A simulated battle in the Star Dou Great Forest (two chapters in one)

"I really wasn't complimenting you."

Dong Qianqiu couldn't help rolling her eyes as she spoke.

Standing beside them, Lan Mengqin laughed at their bickering. "All right, all right, stop trading jabs. This simulated Titan Ironclad Dragon was pretty realistic. The smell of blood is so strong. Let's get moving before it attracts anything else."

Ye Zhiqiu nodded at that. "Let's go. That last slash didn't make much noise, but if it draws every soul beast in the area over here, that'll be a huge waste of time."

The three headed back the way they had come.

They passed through a dense thicket and crossed a shallow stream, returning to a relatively safe area.

When they reached the edge of the sparse bushes, Lan Mengqin found a relatively flat rock and sat down. She unscrewed her water bottle, took a sip, then glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. "That slash just now—the second one. I couldn't even see how you attacked."

"If you could see it clearly, would it still be a trump card?" Ye Zhiqiu said, sitting down on another rock.

"There you go again." Lan Mengqin glared at him.

Dong Qianqiu added from beside them, "His soul skills are just that sinister. I've fought him for three years, and I still haven't figured out all the tricks he can pull with them."

"Then you'd better study harder. How else are you going to fight me in the future?"

"Are you proud of yourself because I can't beat you?"

"Not proud. Just moderately proud."

"Ye Zhiqiu, that mouth of yours really..." Dong Qianqiu took a deep breath. After struggling for ages to find a suitable insult, she finally managed, "Your tongue is sharper than your blade."

"Of course. I'm accomplished in both letters and arms."

Lan Mengqin's shoulders shook with laughter beside them. "Enough. If you two keep arguing, it'll be dark before you're done. Are we fighting anything else or not?"

"Yes, of course we are." Ye Zhiqiu stood up.

The three continued onward, encountering several more soul beasts along the way, some alone and others in groups.

Perhaps because this area fell under the Titan Ironclad Dragon's domain, none of them were particularly old. The strongest was a Golden-Clawed Azure Bear around nine thousand years old. Ye Zhiqiu didn't even use Absolute Gravity; the sharpness of Absolute Blade alone was enough to finish it off.

By the time the three left the Simulation Pod, it was already afternoon.

Ye Zhiqiu removed his metal mask and stepped out of the transparent gel. He stretched his neck, making his joints crack twice.

The pod beside his opened as well. Dong Qianqiu stepped out and shook her dark blue ponytail. "That was a satisfying fight today. It's been ages since I faced anything that tough."

Lan Mengqin also emerged, speaking as she walked. "Absolutely. That Titan Ironclad Dragon's defense was really high. If I'd fought it alone, I probably would've had to grind away for ages just to do some damage."

"Next time we meet something stronger, I'll show you how to slice it apart in one stroke again," Ye Zhiqiu said casually.

"Oh, please. You're just relying on your freakish martial soul," Dong Qianqiu said.

"A freakish martial soul is a kind of strength too," Ye Zhiqiu replied matter-of-factly.

"You really are..." Dong Qianqiu shook her head in exasperation and pulled Lan Mengqin toward the exit.

Ye Zhiqiu followed with a smile.

Over the next few days, the three maintained much the same routine.

They attended classes as usual during the day, found time for a fight or two in the Simulation Pod in the afternoon, and cultivated on their own at night.

Lan Xuanyu occasionally joined them in the simulation pods to have some fun together.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Lan Xuanyu finally made her breakthrough.

Ye Zhiqiu was eating in the cafeteria when he received the message, with Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin sitting across from him.

His communicator lit up, displaying a text message from Lan Xuanyu: "I did it! Level twenty! Finally a Soul Grandmaster!"

A whole string of exclamation marks followed.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced at it, the corners of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly. He turned the communicator around and showed it to Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin.

"Xuan Yu broke through."

Dong Qianqiu paused, then her eyes lit up. "Really? That was pretty quick."

"Yeah. She just sent the message. Said she succeeded."

Lan Mengqin set down her chopsticks and leaned over to look. "So she has two rings now?"

"Right."

Dong Qianqiu turned to Ye Zhiqiu. "Should we go celebrate with her tonight?"

"Sure."

That evening, the three went to Nana's apartment together.

Lan Xuanyu sat on the living room sofa, looking full of energy. The heaviness that had weighed on her brow was gone, replaced by ease and brightness.

She had finally broken through to Soul Grandmaster. What an ordeal it had been!

"Teacher helped stabilize my soul power and watched over me for ages. Otherwise, it might not have gone so smoothly," Lan Xuanyu said with a smile, glancing toward the kitchen.

Nana was slicing fruit in the kitchen, her silver-white French braid swaying gently behind her. "You'd accumulated enough strength yourself," she said with a smile.

