Enrollment, Hope, Disappointment, a Young Genius

The first day of term at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy arrived as scheduled. Uncle Fu brought Mo An to register early that morning.

North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy stood in the eastern part of North Sea City, alongside the Spirit Hall Branch, the Soul Fighting Arena, an auction house, and other buildings.

From a distance, Mo An spotted the academy's enormous whale archway. Formed by two carved stone whales, it was more than twenty meters wide and over ten meters tall. Four large characters were carved where the whales met: "North Sea Academy."

Golden whale patterns were carved into the two great iron gates beneath the archway. The patterns looked so lifelike that a great deal of work had clearly gone into them.

Looking through the gates, the first thing he saw was a jade whale fountain.

Before coming here, Mo An had heard that the academy's founder had a whale Martial Soul and loved whales to the point of obsession.

Now that he had seen the place for himself, its reputation was well deserved.

Uncle Fu brought Mo An to the entrance and showed the gatekeeper his Martial Soul Awakening certificate. They entered without trouble. There was no arrogant gatekeeper to be put in his place by a dazzling display of talent, as there might have been in a wish-fulfillment novel.

After paying the tuition at the registration desk, Mo An was led by the enthusiastic dean of students to his new quarters: a relatively quiet, detached courtyard.

There were not many school-age Soul Masters in North Sea City. Almost any child attending the academy could have a courtyard to themselves if they wanted one and paid an extra Gold Soul Coin or two.

Mo An had paid nothing extra. His talent was good enough that, after he merely mentioned what he wanted, the dean of students gave him special treatment.

From the dean's perspective, a young genius with level-seven Innate Soul Power had made a very simple request. There was no reason not to grant it and earn a small favor.

"Young master, you must take good care of yourself here. If the food isn't to your liking, you can always come back to Azure Bamboo Pharmacy."

"And be sure to keep warm. North Sea City's weather changes without warning. You must be careful not to catch a cold."

After living with the young master for six years, Uncle Fu found their temporary separation hard to bear. He went over every little thing Mo An needed to watch out for, as though he could only rest easy once he had arranged it all.

Mo An answered each reminder. When Uncle Fu finally stopped, Mo An looked him in the eye and said earnestly, "Uncle Fu, don't worry. I'll take care of myself. There aren't many classes at the junior academy, so I'll come back to see you whenever I have time. If you miss me, you can come see me whenever you like."

Uncle Fu was reluctant to leave Mo An, and Mo An felt the same.

"All right. I'll head back, then."

Uncle Fu watched his young master for a long moment. Knowing he could not stay any longer, he rose and left.

Only after Uncle Fu had vanished from sight did Mo An look away. He took several deep breaths and forced back the tears gathering in his eyes. He had too much to do and needed to grow stronger as soon as possible. He could not linger here, grieving over spring and mourning autumn.

On his first day at North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy, Mo An visited its library. He left a little disappointed.

The library did have plenty of books about Soul Masters, but most contained nothing precious. They were common fare that anyone with enough money could buy.

The slightly more valuable books were kept out of reach and required a teacher's signature to read.

The next morning, Mo An attended his first class.

Seated in the back row by the window in North Sea Junior Soul Master Academy's first-year Class One, Mo An tuned out the chatter of the six-year-olds around him. His attention was fixed on Soul Beasts, Soul Rings, and Soul Skills, the book he had borrowed from the library the day before.

The Green Bamboo Compendium recorded many things, but it did not explain how to choose the Soul Ring best suited to him.

Mo An had plenty of ideas, but that did not mean they would work. He could not let his thoughts gallop through the sky; he had to judge them against the realities of Douluo Continent.

For example, he had originally planned to make his first Soul Skill a strengthening support skill. He had always imagined Douluo Continent as a fantasy world with online-game elements, where such skills directly increased an attribute by a fixed percentage. Once he learned how things actually worked, he abandoned that foolish, naive idea on the spot.

It was true that strengthening support skills on Douluo Continent increased attributes by percentages, much like in an online game. But their effects could also be diluted as levels rose.

