After seeing Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda—no, it should be called the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda now.
Just moments ago, at Ning Fengzhi's instruction, Ning Rongrong had renamed her Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda!
Looking at the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, Yu Hengqing felt that Ning Fengzhi must have finished all the contracts at the fastest speed of his life.
Once the two of them were seated in the carriage back to the sect, Yu Yuanzhen finally spoke. "Well? Your old man's pretty reliable when it comes to getting things done, right?"
"Mm, you really are amazing, Dad! If it had been me, aside from completing the alliance, all I could've done was get Ning Fengzhi to offer more Gold Soul Coins as compensation."
Looking at Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Hengqing felt nothing but admiration. He hadn't said a word of it insincerely; he truly wasn't suited to being a Sect Master, a role that required scheming and politicking with others.
Yu Hengqing's favorite state of mind was, "My super brain tells me it's time to use my super strength." He didn't have to think about too many things—he only had to care whether he was having a good time.
"Xiao Qing, your old man can tell you don't like the position of Sect Master, but I hope you understand that I can't be with you for the rest of your life."
"Remember, sometimes the blade handed to you by someone at your side is more dangerous than an enemy's Soul Skill."
Yu Yuanzhen's easygoing manner from a moment ago vanished. His tone was grave as he stressed this to Yu Hengqing.
Yu Yuanzhen was still alive and still held the position of Sect Master. He kept everyone below him in check, and even those with ulterior motives didn't dare show them.
But Yu Yuanzhen would pass away one day. He didn't want his son to be stabbed in the back by people in the sect after he was gone.
Hearing Yu Yuanzhen's warning, Yu Hengqing naturally understood what he was hinting at.
What surprised him was that even with Yu Yuanzhen holding down the fort, there were still people in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect who harbored divided loyalties.
"I understand, Dad! I'll be careful. Besides, I remember Big Brother's son, Yu Tianheng, is pretty good. He has the makings of a Sect Master."
"Dad, have you never thought about grooming him as your successor?"
Yu Hengqing understood that Yu Yuanzhen wanted to find someone to inherit the position of Sect Master, but he wasn't the only one capable of taking it on.
"That boy's excellent in every way, but his temperament is lacking. His father pushed him too hard!"
"By striving for perfection in everything, he ends up achieving perfection in nothing."
"That boy still needs to understand this. Once he does, the position of Sect Master will be his."
At the mention of Yu Tianheng, Yu Yuanzhen's expression settled back into calm. It wasn't as though he hadn't considered Yu Tianheng.
But when Yu Yuanzhen had a better choice, this flaw alone was enough to make him hesitate.
After all, no one knew whether Yu Tianheng had been born with this temperament or had been shaped into it later.
Tsk, what a pain. If this were the original story, what right would my dad have to make so many demands?
After grumbling to himself, Yu Hengqing sensibly dropped the subject. There was no point dragging it out when they wouldn't get anywhere.
The next morning, at daybreak.
After being away from school for so long, Yu Hengqing finally climbed into a carriage headed for Heaven Dou Royal Academy again.
But before going to school, Yu Hengqing made a point of taking a detour past Blue Tyrant Academy, because its admissions day was today.
Yu Hengqing wanted to see whether Blue Tyrant Academy had changed under his father's support, especially when it came to enrollment—how many people were willing to come and apply.
Before Yu Hengqing even reached the entrance to Blue Tyrant Academy, something unexpected happened!
"Third Young Master, the road ahead is completely blocked by the crowd and carriages! If we want to get through, I'm afraid we'll have to wait a long time."
Looking at the road ahead, jammed tight with people, the coachman turned to Yu Hengqing inside the carriage and spoke in a quiet voice.
Hearing that the road was blocked, Yu Hengqing immediately grew interested. He lifted the curtain and stuck his head out to take a look.
The crowd included both commoners and nobles, all lined up in orderly fashion to enter Blue Tyrant Academy.
"If it's blocked, then let's turn around! I only came to take a look, and now that I've seen it, we should get going."
Yu Hengqing lowered the curtain and spoke softly to the coachman.
