Qin Ming?
Wang Dong'er's gaze settled on the man. If she remembered correctly, Qin Ming was Shrek Academy's most outstanding disciple and the youngest Soul Emperor on the entire Douluo Continent.
He was currently leading the Imperial Fighting Team at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, where the academic affairs committee was carefully grooming him as its future successor.
Qin Ming looked at Wang Dong'er and asked, "Miss, do you have a Martial Soul Awakening certificate issued by Spirit Hall? If not, you can simply release your Martial Soul and let me take a look."
Wang Dong'er had come prepared. She took out her Martial Soul Awakening certificate and handed it over.
Qin Ming briefly scanned her personal information, then focused on the entries for her Martial Soul and Innate Soul Power.
A Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul?
Innate Full Soul Power!?
Though he had never heard of a Martial Soul like the Light Goddess Butterfly, her Innate Full Soul Power alone was enough to prove its strength.
It was common knowledge in the Soul Master World that a Soul Master's Innate Soul Power was directly proportional to the strength of their Martial Soul.
Innate Full Soul Power represented the highest cultivation talent. Across all of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, not a single student could compare with the girl before him.
He'd struck gold this time.
"Miss Wang Dong'er, please come with me."
It was the school holidays, and only a few dozen staff members were on campus, cleaning and maintaining the human-shaped statues of the academic affairs committee.
The Royal Academy covered an enormous area. It had five teaching buildings alone, and its Soul Fighting training grounds were nearly half the size of Notting Academy.
The Mimicry Training Grounds were even more impressive, encompassing almost every environment required by Soul Masters of different professions.
With Qin Ming leading the way, Wang Dong'er eventually arrived outside the academic affairs committee's office.
Qin Ming stepped forward and gently knocked on the door.
The dull knock had barely sounded when a hoarse, weathered voice came from inside the office. "Come in."
As soon as the voice fell, an invisible force slowly pushed open the tightly shut door from within.
"Come in with me," Qin Ming said to Wang Dong'er.
Wang Dong'er nodded and followed Qin Ming into the office. Looking up, she saw an old man in black robes, with white hair and beard, seated in the central chair and bent over some documents. His aura was restrained and his breathing deep and steady. Even sitting there, he gave the impression of a true powerhouse.
The old man set aside his work, removed his glasses, and looked at Qin Ming. "Qin Ming, what is it?"
Then his gaze fell on Wang Dong'er. "And who is this young lady?"
"Chief Meng Shenji, let me introduce her." Qin Ming shifted slightly to bring Wang Dong'er fully into Meng Shenji's view. "This young lady is Wang Dong'er. She's here to apply to the Royal Academy."
Then he turned to Wang Dong'er. "Wang Dong'er, this is Senior Meng Shenji, the chief academic affairs committee member of the Royal Academy and an eighty-seventh-rank Soul Douluo."
"Greetings, Senior." Wang Dong'er bowed respectfully.
"Mm." Meng Shenji acknowledged her, then looked puzzled. "This isn't the academy's enrollment period. Does this young lady meet the required standard and have some special merit, or... does her family have connections?"
He was more inclined to think Wang Dong'er had used some connections. After all, she hardly looked like an ordinary noble girl; she seemed more like a princess from some kingdom.
Qin Ming smiled and shook his head without elaborating. He simply handed over Wang Dong'er's Martial Soul Awakening certificate.
Meng Shenji took it and glanced at it. With a loud smack, he shot to his feet.
His eyes went wide, and he gripped the form so tightly that it crumpled in his hand.
"Inn-Innate Full Soul Power!?"
"Is this certificate even real? If she truly has Innate Full Soul Power, the people from Spirit Hall should have taken her away after her Martial Soul Awakening."
Meng Shenji turned the certificate over and over, muttering to himself. "The paper's fine, the texture feels right, and Spirit Hall's seal is genuine... Hiss—"
He drew in a sharp breath, his brow furrowing, then looked up at Wang Dong'er. "Young lady, I'm not questioning your talent. I just want to ask: after your Martial Soul Awakening, why didn't the people from Spirit Hall take you back with them?"
Qin Ming looked at her curiously as well.
After all, one of the main reasons Spirit Hall offered free Martial Soul Awakenings to commoners was to find promising young talents as early as possible and bring them back to be trained.
"Chief Meng Shenji, I'm an orphan. On the day I awakened my Martial Soul at six, the Wolf Bandits attacked the orphanage. I was the only one who managed to escape alive. Everyone at the orphanage, including the man from Spirit Hall who had come to help us awaken our Martial Souls, died at the hands of the Wolf Bandits..."
Wang Dong'er sighed softly, a wave of grief rising in her heart.
"I see..."
Meng Shenji and Qin Ming both looked at her with sympathy. Such things happened far too often across the Douluo Continent, and neither of them offered words of comfort. The most urgent thing now was to complete her enrollment as soon as possible. They absolutely couldn't let a talent like her slip away.
"Would you release your Martial Soul and let me take a look?" Meng Shenji asked, then added candidly, "And don't laugh at this old man, young lady, but in all my years, I've never heard of a Martial Soul called the 'Light Goddess Butterfly.'"
Wang Dong'er nodded and slowly extended her right hand. At a thought, pink-blue Soul Power misted from her fingertips, coalescing into countless tiny motes of light in the air.
At first, the motes drifted in every direction without any order. Then, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they gathered in her palm, gradually outlining a pair of translucent butterfly wings.
The light slowly faded, and the Light Goddess Butterfly hovered quietly in her palm.
Two yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings rose from beneath her feet. The fluctuations of her peak twenty-ninth-rank Soul Power made Meng Shenji and Qin Ming even more delighted.
"Good! Good! Good!" Meng Shenji exclaimed repeatedly. Before Wang Dong'er could even withdraw her Martial Soul, he had already yanked an enrollment form from his desk drawer, swiftly signed his name, and stamped it with a heavy thump.
"Student Wang Dong'er, I'm very pleased with you. If you have no other requests, just write your name here, and as of today, you'll be a member of the Royal Academy. With your talent and strength, the academy will assign you its finest teachers to guide your cultivation. If you're willing, I can also teach you personally when I have time."
Qin Ming hurriedly pulled over a chair and gestured for Wang Dong'er to sit. His tone carried a hint of urgency. "That's right, sign it quickly. Don't hesitate any longer. If you enroll and start training soon, you'll still have time to gain practical experience before the Soul Master Tournament in two years!"
Wang Dong'er's mouth twitched slightly.
Why did it suddenly feel like the two of them were joining forces to trick her into signing away her freedom?
"Then where do I pay tuition and accommodation fees?"
"Tuition? Accommodation fees?" Meng Shenji nearly let slip a curse.
Pay a damn thing... Ahem.
He composed himself and waved a hand. "I'll cover all your expenses at the Royal Academy. You're a Soul Master from a common background, so it's only right that we take extra care of you."
"Uh... all right. Thank you for your kindness, Senior."
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