Three Recommendation Letters

Half a month later.

Heaven Dou City.

The Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena was still brightly lit and teeming with people beneath the night sky.

At the center of the Soul Fighting Arena, the Soul Guiding Crystal Tablet shimmered with silver light.

In the Silver Soul Master section on the tablet, the name "Yan Jun" ranked near the top, shining brilliantly.

The points displayed beside Yan Jun's name kept ticking upward. Yan Jun now had a staggering 4,551 points!

That was right. Across two cycles and fourteen Cross-level Challenge matches in total, Lu Lin had won every single one!!

In fact, after the Cross-level Challenge match on the eleventh day, Lu Lin's points had already passed the thousand-point mark, earning him Silver Soul Master Tier status.

After ten consecutive wins, each additional victory multiplied his points by ten. In Cross-level Challenge mode, Lu Lin's base points were ten.

In just eleven days, "Yan Jun" had advanced from Iron Soul Master Tier to Silver Soul Master Tier.

This speed of advancement might not have been unprecedented, but it was undoubtedly a rare feat at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

Such a glorious record owed much to the second soul skill granted to Lu Lin by the Golden Mane Lion, a Soul Beast with 7,600 years of cultivation: Dark Gold Aegis!!

Dark Gold Aegis: When activated, Lu Lin could absorb and contain his enemies' attack skills, storing them inside his body.

Then Lu Lin could add that energy to his first soul skill, Dark Demon Claw, and return his opponents' attacks several times over—or even dozens of times over!

Simply put, the more fiercely his enemies attacked, the more fuel they gave him for an even stronger counterattack!

Of course, the skill had its limits.

But as a variant of the super Soul Beast Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, the Dark Demon Dreadclaw Bear had given Lu Lin terrifying levels of both attack and defense.

At Lu Lin's current strength, ordinary opponents at Soul Elder level still couldn't reach the limits of Dark Gold Aegis's defense.

This near-unassailable balance of offense and defense had earned "Yan Jun" a fearsome reputation at the Great Soul Arena.

When Xiao Huohuo learned that Lu Lin wouldn't be competing in Cross-level Challenge matches anymore, regret filled his face.

"Will you really not reconsider, Your Excellency Yan Jun?

"With your current points, you're not far from Gold Soul Master Tier. And we'd be willing to..."

Before Xiao Huohuo could finish, Lu Lin cut him off.

"Thank you for the offer, Manager Xiao, but I have other matters to attend to."

Lu Lin had only wanted to earn a Silver Soul Badge.

Now that he'd completed his trial, he naturally had no reason to continue.

Seeing how firm Lu Lin was, Xiao Huohuo couldn't very well press him further. He spoke with reluctance on his plump face.

"All right. The Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena will always welcome you, Yan Jun."

It was no wonder Xiao Huohuo was so pained.

Yan Jun was nothing short of a cash cow for the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

Now that Yan Jun was leaving, who knew how long it would be before the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena could hold another special Cross-level Challenge event?

Lu Lin gave a slight nod, then turned and left the Soul Fighting Arena without a backward glance.

Mo Yin was waiting outside.

Lu Lin had come here only to collect his earnings.

Soul masters earned Gold Soul Coins by competing in the Soul Fighting Arena, and the higher their tier and the more matches they won, the greater their earnings.

Otherwise, why would soul masters come here to compete?

As it happened, the five thousand Gold Soul Coins the arena had given him earlier had gone to Elder Mo to use as betting capital.

After more than ten consecutive victories, his odds had fallen lower and lower, but with the added rewards for reaching Silver Soul Master Tier, his total assets had now comfortably surpassed thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, three more years had passed.

Shrek Academy.

Three thousand years ago, the Sun Moon Continent collided with the Douluo Continent, bringing dramatic changes to the continent's political landscape.

Star Luo changed hands, and Heaven Dou split apart.

Taking advantage of the turmoil on the Douluo Continent, the Sun Moon Empire launched an audacious invasion.

With powerful Soul Tools at their disposal, they seized the upper hand from the very start of the war.

Through its unrivaled prestige, Shrek Academy united the three Douluo kingdoms, which were still embroiled in internal strife at the time, and drove back the Sun Moon Empire after twenty years of war.

After that battle, Shrek's prestige and position became even more unshakable. It became a sacred place in the hearts of all soul masters—and, without question, the greatest force on the continent.

Shrek Academy was bustling with activity.

Today was its annual admissions day.

Outside Shrek Academy's gates, talented boys and girls had gathered from all across the continent.

For today might be their chance to change their destinies.

In the distance stood a slightly slender figure dressed in a blue-green robe.

He was about 1.65 meters tall, with handsome, delicate features and a straight posture like a bamboo stalk. It was Lu Lin, three years older now.

His Soul Power Level had reached seventeen, meeting the minimum requirement for admission to Shrek's Outer Court.

Three years. Another three years had passed. Did you know what I'd been through these past three years?

But now that he'd finally arrived at the renowned Shrek Academy, Lu Lin wasn't excited at all.

He had no rose-tinted view of Shrek, nor any fanatical devotion to it.

To him, Shrek was simply a place with powerful teachers where he could build up the strength he needed for revenge. Nothing more.

Still, there was a strange look on Lu Lin's face.

In this era, anyone wishing to apply to Shrek had to meet the age and Soul Power Level requirements, and also present a recommendation letter from a City Lord or someone of equivalent rank or higher.

Shrek held admissions once a year.

Frostwind Junior Soul Master Academy, where Lu Lin had studied, held a preliminary exam every year before Shrek's admissions. Only students with Soul Power Level fifteen or higher were eligible to take it.

The winners received a recommendation letter from the City Lord, allowing them to go to Shrek and take the entrance examination.

Generally speaking, this was the only way for commoner soul masters to change their destinies.

Yet Lu Lin had no fewer than three recommendation letters in his hands.

The first came from the academy's preliminary exam.

As the only student in his year to meet the Soul Power requirement, Lu Lin had earned the letter, bearing the Frostwind City Lord's own signature, fair and square.

The second letter had come from Zhao Shiyan—or, more accurately, from the Blacksmith Association behind him.

Even though the Blacksmith Association held little status in this era, getting a recommendation letter was still a simple matter.

After all, it was only a recommendation letter, not an admission slot like the ones offered by the Tang Sect.

Lu Lin's name was written on it, so returning the letter wouldn't have done any good.

He had no choice but to accept it.

The third letter, however, came from a rather astonishing source.

The director of the Orphanage where Lu Lin had grown up had handed it to him on the day he graduated from Frostwind Junior Academy.

The envelope was sealed with Mysterious Iron foil and bore the distinctive Claw Emblem of the Shrek Supervisory Team.

That was right. The letter had been left by the Titled Douluo from the Shrek Supervisory Team who had visited all those years ago.

Perhaps he had pitied Lu Lin's circumstances and felt a touch of sympathy for him, so he had left the letter behind.

Lu Lin had only just been born at the time.

The Titled Douluo had no way of knowing whether Lu Lin would awaken Soul Power and become a soul master at six.

And even if he did awaken his Soul Power, there was no guarantee he would reach Level 15 before turning twelve.

So after writing the letter, he had simply told the director of the Orphanage to give it to Lu Lin if he reached the admission requirements. Otherwise, the letter was to be treated as if it had never existed.

Lu Lin had only learned about this recently.