Wealth Freedom, Academy Legends

After formally thanking Xue Ye, Chen Ming returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy. But now, he was no longer a mountain village boy with no backing. He was a viscount with real authority, officially recognized by the empire.

Because of matters concerning the area around Holy Soul Village, Chen Ming was visited by royal staff the next day and hurried back to Fasinuo Province.

With Xue Ye's written order, the nobles of Fasinuo Province were all very obedient. Holy Soul Village had originally been part of a viscount's fief, which received a portion of the village's taxes.

But with a single decree, everything within fifty li of Holy Soul Village became Chen Ming's territory.

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This included sixteen villages, as well as—

More than fifty thousand mu of already cultivated farmland.

Yes, more than fifty thousand mu of fertile farmland.

Fasinuo Province was almost entirely plains with a suitable climate, making it one of the Heaven Dou Empire's largest-producing regions.

And Nuoding City, where Holy Soul Village was located, was one of Fasinuo Province's important producing areas. Naturally, the area around Holy Soul Village was filled with vast stretches of cultivated farmland.

Xue Ye had not even investigated where Holy Soul Village was. In a moment of excitement, he simply gave Chen Ming Holy Soul Village and everything within fifty li of it.

As a result, Chen Ming's so-called viscountcy had fewer than ten thousand people, yet more than fifty thousand mu of cultivated farmland.

That was only possible because Douluo Continent was enormous and its population was not particularly large in this era.

Otherwise, if this had been a feudal dynasty from Chen Ming's previous life, even if the emperor had impulsively promised such a large area, he would later try to take back his word somehow, or simply exchange Chen Ming's territory for another place of equal size.

After all, this was not undeveloped land or an area with ordinary conditions. It was a genuine grain-producing region of fully developed plains that continuously yielded crops, with extremely convenient transportation and logistics. Its value was worlds apart from that of an ordinary territory.

After conducting an actual inspection, Chen Ming was surprised to discover that although he was only a viscount in name, his assets now exceeded those of an ordinary marquis's family.

Chen Ming's return home could no longer be called returning in glory. It was more like a noble lord arriving to inspect his own territory.

At this moment, Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy had already begun its term, and Xiao Wu and Tang San were both studying there.

When Old Jack saw Chen Ming wearing the Heaven Dou Royal Academy uniform, followed by dozens of important figures from Nuoding City, he felt as though he had spent too long in the sun and become dizzy. He stood there blankly for a long while before opening his eyes again.

When he saw that Chen Ming was truly standing before him, with dozens of important figures and hundreds of attendants crowding behind him at the village entrance, Old Jack nearly fainted.

Chen Ming hurriedly supported Old Jack and explained his current status to him.

But Chen Ming's first three sentences were, "I'm a viscount now." "I met the emperor." "Holy Soul Village and everything within fifty li of it are my territory." Old Jack nearly fainted three times.

Fortunately, there was a Healing-type Spirit Master in the group who quickly treated Old Jack. Otherwise, Chen Ming would have had to find a way to administer emergency aid himself.

Xue Ye had given Chen Ming a reward of one hundred thousand gold. Chen Ming decided to leave ten thousand gold behind to develop Holy Soul Village and keep the remaining Gold Soul Coins on him for the time being.

It was not that Chen Ming was unwilling to give more. He was afraid Old Jack would not be able to handle such a huge sum of money.

That very night, Old Jack happily led the men, women, old, and young of the village to the entrance. He personally took down the hundred-year-old Holy Soul Village plaque and replaced it with a new sign Chen Ming had hastily made: Holy Soul Territory.

As for the old plaque, Old Jack carefully stored it away in his home.

In the centuries to come, the legend passed down within Holy Soul Village would most likely no longer be, "Our village once produced a Spirit Saint," but rather, "Our village once produced a genius rewarded by the emperor."

After all, the Spirit Saint had not truly brought Holy Soul Village much practical benefit, only a number of potential advantages. Chen Ming, however, genuinely intended to build another Holy Soul City outside Nuoding City, or at least develop Holy Soul Village into a small town within the next few years.

After briefly handling matters concerning his territory and Holy Soul Village, Chen Ming went to Nuoding Academy to visit Dean Lu.

Thanks to special approval from the Education Committee Members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the former Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy had become Nuoding City Intermediate Soul Master Academy, raising its status by another level.

In just a few months, the entire academy had undergone another round of expansion and renovation, already gaining something of the feel of an intermediate academy.

Chen Ming met Dean Lu. Though he had left less than half a year ago, he donated five thousand Gold Soul Coins to the academy in the name of an "alumni donation," then privately gave Dean Lu another five thousand Gold Soul Coins as a personal gift, asking him to help look after Holy Soul Village.

Upon hearing Chen Ming's request, the unusually excited Dean Lu pounded his chest and agreed. He swore that if anyone tried to harm Holy Soul Village or plot against it, he would use his Martial Soul, Big Iron Hammer, to smash in their head.

By the time Chen Ming had finished everything and returned to the academy, Heaven Dou Royal Academy had already been in session for nearly a week. But because the three Education Committee Members all knew why Chen Ming had left, he encountered no obstacles after returning.

What Chen Ming had not expected was that during his absence from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, two major events had occurred there.

The first was that Dugu Bo had sent his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, whom he had always kept by his side and cared for, into Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Something involving a Title Douluo drew the attention of the entire academy.

But because Dugu Yan's identity was special, most people did not know where she was. They only occasionally saw the green-haired girl in class.

The second matter concerned Chen Ming. No one knew which loose-lipped person in the palace had revealed his affairs, but word that Chen Ming, a commoner, had been made a viscount after presenting a new type of weapon spread through the academy like the wind.

Especially the fact that Chen Ming had fifty thousand mu of land under his name...

Whether teachers or students, they all looked at Chen Ming as though he were some rare curiosity. Even though Chen Ming had already analyzed the situation and anticipated such a reaction, the countless gazes still made his skin crawl.

Because of this, there were some things Chen Ming could not really do within the academy.

Fortunately, due to the signals from the three Education Committee Members, no blind young dandy came to provoke Chen Ming out of boredom. Once he ignored the looks around him, Chen Ming could still study properly.

In theoretical classes, Chen Ming displayed a memory and thinking ability beyond ordinary imagination. He occupied first place by an overwhelming margin.

Knowledge of Spirit Masters, knowledge of Spirit Beasts, knowledge of Martial Souls... So long as it had been taught, even if it had only been mentioned in passing, Chen Ming could record it completely.

In practical classes, although Chen Ming's current cultivation at level eighteen was not especially powerful, few freshmen in his class surpassed him in cultivation.

Combined with his own combat ability, Chen Ming's practical performance was not as overwhelmingly dominant as his first-place standing in theory, but it was still exceptionally outstanding.

Even the most demanding teachers could find no fault with Chen Ming. They could only marvel again and again that his talent was simply beyond imagination.

After roughly half a month passed like this, because Chen Ming's performance was simply too dazzling, the rumors about him not only failed to decrease but gradually increased. He was practically on his way to becoming a campus legend.

Some troublemakers even gave Chen Ming the nickname "Monster," believing that he was not a normal human at all, but more like a legendary Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had taken human form. Otherwise, how could one person behave so strangely?

Then, one evening, after Chen Ming finished eating at the cafeteria and was preparing to return to his training ground to cultivate, a green figure emerged from a side path and blocked his way.