Mimicry Cultivation Ground

Jiang Lin and Chen Xuan had barely reached the guards when one of them stretched out an arm to block their way.

The guard was a burly man in his thirties. His face held the cool, businesslike look of someone simply doing his job as he sized Jiang Lin up.

Though his clothes were not ostentatious, they were clearly fine. He was young, yet wore neither the academy uniform nor any badge identifying him. He did not look like one of the academy's students.

"Stop. Heaven Dou Royal Academy is not open to the public. Unauthorized personnel may not enter. Which family are you from?"

"I'm not a student here."

Jiang Lin replied calmly, "I came to borrow the Mimicry Cultivation Ground. I have a letter of recommendation from Prince Xue Xing."

"A letter of recommendation?" The guard exchanged a glance with his companion, his brows furrowing slightly as a note of scrutiny entered his gaze.

"Prince Xue Xing's letters of recommendation aren't handed out to just anyone. What's your name? Which sect are you from? We'll need to verify—"

He never finished.

Chen Xuan stepped forward.

It was only one step, with no unnecessary movement, but in that instant, he released the aura of a Titled Douluo.

His Soul Power, at rank ninety-three, swept soundlessly outward like a rising tide. The air suddenly grew heavy, and the rest of the guard's words were forced back down his throat. Cold sweat instantly beaded across his forehead.

The other guard instinctively stumbled half a step backward, his back striking a white marble pillar. The long sword at his waist clanged against the stone with a sharp ring.

Chen Xuan did not summon his Martial Soul or reveal his Soul Rings. He simply stood there, his aged figure radiating authority without anger, his cloudy old eyes calmly fixed on the two guards.

Yet the pressure unique to a Titled Douluo weighed on them like a great mountain, making them afraid even to breathe too loudly.

"This old man brought him here to borrow the cultivation ground," Chen Xuan said unhurriedly. "What else do you need to verify?"

"N-no need. Please, come in. Go right ahead."

The guard hurriedly lowered his arm. His voice trembled as he stepped aside, not daring to look at Chen Xuan again.

His companion retreated behind the pillar and lowered his head, pretending to inspect the patterns carved into it.

Faced with a Titled Douluo, the two Soul Ancestor guards did not dare so much as breathe.

Jiang Lin tucked the letter of recommendation back inside his robe and stepped over the white marble threshold.

Chen Xuan reined in his aura and followed at an unhurried pace, as if nothing had happened.

Only after the two had walked a few steps away did the guards let out long breaths. One wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and lowered his voice to his companion.

"At least a Soul Douluo... That aura just now felt much stronger than those of the three members of the education committee. What kind of background does that boy have, to have a Soul Douluo serving as his bodyguard?"

His companion shook his head. His Adam's apple bobbed as he cast a lingering, apprehensive glance at the two figures walking away.

After entering the academy, the first thing to catch the eye was a flight of white marble steps winding up the mountain and vanishing into layers of deep-green shade.

Jiang Lin followed the steps uphill for a while before realizing the scale of Heaven Dou Royal Academy far exceeded his expectations.

The so-called "mimicry cultivation grounds" were not a collection of enclosed indoor training rooms. They were open-air natural areas spread across the mountain, its foot, and the lakeside.

The academy occupied an entire mountain. After the land had been categorized and divided, it boasted nearly a hundred kinds of Mimicry Cultivation Environments.

The dense forests were suited to plant-type Soul Masters.

Certain lakes were suited to water-type Soul Masters.

The strong winds atop the mountain suited wind-type Soul Masters.

There were even several semi-wild habitats stocked with specific Soul Beast populations, where students whose Martial Souls shared an origin with a particular Soul Beast could train.

Rather than an academy, it was more like a natural cultivation park that encompassed every kind of environment.

After wandering around for a while, Jiang Lin had a rough idea of how the academy's various areas were laid out.

He could find the general location of the mimicry cultivation grounds, but finding one suited to the lightning attribute would probably take some effort.

It would be better to ask someone who knew the place.

