Enrollment

"Dou Ling Royal Academy?"

Su Fan remembered this academy.

Recalling the plot of his past life, he could remember some details about this academy.

In fact, Dou Ling Royal Academy had been extremely popular not long ago.

Half a year ago, the Soul Master Tournament had been held in Heaven Dou City, and the Dou Ling Team belonging to Dou Ling Royal Academy had made it into the semifinals!

This showed just how strong Dou Ling Royal Academy was.

However, in Su Fan's memories, at the Soul Master Tournament four and a half years later, the Dou Ling Team would encounter the Shrek Team in the round of sixteen, then be defeated by a group of lunatics shouting about glory and refusing to lose.

"If I remember correctly, the Dou Ling Team has five Soul Kings and two Soul Ancestors."

Such a lineup could be called luxurious.

If he wanted to join the team, represent it in competition, and make a name for himself, he would at least need to become a Soul Ancestor.

Was he confident?

Su Fan looked inward at the twelve Apertures in his body, a smile appearing on his face.

After fusing with his first soul ring, he had condensed three new Apertures in just a few days.

The refinement of those Apertures had also greatly increased his cultivation speed.

At the Soul Scholar stage, his Aperture refinement had been constrained by something. He had only managed to condense nine at most, and refining the ninth Aperture had also allowed him to break through the level ten bottleneck.

That process had made Su Fan realize the importance of the Aperture Method.

If Soul Master cultivation had no method at all and remained primitive, then condensing Apertures was a practical path forward.

People said that a Soul Master's cultivation from level one to level one hundred was mindless, but only the levels were mindless. In reality, the circulation of Soul Power was vague, without boundaries as clear as those between the levels.

Condensing Apertures made cultivation clearer.

At the very least, Su Fan could determine the progress of his cultivation through the condensation of Apertures.

Before obtaining his first soul ring, he could condense at most nine Apertures.

After obtaining his first soul ring, he had swiftly refined three Apertures.

Such progress gave Su Fan confidence.

After all, condensing Apertures meant an increase in cultivation speed.

From now on, his cultivation speed would not slow down.

As long as he kept up with absorbing soul rings above his level and established a positive feedback loop between his martial soul and the Apertures in his body, there would be no need for so many concerns.

Charge!

That was all there was to it!

Su Fan's talent had never been bad to begin with.

At seven years old, he was level twelve. Even if he advanced only two levels a year, he would reach level twenty-two at twelve years old. He would be considered a genius Soul Master at any ordinary advanced Soul Master Academy.

Even at Dou Ling Royal Academy, he would rank somewhat above average among the students.

What was more, Su Fan's cultivation speed was nowhere near that slow.

The Su Family Trading Firm had some connections in the royal family. With Su Tian pulling strings, Su Fan's enrollment was quickly settled.

"Brother, just what kind of background does our family have?"

When Su Fan heard Su Tian say that their family had connections in the royal family, he could not help but feel puzzled.

Su Tian smiled.

"It's nothing much. Our grandfather's grandfather once followed the fifth previous Dou Ling Emperor. Before that emperor ascended the throne, he was a prince, and his fief included our Eastsea City."

Su Fan gave an oh and revealed an understanding expression.

It was a very distant connection.

Yet the Su Family Trading Firm still existed and was one of Eastsea City's three major merchant associations. Clearly, it had been maintaining royal connections all along.

The direct connection had diminished, but certain mutual interests had been cultivated over time, making it difficult to sever lightly.

A few more days passed, and Su Fan set off for Lingdou City, the capital of the Dou Ling Empire.

Compared to the previous few days, Su Fan found it noticeably less smooth to refine Apertures over these days.

Still, he successfully refined another Aperture.

The thirteenth Aperture, complete!

"If each level of a Soul Scholar corresponds to one Aperture, then perhaps each level of a Soul Master corresponds to two or three Apertures."

That was Su Fan's rough judgment.

Dou Ling Royal Academy was located in the eastern district of Lingdou City and covered an enormous area.

Standing before the academy and looking at its imposing gates, Su Fan could not help but feel refreshed.

"Uncle, where do new students register?"

Su Fan stood on tiptoe and asked the guard inside through the window of the security office.

"It's not enrollment season right now."

The guard was somewhat confused.

"I was specially recruited."

"Go straight ahead. The tallest building you can see is the teaching building. The Academic Affairs Office is on the fourth floor, and room 404 is the director's office. Go report to the director."

"Thank you, Uncle."

The teaching building was easy to find.

He went upstairs.

Found 404.

Knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A concise, powerful voice came from inside.

Su Fan pushed open the door and first surveyed the room.

There was only one desk. The rest of the room was filled with various training equipment.

Su Fan saw punching bags, weighted iron vests, and barbells and dumbbells of various sizes.

Behind the desk sat a bald, burly middle-aged man.

"You are?"

The middle-aged man looked at Su Fan with some confusion.

The academy did not have children this young.

"I'm Su Fan. I'm here to register."

"Su Fan? Do you have a letter of recommendation?"

"Yes, Director, I do."

Su Fan took out the letter Su Tian had given him before his departure.

After reading the letter, the middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction.

"Level twelve after a year and a half of cultivation. Very good."

"Director, I'm level fourteen now."

"Oh?"

"I just took a Mystic Water Pill and got lucky, breaking through two levels in a row."

A smile appeared on the bald middle-aged director's face.

"Then you really are quite lucky."

He had reached level twelve after a year and a half of cultivation without even using a Mystic Water Pill.

His evaluation could be raised a little.

"Have you taken a Soul Ascension Pill?"

"No."

"Oh?"

This time, the director froze.

He looked at Su Fan and asked again.

"Really, I haven't." Su Fan answered seriously.

The bald middle-aged man fell into thought.

"I understand your situation now."

He had only asked out of curiosity and had not cared much about the answer.

But the answer differed from what he had subconsciously assumed, leaving him greatly surprised.

Never mind his innate level-one cultivation aptitude.

Simply increasing his Soul Power by nine levels in a year and a half already made him a super genius.

Su Fan completed the procedures under the director's supervision, received his dormitory key, and left respectfully.

"The Soul Guidance Department..."

After Su Fan left, the bald middle-aged man muttered softly.

He lowered his head, looked at his hands, and clenched his fists.

"Pure Soul Masters are becoming fewer and fewer in the end."

After leaving the teaching building, Su Fan headed straight for the dormitory area.

The dormitory area of Dou Ling Royal Academy covered a vast expanse. There were nine dormitory buildings in total, each with six floors.

The nine buildings were not arranged in a three-by-three grid, but constructed around a huge field.

The field had lawns, all kinds of training equipment, and open spaces divided up like arenas.

Clearly, this was the cultivation area.

In relation to the dormitory buildings, each building could be matched with an arena on average.

Su Fan had been assigned to Dormitory Building Three.

When he entered the building, there was no unpleasant smell. Instead, a faint fragrance filled the air.

Su Fan found his dormitory number.

He had been assigned a four-person room, but perhaps because of when he had enrolled, it was a brand-new room with no roommates.