Nuoding Academy, the dean's office.
A little boy in a green robe stood before the dean of Nuoding, quietly waiting for him to finish his review.
"Li Han, six years old, a Work-Study Student from Green Bamboo Village.
His Martial Soul is Lone Bamboo, and his Innate Soul Power is actually level six?
That's strange.
Lone Bamboo is only a little stronger than a Trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass, isn't it?
How could it have level-six Innate Soul Power?
There aren't many geniuses with level-six Innate Soul Power in all of Nuoding Academy.
Little fellow, can you show me your Martial Soul?"
After reading the Martial Soul certificate in his hand, the dean of Nuoding cast a curious gaze at Li Han, a hint of curiosity on his face.
"Of course, Dean."
At his words, Li Han opened his right hand. Soul Power surged in his palm, and a verdant bamboo shoot less than three centimeters tall appeared. It looked very much like Lone Bamboo.
"It's a little different from Lone Bamboo, but it really is Lone Bamboo.
What a pity. With level-six Innate Soul Power, if your Martial Soul weren't Lone Bamboo, you might have had a chance to become a Soul Saint one day."
The dean shook his head slightly, his face full of regret.
"Your documents are in order. Little fellow, you're now a first-year student at Nuoding Academy.
Train hard. Once you break through level ten, the school will send someone to help you hunt a Soul Ring."
Li Han was delighted. He immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Dean!"
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on joining the Seven Profound Sect. Sign-in successful. Your Mortal Cultivation Journey officially begins. Reward: Blinking Sword Technique."
Li Han's eyes lit up. At the same time, a flood of information poured into his mind, making his head ache. But the pain soon eased.
The Blinking Sword Technique!
A top-tier assassination art.
It required no internal energy to use, only physical strength. It could be called the perfect technique for mortals.
Its core principle was to exploit light, terrain, and visual illusions to create openings, striking at the blind spots in an opponent's vision. It turned weakness into strength and took an enemy's life in the blink of an eye, hence the name Blinking Sword Technique.
That was why its practitioners needed senses far sharper than those of ordinary people. Otherwise, they couldn't even begin to learn it.
It was difficult for mortals, but not for cultivators.
The Blinking Sword Technique also included such exquisite martial arts as the Smoke-Drifting Steps, Cartilage Technique, Breath Concealment Art, Secret Chamber Assassination Method, and Disguise and Concealment Art. All of them were extremely practical.
The Smoke-Drifting Steps were especially outstanding.
They could be performed with nothing but the body's strength, and offered agile movement and excellent evasion.
Han Li had relied on this lightness skill to escape danger many times, both before and after he began cultivating.
It might not be much in the cultivation world, but here on Douluo Continent, it was absolutely no weaker than Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. It might even be stronger.
Li Han rubbed his temples, working through the pain as frustration and excitement mingled in his heart.
The system finally did something. Too bad it still hasn't gotten over its habit of mixing up places.
This isn't A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality. This is Douluo Continent!
And this isn't the Seven Profound Sect. It's Nuoding Academy!
Li Han complained inwardly, but the system made no response.
By now, he was used to it.
He had been a person from Blue Star before accidentally transmigrating to Douluo Continent, where he became an orphan from Green Bamboo Village.
A few days ago, he'd awakened his Martial Soul under the guidance of the Blind Douluo, Su Yuntao, and regained his memories from his previous life. That was when he finally discovered who he was.
As for the so-called Lone Bamboo Martial Soul, it was actually Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, one of the three great divine trees from A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.
The white flecks of light swirling around it were actually the nascent form of Evil-Warding Divine Thunder.
In theory, a divine tree like this shouldn't have only level-six Innate Soul Power.
But Li Han suspected that level six didn't refer to his Innate Soul Power. It referred to the age of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo.
He was six years old, so the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo was only six years old. Naturally, its Soul Power was only level six as well.
As his Soul Power increased, the quality of the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo should continue to improve.
Once it passed ten thousand years, it would become Golden Thunder Bamboo, one of the true three great divine trees. It would be enough to rival a god-level Martial Soul, or even surpass one!
In other words, his Martial Soul had a unique trait that other Martial Souls lacked: it could evolve!
The older it grew, the higher its quality became.
And its age could be increased not only through the passage of time, but also through cultivation and the addition of Soul Rings.
Ten Thousand Year Golden Thunder Bamboo was just around the corner.
The system had appeared along with the awakening of his Martial Soul.
It was called the Mortal Sign-in System. As long as he signed in at places or with people related to A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, he could receive rewards.
But this was Douluo Continent!
Where could he find people or places related to A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality?
Li Han had been worrying about that, but the system had chimed in again, defining the Green Bamboo Village where he was born as the Green Ox Village where Han Li was born.
The sign-in succeeded instantly, and he received the Everlasting Spring Technique.
At that moment, Li Han knew that his system was almost certainly hopeless at finding its way around.
Still, it didn't matter.
The rewards were real, and that was what counted.
With level-six Innate Soul Power, Li Han had naturally qualified for a Work-Study Student position from Green Bamboo Village and made his way here.
The dean didn't know what Li Han was thinking. He continued, "Go to the office over there and find Teacher Mo Hen.
He's in charge of managing the Work-Study Students.
If you have any problems in the future, you can go straight to him."
"Yes, Dean."
The dean waved a hand, signaling for Li Han to leave.
Li Han didn't linger. He went straight to the room next door and found Mo Hen.
Mo Hen glanced at the documents Li Han had handed him and looked slightly surprised, evidently not expecting Li Han to have such high Innate Soul Power.
But when he saw that his Martial Soul was Lone Bamboo, he lost interest.
"Li Han, right? The school library has an opening for an assistant librarian. Your daily duties will be cleaning and organizing books.
It'll be a little tiring, but the pay is fifteen Copper Soul Coins a day.
Of course, you have to clean properly, or your pay will be docked.
If you slack off too many times, I'll revoke your Work-Study Student status. Understand?"
"Understood, Teacher Mo Hen."
Li Han was delighted. He hadn't expected to get such a good position.
What was the most appealing thing about Nuoding Academy?
It certainly wasn't its teachers, who were at most level forty or fifty. It was the theory of Soul Masters.
More precisely, it was knowledge about Soul Beasts.
Working in the library would clearly let him absorb more knowledge about Soul Beasts.
With the Mortal System, even if he trained by himself in seclusion, he wouldn't be inferior to any genius.
But the rules of this world meant that he needed to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain Soul Rings to break through his bottlenecks.
And when hunting Soul Beasts and absorbing Soul Rings, judging a Soul Beast's age was crucial.
Otherwise, a Soul Beast that was too young would be a waste, while one that was too old could make him burst apart and die. Both were serious problems.
Li Han didn't expect Nuoding Academy to have information on any high-level Soul Beasts, but it would surely have records on Soul Beasts that were a hundred or a thousand years old.
That would be enough until he reached level thirty.
As for Yu Xiaogang, the so-called theoretical Grandmaster living at Nuoding Academy, Li Han had no intention of getting involved with him.
First, in Li Han's view, Yu Xiaogang's theories were too risky.
They weren't entirely true or entirely false. Half true and half false was the most insidious of all.
Second, Li Han had secrets of his own. It wouldn't do to let anyone learn how he cultivated.
Third, Yu Xiaogang might not even think much of a commoner Soul Master with level-six Innate Soul Power.
Though Yu Xiaogang wanted to prove his theories and show that "there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters," he wouldn't actually pick an average student to prove it. He would choose a genius with Innate Full Soul Power.
That blessing could go to Tang San. Li Han had no intention of joining in.
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