Ye Zhiqiu sat on the nearby sofa and looked at Lan Xuanyu. Her presence was indeed stronger than before, with faint traces of silver-patterned and gold-patterned energy lingering around her.

"What are you planning to do next?" Dong Qianqiu sat beside Lan Xuanyu and handed her a glass of water.

"Rest properly for a day first, then get ready to go back to Tianluo Star." Lan Xuanyu took the glass and continued, "I only have twenty days off, and Teacher has already spent several days helping me break through."

"You're leaving so soon?" Dong Qianqiu sounded surprised.

"Yeah. I still have to go back to class, after all. I can't stay away forever."

Ye Zhiqiu leaned back, watching Lan Xuanyu and Dong Qianqiu chat while playing with a pen. He chimed in, "Once you get back, remember to practice your soul skills more. There'll be an adjustment period after reaching level twenty. Don't get so caught up in celebrating that you slack off."

"Understood, Teacher Ye~." Lan Xuanyu deliberately drew out the word "Teacher," her tone teasing. "Why do you sound exactly like Teacher Nana? Did you two plan this?"

"Great minds think alike."

"Narcissist."

"I learned it from Qianqiu."

"What did you say?" Dong Qianqiu abruptly turned her head, her dark blue eyes widening slightly.

Ye Zhiqiu blinked innocently. "I said Mengqin is really good at peeling fruit."

Lan Mengqin happened to be approaching with a plate of sliced fruit. At his words, she looked down at the platter in her hands, then up at Ye Zhiqiu. "Stop using me as a shield."

"I'm sincerely complimenting you."

"You don't sound sincere."

The four traded remarks back and forth in the living room, accompanied by the fresh fragrance of fruit.

In the end, Lan Xuanyu boarded her return spaceship with eight days left in her vacation.

Nana stood at the spaceport's departure entrance, the wind stirring her silver-white French braid. Her gaze remained on Lan Xuanyu until the door leading to the boarding gate closed completely. Only then did she look away.

The following month was their vacation at Heaven Dou Academy.

Lan Mengqin returned to the Ice Clan's territory in Beidou City for half a month, while Dong Qianqiu and Ye Zhiqiu stayed in Heaven Dou City. The two occasionally arranged to spar at the training grounds, and sometimes went shopping or visited the night market. They spent the rest of their time cultivating separately.

After the vacation ended, they attended another two weeks of classes.

That morning, their homeroom teacher, Ye Wenduo, entered the classroom. His gaze swept over the thirty students as he spoke in a rather solemn tone:

"Everyone, assemble at the training grounds."

Class One was the only elite class in the entire year. It had only thirty students, but every one of them had been carefully selected.

Ten minutes later, all thirty stood in the center of the training grounds.

Several teachers sat in the stands beside the grounds. Apart from Ye Wenduo, there were several of Class One's subject teachers, along with a gray-haired old man—the vice dean of Heaven Dou Academy.

The atmosphere felt a little different.

They were serious about their usual lessons and training too, but today seemed to carry an added sense of ceremony.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the entrance to the training grounds.

Two people entered. Leading the way was Heaven Dou Academy's dean, Chen Anliang, accompanied by a young man of about twenty-five.

The young man was tall and slender, with handsome, refined features and a warm smile. His steps were unhurried as his gaze swept over the thirty students standing in the training grounds.

He stopped about ten meters from the students, surveyed the class, and gave a slight nod.

The dean turned toward the teachers. "Thank you all for your hard work. Today is the preliminary test, and I wish our Class One students excellent results. Allow me to introduce Lu Shiyan, an inner court disciple from over there."

Lu Shiyan inclined his head. "Greetings, teachers. Greetings, Senior Ye Wenduo."

He merely nodded to the other teachers, but bowed thirty degrees to Ye Wenduo.

Ye Wenduo inclined his head in return. "You're too courteous, junior."

"Dean Chen, shall we begin?" Lu Shiyan asked.

"Yes, please." Chen Anliang politely gestured for him to proceed.

The teachers accompanied Lu Shiyan to the front of Class One's formation.

Lu Shiyan stepped forward, his gaze passing over each of the thirty students' faces. His tone was warm yet formal:

"Hello, students. I'm Lu Shiyan. Today's preliminary test is very simple. We'll mainly be checking your bone age, soul power cultivation, and spiritual power cultivation. Please step forward one at a time to be tested. The requirements for the preliminary test are an age under twelve and soul power above level twenty. For Soul Elders above level thirty, the age limit can be relaxed to thirteen. Let's begin, from left to right."

The thirty students stood quietly, none speaking. A hushed tension hung in the air.

First in line was the class monitor, Ren Xiaoyuan.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and stopped before Lu Shiyan. Then he bowed slightly. "Hello, I'm Ren Xiaoyuan."

"Mm. Just relax." Lu Shiyan smiled faintly and flicked his hand. A metal sphere rose from his palm and hovered above Ren Xiaoyuan's head.

