Opening Ceremony! (Please invest! Please send recommendation votes! Please send monthly votes!)

One month later.

Early morning.

The Heavenly Profound Academy's opening ceremony took place as scheduled. The Heavenly Profound Plaza buzzed with voices as students from the intermediate and advanced divisions stood in orderly blocks beneath a majestic Black Dragon Statue, facing the temporary platform erected below it.

More than three thousand students had gathered in the plaza. Viewed from the platform, they formed a vast, densely packed sea of people—an impressive sight.

The students of the Young Genius Class, dressed in white-and-gold uniforms, stood at the very front, closest to the platform. A month had been enough for these children to settle completely into academy life. Now, all of them looked bright and energetic as they curiously studied the people standing on the platform.

"Huh? Why isn't Vielvi standing with us?" Xue Zhao, who stood in the first row, asked Ye Guyi beside her in confusion, her gaze settling on Vielvi, seated behind the platform.

"No idea. Maybe Vielvi has a really important background," Ye Guyi replied thoughtfully. From where they stood, they could clearly see not only the people on the platform but also those behind it, including Qin Xu, Vielvi, and Sister Lexuan.

The other students of the Young Heaven Class had noticed Vielvi too, and they began discussing the class's hottest topic that month—her true identity. It had to be said that Vielvi had done an excellent job of keeping her secret. An entire month into the school year, not a single person knew she was a royal princess.

Behind the platform, Qin Xu and Vielvi, who had drawn so much attention from the Young Heaven Class, were not the main figures. Qin Tianji was the center of attention there. Dean Li Wei, Vice Dean Xiao Nai, who also served as director of the advanced division, and the academy's other senior staff gathered around him, reporting on the academy's achievements and plans.

"This year, the intermediate division admitted 502 new students, and the advanced division admitted 95. There are 486 intermediate-division students about to graduate, and 77 in the advanced division..." Li Wei reported on the academy's work over the past year, even though he had already submitted all these figures and documents to the palace.

"Mm, very good. You've done solid work." Qin Tianji nodded in satisfaction. "Little Wei, that's enough. Let's not delay things. The opening ceremony can begin."

"Yes, Your Eminence," Li Wei replied respectfully, then led several senior academy staff onto the platform.

Qin Tianji turned to Qin Xu and the two girls. "Xu'er, Vielvi, Lexuan, you should return to your lines too."

"All right," the three answered in unison. They left from behind the platform and hurried around to the front, joining their respective groups.

Qin Xu and Vielvi returned to the Young Heaven Class's formation, standing beside Xue Zhao and Ye Guyi in the first row.

"Vielvi, why were you allowed to stand beside the Black Dragon Douluo with Qin Xu?" Xue Zhao leaned close to Vielvi's ear and asked, "Why couldn't Yiyi and I go over too?"

"Well... hehe, that's a secret!" Vielvi smiled mischievously, deliberately putting on a mysterious air.

Annoyed by this, Xue Zhao leaned toward Qin Xu instead. "Qin Xu, Vielvi won't tell me, so you tell me!"

"She won't let me tell you." Qin Xu shook his head.

Xue Zhao rolled her eyes at him, then turned back to pester Vielvi.

Watching Xue Zhao, who was utterly absorbed in gossip and showed none of the icy demeanor she had possessed when they first met, Qin Xu was filled with confusion.

Could Xue Zhao really just be a human girl? Was that why she could remain so composed right under Great-Grandfather's nose? Had I really been overthinking things? Or did she have some heavenly treasure like the Lovesick Heartbreak Red that could conceal her aura and let her fool a Titled Douluo's eyes?

That was very possible! Qin Xu's eyes lit up.

It was not that Qin Xu was being overly suspicious. From his perspective, Xue Zhao's origins truly were questionable!

An orphan girl with a Snow Woman Martial Soul, not only possessing innate full soul power but also gifted with ultimate ice, who had appeared in a remote village near the Far North—any one of these details would have been unremarkable on its own. But when they all came together in a single person, something was seriously amiss.

An ordinary person might not have cared and, at most, would have dismissed it as coincidence. No one would believe that the Snow Empress would abandon nearly seven hundred thousand years of cultivation to start over. But Qin Xu was no ordinary person. He was a transmigrator. He knew the people and events of the future, and, more importantly, he knew that the Snow Empress really would choose to take human form and cultivate anew.

With that in mind, how could all these coincidences surrounding Xue Zhao not make Qin Xu think a little further?

