Douluo: Jianmu Martial Soul, Am I an Abomination of Abundance?

The carriage wheels rolled over the expensive paving of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, producing a soft rustling sound.

The Empire had put considerable effort into this exchange event. At this scale, it was likely the largest such gathering in centuries.

Under the direction of the event staff, the carriages stopped in their designated places.

The members of Plant Academy stepped down from their carriage. At the sight of the magnificent, resplendent academy before them, several young female students in the group let out involuntary cries of surprise.

After all, this was a royal academy. In terms of extravagance and splendor, it was undoubtedly number one in the Heaven Dou Empire.

Yet in the eyes of the academy teachers and senior students, a trace of disdain flashed by.

After all, among advanced Soul Master Academies that admitted students based solely on noble status, Heaven Dou Royal Academy stood alone in the Heaven Dou Empire. And everyone knew perfectly well what nobles were like.

While other advanced Soul Master Academies also accepted nobles, they welcomed civilian Spirit Masters who met their standards just as readily.

Within Heaven Dou's advanced Soul Master Academy circles, few thought highly of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Extravagance and decadence were practically its calling cards.

If the All-Continent Advanced Academy Spirit Master Competition did not reserve direct entry spots in the Qualifying Tournament for the royal academies of the two great empires, then with the combat ability of these nobles, it would be questionable whether they could even pass the preliminaries.

As the group proceeded deeper inside, more and more gazes turned toward them.

Most of the academy heads and teachers looked at Mu Changsheng with respect, while the students' eyes fell upon Mu Ci, who led the group.

At that moment, a blond young man dressed in royal attire hurried over with several members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's education committee to greet them.

"Your Excellency Changsheng, Qinghe and the committee members have been awaiting your arrival for quite some time."

"Greetings, Your Excellency Changsheng."

Qian Renxue played Xue Qinghe flawlessly. The moment she arrived, she bowed to Mu Changsheng, displaying the thoroughness of royal etiquette.

Meng Shenji and the others behind her also bowed alongside Xue Qinghe. However, most of them looked at Mu Changsheng with envy in their eyes.

After all, the heads of advanced academies throughout Heaven Dou were mostly of the same generation. They had known one another in their youth and had been old friends for decades.

But now they were all Spirit Douluos, while this old bastard alone had become a Title Douluo. How could his old friends not be envious, jealous, and resentful?

Seeing those emotions in his old friends' eyes, Mu Changsheng felt indescribably pleased. If he had gained such strength and did not show it off to his old friends, even his Dao heart would not be able to get over it.

Still, he merely smiled and said, "Your Highness, there is no need for this. Today, I have come as the head of a Soul Master Academy to lead my students to the exchange event. I should be treated no differently from the other academy heads. You are being far too courteous."

"We received word that you and the students would arrive today. Dream Committee Member Meng Shenji and I prepared everything long ago."

"Your Excellency Changsheng is a venerable Title Douluo. It is only proper that we come out to greet you. Besides, Father Emperor instructed me before that I must be respectful when I meet you and must not show the slightest impropriety."

Xue Qinghe wore a solemn expression and cupped her hands toward Mu Changsheng once more, demonstrating the royal family's respect for a Title Douluo.

But after speaking, her gaze shifted to Mu Ci, and she could not help freezing for a moment.

Even though she had played Xue Qinghe for many years and seen countless so-called outstanding young men, the instant she caught sight of Mu Ci, her heart, sealed away for twenty years, could not help but stir.

Truthfully, she reviewed intelligence on Mu Ci every month. Though she could not claim to know every detail about him, she knew seven or eight parts out of ten.

The intelligence reports described his appearance in great detail: white hair, red eyes, sword-like brows, starry eyes, and a well-proportioned figure.

While Mu Ci traveled from place to place practicing medicine, he had been greatly favored by noble young ladies everywhere. Being harassed was hardly a one-time occurrence for him.

If Spirit Hall and a Title Douluo had not supported him from behind the scenes, he would likely have been abducted long ago.

