Graduation, Deciding to Travel

The aftermath at Soul Hunting Forest had nothing to do with Wang Qi and the others. The group of three naturally returned to Nuoding City.

Yu Xiaogang had plenty of work to keep him busy next. He needed to study the theory of Martial Soul Evolution based on the changes in Xiao Chenyu's Martial Soul, and he also needed to research and expand Luo Sanpao's soul skills.

After obtaining his soul ring, Xiao Chenyu returned home and sought out his "good buddies" as if showing off, recounting everything he had seen and heard in Soul Hunting Forest.

Wang Qi's life, meanwhile, was far more monotonous. Since he was on break, all he did every day was cultivate. He had already quit his job at the Blacksmith Shop.

As for the reasons? First, the Blacksmith Shop's previous actions had displeased Wang Qi. Second, when he went there again, he discovered that cultivating inside the Blacksmith Shop provided almost no increase to his soul power cultivation speed.

Having lost that cultivation speed boost, Wang Qi naturally had no intention of staying at the Blacksmith Shop and continuing to spend time with those people.

In the blink of an eye, the New Year arrived. After a month of cultivation following his acquisition of a soul ring, Wang Qi successfully broke through to level thirteen.

"After today, I'll be nine years old. I'm only level thirteen. At this pace, it'll be hard for me to reach level twenty Soul Grandmaster before I turn twelve."

"Nuoding City is simply too small. It's time to prepare for graduation."

Over the past month, without the support of the Blacksmith Shop's mimic environment, Wang Qi could feel his cultivation speed slowing down. At this rate, he would be extremely lucky to break through to Soul Grandmaster before turning twelve.

Then there was the matter of obtaining his second soul ring. Junior Soul Master Academies had neither the obligation nor the ability to help students obtain a second soul ring. At the same time, Tang San would soon enroll. Wang Qi had no desire to watch Tang San catch up to his cultivation level.

They were both transmigrators, so why was Tang San so damn impressive? It made Wang Qi, also a transmigrator, look stupid.

"My aptitude is what it is. Without some special fortuitous encounter, my Innate Soul Power level can hardly improve further. If I want to grow quickly, I can only start with mimic environments."

"Among the schools of the Heaven Dou Empire, the one with the most mimic environments and the fullest range of attributes is undoubtedly Heaven Dou Royal Academy. But Heaven Dou Royal Academy's admission requirements are too demanding. Getting in is simply beyond what I can do right now."

"Among fire-attribute academies, Blazing Fire Academy has the best mimic environment. Its admission requirements are: for the junior division, fire-attribute Soul Masters; for the intermediate division, breaking through to Soul Master before age eleven; and for the advanced division, reaching level twenty-five before age fifteen. I do meet Blazing Fire Academy's requirements."

"But if I join Blazing Fire Academy, it'll become much harder to get in contact with Dugu Yan, and I'll basically lose my chance to scheme for Immortal Herbs."

Wang Qi shook his head and decided to first gather information on intermediate Soul Master academies. With nearly half a year remaining before the intermediate academies opened, he would personally inspect them on site.

Jiao Intermediate Soul Master Academy was located in Jiao City, and its headmaster was a level fifty-five wind-attribute Battle Soul King.

Jialie Intermediate Soul Master Academy was located in Lie Jia City, and its headmaster was a level fifty-three Control System Soul King.

Titan Intermediate Soul Master Academy was located in... Hm? When had an officially recognized intermediate Soul Master academy appeared here?

As Wang Qi screened the intermediate Soul Master academies in the kingdoms surrounding Fasno Province, he suddenly came across a new promotional flyer for an intermediate Soul Master academy.

"Mountain Fire Intermediate Soul Master Academy? There's an academy like that? Oh, it's a new academy. It hasn't even been operating for two years yet."

Mountain Fire Intermediate Soul Master Academy was located atop an Active Volcano at the intersection of Fasno Province, Balak Kingdom, and Hagen Dasi Kingdom.

Its dean, Li Pingyuan, was a level sixty-three fire-attribute Assault System Battle Soul Emperor. He had once served as a Qian General in the Heaven Dou Royal Guard before retiring due to injury. Upon graduation, students could be recommended to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the Royal Knights, or the Royal Guard.

Looking at the information on the poster, Wang Qi had to admit that he was somewhat tempted.