Qin Xu was not coveting the Snow Empress's Soul Rings or Soul Bones. He simply coveted her body and the benefits she could bring him. If he could conquer the Snow Empress, he would gain not only a wife with extraordinary combat strength but the entire Far North as well!

So, was Xue Zhao the Snow Empress or not? That question had lingered in Qin Xu's mind all along. He could not tell anyone else, so there was no one to help him puzzle it out. After all, the whole matter was too incredible. If Xue Zhao really was the Snow Empress, wouldn't he risk outsmarting himself?

Ask Xue Zhao directly? That was clearly impossible too. The risk was too great.

Qin Xu gazed pensively at Xue Zhao. His best option now was to make her fall in love with him. That way, whether she was human or the Snow Empress, the outcome would be the most favorable one for him.

Xue Zhao felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.

If Xue Zhao had known what Qin Xu was thinking, she would definitely have cried, "Holy shit, I've been doxxed!"

Her transformation was so perfect—how could she still have aroused Qin Xu's suspicions? She had used the power of a hundred-thousand-year snow lotus to achieve a perfect transformation and gain a genuine human body. That was why she could stroll brazenly before powerful humans.

Moreover, the side effects of her perfect transformation provided a natural disguise. She could neither awaken her Martial Soul on her own nor condense her own Soul Rings, leaving her no different from a genuine human Soul Master.

Thus, apart from Qin Xu, no one would connect her to the Snow Empress.

While Qin Xu remained immersed in his thoughts, the academy leaders on the platform had taken their places.

"Students," Li Wei began, "some of you know me, and some of you do not. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Li Wei, dean of the Heavenly Profound Academy.

"Today marks the opening ceremony for the Heavenly Profound Academy's new academic year. On behalf of the academy's leadership, I extend a warm welcome to our new students. I hope you will soon settle into academy life and become part of the Heavenly Profound Academy family!

"At the same time, I would also like to tell our returning students how dearly we have missed them during the holiday. I hope you will strive to grow, cultivate diligently, and forge boldly ahead on the path of a Soul Master to reach greater heights..."

Li Wei rambled on at length, almost entirely in platitudes. Only his final few remarks truly mattered.

"...For the sixth-year and twelfth-year students approaching graduation, I have a new policy to announce on behalf of the duchy. For all of you, this is good news:

"Graduates of the Soul Master Academy who enlist in the military can immediately receive ranks and appointments corresponding to their cultivation, along with a substantial enlistment bonus.

"Under the duchy's newly issued 'Duchy Soul Master Officer Training Regulations,' Soul Masters will be commissioned as company-grade officers, Soul Grandmasters as majors, Soul Elders as lieutenant colonels, and Soul Ancestors as colonels. Soul Kings can even receive an exceptional direct commission as major generals!

"I won't go through all the benefits one by one. I'll mention just one: once you enlist, the military will guarantee that you obtain your Soul Rings!"

Before he had even finished speaking, the sixth-year and twelfth-year students nearing graduation could no longer contain their excitement. The eyes of the commoner students from modest families burned especially fiercely. Leaving aside every other benefit of enlisting, the guarantee of obtaining Soul Rings alone was enough to make them sign up.

Since ancient times, obtaining Soul Rings had been the leading cause of death among Soul Masters. Even great families and powerful organizations could not guarantee absolute safety, let alone ordinary Soul Masters with no power, influence, or backing.

Without a professional team or high-level Soul Masters, obtaining a suitable Soul Ring was as difficult as climbing to heaven for an ordinary Soul Master.

Now, someone was telling them that as long as they enlisted, the military would guarantee their future Soul Rings. How could they not be thrilled and excited?

"If you do not wish to enlist, the duchy has provided another option. You may join the Royal Palace Martial Soul Bureau and become Soul Masters serving directly under His Highness the Grand Duke and the duchy's Offering Hall. Your benefits will equal those of military officers, and you may even have the opportunity to receive guidance from the duchy's offering elders."

This was another bombshell, and the graduating students were beside themselves with excitement.

Qin Tianji, who had remained behind the platform throughout, was very satisfied with the graduates' reaction. To recruit these students approaching graduation, the Qin Family and the duchy had truly committed themselves and spared no expense.

Among the armies of all the continent's nations, not a single one had volunteered to guarantee Soul Rings for its military Soul Masters. After all, it was a thankless task requiring tremendous effort. With this move, the Black Dragon Duchy was setting a historical precedent.

Aside from students of the Heavenly Profound Academy, students at the duchy's other intermediate Soul Master academies and its two other advanced Soul Master academies were also within the scope of recruitment.

Increasing the number of Soul Masters under the duchy's control as much as possible would become its long-term national policy.