It seemed that thanks to Yu Yuanzhen's efforts, Blue Tyrant Academy had become the first choice for most Soul Masters in Heaven Dou City.
The foundation was already in place. All that remained was the right opportunity to make Blue Tyrant Academy the number-one Soul Master academy on Douluo Continent.
Hearing that they were turning around, the coachman said nothing more. There were things they couldn't get involved in; the more they said, the more mistakes they could make.
Back at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Yu Hengqing didn't look for a classroom. Instead, he headed straight for Thunder-Fire Hall.
He wanted to draw on the active fire-elemental energy in Thunder-Fire Hall to help him refine Cinder Extinction Lightning sooner and get his cultivation speed back up.
As soon as Yu Hengqing stepped into Thunder-Fire Hall, he spotted a familiar figure—Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan was currently cultivating with a friend, though, so Yu Hengqing had no intention of going over to greet him.
Yu Hengqing found a quiet spot with few people around, sat down cross-legged, and sent his consciousness into his spiritual space.
"Take your time refining Cinder Extinction Lightning later. First, make sure it won't resonate with the energy in Thunder-Fire Hall. If it does, go refine it beneath that waterfall in the back mountains."
Looking at Yu Hengqing, Leiyi gave his instructions with unusual seriousness. He had never refined Cinder Extinction Lightning either, so he didn't know what it would do.
"Mm, I'll be careful."
Yu Hengqing understood Leiyi's concern. He had come to Thunder-Fire Hall only to speed up the refining process, not to kill himself.
Yu Hengqing stepped forward and grasped the broken sword. As before, he couldn't lift it. Two streaks of crimson lightning peeled away from the blade and flew toward the two of them.
Facing the incoming Cinder Extinction Lightning, Leiyi merely raised a hand and trapped it in a ball of lightning between his fingers.
"I'll hold off on refining Cinder Extinction Lightning for now, so I can rescue you in time when you refine it later."
Leiyi was still worried, so he gave up on refining Cinder Extinction Lightning right away.
"Fine, then I'll leave it to you, Leiyi."
Seeing that Leiyi had put off refining Cinder Extinction Lightning, Yu Hengqing didn't argue. He spoke, then promptly withdrew from his spiritual space and entered a meditative state to begin refining it.
His consciousness returned to his body, and one more point of the Seven-Pointed Star on the back of Yu Hengqing's hand lit up.
As Soul Power circulated through his body, Cinder Extinction Lightning continued to pour out of the Seven-Pointed Star and flow into Yu Hengqing.
After three hours, Yu Hengqing had made a preliminary refinement of Cinder Extinction Lightning.
Now in Thunder-Fire Hall, Yu Hengqing could absorb not only lightning-elemental energy, but fire-elemental energy as well. He took in both without reservation.
By absorbing energy of both the lightning and fire elements, Yu Hengqing's cultivation speed had reached—and even slightly surpassed—the speed of an ordinary Soul Master.
"I can finally cultivate normally again!"
Yu Hengqing stretched. Today had brought double joy: the groundwork for Blue Tyrant Academy's scheme was in place, and his cultivation speed had improved.
As Yu Hengqing stepped out of Thunder-Fire Hall, he was thinking of going back and asking someone to prepare a feast to reward himself when he spotted Zhou Yan standing at the entrance, his face full of worry. It looked as though he was waiting for someone.
Before Yu Hengqing could ask whom Zhou Yan was waiting for, Zhou Yan—who had been anxiously waiting—hurried over first.
"Hengqing, you're finally out!"
"Zhou Yan, you look so anxious. Is something wrong?"
Yu Hengqing had been away from the academy too long to know how Zhou Yan had been doing recently, so he decided to hear him out first.
At that, Zhou Yan immediately explained in a fluster:
"A month ago, the lightning in my father's body somehow began showing signs of going out of control. I wanted to ask you to come with me and take a look at his condition."
"Of course, I won't ask you to go for nothing. I'll pay you!"
Afraid Yu Hengqing would refuse, Zhou Yan quickly added another sentence.
Before you continue