First Night at the Academy

First Night at the Academy

Within Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Chen Ming had already been led by Qin Ming to an inconspicuous pavilion halfway up the mountain.

After telling Chen Ming to sit here and wait for a while, Qin Ming, whose face was faintly flushed, erupted with Soul Power and swiftly departed. His figure was incredibly fast, like a ghost. Yet the glow produced by his fire-attribute Soul Power still made him highly conspicuous in the night. Even if Chen Ming did not deliberately look, he could still see the path of his movements.

Not long afterward, Qin Ming returned to the pavilion. Although he did not appear to be carrying anything extra, his expression was much steadier than before.

With a slight flick of his wrist, a map made from the hide of some unknown soul beast appeared in Qin Ming's hand. After confirming that its contents were correct, he handed it to Chen Ming.

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy's grounds are enormous, and ordinary people find it difficult to navigate. Keep this map for now and memorize the main roads. Tomorrow, I'll take you around the major areas, and you should roughly be able to find your way around the academy afterward."

"Thank you, Teacher Qin Ming."

Chen Ming nodded. By the moonlight, he unfolded the map and gave it a general look, memorizing several key areas and main roads.

"It's getting late, so follow me. I just went to the teacher in charge of the new student dormitories and found you a courtyard. It's a little secluded, but it's close to the Poison System Mimicry Training Ground suited to your cultivation."

"Servants will bring your daily food and clothing to your door at regular times. If you have any requests, such as what dishes you want to eat, whether you do not need food delivered, or if you need additional clothes, just tell the servants when they come."

"Heaven Dou Royal Academy is the Heaven Dou Empire's highest institution of learning and is directly under the royal family. Its resources are abundant. Noble families with the rank of count or above, as well as talented soul masters, are exempt from tuition fees. If you demonstrate outstanding talent within the academy, you can even receive additional subsidies from the royal family."

As he spoke, Qin Ming could not help sighing with emotion, recalling his own stumbling days from back then.

Why did he like Shrek Academy so much, yet ultimately choose to work at Heaven Dou Royal Academy?

Because after making his way across the continent all these years, Qin Ming had come to understand that one could not get by without connections and resources.

Although he loved Shrek as well, he knew that with the academy's rather... simple environment, even if he returned there to teach, setting aside what use he could possibly be, his talent would only allow him to reach Soul Douluo at most in this lifetime.

But Heaven Dou Royal Academy was different. Not only could it provide large amounts of Gold Soul Coins and resources, it also had all sorts of materials that were extremely precious to independent soul masters, as well as top-tier Mimicry Training Grounds.

Here, he was guaranteed to become a Soul Douluo, and in the future, he might even have a chance to touch the realm of a Titled Douluo.

As for noble titles and the like... they were simply too easy to obtain.

Looking at Chen Ming, Qin Ming also wondered whether, if he had possessed such a background back then, with enough resources to support his cultivation, he might have gone farther than he had now.

"Don't think such disrespectful thoughts. I must remember the kindness Shrek showed me." Qin Ming shook his head, tossing those thoughts from his mind. He refocused on Chen Ming and led him toward the courtyard.

After leaving the broad road paved with bricks carved with all kinds of soul beasts and walking for a quarter of an hour, Qin Ming brought Chen Ming to a stop before a courtyard.

Though it was called a small courtyard, it was actually not small at all. Its overall layout resembled the Beijing courtyard houses Chen Ming had seen in pictures in his previous life. With one glance, he estimated that it covered around five hundred square meters.

Once the courtyard gate was opened, an exquisitely arranged scene met his eyes.

Although there were no lights lit within the courtyard and no sign of anyone living there, it was exceptionally clean and orderly. The flowers, grass, and trees decorating the interior had been carefully tended into an attractive arrangement. There was not a single fallen leaf or speck of dust on the ground, clearly indicating that someone cleaned the place with care on a regular basis. Every brick and tile in the courtyard shone like new; not even the gaps in the patterns carved into the walls held a trace of dust.

If Chen Ming had suddenly seen this courtyard in his previous life without knowing the circumstances, he would probably have thought the place was haunted to look like this.

But in this life, after reincarnating in Douluo Continent, Chen Ming could only say that this was basic stuff. Human labor on Douluo Continent was incredibly cheap.

"This courtyard is vacant. Xiao Ming, you can live here from now on. If you feel uncomfortable, I'll arrange another place for you later."

"Oh, right. Which of these rooms do you want?"

"The first one on the left." After looking around twice, Chen Ming made his choice without much concern.

"Alright." Qin Ming opened the room with a key, then took out all sorts of items from his Storage Soul Tool and placed them inside.

Before long, the entire room was brightly lit. Pillows and bedding had been laid out on the bed, while several sets of brand-new academy uniforms were stacked at its foot. Dishes made with soul beast ingredients were arranged on the table, and beside the bowls and chopsticks for two people sat a jar marked with the character "fruit."

"It's late today, so we'll just make do with this. If you have any needs, tell the people in charge tomorrow."

"Thank you for the trouble, Teacher Qin Ming." Chen Ming had always adhered to the principle that one could never go wrong with being polite. Toward neutral and friendly parties, he always remained as courteous as possible.

By the light of an oil lamp, the two sat at the table and began eating. Though Qin Ming had called it a simple meal, the dishes tasted quite good.

Although Douluo Continent's cooking techniques seemed rather backward to Chen Ming, a transmigrator, the ingredient quality was extremely high. Even simple seasoning could produce unexpectedly delicious flavors.

Every dish on the table came from soul beasts. Although the soul beasts were not very old, they were all varieties recognized as particularly delicious. Coupled with the chef's fairly good skill, even Chen Ming, who usually ate well, found his appetite stirred and took several extra bites.

The jar on the table contained fruit wine brewed from fruits grown by several different soul beasts. However, because of the fermentation techniques, Chen Ming felt that rather than fruit wine, it was more like the alcoholic flavored beverages he had drunk in his previous life.

Though it was wine made from soul beast fruits, it had no effect after drinking it. Qin Ming said that the wine was quite popular within the academy, but Chen Ming found its taste merely average. In his view, it was not even as good as the medicinal wines his family made from various venomous insects to assist cultivation. Still, he did not say so and spoil the mood.

After eating and drinking his fill, Qin Ming put the bowls, chopsticks, and wine jar from the table into his Storage Soul Tool. After chatting for a while, he stayed that night in the room next to Chen Ming's.

Having just changed environments, Chen Ming was somewhat unaccustomed to it. He even felt as though his cultivation was slightly off. Yet a moment later, lying on the bed, Chen Ming could not help laughing at himself.

Biluo City was a place covered in poison. Even the streets could count as a Mimicry Training Ground for poison-attribute soul masters. Having lived in that place for so many years, he had suddenly moved somewhere without poison. Of course he would not be used to it.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll sleep first and figure it out later..."

As he spoke, Chen Ming sat up and crossed his legs on the bed, entering a meditative state.

PS: The third chapter is complete. Forty-seven chapters remain in the stockpile. Please vote with recommendation tickets.

The new book has been added to the library. Please support it generously.