Lanba Academy, Zhou Yan's Predicament

Having witnessed the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda—no, it should be called the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda now.

Just moments ago, under the instruction of Ning Fengzhi, Ning Rongrong had officially renamed her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Looking at the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, Yu Hengqing felt that Ning Fengzhi must have moved with the fastest speed of his life to finalize all those contracts.

By the time the two of them sat in the carriage returning to the sect, Yu Yuanzhen finally spoke slowly: "How about that? Your old man is quite reliable when it comes to getting things done, right!"

"Mm, you're impressive as always, Dad! If it had been me, aside from completing the alliance, I probably would have only managed to make Ning Fengzhi cough up more Gold Soul Coins as compensation."

Yu Hengqing looked at Yu Yuanzhen, his heart filled with admiration. He wasn't lying in the slightest; he truly wasn't suited for the role of a sect master, which required constant scheming against others.

Yu Hengqing's favorite state of being was "my super brain tells me it's time to use super strength," without needing to consider too many things, only caring about whether he felt satisfied.

"Xiaoqing, I can tell that you don't like the position of sect master, but I hope you understand that I cannot stay by your side forever."

"You must remember, sometimes the knives handed to you by those around you are more dangerous than an enemy's soul skill."

Yu Yuanzhen shed his earlier relaxed demeanor, emphasizing this to Yu Hengqing with a serious tone.

Right now, Yu Yuanzhen was still alive and standing in the position of sect master; those below were suppressed by him, and even if they had ulterior motives, they dared not express them.

But one day, Yu Yuanzhen would pass away, and he did not want his son to be backstabbed by members of the sect after he was gone.

Listening to Yu Yuanzhen's warning, Yu Hengqing naturally caught the subtext.

What surprised him, however, was that even with Yu Yuanzhen holding the fort, there were still people in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect harboring such duplicitous hearts.

"I understand, Dad! I will be careful. Besides, I remember that my eldest brother's son, Yu Tianheng, is quite good; he has the talent to be a sect master."

"Dad, have you never thought about grooming him as the successor?"

Yu Hengqing understood Yu Yuanzhen's desire to find someone to inherit the sect, but he wasn't the only one capable of shouldering the burden.

"That child is excellent in many respects, but his temperament is lacking. He is being pushed too hard by his father!"

"By pursuing perfection in all things, he finds it difficult to achieve perfection in anything."

"That child still needs to realize this. Once he understands, the position of sect master will be his."

Speaking of Yu Tianheng, Yu Yuanzhen's expression returned to calm. It wasn't that he hadn't considered him.

But with better options available to him, this flaw in Yu Tianheng was enough to make him hesitate.

After all, no one knew if Yu Tianheng was born with this temperament or if it had been cultivated later.

Tch, what a pain! Mostly because if this were the original story, where would my old man get so many requirements?

After grumbling in his heart, Yu Hengqing consciously skipped the topic; talking about it further wouldn't yield any results anyway.

The next morning, at dawn.

Having been away from school for so long, Yu Hengqing finally sat in a carriage heading toward the Heaven Dou Royal Academy again.

However, before going to school, Yu Hengqing specifically took a detour to pass by the gates of Lanba Academy, as today was their enrollment day.

Yu Hengqing wanted to see if there had been any changes to Lanba Academy under his father's support, especially regarding enrollment and how many people were willing to attend.

Before Yu Hengqing even reached the gates of Lanba Academy, an unexpected situation occurred!

"Third Young Master, the road ahead is blocked by crowds and carriages! If you want to get through, I'm afraid we'll have to wait a long time."

The coachman looked at the road ahead, which was packed solid, and turned to speak softly to Yu Hengqing, who was sitting inside the carriage.

Hearing that the road was blocked, Yu Hengqing immediately became interested. He lifted the curtain and poked his head out to take a look.

Among the crowd were both commoners and nobles, all queuing in an orderly fashion to enter Lanba Academy.

"Since it's blocked, let's turn around! I only came to take a look, and now that I've seen it, it's time to go."

Yu Hengqing lowered the curtain and said softly to the coachman.

