Heaven Dou Royal Academy

The reason he navigated among these factions now was simply because he wanted to work hard to grow stronger and gain the ability to protect himself. As he always said, as long as no one provoked him, they could all live in peace. But if they did, then he could only strike back with an iron fist.

After ending the idle chat, Shi Quan returned to his room.

Meanwhile, in the palace residence.

Xue Qinghe sat in a chair, quietly listening to Fury's report on the past month or so.

"...Your Highness, this boy's mind has long surpassed that of ordinary people. He absolutely cannot be treated as a ten-year-old child. His intelligence can truly be called monstrous." Fury spoke with gravity and sincerity.

Xue Qinghe nodded. "I understand. Captain Fu, you have all worked hard during this time. Take everyone and rest for a month first. I will handle what comes next."

"Thank you, Your Highness. This subordinate will take his leave." Fury bowed and withdrew.

Xue Qinghe leaned back lightly in his chair, a faint smile on his lips. "He truly is a rare talent."

A lean, tall old man stepped out from behind Xue Qinghe. "There are many clever people, but very few are as clever as him. To be intelligent without being arrogant over his talent, while also possessing a measure of steadiness and tact—he is one of a kind."

Looking at the lean old man, Xue Qinghe asked, "Spear Serpent Elder, what did that woman say?"

Snake Lance Douluo replied, "For some reason, Her Excellency merely sent people to keep an eye on Shi Quan. She did not send anyone to recruit him."

Xue Qinghe looked at Snake Lance Douluo in surprise. "Oh? That woman is actually willing to give up on such a talent? That is not like her."

Snake Lance Douluo shrugged. "Who knows what Her Excellency is thinking? But that is fine. Does this not give the young master an opportunity? If Shi Quan can be brought under the young master's command, he will surely become a great help."

Xue Qinghe shook his head. "Shi Quan will not be so easily won over. He may seem agreeable, but deep down, he has his own pride. Otherwise, how could he have reached this point with only innate first-level Spirit Power?"

Snake Lance Douluo smiled faintly. "Since Your Highness says so, you must already have a plan, no?"

Xue Qinghe merely smiled calmly and said nothing more.

Meanwhile.

Shi Quan finally had some free time and prepared to inspect the system's reward.

System Space

Looking at the reward drawn from the Destiny Treasure Chest, Shi Quan could not help but sigh. "As expected of a reward drawn by a villain. Even the reward itself can be called villainous."

Bloodline Extractor: Can extract a designated bloodline from the target's body according to the host's request.

Note: This item can only be used once. During extraction, the target must remain unconscious, or the extraction will fail. Once the extraction succeeds, the bloodline within the target's body will disappear.

"Interesting. Could it be trying to get me to extract Angel Bloodline? Never mind whether I can even succeed—if I dared set my sights on Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong would never let me off. What a headache."

Shi Quan hurriedly shook his head.

Although this Bloodline Extractor was powerful and could directly plunder a designated bloodline from another person's body, it did not say whether the extracted bloodline could be fused afterward.

Furthermore, what the Bloodline Extractor extracted was only a bloodline, not a Martial Soul. Even if the extracted bloodline could be fused, whether the fused bloodline could awaken the corresponding Martial Soul was still uncertain.

Moreover, for the Bloodline Extractor to succeed, the bloodline's owner had to be unconscious.

Yet whether human or Spirit Beast, none who possessed a powerful bloodline would be weak.

Shi Quan could not possibly use such a treasure to casually extract some worthless bloodline.

With all these restrictions, the possible targets were immediately narrowed down to only a few.

No rush. The Bloodline Extractor will not expire while it is in the System Space. Take it slow. After clearing the distracting thoughts from his mind, Shi Quan sat cross-legged and began cultivating.

The night passed without incident.

In the morning, awakened by a maid's soft call, Shi Quan left his room. After having breakfast with Xue Qinghe, he boarded the Carriage that had long been prepared and set off for Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Heaven Dou Academy was about twenty kilometers from Heaven Dou City, so it was not particularly far.