A ring of light slid down from the top of his head, quickly scanning his entire body all the way to his feet.

The metal sphere returned and attached itself to the soul communicator on Lu Shiyan's wrist. He glanced down at the data on the light screen and read, "Bone age: twelve. Soul power: level thirty-four. Spiritual power: three hundred forty-one. Preliminary test passed."

"Thank you, sir." Ren Xiaoyuan relaxed slightly and stepped back.

"Next."

The test was far simpler than they had imagined. They merely had to step forward, let the metal sphere scan them from head to toe, and wait for Lu Shiyan to read out their data and give the result.

There was no complicated combat, nor any need to demonstrate techniques.

Yet the waiting line was so quiet that they could hear one another breathing.

Ye Zhiqiu stood slightly behind the middle of the line, his hands in his pockets and his posture relaxed.

The testing went faster than expected. Six or seven students finished in just a few minutes, and most passed smoothly. Only one student, whose spiritual power was just one hundred one, barely met the requirement and scraped past the cutoff, earning an extra glance from Lu Shiyan.

"Your spiritual power is rather low," Lu Shiyan said. "You'll need to improve it going forward, or it'll be difficult to make it through Shrek's preliminary selection."

The student lowered his head in acknowledgment and returned to the line, visibly relieved.

Several more students were tested next, all meeting the passing requirements. Occasionally, one or two had particularly impressive results, such as soul power at level thirty-eight or spiritual power exceeding four hundred, prompting an extra remark from Lu Shiyan.

When Dong Qianqiu's turn came, she stepped forward and stopped before Lu Shiyan.

Lu Shiyan's gaze lingered on her briefly, for no other reason than that the girl truly was striking. Her long dark blue hair shone under the training ground lights, and her features were more exquisite than one would expect at her age.

"Just relax." Lu Shiyan withdrew his gaze and tossed out the metal sphere again.

The ring of light slid down from the top of her head, scanning her entire body. The metal sphere flew back and attached itself to the communicator.

Lu Shiyan glanced down at the data, his gaze pausing briefly before he read, "Bone age: eleven. Soul power: level thirty-nine. Spiritual power: seven hundred twenty-one. Preliminary test passed."

This time, Lu Shiyan wasn't the only one who paused. The teachers recording the data beside him all looked up as well.

In the Douluo Federation, even twelve-year-olds with such high spiritual power and soul power were relatively rare, let alone Dong Qianqiu, who was only eleven.

Eleven years old, level thirty-nine soul power, and spiritual power above seven hundred—she was already a genius among geniuses.

In truth, Ye Zhiqiu deserved some of the credit. In previous years, besides finding excuses to give his parents a bottle of Origin Spring each week, he hadn't left Dong Qianqiu out either. After Lan Mengqin became their teammate, he gave her a share too.

After drinking such heavenly treasures over a long period, even if the quantities weren't large, their spiritual power was bound to be stronger than in the original story.

Standing in line, Ye Zhiqiu caught the awkward expressions of several classmates out of the corner of his eye, but his own face showed no obvious reaction.

Dong Qianqiu stepped back. As she passed Lan Mengqin, she said, "Your turn."

Lan Mengqin nodded slightly.

Then Lan Mengqin took two steps forward and stopped before Lu Shiyan. "Hello, my name is Lan Mengqin."

Lu Shiyan nodded and tossed out the metal sphere again.

The ring of light slid down from the top of her head, scanning her whole body. The sphere returned and attached itself to the communicator. He glanced down at the data, then froze.

"...Bone age: twelve. Soul power: level forty-six. Spiritual power: nine hundred eighty-nine. Preliminary test passed."

The training grounds fell silent for a moment.

The teacher recording the data stopped writing and looked up at Lu Shiyan.

Nine hundred eighty-nine.

A twelve-year-old child with spiritual power approaching one thousand and level forty-six soul power was an exceedingly rare case even in the records of the entire Federation.

Even Lu Shiyan himself was stunned for a moment. He didn't think he had reached that level at her age.

Lu Shiyan retrieved the metal sphere, his gaze lingering on Lan Mengqin for another moment before he inclined his head slightly.

Lan Mengqin returned to the line without any change in expression. As she passed Dong Qianqiu, Dong Qianqiu discreetly gave her a thumbs-up.

At that, Lan Mengqin couldn't help letting the corners of her mouth lift slightly.

Several classmates could no longer keep their expressions composed. Dong Qianqiu's spiritual power of over seven hundred had already been outrageous, and now came someone with nine hundred eighty-nine, along with level forty-six soul power. Those figures were unprecedented in Heaven Dou Academy's entire history.

"Next."

Lu Shiyan's voice drew everyone's attention back. He glanced down at the roster, then raised his head and swept his gaze over the line before finally settling on one spot.

"Ye Zhiqiu."