Journey to Martial Soul Academy, Signing In Again

Dawn had barely broken when an air of utter despair drifted out from Nine-Cloud Residence in Cloud-Treading Villa.

Qian Xunzong lay sprawled across a large ice fox-fur bed, his eyelids as heavy as if they had been welded shut. Xiaojing, pinned into a little ball in his arms, pawed at his chin and let out a plaintive whimper.

"Stop rushing me. Let me sleep like the dead for another half hour. Those bizarre memorials from the Papal Palace nearly crippled my hand last night."

Just recalling those absurd documents made Qian Xunzong's head throb: a century-old groundhog digging up a neighbor's spirit vegetable garden, a drunken Soul Sage shattering tavern tables and chairs, lower-grade children with martial souls chasing after and biting farmers' poultry.

Qian Daoliu had given him two choices: either inspect construction sites at the Martial Soul Academy today as a full-time contractor, or spend every day for the next six months in the main hall mediating disputes between neighboring Soul Masters.

Between the lesser of two evils, at least a construction site let him sneak out and slack off. It was far better than being cooped up indoors handling trivial squabbles.

Shen Ye had already been waiting outside with ten Embroidered Uniform Guards. They would all follow discreetly and keep out of sight, never stealing the spotlight from their young master.

As for Gui Mei and Yue Guan? They had been caught slacking off by Mo Hengchuan yesterday and punished with copying the sages' teachings five hundred times. They were probably still crying as they wrote beside Silver River Waterfall. The world was unusually peaceful today, and his ears would finally be spared their demonic voices.

Qian Xunzong casually pulled on a loose brocade robe embroidered with golden patterns, stuffed his pockets with spirit fruit, then climbed aboard the Cloudstep Light-Carriage while holding the sleepy Xiaojing.

Compared to Qian Daoliu's old-fashioned carriage that could rattle a person's backside apart, this amphibious jade carriage was practically a mobile luxury bedroom. He slumped into a soft reclining seat, casually picked up the inspection list sent by the Engineering Division, and his expression worsened the more he read.

The shallow warm-jade floor tiles were completely cracked, the middle-layer secret realm's earth vein had twisted out of shape, and the formation in Holy Light Valley had exhausted its spiritual power... More than ten training grounds needed renovations on the level of condemned buildings. So today, he was Spirit Hall's temporary chief contractor.

The carriage sped smoothly onward, and the Martial Soul Academy, spanning ten thousand mu, soon came into view.

Its vermilion gates stood thirty zhang high, and two Six-Winged Angel stone statues at the entrance looked imposing enough. Yet the students in the plaza immediately ruined the solemn atmosphere:

Youngsters sparring in the training grounds showed no restraint, shockwaves flew everywhere, and the noise could be heard from far away.

The Cloudstep Light-Carriage landed steadily. Two five-ring Soul King guards immediately approached, their faces stiff as they prepared to conduct a strict inspection of the outsiders.

Qian Xunzong could not be bothered with nonsense. Shen Ye flashed the Angel Token, and golden angelic holy light burst forth. "The Second Young Master is here. Why haven't you bowed?"

At those words, the two guards instantly bent at the waist to a perfect ninety degrees.

"Greetings, Second Young Master!"

"Enough. Notify the Engineering Division's accompanying team to gather here, and summon the academy instructors responsible for the mimic training environments to join the inspection."

The moment he finished speaking, a dark mass of workers in uniform hurried over from the side of the plaza. It was a six-ring Soul Emperor foreman from the Spirit Hall Engineering Division, followed by over twenty craftsmen. Every one of them carried a soul tool record book, along with pens, ink, and measuring tools. They looked like a professional construction inspection dream team.

The foreman led the entire team in a neat bow. "All members of Engineering Division Inspection Team One await the chief supervisor's orders!"

Qian Xunzong waved a hand. "Spread out across the entire area. Mark every crack in the formation patterns and every point of spiritual power depletion precisely. Miss one, and you don't eat tonight."

The craftsmen immediately perked up, holding jade boards at the ready. Xiaojing poked her head out of his arms and looked around curiously, her soft fur swaying back and forth. Some passing students wanted to come over and pet her, but the sight of the row of uniformed craftsmen scared them off. They only dared sneak glances from afar.

The group proceeded along the main path. The Spirit-Gathering Light Elms lining both sides looked ethereal, but they were nothing more than decorations. The instructor leading the way complained:

"Ah, Young Master, they may look golden and dazzling on the surface, but their roots have long since been drained dry. Students can walk around them all day and get no guidance effect at all. Pretty but useless."

Qian Xunzong crouched down, letting a thread of Judgment Holy Light seep into the ground. The depleted pathways of the spirit roots below became perfectly clear.

"Write it all down. Dig them out and replace them with superior spirit plants. Relay the underground Chain Spirit-Gathering Array. If they still look like this next time I come, the Engineering Division manager can be renovated along with these trees."

The craftsmen beside him hurriedly recorded the information, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Their first stop was the Shallow Enlightenment Spirit-Gathering Field. Regardless of attribute, the entire warm-jade floor was crisscrossed with cracks, its spirit-gathering patterns faded until they were nearly invisible, while the thin ambient energy scattered even faster than running water.

