Those with Innate Zero Soul Power Forbidden Entry

"Today's lesson proved only one thing."

Inside Nuoding Academy's training ground, Ma Xiunuo stood before two meditation cushions, with a Soul Power Sensor Lamp beside him.

"Innate Soul Power determines whether a Soul Master can embark on the path of cultivation."

"Those with Innate Soul Power can guide the energy of heaven and earth through meditation. Those with Innate Zero Soul Power have no foundation. No matter how they meditate, they cannot complete their first Soul Power cycle."

All of this year's new students sat below.

Academy teachers, City Lord's Residence personnel, and several Spirit Hall deacons occupied the front rows.

At the very back, some people were even holding wooden signs.

Tang San successfully guided Soul Power: one pays 1.01.

Xu Zhou successfully guided Soul Power: one pays 500.

The odds were very honest.

The bookmaker clearly had no intention of letting anyone who bet on Tang San make money. They only wanted to collect a small handling fee.

"How can they make bets on everything?"

Xiao Wu sat in the front row and glanced back twice.

Wang Sheng lowered his voice.

"This one wasn't set up outside the academy."

"Then who set it up?"

"The academy teachers."

"Teachers gamble too?"

"They call it a teaching-results prediction."

The name sounded more proper.

The essence had not changed.

Xu Zhou walked to the meditation cushion and looked down at the Soul Power Sensor Lamp.

This was different from a crystal ball.

It could not measure how much Soul Power a person originally possessed. It could only sense whether external energy entered the body during meditation.

Tang San would definitely make it light up.

Xu Zhou was not so sure.

His Soul Power had not come from normal meditation. It came entirely from other people making mistaken judgments about him.

If the method of absorption was different, the Soul Power Lamp might not react at all.

But if it lit up, that would be a serious problem.

There were hundreds of people attending this public lesson.

Once everyone discovered that Xu Zhou could cultivate, the Public Script that he would "never become a Soul Master" would begin to collapse.

He had not even reached level ten yet.

Proving himself at this point would bring no benefit apart from ending his source of cultivation ahead of time.

"Nervous?"

Tang San sat down beside him.

"A little."

Xu Zhou touched the base of the Soul Power Lamp.

"Afraid it'll light up?"

"Afraid it'll break."

Yesterday, the Ironthorn Vine had destroyed half the herb garden.

The day before yesterday, the metal disk had measured level ninety-nine.

Nuoding Academy's testing equipment seemed to have a problem with him.

Whenever Xu Zhou saw one of these things now, his first thought was no longer whether it was accurate, but whether the academy would make him pay compensation.

After checking both lamps and confirming that there were no problems, Ma Xiunuo spoke.

"The meditation method has already been explained."

"Close your eyes, relax your body, and sense the connection between your Martial Soul and the energy outside."

Tang San closed his eyes as instructed.

Xu Zhou also sat cross-legged and placed the Black Ancient Book on his knees.

The training ground gradually fell silent.

A moment later, the Soul Power Lamp before Tang San reacted first.

Blue light rose from the wick and slowly floated upward.

"It lit up!"

"With Innate Full Soul Power, isn't that normal?"

"How much did you bet?"

"Five copper soul coins."

"How much can you win?"

"The bookmaker said that after deducting the handling fee, I can probably get back four."

The student fell silent.

He bet five, and if he won, he only got four back.

This could no longer be called gambling.

It should be called voluntarily handing over one copper soul coin.

Xu Zhou did not open his eyes.

The more obvious the commotion on Tang San's side became, the more attention would fall on him.

Everyone was waiting for the second lamp.

Waiting for it to remain dark.

"Just as expected, no reaction."

"How could someone with Innate Zero Soul Power possibly cultivate?"

"Xu Zhou can read ledgers and find records, but what does that have to do with Soul Master cultivation?"

"A book Martial Soul should only improve memory."

"Yu Xiaogang said a few days ago that he had the potential of a Limit Douluo."

"That was his research direction. Didn't he change it to archive verifier now?"

One judgment after another descended.

The Black Ancient Book displayed no words. It merely turned pages softly upon Xu Zhou's knees.

Soul Power began to enter his body.

At first, it was fairly slow.

As the waiting time grew longer, everyone's judgment became increasingly certain.

The warm current gradually connected into a continuous stream and flowed through his meridians. Following the method Ma Xiunuo had just explained, Xu Zhou tried to guide this Soul Power through a complete cycle.

The first attempt was somewhat clumsy.

The Soul Power scattered when it reached his shoulders.

Xu Zhou started over.

After all, the people outside thought he had done nothing.

He had plenty of time to try slowly.

On the second attempt, the Soul Power passed through his arms.

On the third, he finally completed a full cycle.

The pages of the Black Ancient Book gently closed.

Xu Zhou did not stop.

He discovered that the Soul Power gained from Cognitive Bias had originally remained directly within his body. After one complete cycle, that Soul Power became noticeably more stable and easier to control.