As luck would have it, a female student was walking down the steps not far ahead.

She was slender, with long silver-gray hair falling over her shoulders. A few strands fluttered in the mountain breeze. She wore Heaven Dou Royal Academy's standard white robe, with a pale blue ribbon tied around her waist.

Head lowered, she read a book in her hands as she walked at an unhurried pace. A cool, detached aura surrounded her, and the air nearby seemed a few degrees cooler than elsewhere.

Jiang Lin approached and politely spoke up. "Excuse me."

The silver-haired girl raised her head.

Her features were exquisitely delicate, her skin so fair it was almost translucent. Her light purple eyes were clear, yet held little warmth. She looked at Jiang Lin without speaking, quietly waiting for him to continue.

"I'd like to ask which way the lightning-attribute mimicry cultivation ground is."

She fell silent for a moment, as if deciding whether Jiang Lin was a student at the academy. Then she closed her book and turned slightly, pointing toward a fork at the far end of the steps.

"Follow this path toward the mountaintop. After you pass the main campus halfway up, turn right. There's a Thunder-Struck Forest there.

"The trees in that area are struck by natural lightning year-round, and the lightning-attribute Soul Power in the air is very dense. The academy prepared it as a cultivation ground for lightning-attribute Soul Masters."

After a pause, she added, "But Yu Tianheng has been using that area lately. He has the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul and doesn't like being disturbed when he trains."

"Thank you." Jiang Lin nodded and headed in the direction she had pointed.

Chen Xuan followed behind him with his hands behind his back. As they left, he glanced at the silver-haired girl once more but said nothing.

The silver-haired girl did not look at them again. She lowered her head and returned to her book.

The wind lifted the ends of her silver-gray hair, and the pages fluttered several times. She reached out to hold them down, her expression still as calm and clear as water.

At a fork in the path, Chen Xuan stopped.

"Xiao Lin, go to the mimicry cultivation ground on your own. This old man will take the recommendation letter to see the three members of the education committee and complete the formalities. Since it's a letter from Prince Xue Xing, we need to go through the proper channels. Otherwise, the academy will have a hard time explaining things later."

"All right." Jiang Lin handed Chen Xuan the letter of recommendation.

Chen Xuan took the letter and turned toward the administration building in the main campus. His aged figure soon disappeared among the bright yellow buildings.

Jiang Lin continued climbing the stone steps alone.

The higher he went, the richer the lightning-attribute elemental energy in the air became. Faint rumbles of thunder could be heard from the distant mountaintop.

The trees on either side of the steps gradually changed, too, from broad-leaved ancient trees to conifers. Now and then, he spotted scorch marks left by lightning on their trunks.

After climbing for a while longer, the stone steps came to an end. Before him lay a pine forest scarred by lightning.

This Thunder-Struck Forest stood on a platform near the mountaintop, spanning several hundred meters in every direction.

Nearly every pine tree in the forest bore marks left by lightning. The air carried a faint smell of ozone and the scorched fragrance of burning pine resin.

The lightning-attribute elemental energy was so dense he could almost feel it on his skin. With every breath, he felt tiny currents crackling inside his nostrils.

Beneath the largest Thunder-Struck Pine, deep in the forest, a young man sat cross-legged.

He looked to be in his early twenties, with short black hair that stood on end and a resolute face. His build was lean and powerful, his muscles sharply defined beneath his tight training clothes.

Behind him, the faint image of a blue-violet dragon appeared and disappeared, dense arcs of lightning coiling around its body as it radiated the pure majesty of a dragon—the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.

The world's elemental energy throughout the Thunder-Struck Forest flowed toward him according to some mysterious pattern. Even the tiny arcs of electricity that danced in the air seemed drawn to him, most drifting in his direction.

Jiang Lin stood at the edge of the Thunder-Struck Forest and surveyed the surroundings.

He could feel the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd inside him humming faintly, as if answering the forest's call.

He stepped into the woods. Dry, scorched pine needles crackled beneath his feet.

The instant his foot crossed into the Thunder-Struck Forest, something changed.