Xinma City, the City Lord's Mansion.
The reception hall.
Yu Chen and the others sat at the table, with an array of exquisite dishes before them.
The city lord was a middle-aged man with a somewhat plump figure, his small eyes crinkling with a smile on his round face.
"Principal Ming, you've rendered a great service by eliminating so many Wolf Bandits. I'll report this to the imperial family and request a reward for you."
The city lord raised his wineglass in a toast and spoke excitedly.
A large group of Wolf Bandits had been wiped out within his jurisdiction. This was a solid achievement to his credit.
Ming Dashan lifted his glass and took a sip, then waved a hand with a smile. "You're too kind, City Lord Liu. Most of the credit this time belongs to my nephew, Yu Chen."
"Oh?"
The city lord turned his gaze toward Yu Chen and looked him up and down.
Yu Chen sat quietly, his expression composed.
Then Ming Dashan recounted the battle.
Yu Chen's Sandstorm soul skill had controlled the battlefield, allowing the two of them to work together and pick off the Wolf Bandits one by one.
After Ming Dashan was injured, Yu Chen had defeated the Wolf Bandit leader alone.
"Your nephew is only twelve, yet he already has rank twenty-nine soul power!"
The city lord's mouth fell open in astonishment.
Such talent was truly a once-in-a-century sight!
No wonder he was confident enough to apply to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
With rank twenty-nine soul power, never mind an intermediate academy-even if he applied directly to an advanced academy, they would fight over him.
As they spoke, two guards carried in a wooden chest.
The chest was not large, but the muscles in both guards' arms were taut. Clearly, it was quite heavy.
Thud!
The chest landed on the floor with a dull sound.
One of the guards lifted the lid.
At once, a golden gleam spilled out of the chest.
"So much money!"
Oscar's eyes went perfectly round.
He had never seen so much money in his life.
Gulp!
He swallowed and said in a low voice, "With that many gold coins piled together, there must be at least ten thousand, right?"
Ming Dashan was stunned as well.
He remained fairly composed on the surface, but his hand involuntarily tightened around his wineglass.
He had lived comfortably through his many years as a principal, yet he had never seen so much money either.
The largest sum of cash he had ever possessed was the full twelve hundred gold coins he had received for selling that piece of Ox Treasure a few days ago. That had already seemed like an enormous fortune to him.
"Principal Ming, these thirty thousand gold coins are your reward for eliminating the Wolf Bandits."
The city lord spoke with a smile, the flesh of his face bunching together.
Thirty thousand gold coins was no small sum to him either, but compared with a promotion in noble rank and a record of political achievement, this bit of money was nothing.
Yu Chen glanced at the coins, then shook his head with a smile. "City Lord, please exchange them for a Gold Coin Card instead. Traveling with so much money would draw far too much attention."
Of everyone present, he was the calmest.
They were only a few gold coins. The value of the Blue Silver Emperor soul bone he carried could not be measured in gold coins; it could be exchanged for ten cities.
"Hahaha, just as you say, my young friend!"
The city lord nodded with a laugh.
For a while, hosts and guests alike enjoyed themselves in the reception hall.
Outside the city, in a secluded grove.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-"
Di Tian's figure flitted unpredictably through the trees.
Every step he took followed a particular pattern.
One moment, he seemed about to dodge left, but the instant his toes touched the ground, his body abruptly turned and slid in the opposite direction.
His steps were light, making almost no sound as he trod on the fallen leaves.
His movements were ghostlike, his entire figure weaving through the woods like a black shadow.
Had Tang San been there, he would probably have been shocked.
What Di Tian was using was none other than Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
When Yu Chen practiced the technique at the academy, Di Tian had watched a few times and committed it to memory. After pondering it for a while, he had been able to execute it smoothly.
The next moment.
Di Tian paused, then drove power through his right leg and twisted his waist, pulling his upper body around.
He raised his right claw, tensed his fingertips, and slashed fiercely at a large tree.
Boom-
The trunk shattered outright, sending wood chips flying.
Flap, flap, flap-
Startled birds took flight from among the branches in a flurry of wingbeats.
Yet.
Di Tian withdrew his claw and stood where he was, frowning.
"Why won't it work? I've mastered both techniques. Why can't I combine them?"
He muttered to himself in a low voice.
