Douluo Continent's Must-Eat List

The entire library had six floors, each housing books categorized by different disciplines: martial soul theory, soul beast encyclopedias, continental history, herbalism, mineralogy, soul tool crafting—everything one could need.

According to Bai Baoshan, the library held over three hundred thousand volumes. It had originally been the Heaven Dou Empire's royal library, but the emperor before the previous one had moved all the books here to support the construction of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Without exaggeration, the number of books here was no less than that of Spirit Hall's library. It simply had fewer books related to soul masters than Spirit Hall's collection.

Zhao Ming's eyes lit up. Among three hundred thousand books, there had to be at least ten or twenty thousand volumes concerning herbs and plants.

If he read through all those books and combined that knowledge with the alchemy methods from the God of Wealth's inheritance, he was completely confident that he could integrate the herbal knowledge of both worlds and formally begin attempting to refine pills.

"Well? Are you satisfied?" Bai Baoshan asked with a chuckle as he watched the undisguised excitement in Zhao Ming's eyes.

"Very satisfied." Zhao Ming nodded earnestly. "Thank you, Commissioner Bai."

By the time they finished touring the library, the sky had gradually darkened.

Bai Baoshan led Zhao Ming to the dormitory area. After passing through rows of neatly arranged student dorms, they finally stopped before an independent courtyard.

"This is the dormitory the academy has arranged for you." Bai Baoshan pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped aside to let Zhao Ming enter.

Zhao Ming walked into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings as his heart stirred slightly.

The layout and size of this small courtyard were almost identical to the side courtyard where he had lived in the Crown Prince's Palace. An old locust tree stood in the yard, with a stone table and stools beneath it. Several rose bushes grew in the corner. The main house contained a spacious bedroom and study, while the side room housed a washroom and cultivation chamber.

Though it could not compare to the luxury of the Crown Prince's Palace, this was already the highest standard of treatment among academy dormitories.

It was obvious they had put considerable thought into it, hoping Zhao Ming would feel at home.

"Not many students in the academy get to live in their own courtyard. Usually, only children of marquises or above, or members of the imperial clan, can enjoy this treatment." Bai Baoshan said with a chuckle. "But you are a genius personally recommended by His Highness the Crown Prince, and a twenty-second-rank Grand Soul Master at only seven and a half years old. It is only right for you to have an independent courtyard. Geniuses naturally have privileges."

Zhao Ming naturally had no intention of refusing the arrangement.

A spacious and private living environment meant he could cultivate and refine pills freely without worrying about a roommate discovering any secrets.

He thanked Bai Baoshan again, then set down his luggage and tidied up a little.

Standing at the courtyard gate and watching Zhao Ming efficiently organize his belongings, Bai Baoshan suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh, right, Zhao Ming. Get some proper rest today. Tomorrow, I'll take you to meet a teacher. Every student under him is a genius—you will definitely have plenty in common with them."

Zhao Ming's hands paused slightly, and a name immediately surfaced in his mind—Qin Ming.

The teacher Bai Baoshan described as having nothing but geniuses under him was almost certainly Qin Ming.

Qin Ming, an outstanding graduate of Shrek Academy. When he appeared in the original work, he was a sixty-second-rank Blazing Fire Wolf Battle Soul Emperor and the leader of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Royal Dou Team.

In the original work, Qin Ming was one of Shrek Academy's few graduates and one of its representative figures before the Shrek Seven Devils. He could be considered Flender's prized disciple.

His character was fairly decent, and he was responsible toward his students. His only flaw was that his feelings for Shrek Academy ran too deep, making him seem somewhat biased in certain matters.

To be fair, Zhao Ming held no particular dislike for Qin Ming.

In the original work, aside from favoring Shrek Academy and, after Shrek Academy was driven out of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, immediately abandoning his position as a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy to leave with Shrek Academy—disregarding Heaven Dou Royal Academy's nurturing grace and revealing his ungrateful nature—he was passable in all other respects.

As the leader of the Royal Dou Team, he was qualified in training and managing his members, and the improvement in their strength was clear for all to see.

No one was perfect. It was wrong to demand that others meet the standards of saints.

Of course, all of that was based on the original work's description.

What kind of person Qin Ming truly was could only be judged after interacting with him.

Just like Qian Renxue. The original work's description of Qian Renxue could not exactly be called terrible, but she really did not seem particularly smart.

Indecisive, ruled by emotion, hesitant at crucial moments, and even willing to push her own people out to take the blame.

Yet after truly interacting with Qian Renxue, Zhao Ming discovered that the original work's portrayal and the real person were worlds apart.

Qian Renxue was genuinely intelligent. She was also skilled at reading expressions and grasping people's hearts, utterly unlike the indecisive inheritor of the Angel God from the original work.

So, what kind of person Qin Ming really was would naturally become clear once they met tomorrow.

"Alright, Commissioner Bai. I'll wait for you in the courtyard tomorrow." Zhao Ming nodded and escorted Bai Baoshan out through the gate.

Night fell, and Heaven Dou Royal Academy gradually quieted down.

Zhao Ming sat on a stone stool beneath the old locust tree, looking up at the stars filling the sky as he silently planned for tomorrow.

After meeting Qin Ming, he would inevitably encounter the members of the Royal Dou Team from the original work.

When the time came, they might confirm each other's strength through a sparring match. After all, they were all soul masters, and the best way to understand someone's strength was to exchange blows.

Zhao Ming was somewhat looking forward to it. Mainly because he had never fought someone of his own generation before; previously, he had mostly sparred with Snake Spear Douluo.

Moreover, through such a match, he might have a chance to establish contact with Dugu Yan.

As everyone knew, there were two must-eats for anyone who transmigrated to Douluo Continent. The first was Qian Renxue, and the second was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes.

Besides, the immortal herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Eyes might be able to help him temper his internal organs.

Even if they could not, he could still use the ice and fire spring water to initially condense Yin-Yang Pill Flame.

The condensation of Yin-Yang Pill Flame involved great intricacy. The most basic requirement was a place where yin and yang converged, where one gathered two opposing attributes. Only then could one condense flames whose attributes conflicted yet remained in balance.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ming took a deep breath, rose from the stone stool, and turned to enter the cultivation chamber.

No matter what he had to do tomorrow, he could not neglect today's cultivation.

Cultivation was like rowing against the current: if one did not advance, one fell behind. Not a single day could be wasted.

Inside the cultivation chamber, Zhao Ming sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and slowly circulated Nine-Breath Qi Absorption.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in from all directions like a tide, seeping through his pores into his meridians. It gathered and condensed in his dantian before flowing through his limbs and bones.

His thirty-third-rank soul power flowed steadily through his meridians, every circulation making it a little more refined.