Half a month later, Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City.
As the political and economic center of one of the continent's two great empires, Heaven Dou City's prosperity and grandeur far surpassed anything the remote Farack City could match.
Yet today, the southern gate of Heaven Dou City was unusually quiet.
All the merchants, commoners, and even some lower-ranking nobles preparing to enter the city had been forcibly driven to either side of the avenue by the city guards.
"Rumble—"
Five hundred gold-armored Heaven Dou Royal Knights escorted an extravagantly luxurious purple-gold carriage straight through the bustling city, speeding toward the majestic mountain range beyond the city, renowned for its beautiful scenery.
There stood the highest academy in the Heaven Dou Empire—the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Heaven Dou Royal Academy was not built inside the city. Instead, it occupied the entire vast mountain range beyond its walls. Its grounds were extensive, its resources abundant, and it was hailed as the finest on the Douluo Continent.
When the purple-gold carriage followed the broad white-jade steps and slowly came to a stop before Heaven Dou Royal Academy's magnificent, twenty-meter-high archway,
a shocking sight appeared.
A hundred-meter-long red carpet had been laid before the academy's main gate. At its far end stood three elderly men, all with snowy hair and beards and an air of distinguished dignity.
The man in the middle was of average build, with a lean, refined face. The man to his left was as massive as a hill of flesh, his face full of warmth. The man to his right was tall and thin, his gaze sharp as lightning.
These three were the academy's three board members: Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin!
All three were powerful Soul Douluos, each above the eightieth level. In Heaven Dou City, they were figures so influential that a single stamp of their feet could shake the earth. Yet today, they had brought more than a dozen senior instructors and were waiting respectfully outside the gate for a six-year-old child!
That was because yesterday, Emperor Xue Ye's secret decree had landed on the desks of all three board members. The decree's almost fanatical regard for Xue Yao had deeply unsettled even these well-traveled Soul Douluos.
"Click."
The carriage door opened, and an attendant maid respectfully set down the carriage step.
Under the astonished gazes of the three board members and the hundreds of senior noble students gathered around to watch,
a well-dressed boy climbed out of the carriage with a languid expression.
His skin was as fair as jade, and his features were so exquisite they seemed carved by the gods. His dark, deep eyes held none of the unease or nervousness a six-year-old might feel upon arriving somewhere unfamiliar. Instead, they carried a calm, noble composure that seemed to regard all things beneath him.
Most striking of all was the strange divine bird circling above his shoulder.
The bird was as large as a full-grown eagle. Its entire body gleamed gold and white, while the edges of its wings shimmered with an exceptionally pure azure wind element. Its keen, eagle-like eyes radiated a sacred pressure that seemed to place it above every other bird and beast.
"Th-this is the Griffin Mutated Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power mentioned in His Majesty's secret decree?!"
Control-type Soul Douluo Zhi Lin's pupils suddenly contracted.
Almost instinctively, to test the rumored peerless genius, he quietly released a trace of pressure from his eighty-third-level Azure Vine Martial Soul.
Yet Zhi Lin's pressure had barely approached within three feet of Xue Yao
when Little Griffin, circling above Xue Yao's head, seemed to sense the provocation. It abruptly spread its wings and let out a piercing cry that split stone and rent metal!
The surrounding airflow immediately fell into chaos, tearing apart the pressure Zhi Lin had just raised to the eleventh level.
"Mm!"
Zhi Lin's eyes flew wide, and his gaze at Little Griffin brimmed with delight.
"Board Member Zhi Lin, we've only just met. That's not a very friendly way to say hello," Xue Yao said with a helpless smile, stopping in his tracks.
"Level thirteen! Innate Full Soul Power, and you've already absorbed your First Soul Ring?!"
Chief Board Member Meng Shenji had keenly sensed the burst of Soul Power Xue Yao had just released, and his expression changed dramatically. How could a six-year-old child who had awakened his Martial Soul less than half a month ago have already reached level thirteen?!
"My apologies, my apologies!" Zhi Lin blushed and stepped forward to apologize, though his eyes still glittered with fervor. "Student Xue Yao, your talent is extraordinary, and your Martial Soul's power is like nothing I've ever seen! I was simply carried away by my admiration. I hope you won't take offense!"
