Enrolling at Heaven Dou

"Qin Ming!?" At the name, Lu Yang nearly spat the food he had just put in his mouth straight into Qian Renxue's face.

Qin Ming-what kind of trash was he? Someone pickled in Shrek's ways through and through. Having him teach Lu Yang seemed worse than letting Lu Yang study alone at the Crown Prince's Residence, building a cart behind closed doors.

Lu Yang's reaction caught Qian Renxue's attention.

"You've heard of him?" Qian Renxue asked.

"I happened to learn a little about him. But Sister Xue, have you looked into him before deciding to have me study under him?" Lu Yang asked in return.

"No." Qian Renxue shook her head frankly. "But Qin Ming was recommended by the three education commissioners of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and he's a young Soul Emperor. Surely he must have some ability."

Lu Yang nodded. By ordinary logic, there was nothing wrong with how Qian Renxue and Meng Shenji's group had thought about it. In the era of Douluo I, reaching the Soul Emperor realm in one's thirties did indeed indicate very good talent.

But Qin Ming's talent had been held back by Shrek. If he had joined a proper advanced Soul Master academy on the strength of his talent instead of enrolling at Shrek Academy, perhaps he might have reached even greater heights by now.

"I understand. I'll think about it. Whether he's qualified to teach me should at least depend on whether I approve of him, right?" Lu Yang said.

"Of course. I won't force you." Qian Renxue answered with a smile.

A few days later, with his preparations complete, Lu Yang arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy accompanied by "Xue Qinghe."

Having learned of their visit, Meng Shenji and the others personally waited at the academy gates. As soon as Lu Yang and his companion stepped out of the carriage, they respectfully ushered them into the academy and straight to the education commissioners' office.

Lu Yang's enrollment paperwork had long since been completed, and Meng Shenji and the others had been looking forward to the arrival of this eight-year-old Soul Elder. Now that they saw him in person, they still could not help feeling somewhat shocked.

It had to be said that although Lu Yang was young, the repeated improvements to his physique had already made him about as tall as the twelve- and thirteen-year-old students. Coupled with his exceptional looks, Meng Shenji felt that his enrollment might cause quite a stir in the academy.

After all, the vast majority of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's students were children of the nobility, and Meng Shenji knew better than anyone how those people usually behaved. Fortunately, Lu Yang had the crown prince behind him. Even though he was of common birth, there was no need to worry about any major trouble.

Only after everyone had taken their seats did Zhi Lin speak. "Your Highness, might we see what this student, Lu Yang, is capable of? Once we have an understanding, we can assign him an appropriate class and resources."

"Of course." "Xue Qinghe" nodded lightly, then looked at Lu Yang, who stood beside her. "Yang, show the three education commissioners."

"All right." Lu Yang answered, then walked to the center of the office. Circulating the soul power within his body, he entered the state of Martial Soul Possession.

When those three purple soul rings emerged, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhi Lin all wore expressions of astonishment.

"A thousand-year first soul ring-this breaks new ground in Soul Master history! Lu Yang, could you tell us how you managed it?" Bai Baoshan asked in amazement.

Lu Yang turned to glance at "Xue Qinghe." Only after he nodded his tacit permission did Lu Yang explain his conjecture linking soul ring absorption to physical constitution. He also explained that by beginning to temper the body through medicinal baths and appropriate training before awakening one's martial soul, one could attempt to challenge a higher-age soul ring for one's first soul ring.

"Xue Qinghe" already knew this answer, and she had secretly sent the information back to Spirit City, into the hands of her grandfather, Qian Daoliu. Apparently, by following this method in combination with the whale rubber Lu Yang had produced, Qian Daoliu had successfully enabled some Soul Masters in Spirit Hall to break through the traditional understanding of soul ring absorption and absorb soul rings beyond their limits.

Moreover, Lu Yang concealed the effects of whale rubber from Meng Shenji and the others, which suited Qian Renxue very well. Although Lu Yang had produced the whale rubber while he was with the Ye Family, no information had spread from the Ye Family, so he naturally did not want to spread it too early either.

"Physical constitution and soul ring age... that does make sense." Bai Baoshan nodded. He was a Soul Douluo himself, and with some careful consideration, he could naturally understand some of the connections.

"Your Highness, this discovery is far too important to our Heaven Dou Royal Academy. I propose adding body-tempering classes for the students. What do you think?" Meng Shenji asked.

"I have no objections. As for the specific method, the three of you can ask the palace's imperial physicians to help develop a suitable formula. As for this discovery, I'll have Yang organize his findings and then submit them to Emperor Father," "Xue Qinghe" said with a nod.

With "Xue Qinghe's" permission and support, Meng Shenji and the other two were overjoyed. They now practically regarded Lu Yang as a priceless treasure. An eight-year-old Soul Elder, with three thousand-year soul rings at that-once he grew up, he would absolutely become a great pillar of the empire!

Zhi Lin personally escorted Lu Yang to report to his class. Just as they left, "Xue Qinghe's" eyebrows twitched slightly. The reason was that Porcupinefish Douluo Ci Xue, who was concealed in the shadows, had secretly transmitted his voice to inform Qian Renxue that Lu Yang's soul power cultivation had already exceeded level thirty-five.

A Soul Master's cultivation speed was not constant. The higher their soul power level, the slower their cultivation became; this was also an iron law that had remained unchanged in the Soul Master World for ten thousand years. Yet this iron law seemed not to exist for Lu Yang. He had awakened innate full soul power at six, then cultivated to level thirty-five by eight. Even she, with the divine Six-Winged Angel martial soul and innate level 20 soul power, could not match such speed!

But Qian Renxue had no idea why Lu Yang could maintain such a rapid cultivation pace. All she knew was that when Lu Yang cultivated beneath the sun, his soul power seemed to grow faster. Even that was only a conjecture She Long had reached through prolonged observation, and it had not yet been verified.

It was precisely because of this discovery that Qian Renxue had not wondered whether Lu Yang had encountered some fortuitous opportunity when he previously left with Dugu Bo and the others. Otherwise, the existence of the immortal herbs might have become impossible to conceal.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang followed Zhi Lin to Heaven Dou Class One's classroom. There were fewer than thirty people in the classroom at the time, not many compared with the several hundred students in the entire academy.

As soon as they walked in, a girl seated in the classroom widened her eyes in surprise. She was, naturally, Dugu Yan, who had enrolled some time ago. She had not expected Lu Yang to enroll at Heaven Dou Royal Academy so soon.