Heaven Dou Royal Academy

After admiring his handsome face, Ling Yun began his morning training.

He skipped the first image. The second showed a golden rooster standing on one leg: stretch both legs, loosen the meridians, and draw in the energy of heaven and earth.

The third image was the Mountain-Holding Seal, for training control over strength.

The fourth image was Crane Spreading Wings, for training bodily coordination.

The fifth image was Wave Treading, for training control over Soul Power.

The sixth image was the Blood-Moving Seal, for circulating the qi and blood throughout the body.

He skipped the seventh image, the Chaos Eye.

The eighth image had a single character in the center: "weapon." Around it were all kinds of weapons: knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, battle-axes, hooks, forks, towers, hammers, clubs, staffs, tridents, lances, whips, claws, crutches, meteors...

When Ling Yun focused his consciousness on one of the weapons, its forging process and methods of use would appear, along with its techniques, changes in the application of strength, and more.

It could be said to contain everything under the sun—enough for him to study for the rest of his life.

He took a cleaver from his Storage Soul Tool and practiced in the open space outside. He worked on chopping, slashing, lifting, and wiping—how to apply his strength, and how to swing the blade with greater precision and less effort.

Blade techniques were simply ways of using a blade. His training method got to the very heart of it. As long as he mastered these fundamentals, even a casual swing would be a top-tier blade technique.

The methods of applying strength included special moves found in countless excellent blade techniques.

On Douluo Continent, this was a Self-Created Soul Skill.

When fighting an opponent, whether he could use it at will all came down to how well Ling Yun had mastered it—to whether he could make it instinctive.

The sounds of training in the little courtyard woke Dugu Yan. As soon as she opened her eyes, she smelled the stench of alcohol.

Her memories were still back in the private room at the Seven Treasure Hotel. She sprang out of bed and ran off to clean herself up.

Dugu Bo had woken long ago. Like Ling Yun, he had cultivated through the night, hoping to break through to level 96 soon. At his level, he rarely slept; he used cultivation in place of sleep.

Hearing the commotion outside, Dugu Bo stopped cultivating and left his room. He saw Ling Yun practicing with his blade.

He said nothing, simply standing to the side and watching. From time to time he nodded, and when he saw a particularly clever move, his eyes lit up as he mentally worked out how to counter it.

After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Ling Yun put away his blade, feeling better than ever.

Dugu Bo applauded. "Your blade techniques are so refined that they're in no way inferior to those of a Soul Master with a blade Martial Soul. This Self-Created Soul Skill has great room to grow."

"But I still have to remind you: it's best to wait until your Soul Power can advance no further before working on a Self-Created Soul Skill. I've seen many geniuses neglect their cultivation speed while devoting themselves to researching one. In the end, they faded into the crowd."

"I'm not too worried about the speed at which your Soul Power is increasing, but I still recommend that you prioritize raising it. Once your Soul Power is higher, everything becomes easier."

"I know my limits! I won't spend more than an hour a day practicing my Self-Created Soul Skill."

Dugu Bo nodded. He had only offered advice based on his own experience. Whether Ling Yun listened was beyond his control—and there was nothing he could do to make him.

If Ling Yun really did become so absorbed in researching his Self-Created Soul Skill that he forgot to eat and sleep, he would certainly do everything he could to talk him out of it.

Ling Yun went to freshen up, washing his face and brushing his teeth, then got ready for breakfast.

By the time he arrived, Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo had already started eating.

"Eat up. Once you're done, I'll take you to Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

In the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, Ling Yun had polished off his portion. Dugu Yan stared at him in astonishment.

"Look at you! Anyone who didn't know better would think you hadn't eaten in three days. What's the rush?"

"You've got to slurp noodles like that for them to hit the spot. That's perfectly normal, okay?"

"That's so uncouth!"

"At the academy, people will laugh at you for eating like that—especially those who've had noble etiquette training. They'll mock you to your face."

"Is that so? Then I guess I really should be careful."

Ling Yun was good at taking advice. In public, he ought to pay at least a little attention to his image.

The rest of the time, he did as he pleased, living naturally and following his heart.

Another half a cup of tea later.

Dugu Yan was the last to set down her chopsticks. She ran back to her room to pack; the servants would take care of the dishes.

Everything Ling Yun needed was already in his Soul Tool.

A quarter of an hour later.

Dugu Bo took the two of them to the carriage the servants had prepared. It slowly rolled out of Dugu Manor, heading toward the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy was not inside Heaven Dou City. It was on a mountain less than twenty kilometers outside the city.

After a little more than half an hour, the carriage from Dugu Manor came to a stop.

"We're here!"

The moment Ling Yun stepped down, he saw carriage after carriage, and a crowd of people.

He turned his gaze elsewhere. First was the gate of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, where golden dragons made of gold coiled around two towering stone pillars, inlaid with countless precious gems. The place was extravagantly luxurious.

Looking up, he saw clouds and mist swirling around the mountainside. Under the veil of mist, the academy resembled a massive castle hidden in the mountains. Sunlight struck it, and the light reflected from the glazed tiles lent the castle a dreamlike beauty, fit for nobility beyond compare.

On the left side of this thousand-meter mountain lay a vast lake. Under the sunlight, it shimmered like a green gemstone.

On the right grew a dense forest.

"That lake over there, this mountain, and the forest around it all fall under Heaven Dou Royal Academy's jurisdiction. It has every kind of facility. There's snow at the summit and a lake at the foot of the mountain, and the academy has simulated environments suited to all kinds of Martial Souls," Dugu Yan explained.

"Backed by a mountain and facing the water. What a great place!"

"Indeed," Dugu Bo agreed with a nod.

As far as location went, this area was one of the finest.

"Let's go. I'll take you to meet the three members of the academy's Education Committee."

With Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan—both well-known figures at Heaven Dou Royal Academy—leading the way, no foolish noble came looking for trouble.

Along the way, those who recognized Dugu Bo greeted him, addressing him as "Your Eminence," while curiously sizing up Ling Yun.

They marked Ling Yun as someone not to provoke.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy had more than five hundred students, most of them nobles who were just there to coast through their studies.

There weren't many truly talented people among them.

Their reason for coming here was simple: to make friends and secure their families' interests.

To do that, a good eye for people was essential. If they offended someone they shouldn't, the consequences would be beyond what they could bear. They might even drag their families down with them.

The three headed uphill, and Ling Yun could feel just how wealthy Heaven Dou Royal Academy was.

The steps along the way were all paved with white jade, each one carved with a different Soul Beast. The carvings were so intricate and elaborate that the amount of labor and resources they had required was almost impossible to imagine.

A quarter of an hour later,

they reached the main teaching area. In the center stood a ten-meter-high, single-story building: the Education Committee.

All matters concerning the academy were handled by its three members.

The academy's nominal president was the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye.

But Xue Ye was busy with state affairs and rarely came by. The three members of the Education Committee handled the academy's affairs most of the time.