Hell Yama Art

Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan stayed at Ye Mansion for another night and left the next day. Before departing, Dugu Bo glared at Xing Tian with a venomous look, leaving Xing Tian utterly baffled.

Ye Renxin asked, "Xiao Tian, are you going to seclude yourself and cultivate that secret technique first?"

"Yes. So I'll have to put off enrolling for now. Let Lingling enroll first."

Xing Tian looked at Ye Lingling and said softly, "Lingling, you should go to the academy first. Don't let it get held up. I'll definitely be there in two years."

"Okay."

Ye Lingling replied calmly, though her eyes looked a little disappointed.

A few days later, Ye Lingling enrolled at Heaven Dou Royal Academy without a hitch. She and Dugu Yan became classmates and shared a dorm room.

Ye Renxin arranged a spacious, quiet training room for Xing Tian, making sure no one would disturb him. He only had people periodically send clothing, food, herbs, and other necessities to Xing Tian through a passage.

And in the training room, Xing Tian did more than cultivate the Rejuvenation Art.

"Hell Yama Art, I'm counting on you!"

The requirements of the Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art were too demanding, and advancing was far too perilous. Even for the First Death Tribulation, Xing Tian had needed to rely on seventy percent of Ye Renxin's Soul Power to succeed.

So he had to prioritize cultivating other arts and build up his strength before challenging the Second Death Tribulation.

And the art he intended to cultivate was the Hell Yama Art.

The Hell Yama Art had been created in his previous life by Xing Tian, who fused the Esoteric Yama Art with the Yama Command Evil Art. It was powerful, yet nowhere near as dangerous as the Nine Deaths Reincarnation Evil Art. It allowed one to cultivate internal energy and force at the same time.

The internal energy was divided into ten realms, named after the Ten Halls of Yama. Force was divided into eighteen layers, named after the Eighteen Layers of Hell.

Once the internal energy was fully mastered, one could use the Ten Yama Killing Commands. Once the force was fully mastered, one could use the Life-Taking Seven Killing Claws. Both were ferocious, vicious, and merciless techniques.

That seclusion lasted a full two years.

Xing Tian cultivated the Hell Yama Art to the Second Hall of internal energy and the Fourth Layer of force. He had also made some progress in the Rejuvenation Art, bringing about quite a few changes in him.

His cheeks were no longer as pale as before. They even had the rosy hue of a young boy.

His eyes shone as brightly as if starlight had been tempered into them, though his gaze remained cold and sinister. His figure had grown taller and sturdier, as if he had endless strength, brimming with a young man's vitality.

But when he circulated his power, the aura around him changed abruptly, and his former youthful vigor was instantly suppressed.

His stern features radiated a dreadful majesty. A dark wind seemed to swirl between his brows, and an oppressive aura from the underworld came rushing at anyone nearby. The air grew several degrees colder, and even the sunlight seemed shut out, leaving a small patch of shadow around him.

Even more chilling were his hands.

They had grown strong and sinewy, as though they could crush rocks with ease.

At the same time, a layer of eerie green force enveloped them. It flowed and curled like water, yet clung to his hands like a bone-deep parasite. Its ghostly glow was enough to seize the soul.

Xing Tian casually grabbed at the air. His fingertips left a trail of ghostly green, and a faint, decaying smell spread through the air, like the chill from deep within a grave. It was the stark opposite of the vibrant vitality he had shown before.

Seeing Xing Tian finally emerge from seclusion, Ye Renxin smiled kindly and measured his height with a hand above Xing Tian's head. "You've grown taller than Lingling, and you're sturdier too. You're a proper young man now!"

Xing Tian felt warmth in his heart. Ye Renxin cared more about him as a person than whether he had mastered the secret art. Perhaps it was also because he trusted Xing Tian and believed that emerging from seclusion meant he had succeeded.

"Grandpa Ye, I did it. Look!"

Xing Tian circulated his Soul Power, and a ring of light rose from beneath his feet. It was indeed yellow, and its aura was at the hundred-year level.

"I knew you could do it. Now you can enroll, too."

Xing Tian asked with concern, "Grandpa Ye, how is Lingling? Has anyone at the academy bullied her?"

Ye Renxin gave him a reassuring look. "Don't worry, Lingling's doing fine. She's the heir to the Nine-Heart Begonia, and she's best friends with that girl, Yanyan. Who would dare bully her? Even if anyone had the nerve, they wouldn't have the guts. They'd have to think twice about the Ye Family's connections and the weight carried by Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo."

"That's good."

Ye Renxin suddenly thought of something. "What's your Soul Power Level?"

"Level twenty!"

Ye Renxin's smile grew even brighter. "As expected of a genius with Innate Full Soul Power—you're a Soul Grandmaster at eight! Here's what you'll do: look through the Pokédex and pick out a few Soul Beasts from Sunset Forest. I'll have Xiao Xiao take some people with you to go Soul Hunting. Then you can go to the academy and surprise Lingling."

"Oh, and that girl, Yanyan, misses you too. She often comes home with Lingling and asks about you. She's a Soul Grandmaster now as well, and after getting her Soul Ring, she kept clamoring to compete with you again. Hahaha, that girl..."

The day after returning from Soul Hunting, Xing Tian arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, twenty kilometers outside Heaven Dou City.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy truly lived up to its reputation as the top academy in the Heaven Dou Empire. It covered an enormous area, taking in an entire thousand-meter-high mountain, along with the surrounding forests, lakes, and rivers.

The scenery was beautiful, especially at this hour, as the sun sank in the west and the sky filled with evening clouds. Set against the red glow in the west, the lake at the foot of the mountain and the mountain itself, covered in all sorts of plants, both felt like a paradise beyond the mortal world.

Xiao Xiao presented Ye Mansion's letter of recommendation, so the gate guards had no reason to make trouble for them. They let them through at once.

Once inside the academy, Xiao Xiao led Xing Tian toward the Education Committee.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy had a little over five hundred students, divided into three levels. New students and those below Level 25 belonged to the first tier, the Tianwei Level. Students between Levels 25 and 30 belonged to the Tianzhu Level, while those above Level 30 belonged to the highest tier, the Tiandou Level.

Teachers were classified the same way as students: those above Level 40 but below Level 50 were at the Tianwei Level; those above Level 50 but below Level 60 were at the Tianzhu Level; and those above Level 60 were at the Tiandou Level.

Because the academy belonged to the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, its nominal principal was Emperor Xue Ye.

The academy therefore had no principal. Instead, its three strongest and most senior Tiandou-level teachers formed the Education Committee and handled most of the academy's affairs.

Only matters of great importance required the approval of the imperial family's resident administrator, Prince Xue Xing.

Before long, the two of them arrived at the Education Committee.

The three elders seated in the middle were doing nothing more than sitting there, yet they gave off a special feeling, as if they were the very heart of the academy. Though they wore warm smiles, there was no hiding the distinctive bearing of the strong.

These three must be the Three Education Commissioners. But there were three other people beside them, one of whom Xing Tian recognized: Dugu Bo.

Two things struck Xing Tian as strange, though. One of the six was a young man in fine clothes who looked no older than twenty, seated alongside the five elders. He stood out like a sore thumb.