Fast-Acting Heart Pills

"The Crown Prince praised you two to the skies in his letter." Meng Shenji turned to Jiang Baiyu and Zhu Zhuqing, while the other two Education Committee Members regarded the youngsters with interest.

With everyone looking at them, Jiang Baiyu and Zhu Zhuqing rose.

Jiang Baiyu gave Zhu Zhuqing a gentle push forward. She looked tense. Facing four Soul Douluo made her nervous.

She bowed lightly and said politely, "Greetings, seniors. My name is Zhu Zhuqing. My martial soul is the Hell Spirit Cat. I'm nine years old, and my Soul Power is level twenty-two."

Her eyes changed, their pupils narrowing into vertical slits. A faint, cool sheen settled over her fair skin.

Small, delicate cat ears emerged atop her head, and fine, sharp black claws extended from her fingertips. A dark, quiet chill surrounded her, making her seem as light as a shadow.

Two warm yellow Soul Rings slowly rose behind her and circled steadily at her sides.

The Three Education Committee Members exchanged glances. Zhi Lin said, "Come here. Let me check your bone age."

Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward. Zhi Lin gently pressed her hand. "Just turned nine!"

Reaching level twenty at nine made her a genius, though Heaven Dou Royal Academy had seen such talent before. But she was already level twenty-two at barely nine. She might break through to Soul Elder before she turned twelve.

Talent like hers deserved careful cultivation. She might even become a Titled Douluo. Whatever concerns they had harbored about her martial soul had vanished. After all, the Crown Prince had brought her here.

In fact, the three committee heads had recognized where she came from the instant they saw her distinctive martial soul. But talent outweighed everything else. If the Xingdou imperial family came looking, they could take it up with the Crown Prince. The three of them were merely frail old men, after all.

Then they turned to Jiang Baiyu. According to the Crown Prince's letter, his talent would truly astonish them.

Seeing every gaze settle on him, Jiang Baiyu smiled faintly.

Su Wu and Zhu Zhuqing knew that look. He was about to show off again.

Sure enough, an enormous ancient cauldron, green as jade, slowly appeared behind Jiang Baiyu. The moment his martial soul emerged, a vast surge of life force swept over everyone.

"That aura!" The Three Education Committee Members grew excited. Meng Shenji's Black Demon, Bai Baoshan's Heavenly Star Furnace, and Zhi Lin's Azure Sky Vine were all affected to varying degrees. Black Demon was a dark-type martial soul. The Heavenly Star Furnace was suppressed by the Medicine Flame within Jiang Baiyu's Shennong Cauldron. As for Azure Sky Vine—sorry, but before the Shennong Cauldron, it was merely a medicinal ingredient.

That alone showed how extraordinary Jiang Baiyu's martial soul was. The three of them could never have reached Soul Douluo if their own martial souls had been poor.

Jiang Baiyu secretly savored the shock on their faces. "Jiang Baiyu. Martial soul: Shennong Cauldron. Nine years old. Level thirty Soul Elder."

A purple thousand-year Soul Ring marked with red-gold patterns appeared behind him.

The Three Education Committee Members were visibly shaken. Bai Baoshan even clutched his heart. Level thirty at nine years old—the youngest Soul Elder in the history of Douluo Continent!

At this rate, he might also become the youngest Soul Emperor and the youngest Titled Douluo. Yes, with Jiang Baiyu's talent, becoming a Titled Douluo was practically certain.

"This... this..." Zhi Lin was at a loss for words. No wonder the Crown Prince had written to them personally, asking them to meet these two and give them the academy's two most luxurious courtyards. With talent like this, if they asked to live in the Education Committee building, the three of them would move out at once and renovate the place. They could not risk making this young master uncomfortable enough to leave for another academy.

Meng Shenji swallowed. "Jiang Baiyu, forgive an old man for being familiar, but may I call you Little Yu? Why have you shown us only your third ring? Is it because the first two are... rather low in age?" He glanced at Su Wu. With a Soul Douluo accompanying the boy, surely that could not be it.

