Admissions Scene

The soul-guided train glided steadily into Mingdu East Station. As Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stepped off with the crowd, an atmosphere utterly different from that of any other city on the Douluo Continent washed over them.

The architectural style possessed a strange, fragmented beauty. There were skyscrapers soaring into the clouds, their lines stark and cold, built entirely from metal and reinforced glass, gleaming with soul-guided neon lights and streams of data. Yet in certain street corners stood deliberately preserved domed buildings and reliefs in the style of the Sun-Moon Empire era, though they had been refurbished until they looked pristine, more like specimens of history. The sky was alarmingly clear and empty. No flying soul-guided devices or birds dared cross Mingdu's skies—an ironclad rule of the Federation Parliament's seat. Any unauthorized flying object would be locked onto in an instant by the city's formidable air-defense soul-guided missiles and reduced to dust, ensuring the absolute security of the political center.

People hurried along the streets. Men and women alike mostly wore impeccably tailored formal attire, their faces either bearing practiced expressions or focused on communications. There were no leisurely tourists like those in Tiandou City, nor the cries of street vendors. Only efficient soul-guided vehicles glided silently along designated tracks. Everything was orderly, regulated to the point of rigidity, permeated by the cold aura of power and efficiency.

Their destination, Spirit Academy and its affiliated Spirit Pagoda Mingdu Branch, was located in the right half of Mingdu. The Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, which stood in rivalry with it, occupied the left half of the city. It was the annual admissions season on Douluo Star, and soul masters of the proper age and their families had gathered here from across the continent. This added a touch of restless vitality to the city, which was usually somewhat cold and hard. Meanwhile, academy admissions on the Douluo Federation's other administrative planets would only begin after those on the Douluo home planet.

Following the crowd through the urban forest of steel and glass, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena arrived before Spirit Academy's imposing gates. Even though they had been prepared, the sea of people before them still moved them slightly.

The enormous gates seemed carved from a single piece of white jade, inlaid with the Spirit Pagoda emblem outlined in rare metals, glittering beneath the sunlight. Inside and outside the gates, a dense mass of young soul masters applying for admission or visiting, along with their families, filled the area. Staff members in uniform efficiently directed the flow of people. All kinds of soul power detectors and identity-verification soul-guided devices flashed with light, forming a tightly guarded security line.

"Even after being overshadowed by Shrek, the Spirit Pagoda's appeal to soul masters is still this astounding," Tang Wulin remarked softly, his gaze sweeping over the young faces filled with longing and nervousness.

Tang Wulin recalled how, ten thousand years ago, the Shrek Seven Monsters had taken advantage of Spirit Academy's admissions to sneak inside. Relying on their silver tongues and the special spiritual memory displays of the time, they had practically "kidnapped" numerous promising students with exceptional talent and character, bringing them back to the rebuilding Shrek. The higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda had been furious enough to stomp their feet, yet utterly powerless to stop them.

This memory, carrying traces of mischief and glory, was clearly conveyed to Gu Yuena through their thoughts. She was briefly stunned, then the corners of her lips rose uncontrollably into a faint but genuine smile. A glimmer of nostalgic amusement flashed through her violet eyes. Back then, they had been young and passionate, with a reckless drive. For Shrek's revival, they had dared to use every underhanded trick imaginable.

The two exchanged smiles and tacitly suppressed their soul power fluctuations to around rank fifty. This was the standard aura of a Soul King. It would not make them too conspicuous, while still displaying a degree of talent and strength consistent with high-quality recruits. They went to the side entrance marked "Visitor Registration" and received two temporary admissions-season visitor passes. Spirit Academy seemed immensely confident, showing no concern that anyone would dare cause trouble inside—the academy was filled with the most advanced monitoring soul-guided devices, and top experts were stationed within. Any disturbance could be suppressed in a single breath.

Holding their visitor passes, they stepped through Spirit Academy's gates. The sight inside made Tang Wulin secretly click his tongue in amazement.

Rather than an academy, it was more like a lavish fusion of an art museum and a technology center. The ground was paved with warm jade bricks that could automatically regulate their temperature and emitted faint energy fluctuations. The plants lining both sides of the roads were not ordinary trees, but rare ornamental plant soul beasts that radiated pure life energy. The teaching buildings' outer walls were covered in soul-guided glass that adapted to the light, sometimes transparent to reveal the advanced facilities within, and sometimes turning opaque milky white to provide exceptional privacy. Holographic screens everywhere continuously displayed the Spirit Pagoda's illustrious history, the achievements of outstanding graduates, and introductions to various soul spirits and the Ascension Platform.

