Ling Luochеn

Ling Luochеn was a member of the Inspector Group.

Over the past two days, Lu Ran had pieced together the timeline. A little over a year ago, Xuan Zi had led a team to the Star Dou Great Forest, where they encountered an accident and Zhang Lexuan was gravely injured. It had taken her over half a year to recover. This time, she had led Ling Luochеn and several other first-year Inner Academy students to the Star Luo Empire to investigate an Evil Soul Master incident as the Shrek Inspectorate. After completing their mission, they had encountered Lu Ran while passing through the outer outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Ling Luochеn came over and examined Lu Ran.

Although only two days had passed, he had clearly changed. There was something about him that was hard to put into words.

It was obvious that he had awakened Soul Power.

Out of politeness, Ling Luochеn offered her congratulations. "Congratulations."

On this continent, awakening Soul Power was truly a stroke of good fortune.

"But..."

A trace of confusion flashed through her beautiful eyes. "How did you get into the Inner Academy?"

It wasn't that no bold Outer Academy students had tried sneaking into the Inner Academy, but it was practically impossible to succeed—especially for someone who had only just awakened.

Lu Ran scratched his head. "Uh... I rowed here. I was planning to go to the Outer Academy library."

Ling Luochеn was puzzled. How had he ended up in the Inner Academy when he'd been heading to the Outer Academy library?

"I'll take you out of the Inner Academy first. Outer Academy students get punished if they're caught here."

Lu Ran really wanted to tell her that he wasn't even an Outer Academy student,

but since they were headed to the same place, there was no need to explain more.

They reached the shore of Sea God Lake. The rippling water was clear and blue, reflecting the sky, white clouds, and the lush trees lining the shore.

There was still no bridge.

Ling Luochеn summoned a Hundred-Year Soul Ring and formed a two-meter-long Ice Crystal staff. The temperature around them dropped sharply.

She lightly tapped the shimmering surface of the lake with the Ice Crystal staff. The water froze, and the ice rapidly spread forward, eventually forming a path of ice.

How flashy!

Lu Ran watched the whole process and couldn't help but exclaim.

Ling Luochеn stepped lightly onto the ice and turned to him. "Come on."

Lu Ran stepped onto it too. A faint chill seeped through his soles, but the ice wasn't slippery. It was remarkably sturdy, nothing like a floating bridge made of ice.

They crossed Sea God Lake without incident and reached the Outer Academy at the end of the ice bridge.

Faint voices carried from the distance. Unlike the Inner Academy, which had fewer than a hundred students, the Outer Academy had over four thousand.

Standing on the ice bridge, Ling Luochеn pointed. "The Outer Academy library is that way."

"Thanks, Sister Luochen."

Lu Ran stepped onto the Outer Academy's lakeshore and thanked Ling Luochеn. He turned to leave, but she called after him. "Wait. Do you have a student card?"

Lu Ran froze, suddenly realizing that he didn't have one.

Without it, he couldn't enter the library.

Shrek had two ways to verify a student's identity: badges and student cards. Badges came in three types—new student, Outer Academy, and Inner Academy. Student cards recorded a student's name, age, Soul Power, and other information. There were also teacher cards and the like. A student card let its holder borrow any book on the first floor of the Outer Academy library for free,

but books on the second floor and above cost money.

After a few seconds of silence,

he realized he'd overlooked this. The libraries he'd visited before had let him wander in and out freely, so he'd habitually ignored the problem.

Lu Ran let out a long breath. "Thanks for helping me get across, Sister Luochen... I'll go back and figure something out."

He'd see if he could get a temporary pass or something.

"Heh, there's no need for that."

A gentle voice rang out. Yan Shaozhe had appeared at some point, smiling warmly.

"Dean." "Dean Yan."

They spoke at the same time, but surprise was clear in Ling Luochеn's voice. She couldn't understand why the dean, who rarely showed himself, had suddenly appeared here.

In fact, Yan Shaozhe had spotted Lu Ran back when he was speeding across Sea God Lake in his boat. He'd nearly fainted on the spot when he realized that Lu Ran's boat was a Soul Tool!

Yan Shaozhe had never supported Shrek's aggressive expansion of the Soul Guidance Department. It wasn't entirely because of internal disputes over resource allocation. More importantly, Shrek could never surpass the Sun Moon Empire in Soul Tool Technology.

The Sun Moon Empire had been exploring Soul Tool Technology for ten thousand years. With that much accumulated expertise, the entire nation could be said to have been built on Soul Tools.

And what did Shrek have? A Soul Guidance Department. Where would it find the resources and talent to compete with the Sun Moon Empire?

How could they possibly win by taking on an opponent in its own area of strength?

They were better off putting everything into developing Martial Souls. That offered far better odds.

He handed Lu Ran a badge. It was silver all over, marked with only a few simple lines.

"With this badge, you can prove your identity at the academy."

Ling Luochеn was even more surprised. The dean himself was giving him a badge?

Even Inner Academy students didn't get that treatment.

But wasn't he just an ordinary child?

Lu Ran put it away. "Thank you, Dean."

Yan Shaozhe waved a hand. "The Inner Academy library is free. Why not go there?"

Lu Ran explained, "I was in a small village before, and I didn't know anything. Now that I have the chance, I want to learn more about the continent. The Outer Academy library is more suitable for me."

Yan Shaozhe nodded. It was true that he should learn more.

"Good. Then go on."

He turned to Ling Luochеn, his voice still gentle. "Don't tell anyone I was here."

Ling Luochеn answered, "Yes, Dean."

In the blink of an eye, Yan Shaozhe vanished without a sound, as if he had never appeared.

Ling Luochеn stared at Lu Ran in bewilderment. His small figure suddenly seemed imposing and mysterious.

She was completely at a loss.

Was Lu Ran exceptionally talented?

No, that couldn't be right.

Even Zhang Lexuan hadn't gotten this kind of treatment.

Could it be that Dean Yan had taken a private...

No, even if that were true, they couldn't have met in the Star Dou Great Forest.

The thought stayed in her mind for a second before she kicked it away.

Countless possibilities flashed through her mind, but none of them explained it.

Still, with Yan Shaozhe having spoken, she didn't dare ask.

"Then you should go on ahead."

Lu Ran thanked Ling Luochеn and headed for the library.

Ling Luochеn watched him disappear around the bend, confusion in her beautiful eyes as she lightly bit her lip.

After that, Lu Ran settled into a routine of going back and forth between two places.

Cultivating and reading, though most of the time he was cultivating.

During this time,

he didn't eat ordinary food, either. His meals consisted of things like thousand-year-old spirit mushrooms and ten-thousand-year-old dragon bones—nutritious and delicious.

Rock Crystal Dragon had its own special menu too, and its belly was round every day.

With the Sea God Pavilion's uniquely favorable cultivation environment,

his Soul Power rose rapidly, and he grew taller along with it.

Because of his childhood malnutrition and all the hard labor he'd done out in the wind and sun, Lu Ran had always been rather small and thin. But after a year of nourishing meals, he shot up from under one meter to over 1.4 meters, nearly 1.5. That was still normal for his age, but the speed of his growth was astonishing.

His skin had also become smooth and fair, as if he were a different person.

Soul Power really did seem to promote growth.

A year later,

his Soul Power had reached level twenty. It was time to absorb his Second Soul Ring.