An Active Volcano ranked highly among fire-attribute mimic environments. Cultivating in such a mimic environment could increase Wang Qi's cultivation speed by at least twenty percent, greatly shortening the time he needed to advance to Soul Grandmaster.

As for the background of Mountain Fire Intermediate Soul Master Academy? Wang Qi did not care much about that. There were no more than three possibilities.

The Four Elements City stood united and refused to obey orders, so the Heaven Dou Royal Family had decided to suppress Four Elements City by establishing this academy. One could see as much from the fact that an intermediate Soul Master academy had been founded by a Soul Emperor-level powerhouse.

Second, Emperor Xue Ye had sensed that the situation might change and was preparing to add fresh blood to the Royal Knights and the Royal Guard.

Third, it was the handiwork of Qian Renxue, disguised as Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, or of Xue Beng and Xue Qing, using the establishment of a Soul Master academy to strengthen ties with Hagen Dasi Kingdom and Balak Kingdom.

But no matter what the various parties had in mind, whether it was a power struggle or suppression of the Four Elements Academy, it meant that the academy's resources were at least comparable to those of an Advanced Soul Master Academy.

And what Wang Qi lacked most were resources and time. Still, there was no need to decide immediately. He decided to use the nearly half-year before intermediate Soul Master academies opened to travel around, inspect the academies, and gain some practical experience along the way.

As for danger? The Spirit Hall era was not like ten thousand years later. At present, Evil Soul Masters were still called Fallen Soul Masters.

What did "fallen" mean? It meant being unpromising, controlled by one's desires.

And what did "evil" mean? It proved that they had already formed a force and possessed the strength and confidence to confront traditional Soul Masters head-on.

Otherwise, why were there evil sects and demonic sects in wuxia stories, but never fallen sects?

Wang Qi immediately decided to graduate early. After packing his luggage, he headed for Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy and made straight for the headmaster's office.

"What? You want to graduate early? Graduating at a time like this seems..."

Wang Qi understood what the headmaster meant. Intermediate Soul Master academies recruited students twice a year. The first was during the graduation season of the major junior Soul Master academies. After receiving their graduation certificates and passing the assessments, both sides would decide whether enrollment would take place.

The second recruitment period was held around the same time as junior Soul Master academy admissions, its purpose being to recruit geniuses.

If Wang Qi graduated now, there would be a gap of nearly half a year. The headmaster was worried that something might happen to Wang Qi during that time.

"Headmaster, I've already made up my mind. Over the next half year, I'll travel across the continent and inspect which intermediate Soul Master academy suits me best. So please handle my graduation."

Wang Qi bowed to the headmaster. The headmaster was not Wang Qi's father, so naturally he would not try too hard to persuade him. Wang Qi's soul power and soul rings met the graduation standards, so the headmaster directly approved his graduation application.

Walking alone along the paths of Nuoding Academy, Wang Qi looked at the academy where he had lived for nearly three years, his heart filled with emotion.

"Wang Qi? I thought you'd stay home cultivating throughout the break. Why did you come to the academy? Going to the library to read?"

Xiao Chenyu wore a fitted black training outfit, with sweat on his forehead. He looked as though he had just finished exercising.

"No, I came back to the academy to take care of something. By the way, what are you doing?"

"Ah, it's nothing. My father somehow heard that Yu Xiaogang wanted to take me as an honorary disciple, so he spent money and pulled strings to invite Yu Xiaogang to dinner. I just got back from training."

Xiao Chenyu spoke bitterly of what had happened recently, his eyes full of helplessness.

"Becoming Yu Xiaogang's honorary disciple? I see. Congratulations."

"What congratulations? You know your own situation best. By the way, are you planning to...?"

"I applied for graduation."

"What? You graduated? So early? You're only nine this year, Wang Qi. You could have continued cultivating at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy until you were twelve before graduating. Forget it, you have your own ideas, so I won't interfere too much. Come on, brother, I'll take you out for a meal."

With that, Xiao Chenyu gave Wang Qi no chance to refuse. He grabbed him and headed toward a restaurant. They chatted and laughed along the way. Thinking about how they had gone from meeting each other to becoming such good friends, Wang Qi felt deeply moved as well.

But no feast lasted forever. It was time to say goodbye.

The previous six chapters were revised slightly, which delayed things a bit.