Rejected

After several days of travel, Amon arrived in Northland City.

It was the administrative center of Northland Province, as well as its economic center. It was also the place with the strongest military presence.

It was the pride of the Nord people. It was said that long ago, before Northland had been conquered by the Heaven Dou Kingdom, this fortress had held back the Heaven Dou army for three full years.

Looking at the towering city walls, Yan Jin let out a startled gasp. "So this is Northland City? It's even more magnificent than Ironheart City!"

"Of course." Vidal smiled. "I'll take you to register at Northland Academy. It happens to be enrollment season, so getting in won't be much trouble. Just follow the usual procedures."

Amon settled the remaining fare with the coachman, walked to Vidal's side, and adjusted his Monocle. "Let's hope so."

Led by Vidal, they arrived at the grade director's office.

"Teacher Luo Na, I've brought three new students to register." Vidal did not knock, simply opening the door and walking in.

"Damn it, you bastard, get the hell out!" a round-faced man with brown hair roared.

"Tagis, don't you lock the door when you come in?" Luo Na straightened her clothes as she crawled out from beneath the desk.

Vidal looked somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, we interrupted."

With that, he shut the door, shrugged at Amon, and said lightly, "It seems we came at a bad time."

"No, you came at exactly the right time."

Luo Na opened the door and dragged Vidal inside by the shoulder.

"What were they doing just now?" Yan Jin asked innocently.

Amon smiled. "Perhaps it was an impulse born of life's instincts."

Tagis came out with a dark expression and said irritably to Amon, "You three are the ones who want to enroll?"

"Yes." Amon took out the three outstanding graduate certificates Shi Guantao had given him, then added, "May I ask if Teacher Zuo Jianming is here? I have a letter from Principal Shi that I need to pass on to him."

"Oh, Mr. Zuo... I'll handle your enrollment first, then take you to see him later. Luo Na and Vidal have some things to discuss."

Tagis casually flipped through the graduation certificates, then froze. "Yan Jin, twelve years old, level twenty-eight Soul Grandmaster? Lei Yin, eleven years old, level twenty-two Soul Grandmaster?

"And Amon, seventeen years old, level thirty Soul Grandmaster... Not bad either. Your talent is even a little better than that brat Vidal's."

In his view, Amon was merely decent, and would struggle even to qualify in the academy competition. But Yan Jin and Lei Yin might shine in the Soul Master Tournament and bring honor to the academy.

Lei Yin's level was a little low, but he was still young. With some effort, he could participate in three Soul Master Tournaments!

Tagis looked at Yan Jin and Lei Yin. "Let me see your Martial Souls."

The two exchanged glances before revealing their Martial Souls.

Four yellow rings emitted a faint glow. They were not dazzling, yet they were beautiful and captivating.

But when he looked at Amon beside them, he was stunned. Yellow, purple, purple—three Spirit Rings floated silently around him.

Tagis stared fixedly at the second purple Spirit Ring and asked in disbelief, "How did you do that?"

Amon answered, "It has to do with the inherent traits of my Martial Soul... Also, I absorbed my second Spirit Ring relatively late. I waited until my body had developed further before hunting for one, so it delayed my Soul Power cultivation as well."

"Is that so..." Tagis rested his chin on his hand. "Then it really isn't worth it. Deliberately delaying the acquisition of a Spirit Ring just to add one with a higher age limit, waiting for your body to grow stronger—there's no doubt that wastes talent."

"Would you two like to join my class? I guarantee I'll give you the best guidance." He looked at Yan Jin and Lei Yin, all the anger from being interrupted completely gone.

Yan Jin and Lei Yin looked at Amon.

Tagis added to Amon, "You can come too."

Just an afterthought again... Amon was already used to it.

It had been the same when Ma Wen invested in them. Her main target had been Yan Jin; he had merely been an extra.

The reason he had made it this far so smoothly was also thanks to Yan Jin. She was so outstanding that people were always trying to curry favor with her, and Amon had benefited from quite a few resources along the way.

Of course, Yan Jin had only been able to fully realize her talent under Amon's guidance. The two of them had brought out the best in each other.

"That's enough, Tagis. You bastard, stop trying to steal my students. Vidal brought them here, so naturally they should be assigned to me." Luo Na's voice came from inside.

Tagis smiled awkwardly. "All right. Looks like it won't work out."

As he processed Amon and the others' enrollment paperwork, a voice interrupted them.

"Wait. These three cannot enroll. Northland Academy will not accept them!" A stern-looking but short and stout man walked over and spoke flatly.

"Dean, why? Their talent is clearly excellent," Tagis asked in confusion.

"Because they have issues... The one wearing the Monocle is an assistant teacher at Icewind Primary Soul Master Academy, not a student. As for the other two, they are notorious thieves in Frostleaf City. The academy cannot admit such scum. It would disgrace the academy's reputation."

"Who are you calling scum, you fat bastard?" Yan Jin's eyes burned with rage.

Lei Yin also looked at him coldly, ready to strike at any moment. He was gentle and kind toward others, but he would not go easy on anyone who maliciously picked a fight.

"Calm down..." Amon soothed them. "Since we aren't welcome here, let's leave for now."

After walking out of the academy, Yan Jin was still indignant. "What kind of bullshit excuse was that? That fat bastard was deliberately making things difficult for us, wasn't he?"

"Wait a moment."

Tagis chased after them and quietly said to Amon, "That man just now was Zhu Youzhi, the first-year dean.

"Those reasons were just excuses. The academy doesn't investigate such things during enrollment. As long as you have talent, a recommendation certificate, and haven't committed some heinous crime, there's no problem. Small mistakes don't amount to anything.

"You should think about whether you've offended anyone recently, little brother. Someone must have given the word, otherwise a grade director wouldn't casually refuse talented Soul Masters."

After offering that hint, Tagis hurried away, seemingly unwilling to have much further contact with them.

"Offended someone?" Yan Jin frowned in thought. "Could it be that blond guy? One face in public, another behind people's backs? He's the only person I've fought with recently!"

Yan Jin quite naturally assumed that the matter of offending someone must have been her doing.

Of the three of them, Amon rarely went out and was busy cultivating. Lei Yin was gentle in manner and friendly toward everyone. Only she was either fighting or on her way to fight.

"It could also be those mercenaries. Maybe they took their anger out on us over the Eyeless Snake incident," Lei Yin guessed.

Amon smiled and rejected the idea. "Mercenaries don't have that kind of influence. If they wanted revenge, they would only take action themselves."

"Maybe it really is that blond guy. He deliberately got someone else to obstruct us, then plans to step in and solve it himself so we'll be deeply grateful to him." Yan Jin viewed Vidal through a lens of malice.

"Hey, hey, red-haired brat, saying that really hurts my feelings." Vidal walked over, his expression not looking too good, and said to Amon, "I went to ask about it, but the dean simply wouldn't budge. Don't worry yet. I'll pull some strings. Aunt Luo Na has some connections in the academy too. I'll find out exactly what's going on."