Sixty Thousand Gold Soul Coins, Stumbling into a Fortune

After half an hour, the five of them finally arrived at Sun Moon Square.

Xu Tinglan noticed something.

An elderly man with a kindly face had been following behind Ning Mochen the entire time. When he saw the boy looking at him, the old man nodded and smiled faintly.

As they entered the square,

the welcome signboard for Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy occupied the central position and was extremely eye-catching.

Students had gathered in groups, searching for the academy they favored.

Although Sun Moon Royal Academy was called a Royal Academy, it imposed no restrictions on status. Both commoners and nobles could enroll.

It even offered all commoners a chance to awaken for free.

Upon learning this, Jiang Nannan stood stunned and silent for a long while.

In their Douluo Empire, one had to pay a considerable fee to complete an awakening.

Yet here, it was entirely free.

Xu Tinglan looked at the young soul masters gathered in the square.

He somewhat suspected that their ancestors had abused medicines, resulting in talents uniformly inferior to those of soul masters from the Douluo Three Kingdoms.

Sun Moon Royal Academy had only one admission requirement.

It was simple, with no additional conditions.

One only needed to become a One-Ring Soul Master before the age of twelve.

Xu Tinglan had already obtained his third soul ring and become a Soul Elder before he had even turned twelve.

And such a cultivation speed was by no means rare in the Douluo Three Kingdoms.

The boy looked at the admission requirement.

A thought surfaced in his mind, leaving his expression complicated.

Xu Tinglan inexplicably thought of the servants of the Mysterious Underworld Sect, who generally obtained their first soul rings at the age of ten.

It was similar to the White Tiger Duke Mansion where Huo Yuhao had lived.

What kind of concept was that?

In the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, even if you became a One-Ring Soul Master at nine or ten, you could only be a lowly servant.

You would have no dignity whatsoever.

But in the Sun Moon Empire, if you cultivated to become a One-Ring Soul Master by twelve, you could become a student at a Royal Academy and have the opportunity to encounter cutting-edge Soul Tool knowledge.

This was the Sun Moon Empire's foremost institution!

It was an opportunity to change the fate of one's life.

Having thought this far,

Xu Tinglan's expression, faced with such absurdity, seemed caught between laughter and restraint.

Ning Mochen shrugged. He could roughly guess what the boy's expression meant.

After all, when he had first learned this information, his expression had been even more exaggerated.

Xu Tinglan composed himself, and calmness returned to his face.

"I understand now why the three great empires keep information about the Sun Moon Empire under such tight control."

After a brief sigh, they headed to the Sun Moon Academy welcome desk.

A mature beauty in a Sun Moon Academy uniform walked over.

Her beautiful eyes examined the boy, surprise sparkling within them.

"Are you also here to apply to Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy?"

Xu Tinglan nodded.

"That's right."

"Our Sun Moon Academy has rather high requirements. You need to obtain your first soul ring by the age of twelve."

"Mm-hm."

Listening to her speak, Xu Tinglan forcibly held back his laughter.

How could those two statements possibly be placed together?

"Wait!"

A deep voice, thickened by fat pressing against the vocal cords, rang out.

A short, stout middle-aged man strode forward. "Young Master Ning, it has been a long time."

"Director Lin." Ning Mochen extended his hand.

Not long after Xu Tinglan and his group arrived in Ming Capital, Ning Mochen had used a Communication Soul Tool produced by Mingde Hall to contact Lin Jiayi.

When the Sun Moon Academy students nearby saw their own director personally come out to greet them,

astonishment appeared in their eyes as they wondered about the group's identities.

Led by Lin Jiayi, the group proceeded without obstruction and arrived at the Sun Moon Hotel.

The place covered an enormous area and was exquisitely decorated.

It stood head and shoulders above its surroundings in the land-starved southern district of Ming Capital.

Most importantly, Sun Moon Royal Academy was not far from right next door.

Everyone sat inside the Moon River Private Room.

Ning Mochen smiled faintly. "Director Lin, why not guess how high the Innate Soul Power of the person beside me is?"

"Oh?"

Excitement appeared on the stout man's face. "Could it be Innate Soul Power Rank Nine?"

"Young Master Ning, you have truly given me a huge surprise."

If it were Rank Eight, Ning Mochen would most likely not have mentioned it for no reason.

That was why he had made such a guess.

"Not so." He shook his head with a smile.

"Could they be two talented soul masters with Innate Soul Power Rank Eight?"

Lin Jiayi raised his brows slightly, though his smile remained delighted.

Looking at the comically expressive middle-aged man before her, Jiang Nannan did not even dare guess whether they possessed Innate Full Soul Power.

The girl pressed her lips together, struggling not to laugh.

"I have Innate Full Soul Power and am currently a Rank Thirty-Four defense-type Soul Elder."

Xu Tinglan simply gave him the answer directly.

The stout man abruptly rose to his feet, disbelief in his eyes. His mouth fell wide open, and his face was filled with astonishment.

It was as if he were asking, You're not fooling me, are you?

"She is my younger sister, and she also has Innate Full Soul Power."

"This!"

Lin Jiayi looked dazed as he glanced at Xu Tinglan, then turned to Jiang Nannan.

He had never imagined, even in his dreams, that the two people recommended by the Nine Treasures Chamber of Commerce would possess Innate Full Soul Power.

"Young Master Ning, you... this is?"

He stammered, no longer carrying the bearing of the director of the First Soul Instructor Academy.

"To be honest, our Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect also wanted these two to join us. After all, no one would turn their nose up at geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power."

"But this friend of mine truly likes Soul Tools."

Ning Mochen cupped his hands.

After the stout man's wild joy faded, a trace of doubt surfaced in his heart.

"You do not need to give the referral fee to me. Give it directly to my friend instead."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jiayi did not hesitate in the slightest. He took out a Sun Moon Black Card and handed it to the boy.

"There are six hundred thousand inside."

"Our Sun Moon Academy may not have much else, but we have plenty of Gold Soul Coins."

"I hope Young Master Xu and your younger sister will achieve great things at Sun Moon Academy."

Jiang Nannan exchanged a glance with her mother.

Both mother and daughter felt their heads spinning.

Their annual expenses did not even amount to thirty Gold Soul Coins.

Yet Director Lin, who looked so unremarkable, could produce six hundred thousand in an instant!

They had stumbled into a fortune!

Jiang Nannan counted on all ten fingers for a while before blankly realizing

that this money would be enough for her and her mother to live for twenty thousand years—provided they could live that long.

Xu Tinglan accepted the Sun Moon Black Card.

A faint trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

This man had actually produced six hundred thousand without a moment's hesitation.

Although this sum might not even be enough for pocket money when it came to a Soul Bone of decent quality.

Truly valuable items had always been traded for other items.

But for a twelve-year-old like him, this was definitely no small amount of Gold Soul Coins.

The boy was not dazzled senseless by the six hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind, and he immediately formed various speculations.

As far as Xu Tinglan knew,

the Glazed Pagoda possessed treasure-seeking abilities and could locate rare metal veins.

Judging from the current situation,

the Nine Treasures Chamber of Commerce had most likely been secretly cooperating with Mingde Hall for many years. Perhaps they had long since forged a deep friendship, which was why they were so generous.

Of course,

the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda's ability to seek treasure and locate rare metals had itself been one of Xu Tinglan's reasons for getting acquainted with Ning Mochen.