Opening Ceremony

When the first rays of dawn were still gathering strength behind the clouds and the whole world lingered on the edge of deep sleep, Liu Tianran had already gently opened his eyes and calmly ended his meditation.

He glanced at his other three roommates. They were still meditating, so he did not disturb them.

He went to the field to begin his morning breathing exercises.

At that hour, only a handful of upperclassmen were running on the field.

Liu Tianran's arrival drew far less attention than this year's new students.

To keep track of the plot's progress in real time, he had deliberately transferred from Skysea Academy to Eastsea Academy when he was about to enter the advanced division.

Half an hour later, Liu Tianran finished his training, washed up, and headed to the cafeteria.

At nine in the morning, Eastsea Academy's opening ceremony was held in the academy plaza. Only at this time of year did the entire school gather together.

Eastsea Academy's intermediate division had seven or eight hundred students, while the advanced division had fewer than two hundred in total.

The intermediate division was like compulsory junior high education and charged no tuition fees, though its system differed somewhat. The intermediate academy lasted three years, and upon graduating from the third year, students could try to test into an advanced Soul Master Academy.

Just like compulsory education, Soul Masters around Eastsea City who had graduated from a primary academy could enroll at Eastsea Academy with their graduation certificates.

The compulsory education stage was responsible for teaching Soul Masters the fundamentals.

The advanced academy was no longer part of compulsory education. Students had to pass a series of rigorous examinations before they could possibly be admitted. It was like high school in his previous life, only much harder to get into. From then on, they would have to rely on their own abilities.

"Hello, students and teachers. I am Long Hengxu, Eastsea Academy's dean of studies. Today, we are holding the opening ceremony. Next, let us welcome Principal Yu Zhen to speak."

Eastsea Academy's principal, Yu Zhen, was an ordinary-looking old man in his sixties with a scholarly air about him. The old principal spoke without a script for only fifteen minutes before ending his speech.

The principal's words were all rather meaningless, nothing more than encouragement for the students. Liu Tianran had heard the same sort of speech many times over the three years he had spent here.

After the principal finished speaking came the class assignment ceremony. The other students had already returned to their respective classes.

"Next is the class assignment ceremony. Step forward when I call your names..."

"Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, Wei Xiaofeng, Wu Lang..."

Over in the advanced division, class assignments began as well.

As expected, Liu Tianran heard his own name assigned to Advanced Class One.

"Lastly, the students of Freshman Class Five: Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, Yun Xiao..."

There were twenty-three students in Class Five of Year One. However, none of them looked particularly spirited, seemingly because they had been assigned to Class Five.

"Please have each class teacher lead your students back to class."

The five teachers each walked toward their own classes. One of them headed toward Intermediate Class One, next to Liu Tianran's advanced division.

The person who approached them was a female teacher who appeared to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She was a full 1.8 meters tall, her lively eyes gleaming as though they held countless stars. Her straight, refined nose added dimension to her face. Her brows were slightly furrowed, concealing a heroic air, while an innate pride occasionally showed through.

She walked before the line of Year One Class One students, glanced over them, and said, "Hello, everyone. I am your class teacher for the next six years, Ye Yingluo. For the next six years, you are all my students. Follow me now."

After looking at her from afar, Liu Tianran glanced at the other four intermediate division class teachers. Class Two's teacher was a tall middle-aged man.

Class Three's teacher looked somewhat sixty percent similar to Ye Yingluo and was quite beautiful. However, compared with Ye Yingluo's heroism and pride, she appeared much more lively and adorable. She had rare pale-green long hair and was not as tall as Ye Yingluo. She was Ye Yingrong, Ye Yingluo's younger sister.

Class Four's teacher was a short, fat middle-aged man. Most male Soul Masters in this place were at least 1.8 meters tall—how had he managed otherwise?

Class Five's teacher had a tall build and stood over 1.9 meters. His lake-blue long hair was especially rare, radiating a unique charm like still lake water. His entire person was like an iceberg, surrounded by a chilling aura that made others shudder.

Wu Changkong. Among the teachers of Douluo Continent's protagonist, Wu Changkong was the only one worthy of the title "model of teacherly virtue." Others might have eccentric temperaments, teach perfunctorily, or lack both talent and virtue, but Wu Changkong was completely different. He held nothing back in his lessons, protected his students thoroughly, and tailored his teaching to their strengths, doing everything he could to broaden their paths as Soul Masters.

After taking a look, Liu Tianran shifted his gaze to Ye Yingluo beside him. She was also a hopeless romantic.

He followed his class teacher to the Advanced Class One classroom.

Class One's classroom was on the first floor near the main entrance, so they arrived quickly.

The classroom contained thirty sets of desks and chairs, with the podium at the front.

The teacher stood on the podium first, watching as the others took their seats one by one.

Liu Tianran chose a window-side seat in the middle. His roommates also found seats nearby, and the four of them gathered together.

Lin Yue stood straight on the podium, his gaze slowly sweeping across the youthful, immature faces below. The corners of his mouth rose unconsciously, his heart filled with undisguised satisfaction.

"Being assigned to Class One is enough to prove that you are among the most gifted of your peers."

"However, talent is only an entry ticket. If you want to truly stand out, I will hold you to the strictest standards from now on."