But those were merely deeds recorded in reports, leaving her with an impression that existed only in words.

Today was their first meeting, and she was genuinely surprised. Seeing him in person truly surpassed hearing of him by reputation.

It had not been in vain that she had seized the hosting rights for this exchange event from Godwind Academy.

Standing behind the others, Mu Ci found Xue Qinghe's serious performance rather amusing.

But as Xue Qinghe spoke, her gaze settled on him, and her eyes gradually became stranger—burning like a beast that had fixed its sights on prey.

Mu Ci shuddered in discomfort. Although he knew that the Xue Qinghe before him was Qian Renxue in disguise, the image in front of him was still that of a man. He truly could not accept it.

But if Mu Ci had known what the person before him was thinking, he would probably have only smiled bitterly. This was not something he could control.

Over the past few years, he had continuously practiced medicine and spread the Way of Medicine throughout Heaven Dou. He had treated countless patients and led many people onto the Way of Medicine.

His Abundance Power had also steadily and gradually increased, and it had now reached the third tier.

His abilities in every respect had improved tremendously. He could accomplish many things that seemed unbelievable in the world of Douluo, such as using Abundance Power to refine medicinal herbs into pills out of thin air.

Even if Mu Ci stopped practicing medicine from this day onward, his Path Power would continue to rise automatically through the spread of the Way of Medicine.

It was like the spread of a concept. As the current origin of this concept on Douluo Continent, the understanding and dissemination of this path by those beneath him would feed back to Mu Ci to a certain extent.

Mu Ci's appearance was likewise the result of the enhancement brought by the growth of Abundance Power. His physical body had become increasingly perfect, like a celestial being of legend.

"Ahem!" Mu Ci cleared his throat at the right moment, reminding Xue Qinghe to act a little more properly.

If she kept staring like that, by tomorrow rumors might spread throughout Heaven Dou City that Heaven Dou's Crown Prince Xue Qinghe preferred men. Otherwise, why had he not even settled on a Crown Princess after all these years?

That cough immediately snapped Xue Qinghe awake. She had nearly forgotten the situation she was in and silently cursed herself.

She hurriedly spoke politely to Mu Changsheng, whose gaze had become somewhat strange. "This must be your grandson, the Medicine King Mu Ci, who is renowned throughout Heaven Dou."

"Seeing him in person truly surpasses hearing of him by reputation. Brother Mu Ci has practiced medicine in Heaven Dou for six years and taught the Way of Medicine to several hundred people.

"Through Spirit Hall's channels, he also spread the medical texts he compiled across the land, greatly reducing the number of children who died young and those who perished from illness in recent years."

"His merit is immeasurable!"

Upon hearing Xue Qinghe's words, most of the people looked at Mu Ci with admiration.

The committee members all sighed over his achievements at such a young age, while Mu Changsheng straightened his back proudly.

Meng Shenji spoke with a kind expression. "Truly remarkable. I think your grandfather became a Title Douluo entirely thanks to you. Sigh, why do I not have such an outstanding descendant?"

After saying that, Meng Shenji shot Mu Changsheng a look full of envy and jealousy.

"Your Highness flatters me." Mu Ci could not help blushing slightly at the praise. "I did these things more for my own cultivation. I am not that noble."

After all, he was not the true Abundance Star God, possessed of a selfless heart devoted to benefiting others.

Most of what he did was for his own cultivation. He had his own desires and pursuits.

But it would be impossible to say that he felt no compassion for the common people at the bottom of society.

Whenever he saw ordinary people struggling to survive while afflicted by illness, his heart ached deeply. The habits he had developed in his previous life made it impossible for him to adopt the mindset of Douluo Continent's nobles.

But with his current abilities, this was all he could do. He could only work even harder at healing the sick and teaching the Way of Medicine, so that the people of Douluo Continent could live somewhat better lives.

Of course, even kindness had to be reserved for certain people. Those nobles who committed every kind of evil, and the Fallen Spirit Masters who roamed the continent—those people should be hanged outright or thrown into the Capital of Slaughter.