It seemed that under Yu Yuanzhen's maneuvering, Lanba Academy had already become the choice for most soul masters in Tiandou City.

The foundation had been laid; all that was missing was a suitable opportunity for Lanba Academy to become the number one soul master academy on the Douluo Continent.

Hearing the order to turn back, the coachman didn't say anything more. There were some things they shouldn't get involved in; saying too much only led to mistakes.

Returning to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Yu Hengqing didn't look for a classroom to attend lessons, but headed straight for the Thunder-Fire Hall.

Yu Hengqing wanted to utilize the active fire-attribute energy within the Thunder-Fire Hall to help him refine the Cinder Extinction Lightning as soon as possible and restore his cultivation speed.

Just as he stepped into the Thunder-Fire Hall, Yu Hengqing saw a familiar figure—Zhou Yan.

However, since Zhou Yan was currently cultivating with friends, Yu Hengqing had no intention of going over to greet him.

Yu Hengqing found a quiet spot with few people, sat down cross-legged, and let his consciousness enter his mental space.

"Refine the Cinder Extinction Lightning slowly later. First, confirm whether it will resonate with the energy in the Thunder-Fire Hall. If it does, go to the waterfall behind the mountain to refine it."

Looking at Yu Hengqing, Leiyi instructed him with extra seriousness, as he had never refined the Cinder Extinction Lightning himself and didn't know what its effects would be.

"Mm, I'll be careful."

Yu Hengqing understood Leiyi's concern. He had only come to the Thunder-Fire Hall to speed up his refining progress; he wasn't trying to commit suicide.

Yu Hengqing stepped forward and grasped the broken sword. The sword remained as immovable as before, and two crimson lightning bolts detached from the blade, flying toward the two of them.

Facing the incoming Cinder Extinction Lightning, Leiyi merely raised a hand and trapped it within a ball of lightning at his fingertips.

"I will hold off on refining the Cinder Extinction Lightning for now, so that I can assist you in time should anything go wrong when you refine yours."

Leiyi remained somewhat uneasy, temporarily abandoning the idea of refining the Cinder Extinction Lightning immediately.

"Very well, then I shall leave it to you, Leiyi."

Seeing that Leiyi had temporarily set aside the refinement, Yu Hengqing did not decline further. Once he finished speaking, he decisively withdrew from his mental space and entered a meditative state to begin refining the Cinder Extinction Lightning.

As his consciousness returned to his physical body, one corner of the Seven-Pointed Star on the back of Yu Hengqing's hand lit up once more.

Following the circulation of his soul power, the Cinder Extinction Lightning surged continuously from the Seven-Pointed Star and into Yu Hengqing's body.

It took three hours for Yu Hengqing to complete the initial refinement of the Cinder Extinction Lightning.

Now, within the Thunder-Fire Hall, Yu Hengqing could absorb not only lightning-attribute energy but also fire-attribute energy without discrimination.

By absorbing both lightning and fire-attribute energy, Yu Hengqing's cultivation speed had reached, and perhaps even slightly surpassed, that of an ordinary soul master.

"Finally, I can cultivate normally!"

Yu Hengqing stretched his back. Today was a double celebration; the trap at Lanba Academy had been set, and his own cultivation speed had improved.

As he stepped out of the gates of the Thunder-Fire Hall and was about to head back to have someone prepare a feast to reward himself, he saw Zhou Yan standing at the entrance with a worried look on his face, seemingly waiting for someone.

Before Yu Hengqing could ask who Zhou Yan was waiting for, the anxious Zhou Yan rushed forward.

"Hengqing, you've finally come out!"

"Zhou Yan, you seem so anxious—is there something you need me for?"

Having been away from the academy for too long, Yu Hengqing was unaware of Zhou Yan's recent situation, so he decided to ask for clarification first.

Hearing this, Zhou Yan immediately explained to Yu Hengqing with urgency:

"A month ago, the lightning inside my father's body began to show signs of spiraling out of control. I would like to trouble you, Hengqing, to come and take a look at my father's condition."

"Of course, I won't have you go for nothing; I will provide you with compensation!"

Fearing that Yu Hengqing might refuse, Zhou Yan quickly added that last sentence.