"In this class, there will be no comfortable coasting through the days, only the struggle to continuously break through your limits. I will not lower my standards simply because your starting points are high. On the contrary, I have great expectations for you. I believe that every one of you has enormous untapped potential. I will demand much from you, push you to keep challenging your limits, and surpass yourselves."

"Here, there is only stronger—never strongest. I hope every one of you can become an outstanding Soul Master in the future."

Lin Yue's eyes swept over every student in Class One. His calm yet passionate words instantly stirred everyone's emotions, setting the youths ablaze.

"I hope you are the strongest now, and that you will remain the strongest in the future!"

"Now, introduce yourselves: your names, Martial Souls, Soul Power Levels, and what kind of Soul Master you hope to become. We'll start from the first row."

The boy in the first row hurriedly stood up and said, "My name is Dai Cong. My Martial Soul is the Earth Gorilla, and my Soul Power Level is twenty-seven. My future goal is to become a strength-type Strong Attack System battle Soul Master."

After saying that, he stood there looking somewhat proud.

"Not bad. Sit down. Next," Lin Yue said, then looked toward the next person.

The next student immediately stood up.

When it reached the middle of the first row, a boy stood up arrogantly and announced loudly, "My name is Xu Xiaoyu. My Martial Soul is the Ice Staff, and my Soul Power Level is thirty-one. I hope to become an outstanding Control System battle Soul Master."

After speaking, he looked proudly at the others, the corners of his lips seeming to be pulled upward by an invisible string.

Boom!

It was as if thunder had erupted from level ground. The classroom instantly exploded into uproar, cries of surprise rising one after another like surging waves that smashed the previous silence to pieces.

A twelve-year-old Soul Elder was considered a genius in any era and any place.

"Silence!" Lin Yue barked sharply. As his voice fell, he cast a cold, proud glance over the crowd, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

The classroom quickly fell silent again.

"Next!"

Very soon, it was Liu Tianran's turn.

"My name is Liu Tianran. My Martial Soul is the Healing Staff, and my Soul Power Level is thirty-eight. I hope to become a powerful Healing System Soul Master."

The quiet that had just returned vanished instantly, replaced by even louder cries of astonishment.

A twelve-year-old with Soul Power Level thirty-one and a twelve-year-old with Soul Power Level thirty-eight were both Soul Elders, but they were entirely different concepts.

Reaching Soul Power Level thirty-one at the age of twelve could only be called talent. But for a Healing System Soul Master to reach Soul Power Level thirty-eight at twelve was no ordinary talent.

Healing System Soul Masters and Food System Soul Masters were famously difficult to cultivate. Even in this era, the number of Healing System Title Douluo remained pitifully small.

For a Healing System Soul Master to cultivate this quickly was enough to call him a peerless genius, someone rarely seen even once in decades.

(Rarely seen in decades because a Holy Spirit Douluo had appeared during these decades, rising from Soul Saint to Title Douluo in a single year, practically like using cheats.)

This time, even Lin Yue waited a while before once again stopping everyone and restoring quiet to the room.

After that, several more Soul Elders appeared, but with Liu Tianran setting such an extraordinary precedent, they did not cause nearly as much shock.

When the classroom broke into discussion again, the commotion was much smaller instead.

Lin Yue looked confidently at Liu Tianran, Xu Xiaoyu, and the others.

The next three years were secure!!

Inside the classroom, Lin Yue's gaze was both gratified and expectant. "These four students are worthy examples. Everyone should learn from them and enter the Soul Elder rank as soon as possible."

With that, he lightly tapped the desk and spoke more sternly. "Classes officially begin tomorrow. Cultivation has no shortcuts. Do not fear hardship. Throw yourselves into it wholeheartedly, and you will achieve something. Class dismissed."

After speaking, Lin Yue turned and left. The classroom instantly became lively.

Liu Tianran was the first to stand and follow Lin Yue out. Once he left the classroom, he paid no attention to how the others reacted.

There was nothing to do today. He would return to the dormitory and meditate.

Liu Tianran left the classroom and slowly headed toward the dormitory.

Along the way, he saw that the other classes had also been dismissed, with some students coming out of their classrooms.

He looked up and saw Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Liu Yuxin talking about something. Recalling the original plot, the two boys went to the park and fought again.

Xie Xie felt that Tang Wulin had knocked him unconscious in the dormitory only because he had been careless, so he planned to fight again. Unfortunately, he got beaten up again, spent tens of thousands of Federation Coins, and even stimulated Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline, awakening some of it.

He had practically paid money to hand his opponent a free kill.

After some thought, Liu Tianran decided to return directly to the dormitory.

Although Liu Tianran was extremely curious about the Golden Dragon King's power—it had even been able to suppress several God Kings in the God Realm—if the Golden Dragon King itself had not been insane, it could have escaped unscathed with even a little intelligence.

Naturally, Liu Tianran greatly desired the Golden Dragon King bloodline. But with his current abilities, let alone gaining some benefit from it, he probably would not understand even the slightest thing if he saw it. He should honestly return to the dormitory and seize the time to meditate!

Once he became stronger in the future, he would have plenty of opportunities to study Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline.

Cultivation lay in everyday accumulation.

The thought of Tang Wulin's absurd cheat flashed through Liu Tianran's mind, and his desire for power grew wildly like weeds.

Iron had to be forged while it was hot. In the end, he still needed power of his own; otherwise, even if a treasure were placed before him, he would not be able to move it.