Going to School, but Only Two Hours a Day

Spirit Hall Academy truly deserved its place among the continent's three finest academies.

Although its construction was inferior to the two royal academies of Star Luo and Heaven Dou,

the Soul Masters here, whether students or teachers, far surpassed those of other academies.

The minimum admission requirement was Innate Soul Power at rank five.

Teachers needed to possess at least Soul King cultivation, and even then, they could only serve as pre-school instructors, similar to kindergarten or elementary school teachers.

After graduating, all Spirit Hall Academy students could directly obtain work from Spirit Hall.

Those with outstanding grades who reached Soul King cultivation by graduation could directly become Purple-robed Bishops and take charge of a branch hall in a mid-sized city.

But the best part was that as long as one enrolled in Spirit Hall Academy, whenever they reached a cultivation bottleneck and needed a Spirit Ring, Spirit Hall would send Soul Masters to help them obtain a Spirit Ring with the optimal configuration.

Compared to all that,

Lu Fan cared more about his future cultivation.

He looked at Hu Liena beside him, the calm Xie Yue behind him, and Yan, whose face was written with jealousy, before asking, "Senior Sister, Senior Brother, could you tell me about cultivation?"

Since Lu Fan had taken the initiative to ask, the three naturally had no reason not to answer.

"It's nothing much." Hu Liena smiled faintly. "For theory classes, teachers at least at the Soul Emperor level will come lecture us. Every week, Soul Douluo-level Education Committee Members will also come to guide our cultivation. For practical classes, they'll take us to the Soul Beast Forest, perhaps have us surround and kill Fallen Ones, and sometimes arrange sparring matches with high-level teachers. But most of the time, we'll cultivate in Mimicry Cultivation Environments suited to us."

"Classes usually only run from nine in the morning until eleven at noon. But the academy requires us to cultivate Soul Power for at least six hours every day. You could consider that homework."

"But since you're Grandpa Chrysanthemum's disciple, I doubt those Education Committee Members can give you much useful advice on cultivation. Just listen to Grandpa Chrysanthemum."

Hu Liena added one more sentence.

Lu Fan nodded.

That cultivation schedule seemed fairly reasonable.

But Lu Fan was somewhat surprised by the class hours.

Wouldn't two hours be a little too short?

"Wouldn't only having two hours of class every day be too short? The academies I know of don't seem to work like this."

Lu Fan voiced his doubts.

Yan sneered behind him. "How can those academies compare to ours?"

"At this age, we should be devoting more energy to cultivating Soul Power. Whether theory or practical combat, neither takes priority over Soul Power cultivation."

Lu Fan nodded at that.

He felt that Yan had made a good point this time.

After the age of twenty, a Soul Master's cultivation speed would begin to decline.

Before turning twenty, they really should devote more time to cultivating Soul Power.

But ordinary Soul Masters were different from Soul Masters with backing.

Those with backing could slowly learn such things later.

With elders to guide them early on, they could temporarily ignore such matters.

But Soul Masters without backing needed to enter society early, and these things became the capital they relied on to survive.

Xie Yue added from the side, "If it's a mission like surrounding Fallen Ones or heading into the Soul Beast Forest, it may last longer. But we'll generally be informed in advance for those."

Lu Fan nodded.

When they needed to go out on missions, powerful figures would certainly protect them in secret.

Practical classes would be even less likely to make them fight to the death for real.

Just hearing about it, he felt there was nothing too difficult about it.

Seeing the relaxed expression on Lu Fan's face,

Hu Liena added, "But we're different from the other students. We have a basic requirement to meet: every year, we must raise our Soul Power by at least two ranks. In addition, in terms of practical combat, we must be able to fight three Soul Masters of the same level at once, or even Soul Masters one or two ranks above ourselves. And among those three Soul Masters, there definitely won't be any auxiliary-type Soul Masters."

"Raising it by two ranks every year is manageable, but I really haven't tried the latter."

Lu Fan frowned.

Back at Shrek Academy,

Flender and Zhao Wuji had made him fight Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun by himself.

But that was clearly far less difficult than what Hu Liena had described.

Still, Lu Fan had confidence.

Dai Mubai, who was two ranks below him, could not even break through his defenses.

He believed that even assault-type Soul Masters two ranks above him would find it difficult to break his defenses.

But if three fire-attribute Soul Masters like that came at me at once, I probably wouldn't be able to withstand it...

Lu Fan was speechless inwardly.

He feared nothing except fire-based attacks.

But it doesn't matter. In another year or two, I'll find an opportunity to get the Immortal Herbs from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

The three chatted as they walked, and before long, they had toured all of Spirit Hall Academy.

Lu Fan nodded to the three of them. "Thank you. I'll head back to cultivate first."

With that, Lu Fan prepared to leave.

"Wait."

Hu Liena called out to Lu Fan.

Lu Fan turned back in confusion. "Is there something else?"

Hu Liena asked, "I still don't know where you live."

After thinking for a moment, Lu Fan did not hide it. "I live in the courtyard next to my teacher's."

Hu Liena smiled when she heard that. "Then let's go together. I live nearby too."

Lu Fan nodded.

He was not surprised by this.

Clearly, the area where they lived was reserved for Titled Douluo.

And it was the finest district in Spirit City.

Not because of property prices or how bustling the area was,

but because the natural energy there was the densest.

Cultivating in such a place would yield twice the result with half the effort compared to elsewhere.

Hu Liena was probably the same as him. She likely lived next to Bibi Dong.

And Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo were both Bibi Dong's trusted subordinates, so they should not live far away either.

Yan watched the two leave together with considerable envy.

Xie Yue patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, brother. Stop staring. They're already out of sight."

After arriving home first, Lu Fan bade Hu Liena farewell.

He had no intention of walking her all the way to her door.

This time, Hu Liena did not say anything more either. She nodded and left.

"Is something the matter?"

Lu Fan looked at the servant at the entrance, who was clearly waiting for his return.

The servant first bowed respectfully to Lu Fan. "Welcome home, Young Master."

Only then did he say, "Young Master, the matter Elder Chrysanthemum arranged yesterday has been completed. Would you like to inspect it?"

Lu Fan thought for a moment about what the man meant.

"Although your courtyard also has a Mimicry Cultivation Environment underground, its effects naturally cannot compare with mine. If you need to cultivate in the future, just come here."

"Afterward, I'll have someone dig an underground passage. That way, you can head straight over whenever you need to cultivate."

Yue Guan's words from yesterday surfaced in his mind, and only then did understanding dawn on him.

He nodded to the servant. "Take me to see it."

"Yes, Young Master."

The servant immediately led Lu Fan to the basement.