As expected of the Spirit Pagoda. This extravagant decor screams just two words—rich as hell, Tang Wulin could not help complaining to Gu Yuena through their thoughts, carrying his characteristic money-grubbing admiration. The amusement in Gu Yuena's eyes deepened at his words, and she gently squeezed his palm.

They strolled along the academy's main road, observing the admissions activity around them. Unlike Shrek Academy's educational philosophy, which placed greater emphasis on group training and drawing out potential through competition, Spirit Academy's admissions model seemed more "targeted" and "utilitarian."

Many soul masters who were clearly academy teachers and possessed impressive auras were not sitting behind fixed booths. Instead, they actively moved through the crowds, their sharp eyes scanning the young soul masters. Whenever they spotted a promising candidate with outstanding soul power fluctuations or a special martial soul, they immediately approached and enthusiastically introduced themselves, as well as the family or faction they represented.

An elderly man in a crimson robe was speaking animatedly to an excited-looking youth. "Our Leng Clan has a unique inheritance in elemental control. Young man, your flame martial soul is of exceptional quality. With guidance from a renowned teacher, your future will be limitless!"

Elsewhere, a stern-looking middle-aged man said to a girl with a rare spiritual-type martial soul, "The Qian Gu Clan's spiritual cultivation methods originate from the lineage of the Spirit Ice Douluo from ten thousand years ago, making them perfectly suited to your martial soul. Join us, and with our resources focused on you, we guarantee that you will become a Titled Douluo before the age of thirty, perhaps even a god-level powerhouse!"

Clearly, the structure of the Spirit Pagoda, jointly controlled by the Leng Clan and the Qian Gu Clan, had also profoundly influenced Spirit Academy's admissions. Although the teachers here also took on public teaching duties, their more important responsibility was to recruit fresh blood for the factions behind them. For truly outstanding talents, they would compete to secure them first and absorb them into their own family systems. This model ensured the inheritance and influence of the great families, but it also created an undercurrent of factional competition within the academy.

Just then, their attention was drawn to a gathering crowd ahead. A beautiful female teacher wearing a water-blue instructor's uniform stood atop a slightly elevated display platform. Her gentle temperament carried a hint of capability and decisiveness. She said nothing more than a faint smile before nine soul rings rose one after another beneath her feet like surging spring water!

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red!

The standard optimal soul-ring configuration! She deliberately restrained the powerful pressure of a nine-ringed Titled Douluo, releasing only a vast aura that inspired awe. Like deep currents beneath still waters, it demonstrated her unquestionable strength.

A wave of suppressed gasps and envious whispers immediately rose from the students and parents waiting for their assessments below. The female teacher spoke gently, her voice clearly spreading through the surroundings via an amplifying soul-guided device. "Students, I am Leng Yusheng, a senior teacher at Spirit Academy. Spirit Academy possesses the most complete training system and a direct path to the Spirit Pagoda's core. Those with exceptional talent who pass the assessment may enter under my tutelage and receive the Leng Clan's resources and cultivation."

Her words were full of confidence and temptation. While displaying her strength, she also revealed the family background behind her. To young soul masters yearning for strength and a future, the appeal was immense.

Gu Yuena quietly watched the female teacher named Leng Yusheng. She watched her profile, gentle yet resilient, the aura of her water-blue martial soul, and that surname, "Leng"... A figure buried deep within her memories, carrying warmth and a trace of guilt, surfaced in her heart without warning.

Leng Yaozhu.

Her former teacher, the one who had taught her without reservation and given her endless warmth and care.

The spirit between Leng Yusheng's brows, even the earnest expectation she inadvertently revealed toward outstanding students while teaching... all bore a startling resemblance to the Leng Yaozhu in her memories.

Ten thousand years had passed, yet the Leng Clan still held an important position within the Spirit Pagoda. Moreover, it seemed to have retained a quality that was familiar to her.

An extraordinarily complicated, indescribable emotion flashed through Gu Yuena's violet eyes. There was nostalgia in it.

Tang Wulin keenly noticed the subtle change in Gu Yuena's emotions. He gently tightened his hold on her hand and gave her an inquiring look. Gu Yuena shook her head slightly to indicate that she was fine, but her gaze remained on Leng Yusheng, as though she wished to see through ten thousand years of time and reconnect with the person to whom she felt both gratitude and guilt.

This visit to Spirit Academy seemed to have unraveled more threads entangled with the past than they had expected.