Several younger students sat cross-legged in meditation, their little faces flushed red as though they were competing to hold their breath.

The Engineering Division personnel immediately spread out, dividing up the damaged areas to measure and testing the remaining energy. Their notebooks were densely packed with calculations.

Xiaojing jumped out of his arms to wander around. As soon as her purification domain spread out, the turbid air in the field was instantly cleared away. The stifled youngsters had barely enjoyed half a second of relief before spotting the group of recording craftsmen. They immediately sat properly and did not dare make a fuss.

The second location was the middle-layer earth vein, intended specifically for earth-attribute Soul Elders. The moment they entered the cave, a wave of cold, murky air rushed at them. The earth-vein channeling patterns had twisted completely out of shape, and the anti-turbidity barrier was totally ruined. Only a small patch near the cave entrance contained sufficient spiritual energy, and the students meditating there looked as though they were fighting over prime real estate.

The academy principal hurried over, his eighty-ninth-ranked Titled Douluo face filled with helplessness. The foreman led his men into every corner of the cave, recording the damaged rock walls, displaced earth veins, and ruined formations. The estimated material costs alone filled three entire pages.

Qian Xunzong casually finalized the renovation plan, while the engineering personnel recorded everything in real time without the slightest delay.

They continued straight to the academy's flagship training ground—Holy Light Valley.

Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it should have received an endless supply of sun and moon holy light. Yet several massive holes had opened in the sky above, the formation patterns at the valley floor had dimmed, and the spiritual energy was as weak as watered-down spirit tea. Quite a few talented students had already packed their belongings and were preparing to leave in search of another training ground.

"This is ridiculous. So many mimic training facilities are unusable, and nobody repairs them!"

"Could Dad be a tyrant?"

Qian Xunzong walked alone to the center of the valley. Looking around at the ruined surroundings, an idea stirred in his heart, and he silently called out to the system. "System, sign in at Martial Soul Academy!"

[ Ding! Detected that the host is at Martial Soul Academy. Sign-in successful. Cooldown for this location: one year! ]

[ Sign-in reward: Construction Permit for a Complete Top-Tier Soul Master Academy Foundation! ]

[ Explanation: Build an academy on any vacant land across the continent with one click! Complete training secret realms, giant training grounds, library, herb garden, forging workshop, soul tool institute, and faculty residences will be generated automatically. Includes circulating spirit-gathering earth veins, formations, spirit materials, and supporting craftsmen. Open an academy immediately with nothing but your luggage! ]

Qian Xunzong nearly laughed out loud on the spot. He had previously planned to build an academy for his own faction, and he had been troubled over opening mountains, finding spirit veins, recruiting Soul Masters, and countless other nuisances. Now he had obtained a fully equipped top-tier academy for free. It was practically heaven handing him a slacker's benefit package.

In the future, the Embroidered Uniform Guard could select orphaned talents and other gifted youths, the Judgment Knights could handle security, Yue Guan and Gui Mei could pursue specialized studies there, while Shen Wansan and He Shen could open businesses to support it. A complete factional loop would take shape, and he would no longer need to depend on Spirit Hall for everything. It was absolutely perfect.

"Young Master, Holy Light Valley will be the most difficult to restore. It will consume an enormous quantity of high-grade light-attributed spirit materials, and ordinary craftsmen cannot repair the core formation patterns." The foreman stepped forward with a thick stack of documents, his brows tightly furrowed.

Qian Xunzong forcibly suppressed his wild joy and put on the steady air of a chief contractor. "Record everything in the files. I'll allocate the top-grade spirit materials and resources. Invite the elders from the hall to redraw the patterns as well. Once the work is complete, the spirit-gathering effect must at least double."

The craftsmen immediately revised the repair plans, frantically adding to their estimated material requirements.

The inspections of all four core mimic training grounds were complete. The jade record boards of the Engineering Division's twenty-plus members were filled to the brim, and the foreman gathered them all together, intending to bring them back to the workshop and organize a complete construction plan.

Xiaojing lay quietly beside the table, gnawing on spirit fruit. She was obedient and did not cause trouble.

After lunch, they only stopped briefly at the spiritual lake on the western side, casually finalizing renovation plans for several small peripheral training platforms. Students by the lake fished and meditated on their own, without disturbing the inspection team.

Qian Xunzong leaned against the railing of the corridor and considered a site for the new academy. He planned to find a paradise far from the two great empires, nestled among mountains and water, build a city there, generate his exclusive academy with one click, make Mo Hengchuan the principal, and become a hands-off boss himself.

The sun slowly dipped toward the horizon, and all inspection tasks came to a successful end. The Engineering Division team departed first with their massive collection of records to prepare materials. Qian Xunzong bid farewell to the academy administrators, then boarded the Cloudstep Light-Carriage while carrying the drowsy Xiaojing.

The jade carriage rose into the air. Qian Xunzong looked down at the vast Martial Soul Academy below. What he had thought would be a boring, miserable construction inspection had unexpectedly earned him a construction permit for a complete top-tier academy.

This field assignment had been an absolute steal!