Enrollment

Xuan Qing began his cultivation according to the Chaos Yin-Yang Canon, sitting cross-legged on the altar and circulating the technique's path.

The surrounding soul power surged in frantically; in just one night, he felt the soul power within his body grow by a significant margin.

This was still due to the short duration of his practice, as his Innate Soul Power limited his speed—only one afternoon plus a third of the night.

This was his limit; any further cultivation and his meridians would feel as if they were about to explode.

At this rate, he would definitely be able to break through a level in at most a month, and the feedback from Little Qilin's cultivation speed was half of his own.

Xuan Qing shook his head, casting these thoughts out of his mind.

"Sleep! Time to sleep!"

Xuan Qing was so tired he could barely keep his eyes open; he exited the space and collapsed into bed.

When he woke up the next morning, the sky was already bright. Xuan Qing simply boiled some rice porridge, drank a few hurried mouthfuls, and then packed his things to set off.

Passing by the village chief's house, he saw the chief in the courtyard: "Uncle, I'll come back when I have time on the weekend."

The village chief nodded: "Be careful on the road, come back if anything happens."

Xuan Qing waved his hand and set off with his small bundle on his back. Half an hour later, he arrived at Tianyuan City.

The name of this city was truly interesting, as there really was a Tianyuan less than three hundred meters behind the city.

The abyss was terrifyingly wide, at least two hundred meters across to the other side, with a swaying iron chain bridge in the middle.

It was said that the bridge was only barely constructed by hiring a flight-type Soul Saint.

However, Xuan Qing didn't need to take that bridge; otherwise, given his fear of heights, his legs would likely turn to jelly once he stepped onto it.

He breathed a sigh of relief, entered the city to ask for the location of the academy, and soon found the Tianyuan Primary Soul Master Academy.

He went straight to the Dean's office.

Xuan Qing knocked on the door politely: "Hello."

A voice came from behind the door: "Enter."

Xuan Qing pushed the door open and walked in to find a woman in her forties sitting inside.

The woman looked up at him: "You must be the child Little Li introduced, right? My surname is Meng, just call me Director Meng."

Xuan Qing nodded.

Director Meng sized him up for a few moments and took a form out of her drawer.

"You don't need to pay tuition; your work-study student quota from your village is still attached to you, but if you want to live in a single dormitory, you'll have to pay."

She lowered her voice.

"One Gold Soul Coin per semester. Just don't tell anyone, as this is a perk only for our own people."

Xuan Qing felt a surge of joy; he had been worrying about how to enter the space to cultivate while living in a communal dormitory.

He immediately said: "I'll live by myself. It's too noisy with too many people, which makes it hard to cultivate."

Director Meng smiled and nodded: "That's true. There are all sorts of people among the work-study students, and they all share the same dormitory."

"Even a normal dormitory has at least four people. With your talent, if you cultivate well, you might reach the level of a Soul Grand Master by the time you graduate. It would be a pity if you picked up bad habits from them."

Xuan Qing nodded: "If there's nothing else, I'll head to the dormitory now."

Seeing him about to leave, Director Meng called him back.

"Wait. Since you're living alone, your work-study duties are also waived. As long as you don't talk about it, no one will know, but if you do..."

She gave Xuan Qing a meaningful look.

Xuan Qing understood immediately: "Did you say something just now?"

Then he turned and left.

Director Meng smiled behind his back, knowing this kid was a sharp one.

Xuan Qing found his dormitory, pushed the door open, and saw that it was empty; there was nothing inside except for a wooden bed frame.

He curled his lip and went back out to buy supplies. After wandering around the city, he found a grocery store where the owner was a smiling fat man.

"Boss, how much for a mattress and a set of daily necessities?"

The boss's eyes darted around: "Ten Silver Soul Coins."

Xuan Qing chuckled: "Boss, do I look like a fool? Let's be honest; I'm going to be here for six years, after all."