This lesson was useless to ordinary students with zero Soul Power.

But it was useful to him.

Ma Xiunuo's theory was not wrong.

Xu Zhou could not absorb Soul Power from heaven and earth, but he could use normal meditation methods to organize the Soul Power he had already gained.

"Half an hour has passed."

Ma Xiunuo rang a bronze bell.

The blue glow before Tang San had already risen over a foot high.

The lamp before Xu Zhou had not lit up from beginning to end.

No one was surprised by this.

Xu Zhou slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Soul Power Lamp first.

It was not broken.

Good.

"The result is very clear."

Ma Xiunuo walked over to the two of them.

"Tang San can guide external energy. Xu Zhou cannot."

"This does not mean Xu Zhou's Martial Soul has no value. Its special information-verification ability can likewise help the academy and Spirit Hall."

"But in terms of cultivation, he truly lacks the foundation to become a Soul Master."

The City Lord's Residence personnel lowered their heads and took notes.

The academy teachers all nodded.

This year's new students had finally confirmed that the rumors about Xu Zhou hiding his strength, possessing Innate Soul Power of level twenty, and making testing equipment malfunction were merely speculations Yu Xiaogang had made while researching special Martial Souls.

The Soul Power Lamp could not measure levels.

It only checked whether external energy was flowing.

There had been no reaction whatsoever on Xu Zhou's side.

This time, the equipment could not possibly be broken again.

The Black Ancient Book appeared on its own.

[Public Script influence count increased.]

[Most participants have confirmed: the host cannot cultivate through meditation.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

The Soul Power gained this time far exceeded what he had received before.

Xu Zhou lowered his head to straighten his clothes, using the motion to conceal the faint fluctuations of Soul Power around his fingers.

The public lesson had worked quite well.

But he had also discovered a problem.

After Cognitive Bias entered his body, the Soul Power Lamp showed no reaction.

This meant that any detection method relying on changes in external energy would have difficulty discovering his true cultivation condition.

The crystal ball could not detect it.

Neither could the Soul Power Lamp.

As long as Xu Zhou did not expose himself, the zero Soul Power recorded in the official files would remain in place.

"How was it?"

Yu Xiaogang walked over to him.

"Did you sense any external energy?"

"No."

That was the truth.

"What about inside your body?"

Xu Zhou looked up at him.

This time, Yu Xiaogang did not continue guessing about space, spiritual power, or a Limit Douluo. Instead, he had asked about the truly crucial point.

"A little hot."

That was still the truth.

"Just hot?"

"And a little hungry."

Yu Xiaogang stared at Xu Zhou for a while before ultimately asking no further questions.

Luo Sanpao lay on his shoulder, its nose twitching twice.

It had not detected any external Soul Power flow.

But after Xu Zhou finished meditating, his aura was far more stable than when he had first sat down.

Yu Xiaogang noted this in the small notebook he carried with him, but did not say it publicly.

It was fine to have suspicions.

Before he had evidence, he did not intend to make any more shocking conclusions.

He had guessed too much lately. His reputation could not take much more.

After the public lesson ended, the new students gradually left.

Xu Zhou, meanwhile, followed the headmaster to the archives room.

He was now a temporary archive verifier and could enter the old records section, which had previously been closed to auditors.

The headmaster carried over a stack of dusty volumes.

"Start with the new student records from previous years."

"All of them?"

"The past thirty years."

Xu Zhou looked at the pile of files, which was taller than he was.

"I'm only six."

"You just said six-year-olds could earn a salary."

"Where's my salary?"

"Access to the archives is your salary."

The dean's logic was perfectly sound.

Xu Zhou found himself unable to argue.

He sat down at the desk, summoned the Black Ancient Book, and began leafing through the files.

Most of the records seemed fine.

Names, Martial Souls, Innate Soul Power, and enrollment years all matched up.

Until he reached the records from twenty-three years ago.

The Black Ancient Book stopped on a yellowed file.

[Proofreading found an obvious contradiction.]

[Enrollment record: Innate Zero Soul Power.]

[First-year graduation record: Level 12 Soul Master.]

[Martial Soul: Nameless Stone Stele.]

Xu Zhou straightened up.

A Spirit Hunting registration form was tucked into the back of the file.

That student's first Soul Ring had not come from the Spirit Hunting Forest.

The source field contained only four words.

It appeared on its own.

Xu Zhou continued flipping through the file.

The second page had already been torn out, leaving only a small scrap at the binding.

The remaining writing was barely legible.

"Before obtaining the Soul Ring, Soul Power still tested at zero."

The Black Ancient Book turned its pages by itself.

[Historical record highly similar to the host detected.]

[This record has follow-up files.]

[Storage location: Academy Sealed Archive.]

Xu Zhou looked toward the far end of the archives.

There was a locked iron door there.

A freshly replaced notice was posted on it.

"Those with Innate Zero Soul Power are forbidden from entering."