Heaven Dou Royal Academy

Winter passes and spring arrives; the new year begins.

Before the magnificent gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the crowd is already as dense as a weaving loom.

Today is the final review day for the academy's annual enrollment, and the last chance for various well-connected individuals to "fill the gaps and make up for omissions."

Inside the committee meeting hall, the atmosphere is somewhat stagnant.

Meng Shenji pinches a stack of recommendation letters that have just arrived, each stamped with the private seals of various nobles and sects, his graying eyebrows knitted tightly together.

Beside him, Bai Baoshan remains smiling, though a trace of impatience lingers in the depths of his eyes, while Zhi Lin sits expressionless, his gaze cold.

"Do these nobles and sects really take our Heaven Dou Royal Academy for a shelter? They dare to shove any stray cat or dog inside!"

Meng Shenji looks at the stack of letters in his hand, his voice carrying suppressed anger.

The more he speaks, the angrier he becomes, slamming the stack of recommendations heavily onto the table: "What kind of crooked melons and cracked dates are these? There's even one with a Blue Silver Grass martial soul and 0.5 Innate Soul Power. Do they take us three old fellows for blind men?"

Bai Baoshan coughs lightly, his smile unchanged on his round face, but his tone carries helplessness: "Old Meng, calm your anger. We still have to give face to these nobles... if we reject them outright, I fear it won't look good."

"Hmph! Face must be given, but the academy's rules cannot be discarded!" Meng Shenji's eyes are cold: "Starting this year, I intend to conduct an additional test for these students who come through the back door, and we three shall be the chief examiners."

"Oh, Old Meng, you finally intend to show some backbone?" Zhi Lin's effeminate voice carries a hint of incitement: "Well done, Old Meng, I support you. But you had better keep your spirits up when facing the harassment from those nobles later; don't lose face."

Beside them, Bai Baoshan rolls his eyes at the two men's conversation.

You come here every year to do this; if you aren't embarrassed, I certainly am!

He sighs, picking up a recommendation letter from the table at random to open it, but the information inside makes his expression change.

"Lan Yin, ten years old, Innate Full Soul Power, level 25 Soul Grand Master, and the martial soul is the Gan Jiang Mo Ye Sword... This profile is suspiciously perfect!"

"Innate Full Soul Power?"

"A ten-year-old level 25 Soul Grand Master!"

Meng Shenji and Zhi Lin, both suspicious, turn their gazes toward Bai Baoshan simultaneously. Meng Shenji's expression is unkind: "Old Bai, this joke is not funny."

In his view, a seedling with Innate Full Soul Power is not something to be handled with such a casual recommendation letter.

"See for yourselves! This letter was entrusted by the head of the Moonlight Pavilion and jointly recommended by several nobles!" Bai Baoshan says, handing the letter to the sour-faced Meng Shenji.

"Moonlight Pavilion? That head would actually do such a thing?"

Meng Shenji frowns. Although that head, Tang Yuehua, is very famous among the empire's high-ranking nobles, she does not have the authority to recommend students.

He wants to see exactly what is so unique about a student she would use so many connections to send over.

"Whether it is true or false, a test will reveal it. Since it is already the review day, according to the procedure, let him come in to test his soul power and display his martial soul," Zhi Lin's sinister voice rings out.

"If the information is accurate, it is naturally best to admit such a genius into the academy. If it is false..."

A cold light flashes in his eyes, "We can use this 'false recommendation' from the Moonlight Pavilion as a pretext to knock down those networks of connections that are becoming increasingly unscrupulous."

Meng Shenji takes a few deep breaths, calms down, and looks at the recommendation letter in his hand with a determined expression.

"Zhi Lin is right; let it be decided this way."

The three adjust their states of mind, their faces solemn as they return to their seats to formally begin the review.

Before long, the hall doors are pushed open, and a youth in a simple moon-white long robe, standing tall and straight, steps into the hall.

Facing the invisible pressure radiating from the three Soul Douluo committee members, he merely approaches and bows with composure.

"Student Lan Yin greets the three committee members."

His voice is clear, neither servile nor overbearing.

