Black Dragon Academy

"I've gathered you all here today because there's something I need to say."

"Yesterday, Nibelungen founded an advanced soul master academy: Black Dragon Academy."

"The reason I founded it was to provide you with a better, more convenient holy land for cultivation. From today onward, the four of you are the first-generation students of Black Dragon Academy."

Shui Bing'er and Dugu Yan exchanged a glance, anticipation in their eyes.

Tie Mu scratched his head instead and spoke a little awkwardly. "My lord... do I have to join the academy too? I'm already thirty-one this year, and I'm still going to school... That doesn't really fit the rules, does it?"

Before he could finish, Long Yuan sprang over from the side and smacked him on the back of the head. "What's wrong with thirty-one? This old man has lived for hundreds of years and still learns new things. You're a little thirty-one-year-old brat, and you think you're old? The path of a soul master has no end. You live and learn, understand? Besides, the path our lord arranged for you—just walk it. Where did all this nonsense come from?"

Tie Mu staggered from the slap, shrank his neck, and slunk back into the line, no longer daring to make a sound.

Li Yuan waved his hand and continued, "From now on, the academy will provide your cultivation resources free of charge, including soul rings and soul bones. If you perform outstandingly—"

His gaze swept over the four of them. "Rewarding martial souls wouldn't be impossible either."

Shui Bing'er and Dugu Yan's eyes widened at the same time.

Rewarding martial souls?

What they had known since childhood was that martial souls awakened innately, and a person only had one for life. They had never heard of acquiring one after birth, much less having it handed out as a reward.

The two looked at each other, their faces clearly saying, Is that even right?

Li Yuan noticed their expressions, smiled, and did not explain further.

Some things were useless to explain with words alone. Once they saw them with their own eyes and experienced them personally, they would naturally believe.

He turned and walked toward the door. "Come on. I'll take you to see the academy first."

Everyone followed, passing through the manor gates and stepping onto the road leading to the east side of the city.

Half an hour later.

The group stood before the gates of Black Dragon Academy.

The gates were brand new, painted a deep, somber black. Above the lintel, the plaque bore the four words "Black Dragon Academy" carved in bold, sweeping strokes, the brushwork as sharp as dragon claws raking across stone.

On either side of the gates stood a coiling dragon stone pillar, their dragon heads held proudly toward the sky, every scale distinct.

Inside the gates, over a hundred workers bustled back and forth. Some were laying stone paving, some were whitewashing walls, and others were moving enormous cultivation equipment.

The clanging of hammers and the overlapping shouts wove together, creating a lively scene of renovation in full swing.

Li Yuan did not stop and led everyone directly through the gates.

Tie Mu froze the moment his first foot stepped inside.

"Hiss—!"

He drew in a sharp breath. Every pore on his body seemed to be forced open by something, and his soul power spontaneously sped up through his meridians. With every breath, a stream of pure soul power was drawn into his body.

He had never felt anything like this before. It was like plunging headfirst into a hot spring, every cell in his body crying out in comfort.

Shui Bing'er also paused slightly, her ice-blue eyes brightening. "The soul power concentration here... is several times higher than outside."

Dugu Yan even tilted her little face up and took a deep breath, her face filled with enjoyment. "It feels so comfortable!"

As Li Yuan walked, he casually explained, "A top-tier Soul Gathering Array has been set up across the entire academy. The soul power concentration is five times higher than the outside world. Even if you don't cultivate, just staying here will let your soul power slowly and naturally increase."

Tie Mu's eyes went wide. Five times?

Didn't that mean he could level up just by lying around every day?

A Liang held a blade of grass between his teeth and said nothing, but beneath his bamboo hat, his gaze swept over the stone slabs underfoot, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

The group crossed the front courtyard plaza and went straight to the depths of the academy.

Li Yuan pushed open the first heavy door. Inside were three enormous halls arranged side by side, each one a hundred zhang square.

