Completion Ceremony (Part 2)

Once everyone had arrived and taken their seats, Lin Lan walked straight onto the stage. Lin Feng had initially wanted to make it like the press conferences from his previous life, hire a host to liven things up and whatnot, but he later gave up on the idea. The people below were all Spirit Masters from major factions. No one had any interest in flashy nonsense, so there was no need to put on a show.

Lin Lan spoke directly. "Hello, everyone. Thank you for attending the completion ceremony of my Five Elements Academy. I am Lin Lan, the dean of Five Elements Academy. Some of you here know me, while others do not, so let me introduce myself first. Lin Lan, Martial Soul: Battle Soul Blade, Level 82 Assault System Soul Douluo."

Although some people had already sensed Lin Lan's Soul Douluo aura the moment they entered, others were only learning of it now. Everyone sighed in amazement. The Lin couple had always advanced in Soul Power side by side. By now, Madam Lin, Hua Jieyu, was likely also a Soul Douluo. With the two of them together, plus Dugu Bo, Five Elements Academy truly possessed the combat strength of two Titled Douluo. Even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the Upper Three Sects, did not have the combat strength of two Titled Douluo.

Regardless of what everyone was thinking, Lin Lan continued. "Previously, we asked Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to help us announce our enrollment information across the continent. Today, I will give everyone a more detailed introduction to Five Elements Academy.

"Five Elements Academy currently has one Vice Dean at the Titled Douluo level—Poison Douluo, Your Excellency Dugu Bo, whom everyone knows well;

"Three academy executives at the Soul Douluo level: Ye Renxin, the world's greatest Healing System Spirit Master, as well as my wife Hua Jieyu and myself." Everyone thought to themselves, as expected, Hua Jieyu was also a Soul Douluo.

"Three Academic Directors at the Spirit Saint level, responsible for theoretical teaching, practical combat instruction, and the students' logistics and daily lives respectively.

"Multiple Department Heads at the Soul Emperor level, each overseeing one of the six major directions: Assault System, Agility System, Defense System, Support System, Healing System, and Control System. There are further subdivisions beneath these major directions. For example, the Support System includes the Food System and so on. I will not go into detail here.

"And a large number of Soul King-level instructors. This is also Five Elements Academy's minimum standard for teaching staff. We do not hire instructors below the Soul King level.

"Of course, Five Elements Academy does not lack people below the Soul King level. We also have many Soul Ancestor-level employees serving as Dormitory Supervisors, Counselors, Gatekeepers, and so on. Below the Soul Ancestor level, our academy has only students."

Lin Lan's words thoroughly shocked everyone present. Most Advanced Spirit Master Academies had, at most, Spirit Saint-level experts, and those were merely there to hold the fort. The actual teachers were usually Soul Ancestors, while better academies might have Soul Kings. Yet at Five Elements Academy, Soul Ancestors were actually at the very bottom and could only handle logistical work. They had not yet seen anything else about Five Elements Academy, but its teaching staff alone was truly far beyond the rest.

The other factions were all marveling at this, but those who knew the Lin Family relatively well, such as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Xue Qinghe, were pondering where exactly the Lin Family had recruited so many experts. Logically speaking, the Lin Family should not have possessed such strength.

The origins of these people were actually very simple. Lin Lan had made a trip to the City of Slaughter. Although that place was a place of exile for Evil Spirit Masters, many Spirit Masters had entered because they had nowhere else to go or had been forced into it for various reasons. They simply could not get out on their own. Without alerting the King of Slaughter, Lin Lan selected a group and brought them out. He cleansed them of their killing aura, cured the poison of the City of Slaughter, made them swear loyalty with their Martial Souls, and used the Soul Shifting Great Method to implant subconscious suggestions. That was how this group of people came to Five Elements Academy. They were strong, and their loyalty was guaranteed.

Lin Lan continued, "Having spoken about our teaching staff, let us now discuss the students' cultivation guarantees. Our academy charges high fees. The reason for that is because we design many training plans for our students and provide sufficient Medicinal Bath resources to ensure that their cultivation does not damage their bodies, while also increasing their cultivation speed. Everyone knows of my son's reputation as a genius physician. With my son's medical skills and Senior Ye Renxin, the world's greatest Healing System Spirit Master, at our academy, the students of Five Elements Academy can cultivate with complete confidence.

