People were fickle.
Ning Rongrong knew what she had thought while under control. Back then, she had considered accepting the less restrictive condition of going to Heaven Dou Royal Academy in order to break free of the intense control. But now, she simply didn't want to go.
She hated having things arranged for her, especially long-term arrangements.
That was why she hated being controlled and hated her father setting the pace of her cultivation.
After saying those words, Ning Rongrong turned and left without hesitation.
Ning Fengzhi reached out as if to pull his daughter back, but in the end, he didn't take another step.
"Go to Heaven Dou Royal Academy and try for your third Soul Ring..."
He finished the sentence he had left unsaid.
Although Ning Fengzhi still wanted Ning Rongrong to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy—after all, it had excellent resources and many powerful Soul Masters, and, most importantly, she could use it to get connected with the Heaven Dou Imperial Family... he hadn't planned to bring it up today, out of consideration for his daughter.
It had been three days since he'd asked Heaven Dou Royal Academy to help Ning Rongrong hunt for her third Soul Ring.
As soon as he'd learned that Ning Rongrong had reached level 30, he'd contacted Heaven Dou Royal Academy. They had the most advanced theories in the Heaven Dou Empire and would surely find Rongrong a Soul Beast with the best Soul Power qualities...
As for the theory of the person whose Martial Soul couldn't break through level 30, he was unfamiliar with it.
"Alas... Did I make another mistake?"
Ning Fengzhi tilted his head back and sighed.
"What about the Soul Beast from Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"
"Save it for Rongrong for now. If she can't use it... give it to the woman in the treatment ward. She's kindhearted, and she also gave us crucial information. Rongrong gets along well with her, doesn't she? We can train her to be Rongrong's bodyguard later. Her Martial Soul is reasonably suited for attacking, anyway."
"Rongrong got along pretty well with her when they met today."
"Come to think of it, I was a little impulsive when I held my sword to her back then."
"Fengzhi, where will Rongrong go to school now?"
"That's nothing to worry about. I already made a backup plan and spread information about other schools all over the sect."
"You're really comfortable letting Rongrong go out and make her own way?"
Ning Fengzhi said nothing.
As if he was comfortable with it.
"Maybe Rongrong can only grow up once she's out in the world."
"Did I go a little too far?"
Ning Rongrong muttered to herself as she walked back.
"Dad still had more to say. Maybe he didn't want me to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but had something else in mind..."
As she spoke, she shook her head.
"I'm twelve. It's time to go to school. There can't be anything else."
A few words suddenly came to Ning Rongrong's mind, joining together into a phrase.
Suotuo City, Shrek Academy.
"An academy that only accepts monsters, not ordinary people... It must be pretty interesting."
She sighed, noticing that she had already reached the sect gates without realizing it, and hailed a carriage.
"To Suotuo City."
Spirit Hall, Elder Hall.
The seven enshrined elders, led by Qian Daoliu, gathered around a mass of black flames at the center.
"The Evil Soul Masters' conspiracy has been foiled. That can only be good news."
"If a second Holy God had truly been cultivated, the entire continent would have faced a catastrophe."
"Those bastards—when did they gather together? They weren't around even when the Holy God was still alive!"
"Who knows?"
The enshrined elders discussed the latest Evil Soul Master incident.
The black flames before them were part of the Holy God. About three months ago, Spirit Hall had joined forces with the Clear Sky Sect, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and the imperial families of the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire. More than ten Titled Douluo had gone into action, suppressing the threat to the continent—the Holy God—and dividing it into several souls. The Holy God was evil, so its soul took the form of black flames.
The black flames were entrusted to different powerful figures to prevent anyone with ill intent from obtaining them all at once and resurrecting the Holy God.
Although the Holy Spirit Cult had been wiped out at the time, it was better to be safe than sorry. It was Qian Daoliu who had suggested splitting the black flames into several parts.
The black flames before them were the portion Spirit Hall had received.
A hidden location in the Heaven Dou Empire.
A tall, slender figure dressed in black robes gazed at a mass of black flames, listening to the report from behind.
"Cult Master, the Saintess Ritual was disrupted."
"It doesn't matter. This is still within Lord Holy God's script."
"Should we go and tear the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect apart?"
"No. We don't need to, and we couldn't even if we tried... How are preparations for the Saintess Ritual at the outpost in Suotuo City?"
"They're nearly complete."
The figure in black robes nodded.
A scale stood before them. A purple stone sat on the left, and a leaf on the right.
The leaf clearly couldn't compete with the stone's weight. The scale still tipped down on the left.
They had brought this scale back from the cave outpost before the people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect arrived.
"The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Just put it in that box."
After asking around Suotuo City for a long time, Ning Rongrong had finally found Shrek Academy and made it to the registration desk.
The place where they were registering was a huge disappointment.
It was a tiny village, and the sign at the village entrance plainly told her that this was Shrek Academy.
It was far more run-down than Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Ning Rongrong thought as she looked at the school emblem—a green, humanoid monster's head—and felt another wave of disgust.
If she hadn't left in such a hurry and been so concerned with saving face, she would definitely have gone back.
Since she was already here, she might as well see what the academy was like.
Ning Rongrong thought helplessly.
There were a lot of people. More than a hundred were ahead of her in line. Most were young people around her age, with their parents accompanying them.
They seemed to be thinking much the same thing she was.
They had all heard that the academy only accepted monsters and that graduating meant power and influence, so they'd come to take a look—only to be disappointed.
The words she'd just heard had come from the old man behind the desk. He spoke lazily and looked like an ordinary villager.
Ten Gold Soul Coins were a drop in the bucket for Ning Rongrong, since her Space Soul Tool held more than thirty thousand. But that wasn't necessarily true for everyone else.
Ning Rongrong saw that the boy ahead of her didn't meet the age requirement. When his father tried to get the registration fee back, he was refused, and then started yelling that they were swindlers.
"If you want your registration fee back, that's fine. Beat me, and I'll refund every coin."
A handsome man with golden hair appeared beside the old man, sounding somewhat helpless.
His Soul Rings lit up around him: yellow, yellow, purple. He was a three-ring Soul Elder.
Ning Rongrong couldn't help comparing him with Donald, whom she'd met earlier, and decided the man before her seemed a little stronger.
This is interesting. Ning Rongrong couldn't help growing curious. Shrek Academy seemed like it might surprise her.
Under his pressure, many people who didn't meet the age requirement left, and the line in front of her quickly shortened.
Another boy stepped forward. He seemed confident, but was soon rejected too.
His Soul Power didn't meet the requirement. Shrek Academy only accepted students above level 21.
Then Ning Rongrong saw six Soul Rings appear around the old man, radiating a terrifying pressure.
Naturally, this had little effect on Ning Rongrong. She lived with Titled Douluo every day and had long since built up some resistance.
She just hadn't expected the old man before her to be a Six-Ring Soul Emperor.
Ning Rongrong was becoming more and more convinced that Shrek Academy had something going for it.
After the old man demonstrated his strength and turned away a few more people who didn't meet the requirements, only a dozen or so remained in line.
Most of them were sent to the second round by the old man.
Before you continue