Not everyone was worth saving.

While everyone exchanged mutual compliments, the teams from several academies that had arrived earlier also looked over.

Among them, the gazes from Skywater Academy and Blazing Fire Academy were the most fervent.

The Blazing Fire Team wore gold-and-red uniforms. Huo Wu, now grown into a mature beauty, stood beside her brother, Huo Wushuang.

Her flame-like beautiful eyes stared at Mu Ci among Plant Academy's group. Her jade-like face was filled with fighting spirit as she curled her red lips into a smile. "Little brother, I have waited a long time for this day."

Huo Wushuang was not surprised to hear her murmur. After all, he had also been present at that chance encounter years ago.

He reached up to smooth his red hair and said confidently, "I wonder whether he has neglected his cultivation these past years. Little sister, let me test his mettle first later."

"But I heard that his first soul skill is a support skill. I wonder whether defeating him would count as an unfair victory."

Huo Wu nodded, then shook her head. "With his talent, if he has not been delayed these past years, he might have broken through level thirty already."

"His first soul skill is no longer the most important thing. We need to see his third soul ring."

Hearing Huo Wu's assessment, Huo Wushuang nodded in agreement. Both he and Huo Wu had reached levels twenty-eight or twenty-nine. There was no reason for Mu Ci, whose talent surpassed theirs, to still be stuck at two soul rings.

But just then, a cyan figure suddenly slipped into the group dominated by red.

Feng Xiaotian looked at Huo Wu curiously and asked, "Sister Huo Wu, Brother Wushuang, what are you talking about?"

But Huo Wu did not even glance at him, much less give him a pleasant expression.

She had never held any favorable opinion of Feng Xiaotian, who squandered his own talent.

Heaven had given him Innate Full Soul Power, yet he had wasted it. At eighteen years old, his Soul Power was only level thirty-seven. It was truly an embarrassment to Innate Full Soul Power.

Moreover, ever since a chance encounter a year ago, Feng Xiaotian had come to Blazing Fire Academy to bother her whenever he had nothing better to do. Even her last trace of goodwill toward him was gone.

Huo Wushuang sensed the awkward atmosphere. Knowing that his little sister had no feelings whatsoever for this genius from Godwind Academy, he said apologetically:

"Brother Feng, it is nothing important. Just an agreement from childhood."

Feng Xiaotian scratched his head blankly. Watching Huo Wu stare fixedly at Plant Academy's captain, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

Unlike the Blazing Fire Team, the Skywater Team nearby presented an entirely different scene.

Among the beautiful young women dressed in ice-blue uniforms,

there was a lovestruck girl staring straight at Mu Ci in the group. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, and her eyes were full of sparkling stars.

The sight made the girls beside her declare that they could not bear to watch any longer.

Another stunning young woman beside her finally could not stand it anymore and reminded her irritably:

"Yue'er, can you rein in your lovestruck behavior? You are practically about to drool."

The other beautiful young women on the team saw Shui Yue'er's current appearance and burst into laughter.

The slightly older Xue Wu covered her lips and chuckled as she looked at her helpless captain.

"Bing'er, you know Yue'er has always been lovestruck. The moment she sees a handsome man, she cannot move."

Watching Shui Yue'er remain utterly smitten, Shui Bing'er spread her hands helplessly.

"Sigh, with Yue'er like this, I am truly afraid that one day she will be tricked by someone and still help them count their money."

Unable to endure the teasing from her companions any longer, Shui Yue'er finally came back to her senses. Her lovely face red, she looked at Shui Bing'er and said:

"I am not that foolish. Besides, Plant Academy's captain really is handsome. Don't you all think so?"

As Shui Yue'er spoke, she looked toward Mu Ci again. His tall, straight figure, handsome appearance, white hair, and red eyes—every part of him had perfectly grown into her heart.

Hearing that, the Skywater Team also took several more looks at Mu Ci and nodded in wholehearted agreement.