Opening Ceremony

When the first glimmer of dawn was still gathering strength behind the clouds and the whole world lingered on the edge of deep sleep, Liu Tianran had already quietly 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 and began his morning breathing exercises.

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

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

In order 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 senior 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 square. Only at this time of year did everyone gather together.

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

The intermediate division was like compulsory middle school education and charged no tuition, though its system was different. The intermediate academy lasted three years, and after graduating from the third year, students could try to test into a senior Soul Master Academy.

Just like compulsory education, Soul Masters near Eastsea City could attend Eastsea Academy with their graduation certificates after graduating from a primary academy.

The compulsory education stage was responsible for teaching Soul Masters basic knowledge.

The senior academy was no longer compulsory education. Students had to pass a series of rigorous examinations to have a chance of being 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.

"Students and teachers, hello, everyone. I am Long Hengxu, Eastsea Academy's dean of studies. Today, we are holding the opening ceremony. Now, let us invite 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.

Everything the principal said was meaningless, nothing more than encouragement for the students. During his three years here, Liu Tianran had already heard the same speech many times.

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

"Next is the class assignment ceremony. Those whose names I call, step forward..."

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

The senior division also began assigning classes.

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

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

There were twenty-three students in Class Five, but none of them looked particularly spirited, apparently because they had been assigned to Class Five.

"Homeroom teachers, please take your students back to class."

The five teachers each walked toward their respective classes. One of them headed for Intermediate Class One beside the senior division where Liu Tianran was.

The person who came before them was a female teacher who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She stood a full 1.8 meters tall. Her bright, lively eyes seemed to contain countless stars, shining as they moved. Her nose was straight and elegant, adding definition to her features. Her brows were slightly furrowed, concealing a heroic air, while an innate pride occasionally showed through.

She walked up to the First Grade Class One formation, looked over the students, and said, "Hello, students. I am Ye Yingluo, your homeroom teacher for the next six years. For the next six years, you will all be my students. Follow me now."

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

Class Three's homeroom teacher looked about sixty percent similar to Ye Yingluo and was very pretty. However, unlike Ye Yingluo's heroic pride, she appeared lively and cute, with a rare head of pale green long hair. She was not as tall as Ye Yingluo. She was Ye Yingrong, Ye Yingluo's younger sister.

Class Four's homeroom teacher was a short, fat middle-aged man. How could most male Soul Masters here get by at under 1.8 meters tall?

Class Five's homeroom teacher was tall, over 1.9 meters in height. His lake-blue long hair was especially rare and exuded a unique charm like tranquil lakewater. He seemed like an iceberg, radiating a chilling aura that made people shudder.

Wu Changkong. Among the teachers of Douluo Continent's protagonists, Wu Changkong was the only one worthy of the title "model of teacherly virtue." Others might have had eccentric temperaments, taught perfunctorily, or lacked ability and character, but Wu Changkong was completely different. He gave everything in his teaching, protected his students thoroughly, tailored his instruction to their abilities, and did everything he could to broaden their paths as Soul Masters.

After looking him over, Liu Tianran shifted his gaze to Ye Yingluo beside him. She was another love-struck fool.

He followed his homeroom teacher to the Senior Class One classroom.

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

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

The teacher stood at the podium first, watching everyone take their seats one by one.

Liu Tianran chose a window seat in the middle. His roommates also found seats nearby, and the four 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, and he could not hide his 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 admission 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 comfort in idling away your days, only the struggle to constantly push past your limits. I will not lower my standards because you started ahead of others. On the contrary, I have high expectations for you. I believe every one of you has enormous potential yet to be discovered. I will demand high standards from you, push you to constantly challenge 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 swept his gaze over every Class One student. 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 name, Martial Soul, Soul Power Level, and what kind of Soul Master you hope to become. Start from the first row."

The boy in the first row hurriedly stood and said, "My name is Dai Cong. My Martial Soul is the Earth Gorilla, and my Soul Power is Level 27. My future goal is to become a power-type Strong Attack System battle Soul Master."

After saying that, he stood there looking somewhat proud of himself.

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

The next student immediately stood up.

When it reached the middle of the first row, a boy stood arrogantly and declared loudly, "My name is Xu Xiaoyu. My Martial Soul is the Ice Staff, my Soul Power is Level 31, and I hope to become an outstanding Control System battle Soul Master."

After speaking, he looked arrogantly at the others, the corners of his mouth seemingly pulled upward by an invisible thread.

Boom!

It was as if thunder had exploded from clear ground. The classroom instantly erupted, gasps and cries rising one after another like raging waves that shattered the previous silence.

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

"Quiet!" Lin Yue barked. Once the sound faded, she looked coldly and proudly at the crowd, a faint smile on her lips.

The classroom quickly fell silent again.

"Next!"

Soon, it was Liu Tianran's turn.

"My name is Liu Tianran. My Martial Soul is the Healing Staff, my Soul Power is Level 38, and I hope to become a powerful Healing System Soul Master."

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

A Soul Power Level of 31 at twelve and a Soul Power Level of 38 at twelve were both Soul Elder levels, but they were completely different concepts.

Reaching Level 31 at twelve could only be called talented, but a Healing System Soul Master reaching Level 38 at twelve was no ordinary genius.

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 was still pitifully small.

For a Healing System Soul Master to cultivate at such a speed was enough to make him a peerless genius, someone rarely seen even once in several decades.

(It was only considered rare once in several decades because a Holy Spirit Douluo had emerged during those decades, rising from Soul Saint to Title Douluo in a single year, as though she had cheats enabled.)

This time, even Lin Yue waited a while before stopping the crowd again and restoring order.

Several more Soul Elders appeared afterward, but with Liu Tianran's brilliance preceding them, they did not cause nearly as much shock.

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

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

The next three years were secure!!

In the classroom, Lin Yue's eyes were both gratified and expectant. "These four students are exemplary. Everyone should learn from them and enter the ranks of Soul Elder as soon as possible."

After speaking, he lightly tapped the desk and added in a heavier tone, "Classes officially begin tomorrow. There are no shortcuts in cultivation. Do not fear hardship. Throw yourselves into it wholeheartedly, and you will achieve something. Class dismissed."

With that, Lin Yue turned and left, and the classroom immediately became lively.

Liu Tianran was the first to rise and followed behind Lin Yue. Once outside the classroom, he did not care how the others inside 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 other classes had also been dismissed, and some students were coming out of their classrooms.

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

Xie Xie felt that being knocked unconscious by Tang Wulin in the dormitory had only happened because he had let his guard down, so he planned to fight again. Unfortunately, he was beaten up again, spent tens of thousands of Federation Coins, and even stimulated Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King bloodline, awakening part of it.

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

After thinking it over, Liu Tianran decided to head directly back to the dormitory.

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

Liu Tianran naturally craved the Golden Dragon King bloodline, but with his current abilities, let alone gaining some benefits from it, he probably would not even understand what he was looking at. He should honestly return to the dormitory and make the most of his time meditating!

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

Cultivation lay in everyday accumulation.

The absurd cheat-like advantage Tang Wulin possessed flashed through Liu Tianran's mind, and his thirst for power instantly grew like wild grass.

A blacksmith needed strong iron. In the end, he still needed power of his own. Otherwise, even if a treasure lay before him, he would not even be able to move.