven Dou Empire's only hope of standing against Spirit Hall's Golden Generation in the future.

When Shen Tianchen walked out of the office, a tall figure stood quietly waiting outside.

He was a well-built young man with long blue hair casually draped over his shoulders. Lightning seemed to flicker within his eyes.

He had clearly sensed the astonishing aura that had flashed through the office moments ago.

Now, he stared fixedly at Shen Tianchen with a gaze filled with curiosity, intense battle intent, and scrutiny.

Yu Tianheng.

There was no conversation between them. Only their gazes clashed silently in the air.

Such a powerful sense of oppression... and it came from a little brat like him?

As expected of someone sent by His Highness the Crown Prince. He's no simple person.

Yu Tianheng thought to himself.

Yu Tianheng stood within that patch of shadow, an invisible electric field seeming to surround him, making the air carry a faint crackling heat.

His gaze was like a lightning spear drawn from its sheath, its edge fully exposed as it remained nailed to Shen Tianchen's small body.

"I can sense the power within you."

His voice was low, like the muffled rumble before thunder, and every word carried the pride of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

"But this is the Heaven Dou Royal Team."

Yu Tianheng's knuckles let out a soft crack. A tiny blue arc of electricity leaped across his fingertips before vanishing in an instant.

"This is not a place for some genius child to play house."

Hearing this, Shen Tianchen did not even raise his head to look at him. He merely extended his small hand and lightly brushed away dust that did not exist from his sleeve.

The gesture was casual, yet filled with contempt.

"Qualification."

He finally spoke, his voice as calm as an ancient well, without the slightest ripple.

"Is fought for, not talked about."