But Su Wu was staring at the three of them with a strange expression. Was that pity in his eyes?

Jiang Baiyu spoke, his voice brimming with the pride of someone about to make a grand reveal. "No. This is my youngest Soul Ring."

"In that case, may I see your other two?" Meng Shenji asked gently. Given the quality of Jiang Baiyu's martial soul, he would surely become a Titled Douluo even if his first two rings came from ten-year-old Lone Bamboo. Meng Shenji assumed the child simply did not want anyone to see his ten-year rings. As for what Jiang Baiyu had just said, he took it for a child's stubborn pride.

"All right, but you have to take one of these first." Jiang Baiyu looked reluctant, though he could not hide the excitement in his eyes. Finally! I get to make a grand entrance! The three old men looked frail, however. He feared the shock might stop their hearts, so he hurriedly offered them a jade bottle.

"What is this?" Meng Shenji asked, taking the bottle.

"Fast-Acting Heart Pills," Su Wu said. "Little Yu worked out the formula himself. They contain Szechuan Lovage and are good for elderly Soul Masters."

"Oh?" Zhi Lin took the bottle, tipped out a pill, and sniffed it. The herbs were all warming in nature. He swallowed it.

"Interesting indeed," Zhi Lin said after feeling its effects.

The other two each took one as well. Before long, the tightness in Bai Baoshan's chest eased considerably. "Good stuff!" His eyes lit up, and he was about to ask Jiang Baiyu for a few more.

"Will that do?" Meng Shenji asked warmly.

"It will." Seeing that all three had taken a pill, Jiang Baiyu smiled.

A purple Soul Ring appeared, its color deeper than the one before. Faint nine-colored patterns adorned it, making it strikingly beautiful.

Meng Shenji found it hard to breathe. Jiang Baiyu seemed to have been telling the truth.

Then a Soul Ring as black as ink appeared. Meng Shenji's breath caught. A Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring! Of course he recognized one—he had four himself. But Jiang Baiyu was only a Soul Elder. How could he have a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring?

Something heavy hit the floor beside him. He looked down. It was Bai Baoshan. Zhi Lin's face was flushed, and he too was clutching his chest. Oh, so it really is true. He was about to laugh when the blood rushed from his head. With a thud, he fainted as well.

Jiang Baiyu and Su Wu rushed to the two men. After checking their pulses, Su Wu said, "Zhi Lin's fine. The shock made him faint. Give him some of the plant life force from your Shennong Cauldron."

"Grandpa Baoshan's condition is stable too. He's old and a little overweight, but he took my Fast-Acting Heart Pill, so he should be all right." As Jiang Baiyu spoke, three points of green light drifted from his Shennong Cauldron toward the Education Committee Members. Color slowly returned to their ashen faces.

Zhi Lin, the only one still standing, looked at Jiang Baiyu and held his chest. "No wonder you made those Fast-Acting Heart Pills. Here are our authorization letter and a map of the academy. Go to the Academic Affairs Office first."

The scene was rather awkward. Jiang Baiyu acknowledged him and was about to leave when Zhi Lin called, "Wait. Give me a few more of those Fast-Acting Heart Pills."

Jiang Baiyu promptly handed him two jade bottles.

"All right, off you go." Zhi Lin took them and watched the prodigy leave.

"He's gone. You can get up now," Zhi Lin told the two on the floor irritably.

The two men got to their feet. "Heh, Little Yu's Fast-Acting Heart Pills really do work." Bai Baoshan rubbed his still-heavy chest and smiled.

They had not fainted on purpose. The shock really had overwhelmed them. But the healing power of Jiang Baiyu's Shennong Cauldron had restored their circulation, and they had soon woken up. Too embarrassed to open their eyes in front of the youngsters, they had pretended to remain unconscious.

"Enough, you two old fools. So what if his first ring is a thousand-year ring and his third is a ten-thousand-year ring..." Zhi Lin trailed off. Even he could not bring himself to make light of it. None of them knew how to describe Jiang Baiyu. All they knew was that Heaven Dou Royal Academy now had a peerless genius.