"The academy will help students of the Elementary and Intermediate Departments hunt Hundred-Year Soul Rings free of charge, and help students of the Senior Department hunt Thousand-year Soul Rings. This is also one of our basic guarantees.

"Finally, there are the Combat Type Self-Created Soul Skills that everyone is so concerned about. It must be clarified that Self-Created Soul Skills may only be learned by students of the Senior Department. Students of the Elementary and Intermediate Departments will mainly cultivate Soul Power and build their foundations. As for Senior Department students, the Soul Skills are divided into several categories: those available to all students, those available to outstanding students, and those available to students who have made contributions. The specific rules will naturally become clear once students enroll.

"As for just how powerful the self-created Soul Power of Five Elements Academy is in battle, everyone will find out shortly. After all, Sect Master Huyan challenged me when he entered. In a moment, everyone may watch a Soul Douluo-level spirit battle for free. I have said everything I needed to say. I will now leave the remaining time to Your Excellency Dugu."

Lin Lan walked off the stage and left it to Dugu Bo. When Dugu Bo stepped onto the stage, many people still did not know who he was. His appearance had indeed changed greatly after his Martial Soul Evolution, and only a few people had been personally received by him today, so many were still guessing at his identity.

Dugu Bo said, "I am Dugu Bo. I see that many of you are wondering who I am. Fair enough. With my current appearance, many people have indeed never seen me before."

As he spoke, Dugu Bo released his Martial Soul. Nine Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black—flashed around his Earth Poison Dragon Martial Soul. A powerful aura swept toward the crowd. Other than Ju and Gui, who had already experienced Dugu Bo's Martial Soul, everyone else was utterly shocked. They had never expected that someone who had already cultivated to the Titled Douluo level could still undergo Martial Soul Evolution, much less that the evolved Dugu Bo would be so powerful.

After intimidating the crowd a little, Dugu Bo continued, "This is the new Martial Soul evolved from my Jade Serpent Emperor Martial Soul. I call it the Earth Poison Dragon. Not only has it retained the venom of my Jade Serpent Emperor, it has also given me formidable combat power. If anyone is interested, you may come and try it. I welcome you all.

"Many people do not know my circumstances, but among Titled Douluo, this is no secret. For years, I suffered from Bloodline Poison, which caused my son to die young and earned me the title of the weakest Titled Douluo. I traveled all over the continent seeking a way to solve my Martial Soul problem. Fortunately, I found one. Now, not only have I evolved my Martial Soul, but my granddaughter Yan Yan has as well. I am announcing this in advance to tell everyone that if anyone dares set their sights on my granddaughter in the future, I will invite them to try my new Martial Soul." (Dugu Yan could not remain hidden forever. He was using this opportunity to directly announce the news of her Martial Soul Evolution while intimidating others with his strength, sparing her many troubles she might face later.)

"I was able to achieve Martial Soul Evolution without any worries thanks entirely to that Lin boy helping me restore my body. Feng'er is now my Cross-Generational Friend. If anyone dares set their sights on Feng'er, they will also receive my 'special attention.'

"I know many of you are very interested in how I achieved Martial Soul Evolution. But control your curiosity. Be careful not to have a life to be curious but no life to learn the answer. Which is more important, staying alive or uncovering someone else's secrets? I believe you all know the answer in your hearts.

"I will not speak pretty words. You may think I am arrogant, but I do not care. Before my Martial Soul Evolution, I once lamented my lack of combat power. At the time, Feng'er said this to me: Poison-attack Spirit Masters were never meant to compete head-on in attack power. Just as you cannot expect a Control System Titled Douluo to trade direct blows with an Assault System Titled Douluo. Only fools use their own weakness to attack an enemy's strength. Perhaps you cannot defeat some Titled Douluo head-on, but you can beat them until all they have left is their title as Titled Douluo.

"I bring this up to say that now, I can not only beat them until all they have left is their title as Titled Douluo. As for who will be left in the end, everyone is welcome to give it a try, because I would also like to know. Oh, and one more thing—my Soul Power is now Level 96." With that, he strode off the stage in an exceptionally dashing manner.

Below the stage, Dugu Yan asked Lin Feng, "Did you teach him how to act so pretentious?"

Lin Feng said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Do not falsely accuse an innocent man."