Heaven Dou Royal Academy (Part Three)

The Heaven Dou Empire.

A suburb outside Heaven Dou City.

A motorhome that seemed utterly out of place in this world appeared on the road not far away. After three days of AI navigation and self-driving, Wu Xing had finally arrived.

He had no intention of entering Heaven Dou City, though. Instead, he chose to head for Heaven Dou Royal Academy. That had been his plan from the start.

Wu Xing hadn't told anyone in the Group where he was going, including Dugu Yan.

After all, the Group members were all wonderful. They were so pleasant to talk to and gave him plenty of emotional support. He liked them all so much that saying yes to any one of them would have felt like letting the others down.

So he simply kept his whereabouts to himself, lest he make the others sad.

He stopped by the roadside less than a kilometer from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and the AI system in the motorhome announced that he had reached his destination.

Wu Xing climbed out and put the motorhome away in his Group space.

After walking for about ten minutes, he caught sight of the grand gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

He had to admit, an academy bearing the name of the imperial family was truly magnificent, imposing, and luxurious.

There was a guardhouse on each side of the gate, but the ones on duty weren't students. Several guards in armor stood watch instead.

It made sense. If students had to stand watch at the Imperial Academy, people would laugh themselves silly.

Since he wasn't wearing a uniform, Wu Xing naturally caught the guards' attention. One of them came forward to ask who he was, though his tone was quite polite.

Wu Xing explained that he was a friend of Dugu Yan's and had come to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to see her. The guards let him through without hesitation.

Dugu Yan's name carried a lot of weight here. She was not only a member of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's core team, but also the granddaughter of Poison Douluo—a renowned genius with a powerful family background.

As for suspicion? Give him a break. Who would dare pretend to be Dugu Yan's friend? If they were found out, they wouldn't even know how they'd died.

Once inside Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Wu Xing wandered around, stopping now and then to gaze curiously at his surroundings.

Maybe it was because he was dressed so well, or maybe because he hadn't run into Xue Beng. Either way, the scene from the story where Shrek's group got hassled on their first visit never happened.

Wu Xing asked a passing student for directions. When the student heard he was asking about Dugu Yan, he gave him a strange look.

Unfortunately, Dugu Yan had left the academy early that morning. Apparently, she had gone to take part in a Soul Fighting competition and wouldn't be back until the afternoon. She'd been doing the same for the past few days, so Wu Xing could only head to the Academic Affairs Office to register and take care of the paperwork first.

Wu Xing understood, of course. She must have been completing the Group's weekly and monthly missions to earn points.

He hadn't expected that even a little rich girl like her would work so hard.

It was hard to say who had the most money in the Group now, but there was no doubt Dugu Yan had the most points.

Most of the Group members had been working for her these past few days to pay off their Immortal Herb debts. Even Wu Xing himself had fewer points than she did.

Of course, points only had one use for him: buying Cultivation Cards to boost his cultivation.

Unlike the Group members, who needed to spend points to buy just about everything.

It took him quite a while to reach the Academic Affairs Office. Heaven Dou Royal Academy was simply too big. If he hadn't kept asking people for directions, he would've gotten lost.

A middle-aged man received him. After asking why he had come, he learned that Wu Xing wanted to join Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

The man immediately asked him to show his Martial Soul and Soul Power Level so they could prepare for the next steps.

Wu Xing didn't waste time. He released his Martial Soul, showing that he was eighteen years old, had a Soul Power Level of thirty-nine, and possessed yellow, purple, and black Spirit Rings.

The man didn't hesitate for a moment before slapping the table and accepting him. Wu Xing had passed Heaven Dou Royal Academy's assessment and could become a student immediately, without even taking a second test.

The matter even drew one of the Education Committee's chiefs, who came over to take a look.

The Group Mall had detailed information about Whale Rubber, and Dugu Yan had already obtained a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring for her fourth ring two days earlier. So although Wu Xing's yellow, purple, and black Spirit Rings were impressive, they were no longer unique.

They didn't cause a huge frenzy. Instead, with the exposure of Whale Rubber, its price had already skyrocketed in just three days.

What Wu Xing hadn't expected was that this incident had inadvertently given a certain theoretical master a hard slap in the face.

The claim that a Soul Master could only absorb a Soul Ring up to a certain number of years had become a huge joke overnight.

That theoretical master was so furious that he went around with a stiff, corpse-like face every day, convinced that everyone who looked at him was laughing at him.

Meanwhile.

Just as Wu Xing was about to finish his paperwork, two figures appeared at the entrance of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

One of them was Dugu Yan. The girl accompanying her was her equal in figure, looks, and bearing. She was Ye Lingling.

Over the past few days, Ye Lingling had experienced a jumble of emotions about the changes in her close friend.

Of course, it wasn't jealousy. She deeply regretted what had happened. That day, she had told Dugu Yan all about the strange prompt that had appeared in her mind.

Out of caution, she hadn't accepted the invitation. She had turned it down.

When she told her good friend, Dugu Yan had nearly lost her composure on the spot.

Lingling had actually refused the Chat Group's invitation?

Good heavens! Such an incredible opportunity, and her best friend had shut the door in its face. What a tremendous loss!

Fortunately, when Dugu Yan had received the prompt, she had thought, Who dares to play tricks in front of me? My grandfather is Poison Douluo! Then, full of the arrogance of looking down upon the world, she had accepted.

If she had missed her chance like Lingling, not only would she have lost the enormous opportunity the Chat Group offered, but her grandfather's Immortal Herbs would have been completely plundered too.

She might as well have started her life over. There would've been no point in living!

Not wanting to upset Ye Lingling, Dugu Yan hadn't explained much about the Chat Group.

But how could Ye Lingling, so perceptive, fail to notice the sympathy in her good friend's eyes? Dugu Yan had also gone from level thirty-six to level forty in a single day, then spent another day absorbing her fourth ring—a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Ye Lingling had more or less guessed that it had something to do with the invitation she had received. She had missed out on the favor of the gods!

Naturally, she had been filled with regret these past few days, and the easy calm she usually wore had faded from her face.

If not for her good friend Dugu Yan cheering her up, giving her an Immortal Herb, and helping her raise her Soul Power to level forty, she would have felt even worse. In two days, she would accompany Dugu Yan to obtain her fourth Spirit Ring.

"Miss Dugu Yan."

Just as the two were about to enter Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a guard suddenly stepped forward and greeted Dugu Yan respectfully.

"What is it?" Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling both looked over in confusion.

"This morning, a young man came to the academy and said he was your friend. I thought I should let you know."

The guard hurriedly told Dugu Yan everything about Wu Xing's visit that morning.

"My friend? And he was a man?"

Dugu Yan was a little surprised. She only had a few friends, all of them Core Members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The guards would certainly know them.

"Yes, that's what he said."

The guard quickly nodded.

"Fine. I understand."

Dugu Yan waved a hand. Though she found it a little strange, she didn't pay it much mind. She wasn't worried that anyone would dare use her name to swindle people at the academy.