At the top of each hall was embedded a massive crystal, emitting a soft glow.

"These are top-tier Mimicry Cultivation Fields. There are three in total."

Li Yuan raised his hand and pointed. "They can simulate any environment—ice plains, volcanoes, deep seas, high altitudes, dense forests—meeting the cultivation needs of martial souls of every attribute. Water, fire, ice, lightning, wind, earth—whatever attribute it is, you can find the most suitable environment."

He paused, then added, "The Mimicry Cultivation Fields of other advanced academies can usually only simulate two or three types of environments, and with limited precision. But here, if I make it rain, it can pour. If I make a volcano erupt, it can raise the temperature to the level of an actual volcanic crater. Cultivation efficiency is twice that of the outside world."

Tie Mu's mouth opened, and he could not close it for a long time.

Back then, he had spent two years in the outer court of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The mimicry field there was only one room and could only adjust temperature and humidity. Compared to this place, it was practically a thatched shack.

Shui Bing'er gently rubbed her fingers over the edge of the doorframe, her eyes full of anticipation.

She could already imagine how satisfying it would be to cultivate an ice-attribute martial soul here.

Li Yuan turned and led them to the second building.

When he pushed open the door, three sealed stone rooms stood side by side. The walls were thick, and the floor was carved densely with runes. A heavy, oppressive feeling faintly seeped out from within.

"This is the Gravity Control Room. There are three rooms, and the gravity can be adjusted from one to fifty times normal."

Li Yuan stepped into one of the rooms and casually pressed an adjustment rune on the wall. "It's mainly used to strengthen the body and resistance to pressure. For a defense-system soul master, training here for one day is worth ten days of bitter training outside."

He looked toward Tie Mu. "Your Iron-Armored Black Water Turtle relies most on physique and endurance. This place is the most practical for you."

"Of course, the rest of you can cultivate here as well."

Tie Mu swallowed when he heard the words "fifty times." Fifty times gravity—with his build, he would probably have trouble even lifting a hand once he went in.

But only this kind of extreme training could force out extreme growth. He clenched his fist, his gaze gradually turning serious.

Shui Bing'er and Dugu Yan exchanged a glance, and both saw the same thing in each other's eyes.

This academy was unlike any they had ever seen.

Li Yuan led the group onward, passed through the connecting corridor, and stopped in front of a three-story teaching building.

The building was brand-new, its windows bright and spotless, the steps before the entrance scrubbed clean without a speck of dust.

"Next, I'll take you to meet a few people."

He pushed open the door and stepped into the first-floor hall.

Inside the hall stood ten figures in neat formation.

They were of different heights and builds, men and women alike, ranging in age from just over thirty to around fifty.

Each of them radiated a steady aura of soul power. Though they had restrained it well, it could not escape the perception of those present.

The ten bowed at the same time and said in unison:

"Greetings, my lord."

Li Yuan lifted a hand, then turned slightly to introduce them. "These ten are the academy's professional teaching team. From now on, they will be specifically responsible for your studies and cultivation."

His gaze swept over them one by one. "Level sixty-three assault system, level sixty-five defense system, level seventy-one control system, level sixty-eight agility attack system, level fifty-nine healing system, level sixty-seven support system—"

Tie Mu counted silently and found that even the lowest among them was level fifty-nine, while the highest was a level seventy-one Soul Sage.

In any advanced academy, this would be enough to serve as core staff, even as deans.

But here, they were only teachers.

Shui Bing'er and Dugu Yan's gazes slowly swept over the ten teachers, once again feeling that sense of shock that had been surging over them ever since they stepped through these gates.

From its facilities to its teaching staff, every corner of Black Dragon Academy exuded the feeling of "someone else's academy."

A Liang shifted the foxtail grass to the other side of his mouth. Beneath the bamboo hat, his eyes curved slightly, and for once, he spoke up on his own. "Now this is interesting. Fierce enough!"