Stuck at a level cap?

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

"Dummy master, wake up! Don't forget you have to give a speech at the opening ceremony today!"

Li Chen rubbed his eyes and stretched, then wriggled around in bed a couple more times before reluctantly leaving the warmth of his covers.

After a year of renovations and expansion, Cloudtop Academy was now a full four times its original size, though this was only the outer academy.

He had already arranged for Brown Robe to build the facilities for grades ten through twelve elsewhere-not on the continent, but directly in the sky, above a boundless sea.

This stemmed from an accidental discovery: in creative mode, he could place blocks in midair. An unknown power would reinforce these blocks, allowing them to float forever, entirely unaffected by gravity.

With those blocks as his foundation, he had come up with an idea: build the inner academy in the sky, somewhere other than above the Douluo Continent.

He arrived at the sports field. Even after all the efforts of Feng Yi, Bei Yi, and the others, the academy still had only three hundred students in total.

He stepped onto the podium, prompting a flurry of chatter among the students below. He merely cleared his throat twice, using soul power to carry the sound.

But the students below failed to take the hint, mainly because Li Chen still looked like an eight-year-old child.

"Quiet." As Li Chen spoke, he unleashed his Soul Emperor pressure without holding anything back this time, finally cowing all the students into silence.

"First, welcome to Cloudtop Academy. I'll keep this brief and cover just a few points. To begin with, this academy isn't one of the elementary, intermediate, or advanced academies you're familiar with. You'll study here for nine consecutive years. Upon graduation, those with outstanding grades or excellent performance during their time here may continue on to the inner academy."

"Second, I believe some of you have already noticed that certain students among you have level-zero innate soul power. That's right: the academy accepts students without soul power. But they aren't here merely to make the rest of you look good.

Having zero innate soul power only means the path of a Soul Master is closed to them. It doesn't mean their lives are set in stone. They can still shine and give off their warmth in other fields.

The academy's curriculum is crucial to all of you, whether or not you can become Soul Masters."

"Third, the academy will establish ranking lists. At the end of each term, scholarships will be awarded according to placement to the top fifty on the level rankings, the top ten in each subject's grade rankings, the top hundred on the overall rankings, and the top three on the class rankings. Scholarships from different lists can be combined, so I hope you'll all study hard."

"Finally, the school rules are included in the student handbooks you've been given. Depending on the circumstances, violations will result in a minor demerit, a major demerit, or expulsion. Two minor demerits count as one major demerit, and two major demerits mean immediate expulsion."

With that, he stepped off the podium. He had only come in person because this was the first term since the academy had officially changed its name.

Now he still had to find a solution to the problem that had been plaguing him: he was stuck at level 69. He had no idea why. It was as though something was suppressing him, preventing him from awakening his Martial Soul Avatar.

Fortunately, Wine Fox was unaffected. With her level-twenty innate soul power and box after box of Bottles o' Enchanting, she had already become a level-93 Titled Douluo.

It was just a shame he hadn't been able to arrange a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring for her. For one thing, they were scarce; for another, they were difficult to find. He had plenty of people, but their levels were too low.

After realizing this problem, he had distributed some Bottles o' Enchanting to the villagers, only to discover a second problem.

Villagers and Wandering Traders had a level cap of 64. Witches, Pillagers, Vindicators, and Evokers had the same level cap as Iron Golems: 72. They were merely serviceable.

"Wine Fox, get ready. We're going to pick up some immortal herbs."

Li Chen had tried forcing a breakthrough with large quantities of Bottles o' Enchanting, drinking honey to remove negative effects, drinking milk to clear all effects, experiencing death once with a Totem of Undying, using the Unknown Potion Wu Yi had developed, and various other methods. Every single one had failed.

Now he was simply turning his attention to immortal herbs ahead of schedule. Originally, he had planned to stop by for them during the Soul Master Tournament.

Li Chen brought Wine Fox through a Teleportation Stele, instantly arriving at a secluded courtyard in Heaven Dou.

The courtyard belonged to the Emerald Merchant Guild. With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect suppressing it behind the scenes, the guild's growth had been anything but smooth, and its operations were still largely confined to the area around Suotuo City.

The bank he had originally planned to establish had also been delayed as a result. For now, the guild could only focus on the low-end market.

Li Chen didn't care, however. The Emerald Merchant Guild was merely a tool to help him gather all sorts of resources more effectively. If Shang Lu couldn't do the job, he could replace him with another Shang Lu at any time.

Besides, as long as he left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect alone, it would naturally cease to exist after Spirit Hall's soul hunting operation.

"Venerable Lord." Liu Liujiao, who was specifically assigned to guard this Teleportation Stele, greeted him respectfully.

"Prepare a carriage, and summon the cartographer here."

After giving his instructions, he walked into the sitting room next door. Since this trip had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, nothing had been prepared in advance.

"Venerable Lord, this servant is Fang Wu. Please give me your instructions."

Li Chen looked at the young man who had entered. Bottles o' Enchanting were limited in number. Producing a box every day might sound like a lot, but they had to be distributed among ordinary villagers, Breeze villagers, Shulker Box villagers, and illager villagers. Most could only be allocated first to those with low serial numbers, such as one, two, or three, or those with special names.

Thus, Fang Wu was still only level 8. It looked as though he had gained those levels little by little through selling maps.

Since the Monster Spawner could only spawn Green-Robed Villagers, Li Chen would occasionally take out some Villager Spawn Eggs to supplement his workforce, but the villagers spawned from those took on different professions.

To distinguish them more easily and prevent things from becoming too confusing, he had given them new surnames based on their professions.

"Do you have a map of Sunset Forest?"

"Venerable Lord, this is a map of Sunset Forest's outskirts, including the areas where soul beasts appear. This servant dared not venture any deeper." Fang Wu produced a map as though performing a magic trick.

The maps these cartographers created through their martial souls could even display the user's location once soul power was channeled into them.

Li Chen glanced at it. Although it didn't mark the location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about getting lost in the forest.

He took a stack of Bottles o' Enchanting and an emerald block from his inventory and tossed them to Fang Wu. "Your reward. Ask Shang Lu to arrange for someone to take you to get your Soul Ring."

"Thank you for your generosity, Venerable Lord." Fang Wu's eyes went wide as he stared at the emerald block in his hands.

Although these villagers had Gold Soul Coins, their nature still made them prefer emeralds. Moreover, they had to be the standard emeralds Li Chen took out of creative mode. All others were considered inferior goods.

Even Shang Lu and the Green-Robed Villagers only had emeralds as their martial souls, not physical ones.

As a result, emeralds circulating among the villagers were even scarcer, making them more valuable in their eyes.

As for the Bottles o' Enchanting, they were nice too, but Fang Wu had a low serial number. He only needed to put in his time, and he would soon get his share.