A month passed.
During that time, students from every academy had been grinding themselves to the bone.
For pride, for youthful passion, for vengeance, for love, for glory!
Everyone gave it their all, bearing pressure that exceeded their limits!
The principals of several academies were moved by their students' determination, and the hot blood in their own veins began to burn as well.
To help their students achieve their goals, they too began sparing no effort in teaching them and improving their strength!
The three instructors of Heaven Dou Royal Academy had already prepared an arena and even hired referees.
They sent invitations to the principals of every academy, ready to begin the student exchange tournament.
Yet none of the Five Elemental Academies came. They merely sent someone with a letter.
The letter said that their prizes had not yet been prepared and requested a postponement, proposing that the competition be held three months later.
"Old Meng, what do you think those five academies are up to?"
Bai Baoshan looked at the letter from the five academies, rubbing his chin as he sensed that something was amiss.
"Hmph, what else could they be doing?"
"Those old geezers are stalling for time. They must be putting their students through hellish training during this period!"
"They're really going all out to beat us. They probably didn't even work this hard for the Advanced Soul Master Tournament."
Zhi Lin sighed with feeling. As expected, motivation born within children themselves was more powerful than motivation given by adults!
Just because Qin Qi had beaten them up, just for revenge and the desire to win, those children had become so diligent!
"If they work hard, then we'll work hard too!"
"Old Bai, your Martial Soul is defense-oriented. From now on, you'll personally teach the Shi Mo brothers."
"Before the competition begins, make sure those two brothers develop their own Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
"Zhi Lin, you have a plant-type Martial Soul and are a control-type Soul Master. You'll specially train Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan!"
"As for little Qin Qi and Yu Tianheng, I'll personally train those two brats!"
Meng Shenji stroked his beard. Bring on the competition. He had dominated both the Soul Master world and the field of Soul Master theory for so many years—who had he ever feared?
Let's see who can outwork whom!
Over the following days, Qin Qi and the others split up for specialized training. Meng Shenji was responsible for teaching Qin Qi.
"Yu Tianheng, your Martial Soul's strength and your cultivation speed are already quite good."
"But your coordination in team battles is a complete mess. Next, I'll use my Martial Soul to pull you into a dream."
"In the dream, I'll set ten trials for you. All ten will be team battles."
"You must learn how to fight as part of a team. Only then will you be able to pass the trials I set."
After speaking, Meng Shenji summoned his Martial Soul, Black Demon. Legend had it that this Martial Soul could drag people into endless dreams.
Once someone was caught by it, there was basically no chance of escape. They would remain immersed in the dream forever, until they could no longer distinguish reality from illusion.
"Grandpa Meng, this trial is great, but I need to eat to cultivate."
"I can't just lie around sleeping every day."
Qin Qi spoke from the side.
"Little Qin Qi, you... honestly, you're already outstanding in every aspect."
"Combat theory, Soul Master theory, team battle command, personal cultivation—you can be considered exceptionally well-rounded."
"For a moment, I truly don't know how to improve your strength in a targeted way."
"But you can still enter the dream to think of ways to improve yourself. One hour outside is one day within the dream."
"Moreover, everything in the dream is nearly identical to the outside world. Its only flaw is that cultivation in the dream grants only experience."
"It can't actually improve your Soul Power or physical constitution. It can only help you think and accumulate experience."
Meng Shenji had considered for a long time how to help Qin Qi cultivate, but in the end, he still found no answer.
He decided to let Qin Qi find his own path of cultivation. He would only provide the opportunity.
"That powerful?"
"Grandpa Meng, you had a trump card like this and didn't bring it out sooner? Fine, I'm going to sleep first. Please wake me up in three hours so I can eat."
Qin Qi directly found a patch of shade, lay down, and prepared to sleep. He did not need to work hard to cultivate.
But developing Strength Path killer moves required effort, and developing them in a dream was an excellent method.
After all, one hour outside equaled an entire day in the dream.
"Ah, this child."
Meng Shenji watched Qin Qi fall asleep as soon as he lay down. He could not help shaking his head, marveling at how good it was to be young and able to fall asleep instantly.
He reached out and directly pulled Qin Qi into the dream, then sat outside drinking tea.
In the blink of an eye, more than two months passed, and Qin Qi officially turned nine years old.
With the support of the Strength-Eating Immortal Gu and immortal herbs, his Soul Power rose to Rank Thirty. Yu Tianheng and the others had also raised theirs to around Rank Twenty-Nine.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were slightly behind, with both of their Soul Power reaching Rank Twenty-Eight.
As Qin Ming led Qin Qi out once more to hunt his third Soul Ring—
"How did you manage it? You reached Rank Thirty in such a short time!"
Dugu Yan stared at Qin Qi with a face full of suspicion. This rate of Soul Power growth was far too fast.
It had only been a little over half a year since he absorbed his last Soul Ring, at most nearly a year, yet Qin Qi had already reached Rank Thirty.
That was ridiculous!
"It's not that ridiculous. First, when I hunted my Soul Ring before breaking through, I had already accumulated several months' worth of Soul Power."
"And I absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring, which provided a great boost to my Soul Power. After absorbing it, I reached Rank Twenty-Five."
"After that, I cultivated diligently. Reaching Rank Thirty now is simply the result of my hard work and talent."
Qin Qi felt that his cultivation speed was still not fast enough. In Douluo Continent II or III, perhaps it would have been acceptable.
But this was the first Douluo Continent, where talents emerged in endless numbers. Here, all he could say was that he still needed to train harder!
A meme. There were many Douluo Continent I fanfics, so naturally there were many monsters too. It was like Bilibili—no matter how strong you were, you still had to keep training.
"Alright, we need to set off. We should return before the Soul Master tournament exchange begins if possible."
Qin Ming spoke from the side.
"Fine, while I'm gone, make sure you all work hard. Try to keep up with me."
Qin Qi bid everyone farewell, but just as he finished speaking, Dugu Yan threw something at him.
"You really are annoying."
Dugu Yan spoke irritably. Qin Qi's smug little upstart attitude was truly unbearable. No, she had to cultivate harder.
Otherwise, once Qin Qi became a Soul Elder, who knew how badly he would mock them.
"You shrew..."
Qin Qi reached out and caught what Dugu Yan had thrown. When he opened it, he found a bag stuffed full of dried Soul Beast meat.
"Sister Yan, you really do care about me. Good brother, same blanket!"
Qin Qi was somewhat touched as he looked at the food. He swore that when he returned, he would mock Dugu Yan a little less.
"You're so practical. You called me a shrew just now, but the moment you see food, you call me Sister Yan."
Dugu Yan sneered.
"Alright, enough nonsense. I'm leaving."
Qin Qi put away the dried meat, then set off with Qin Ming. It was time for another forest adventure.
Let me give everyone a preview of what the third Soul Ring will bring.
Ever-changing, yet the heart remains constant; why should a man conceal his appearance?
Only totems reveal masculine beauty; a cloak best complements a valiant man!
Next to appear will be the supreme grandmaster of Strength Path, Transformation Path, and Coolness Path!
Before you continue