The boss wasn't annoyed at being called out and gave a few chuckles.

"Five Silver Soul Coins. The quality of our goods is absolutely guaranteed. If anything breaks within six months of normal use, I'll replace it with a new one for you."

"That's more like it."

Xuan Qing paid the money, took his things, and left. Finding a deserted corner, he moved his mind and stored everything into the space.

Then he went to a street stall to buy some food. On the way back to the academy, seeing that no one was around, he secretly stored a large rock from the roadside into the space; he wanted to test the power of the Qilin Seal.

Returning to the dormitory and locking the door, Xuan Qing immediately entered the space, and Little Qilin flew out from his chest.

"Let's test the new ability."

He had Little Qilin attempt to accelerate the flow of time, and a nine-colored halo bloomed around Little Qilin's body.

The surrounding air seemed to distort for a moment, but after only three seconds, Xuan Qing felt completely drained.

The flow of time had only accelerated for a fleeting instant, and after his soul power recovered, he opened the Space Gate once more.

He entered and exited through the Space Gate; although he had moved over a hundred meters instantly, he was drained dry again.

Xuan Qing collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

"Damn! The consumption is way too high."

However, he had managed to gauge the cost of both the Space Gate and time acceleration.

"While these two things are god-tier survival skills, I really can't afford to use them."

After resting for a while, Xuan Qing focused his mind, and the Qilin Seal appeared in his hand.

He smashed it hard against a rock, and with a thunderous boom!

The rock was shattered to pieces, and the parts that didn't crumble were turned directly into powder.

Xuan Qing's eyes widened: "This power... if I caught someone off guard with this, even the head of a Title Douluo couldn't withstand it, right?"

It was a pity that in his hands, it could only be used as a brick. He made do with some dry rations he had bought at noon for dinner and went to sleep.

The next morning was the opening ceremony, and Xuan Qing listened in the square, feeling drowsy.

He went to the classroom for lessons, but the teacher only covered the most basic knowledge. Xuan Qing listened for the whole morning and found it truly uninteresting.

After school, he went to find Director Meng. She was reviewing files at the time and looked somewhat surprised to see Xuan Qing.

Xuan Qing didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Director, I would like to apply for self-study."

Director Meng frowned slightly: "Why? Are you unable to keep up with the curriculum?"

Xuan Qing told the truth: "It's not that I can't keep up; it's that it's too simple. I can study general knowledge on my own, and as for those profound, exclusive experiences, the academy can't teach them anyway."

Director Meng stared at him for a while before finally sighing: "Very well, but you must undergo an assessment every month. If you fail even once, you will return to class obediently."

Xuan Qing nodded in agreement, and from then on, his life stabilized.

He spent his mornings reading in the library, his afternoons cultivating in the dormitory, and his evenings familiarizing himself with Little Qilin's abilities.

He discovered that he could also use Little Qilin's abilities with the exact same effect, though he was not yet proficient enough.

On weekends, he returned to his little shack to get a good night's sleep and visit the village chief.

Days passed one by one, and half a year flew by in the blink of an eye. Xuan Qing's life was very monotonous, even a bit boring.

Director Meng wondered how he managed to persist, right up until the day of the final assessment.

She personally tested Xuan Qing's soul power. The light in the crystal ball gradually climbed, finally stabilizing at the ninth-level mark.

Director Meng nearly jumped out of her chair: "Level nine? You went up four levels in half a year? How did you manage that?"

Xuan Qing brushed it off vaguely: "I've been trying to improve the basic meditation method. It's very dangerous, but the speed is indeed fast."

Director Meng took a deep breath; she knew how difficult it was to improve a meditation method.

Many people had tried, but few had succeeded, and once successful, it was absolutely the most suitable method for oneself.

"Be careful."

In the end, that was all she could say.

After Xuan Qing left, Director Meng remained in shock.

"This kid is walking a tightrope, but if he succeeds, his future achievements will be limitless."