Suppose his first Soul Skill increased the destructive power of Ink Jade Divine Bamboo by ten percent. As his level continued to rise, that increase would be diluted. Eventually, it might add only one percent—or even one ten-millionth of a percent.

If the strengthening effects of skills from Yellow Hundred-Year Soul Rings were never diluted and always remained fixed, why would major powers such as Spirit Hall, the Clear Sky Sect, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, and the Star Luo Imperial Family not use them?

Were they too stupid to notice something so simple?

Obviously not.

"Ahem—"

Just as Mo An was immersed in a sea of knowledge, a cough interrupted his voyage. It also silenced the chattering children, all of whom possessed Innate Soul Power.

Once the room was quiet, the beautiful middle-aged woman who had walked in carrying her lesson plans picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard: "Liu Yue."

"My name is Liu Yue. My Martial Soul is a Chinese Rose, and I'm a level-seventeen, One-Ring control-type Soul Master. I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next six years. I hope we'll enjoy our time together, and that by graduation, every one of you will have obtained a Soul Ring and become an honorable Soul Master."

To establish her authority as their teacher, Liu Yue extended her right hand and summoned her Chinese Rose Martial Soul. A pale Yellow Soul Ring rose with it, and a terrifying pressure spread from her body. Every child except Mo An was won over and came to regard her with a measure of awe.

To graduate from the junior academy, a student had to obtain a Soul Ring and become a One-Ring Soul Master.

That would be easy enough for Mo An. For the others—especially commoner students whose Innate Soul Power was below level two—it was a daunting challenge.

After introducing herself and establishing her authority, Liu Yue called on the students to stand and introduce themselves.

"I'm Li Daniu. My Martial Soul's a bull too. I've got level-two Innate Soul Power, and I hope we can all be friends."

"My name is Huang Cuicui. My Martial Soul is a cute Snow Fox, and I have level-three Innate Soul Power."

As Mo An listened to his classmates' innocent introductions, he felt an urge to laugh. Though he looked six, he was twenty-nine if he counted the years of his previous life. Their words also reminded him of his own lost youth.

"My name is Mo An. My Martial Soul is Ink Bamboo, and I have level-seven Innate Soul Power."

When his turn came, Mo An stood, rattled off his name, Martial Soul, and Innate Soul Power level as quickly as he could, then sat straight back down.

Giving a rather childish self-introduction among a group of little kids was an embarrassing challenge for him.

As soon as he sat, cries of "Wow," "That's amazing," "Level-seven Innate Soul Power," and "That's four levels higher than mine" rose around the classroom.

Two or three months had passed since their Martial Soul Awakenings. Young as they were, the children understood what level-seven Innate Soul Power meant. They all gazed at Mo An with admiration, making him wish he could crawl into a crack in the floor.

In a class where most students had level-three or level-four Innate Soul Power and the next highest was level five, his level seven stood out far too much.

"All right, quiet."

Liu Yue had heard that the academy had enrolled a genius with level-seven Innate Soul Power this year, but she had not expected him to be in her class. She gave Mo An a few extra glances, then tapped her ruler on the desk to settle the classroom, which had grown as noisy as a marketplace. She encouraged them:

"As long as you work hard, you'll be able to catch up with Mo An someday, or even surpass him. I believe in you."

That was a lie. Liu Yue knew these children were unlikely to catch up with Mo An, but as their teacher, she could hardly say anything that would crush their spirits.

Once introductions were over and she had checked how well the children knew the meditation method, Liu Yue began explaining the techniques for learning the Mainland Universal Meditation Method in detail.

Mo An was the only student in the class who had mastered a meditation method. After gazing thoughtfully at the sunlight outside the window for a while, he took out Soul Beasts, Soul Rings, and Soul Skills and resumed reading.

From the lectern, Liu Yue noticed what Mo An was doing but left him alone. The young genius had already mastered the meditation method. She would not have interfered even if he had slept through class, much less when he was studying.