Xue Yao lazily waved a hand. "It's fine, board member. I heard His Majesty arranged for me to enter Heaven Dou Elite Class One?"
Normally, only noble geniuses with Soul Power above level thirty—Soul Elders who ranked near the top in the academy's assessments—were eligible for Heaven Dou Grade.
"Of course!" Meng Shenji hurried forward, his manner exceptionally warm. "We've already arranged the highest standard of accommodations for you, including your dormitory, a Mimicry Training Ground, and even a personal instructor. The carriage is ready. We'll take you to the core area where Heaven Dou Grade is located."
"Forget the carriage."
Xue Yao waved away the attendants and carriage, then looked over the vast campus, picturesque and brimming with youthful vigor.
"I've been riding in a carriage for half a month. I'm practically rusted stiff. I'll just walk."
With that, Xue Yao set off at an unhurried pace, Little Griffin beside him, noble and majestic.
The three Soul Douluo board members walked alongside him like guides, as though afraid he might run off.
The scene left the noble students lining the academy avenue, who thought far too highly of themselves, utterly stunned.
"My heavens... who's that kid? The three board members are personally showing him the way?!"
"Look at the pattern on his clothes. Is he from the Heaven Dou Imperial Family? Since when did the imperial family have a monster like that?"
At the astonished whispers around him, Xue Yao's expression remained unchanged.
At the same time.
The top floor of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's main teaching building.
In an office furnished with exquisite elegance, the view was exceptionally broad. Through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, one could look down upon the entire plaza at the academy's gates and the tree-lined avenue beyond.
A slender figure stood before the windows.
The figure was a boy who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen. He wore an exceedingly luxurious, pale-gold crown prince's robe, and his smooth golden hair fell over his shoulders. His handsome face was almost too beautiful to tell whether he was male or female, and a warm, approachable smile curved his lips.
The current crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire—Xue Qinghe.
Or rather, the young mistress of Spirit Hall, Qian Renxue!
She had happened to be visiting the academy today and had not expected to witness this dazzling entrance, one destined to shake the upper ranks of the entire Heaven Dou Imperial City.
"Your Highness."
A guard concealed in the shadows reported in a low voice, "We've confirmed his identity. He's the heir of the Farack Kingdom, Xue Yao. According to His Majesty's secret decree, he awakened the Griffin Mutated Martial Soul and has been ennobled as Viscount Sky Wind. He's been granted special permission to enter Heaven Dou Elite Class."
"The Griffin Mutated Martial Soul?"
Xue Qinghe (Qian Renxue) narrowed her long, beautiful eyes and fixed them on the six-year-old boy strolling along the tree-lined avenue, as well as the blue-and-gold Little Griffin above his head.
To outsiders, Xue Qinghe was examining an unparalleled genius from a branch of the imperial family.
But only Qian Renxue knew that the moment the boy had released the pressure of his Martial Soul and repelled Board Member Zhi Lin, the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul hidden in the depths of her soul had stirred with a rare... tremor!
As a top-tier flying Martial Soul, the Angel had always been able to suppress any flying Martial Soul in the world. Yet this time, she had sensed no suppression from Xue Yao's Martial Soul.
It was as though the Griffin were something from beyond this world, outside the Angel's dominion.
"Interesting..."
Beneath Xue Qinghe's gentle disguise, a dangerous, excited glint flashed.
Among the weak "swans" of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, a true divine bird had taken flight?
Six years old, level thirteen, an extreme Mutated Martial Soul, and that languid air of seeing through everything and regarding no rule as binding... This little brat named Xue Yao was ten thousand times more interesting than those hypocritical noble wastes in Heaven Dou Imperial City!
"The heir of the Farack Kingdom, Xue Yao, is it?"
Qian Renxue drained the red wine in her glass and curved her lips into a stunning, meaningful smile.
"It seems My Lady's sudden 'cousin' is no simple person."
"Pass down the order. Prepare a generous gift for me. Tonight, I'll personally visit the Heaven Dou Dormitory Area and meet this astonishingly talented younger brother of mine."
The dull game of infiltration on the Douluo Continent seemed, at last, to have gained a variable that could excite her.
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