He had learned Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track by watching Yu Chen practice.
Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer was even simpler.
At its core, it was merely a technique that borrowed force to deliver force. Di Tian had known attacks of that sort before.
He knew both techniques, but the moment he combined them, the entire sequence became a tangled mess.
Either his footwork fell apart, or the rhythm of his Stockpile was interrupted.
Back in the village, Di Tian had been stunned when he saw Xiao Bai Dragon kill the Wolf Bandit leader.
Xiao Bai Dragon originated from a strand of the Silver Dragon King's divine soul and excelled at elemental attacks. Yu Chen's ability to fuse wind, fire, and earth elements had pleasantly surprised Di Tian, but had not truly shocked him.
Yet Xiao Bai Dragon had defeated a Soul King-level Wolf Bandit in close combat.
That had caught him off guard.
More importantly, Di Tian had realized that the technique Xiao Bai Dragon used suited him extremely well.
Stockpiling power in flight, changing direction, stacking attacks, stacking speed...
His true form was a black dragon. If he could learn this technique, he felt its power in his hands would be no less than that of [Dragon God Claw].
Yet Di Tian had experimented for an entire day without finding a single lead.
"I heard Yu Chen say this technique is called Dragon Dance. I refuse to believe that I, the chief of the black dragon clan, can't learn it!"
Di Tian's gaze sharpened.
With a tap of his toes, his figure glided away once more.
His left foot landed, and he slid half a step forward with the momentum, gathering power at his waist while keeping his right claw tucked beneath his ribs, waiting for the moment to strike.
Then-
Thump!
His right foot caught his left, and he nearly fell flat.
"Damn it!"
Di Tian staggered two steps before regaining his balance, his expression darkening further.
Heaven Dou City.
The Conference Room at the Heaven Dou Royal Advanced Academy.
The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.
A roomful of people sat on either side of a long table, staring at one another. No one spoke first.
Three elderly men sat on the left, their hair and beards white, their auras steady.
They loomed there like three small mountains. Though motionless, the soul power fluctuations emanating from them made even the air in the room feel heavier.
The three were the academy's chief education commissioners, as well as Soul Douluo powerhouses.
Five administrators of the younger generation sat on the right, their postures upright but their heads all lowered.
A young man occupied the central seat at the head of the table.
He had short golden hair and refined, handsome features, and wore lavish red-and-white robes.
He was none other than Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.
"Everyone."
Xue Qinghe spoke, his gaze slowly passing over each person's face.
"In the finals of this year's soul master tournament, the Heaven Dou Royal Team failed to defeat even the Hadrian Kingdom's team and was eliminated in the first round."
His gaze grew heavy, carrying a trace of anger he could not suppress.
"I need an explanation."
The Hadrian Kingdom was a small vassal state of the Star Luo Empire.
Its territory was smaller than a single province of the Heaven Dou Empire, and its educational resources fell far short of those of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Yet a team like that had barred the royal team, nurtured with the Heaven Dou Empire's full support, from advancing in the finals.
A disgrace!
An utter disgrace!
As crown prince, Xue Qinghe had personally led the team to the tournament this time. He had intended to return with a top-three finish, only to suffer a crushing defeat.
After the tournament, the Star Luo Empire Delegation had mocked him to his face.
Upon his return, Xue Ye had subjected him to a blistering scolding.
With all that humiliation bottled up inside him, Xue Qinghe was in a very foul mood today!
"Well..."
The three chief education commissioners exchanged glances, their expressions equally grim.
"Your Highness, the academy's educational resources are undoubtedly the very best. But as for the quality of our students, you know how it is..."
The first elderly man on the left spoke.
He was rather thin, with white hair and a white beard, and a somewhat helpless expression.
He was Meng Shenji, the academy's chief education commissioner.
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy offered excellent conditions, and its students were all scions of the great noble families.
It was not that they lacked strength.
On the contrary, only sufficiently powerful soul masters had a chance of becoming nobles.
However, the great families generally cultivated their own talent.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect's inner disciples all trained within the sect, while its outer disciples were trained at Thunder Academy.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's direct descendants never studied elsewhere.
Only collateral descendants who could not get anywhere within their families, or who did not want to submit to their sects' restrictions, came to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy to gild their credentials.
No matter how good the academy's conditions were, where could they find truly outstanding students?
Before you continue