The gazes of Meng Shenji and the others are like torches, instantly falling upon him.

With their discernment, they can naturally see that the youth's aura is solid, his soul power restrained, and his foundation seems quite sturdy—not like something built entirely on drugs.

But this does not dispel their doubts.

"Lan Yin, is it?" Meng Shenji's voice is cold: "Several nobles jointly recommended you for enrollment. The documents say you are ten years old, your martial soul is the Gan Jiang Mo Ye Sword, you have Innate Full Soul Power, and you are currently a level 25 Soul Grand Master?"

"Yes," Tang Yin replies.

"Test your soul power first," Meng Shenji points to the soul power testing crystal ball in the hall, speaking concisely without unnecessary words.

Tang Yin nods, steps forward, and stands before the crystal ball.

"Hum—"

Lan Yin's soul power is injected into the crystal ball.

The crystal ball first glows with a soft white light, then the radiance rapidly becomes intense.

"Level 25! The soul power is solid and full, with a deep foundation!" Bai Baoshan exclaims.

This soul power fluctuation cannot be faked; it is absolutely cultivated through hard work, and it far exceeds those of the same level!

A look of joy also flashes across Zhi Lin's face.

"Cough!" Meng Shenji clears his throat, suppressing the excitement in his heart, his expression becoming much kinder.

"Lan Yin, summon your martial soul!"

"Gan Jiang! Mo Ye!"

Tang Yin lifted his hands, and three inches above each palm, a long and a short weapon manifested respectively.

At this moment, thanks to the connections of Tang Yuehua, his identity issues were no longer a concern; aside from his Twin Martial Souls, there was naturally no need to hide anything else.

Tang Yin shifted his focus, and the soul rings beneath his feet rose in sequence.

The first was yellow, a century-old soul ring of pure color.

When the second soul ring rose—

Hum!

A rich, deep, light-purple radiance instantly flooded half the hall!

"A... a thousand-year second ring?!" Zhi Lin's voice went out of tune, no longer able to maintain his usual gentle composure.

Meng Shenji and Bai Baoshan were even more dumbfounded, staring fixedly at the purple soul ring circling Tang Yin's body as if they had seen a ghost.

An Innate Full Soul Power Sword martial soul, a ten-year-old level 25 Soul Grand Master—while these were astonishing, such geniuses were not rare on the continent. They were surprised, but not enough to lose their composure.

But... a thousand-year second ring?!

This completely shattered the common sense of the soul master world! It was theoretically "impossible"!

Yet, the purple soul ring before their eyes, though a light purple indicating it had just entered the thousand-year threshold, possessed such solid energy fluctuations... it was clearly a genuine thousand-year soul ring! It was absolutely not an illusion or a disguise!

What kind of monster was this youth named Lan Yin? How on earth did he achieve this?!

The hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the heavy breathing of the three committee members remaining.

Tang Yin calmly retracted his martial soul and soul rings, bowing once more: "This student has finished the demonstration."

Meng Shenji slowly sat back in his chair, his fingers turning white from the force of his grip.

What Moonlight Pavilion had sent over this time was no mere "connection hire"; this was clearly a peerless monster capable of overturning all conventional wisdom!

Bai Baoshan wiped non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and gave a dry laugh: "Heh heh... good, good, truly... heroes are born in youth."

Zhi Lin's eyes flickered with uncertainty, but beneath that was a burning intensity, as if he had discovered a rare treasure.

"Lan Yin..." Meng Shenji spoke slowly, his voice still somewhat parched, "We have understood your situation. Heaven Dou Royal Academy welcomes you."

He paused, looked at the class assignment list, and his gaze finally settled on Heaven-Supreme Class One, adding: "For the time being, you will be placed in 'Heaven-Supreme Class One'. The current homeroom teacher is a young man named Qin Ming, who is already a level 52 Soul King at only 26 years old."

Qin Ming?

Hearing the familiar name, Tang Yin was slightly stunned.

It was quite a coincidence; a few months ago, Qin Ming had invited him to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and he hadn't expected to be assigned to his class right now.

Truly, life is full of unexpected reunions!