The Carriage Xue Qinghe had prepared was truly large and steady, as well as fast. In less than half an hour, Shi Quan could see in the distance a mountain nestled between mountains and water.

Shi Quan knew that Heaven Dou Royal Academy covered a vast area, surrounded by mountains and water with beautiful scenery.

But when he truly saw it, he could not help but feel awed. Especially now, with golden sunlight spilling across the mountainside, the lake at the Foot of the Mountain and the thousand-meter-high mountain covered in all kinds of vegetation seemed like an earthly paradise beneath the eastern golden light.

The Carriage continued all the way to the Foot of the Mountain before stopping.

"Brother Shi, let us walk together. I can introduce you to Heaven Dou Royal Academy in detail along the way."

Following Xue Qinghe out of the Carriage, Shi Quan stepped onto the stairs leading up the mountain.

Breathing in the fresh air around him and stepping on stone stairs carved from white jade, Shi Quan could not help but marvel at the sheer extravagance.

Every stone step bore a different Spirit Beast design, all crafted with exquisite skill. Any one of these things could fetch a good price outside, yet here they were used only to tread upon.

After entering the mountain, Shi Quan's mood improved even more. The vegetation blanketing the mountain was practically an enhanced version of Notting Academy's Back Mountain. The plants and natural wildlife here far surpassed those on Notting Academy's Back Mountain. If one cultivated here, cultivation speed would surely improve considerably.

This was what was known as cultivation resources. External facilities were not decisive, but their supporting effect could not be overlooked. Accumulated over time, these benefits could produce astonishing results.

Along the way, Xue Qinghe introduced both the scenery they passed and the academy itself.

The climb was only a few hundred meters. For Soul Masters, such a mountain path was nothing.

Soon, the two reached the Main Campus Area halfway up the mountain.

The original work said the layout here was somewhat similar to the Tang Sect? Shi Quan curiously examined the Main Campus Area's layout.

As he entered through the outer courtyard wall and saw the single-story buildings scattered around, Shi Quan curled his lip. That's it? Looks like the Tang Sect is nothing special either.

Led by Xue Qinghe, the two arrived before the largest building at the center of the Main Campus Area. Though it was still a single-story structure, its highest point stood a full ten meters tall, making it look remarkably imposing.

After Xue Qinghe introduced it, Shi Quan learned that this was the destination of their trip: the Education Committee of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Before the two even reached the Education Committee of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they could already see three elderly men waiting at the entrance from afar.

"The Three Great Education Committees heard you were coming, so they are all waiting for you," Xue Qinghe said with a smile.

"The Three Great Education Committees?" Shi Quan felt a trace of excitement in his heart. He was only a Soul Grandmaster. How could he deserve to have three Soul Douluo waiting for him?

This reception was a little too grand. He was truly flattered.

Shi Quan quickly hastened forward and bowed to the three old men. "Junior Shi Quan greets the three seniors."

"You truly are an outstanding young talent." The thin, middle-aged-looking old man stepped forward and helped Shi Quan up.

Based on the original work's descriptions, Shi Quan immediately recognized this old man as Meng Shenji, one of the Three Great Education Committees. The old man on the left should be Bai Baoshan, while the one on the right should be Zhi Lin.

The main reason was that their body types were simply too distinctive. One was so thin he was nearly skin and bones, one was broad and round, while the last was not much different from an ordinary person.

If he still could not recognize them, he might as well dig out his own eyes.

"No need to be so polite. From now on, you are a member of the academy. Once you are here, treat it like your own home. You can simply call me Teacher; there is no need to call me Senior. Come, let us go inside." Meng Shenji smiled warmly and pulled Shi Quan toward the Education Committee.

The instant Meng Shenji touched him, Shi Quan sensed an extremely concealed energy entering his body.

"A Quan, he is probing your strength," Xiao Meng reminded him in his mind.

"A Meng, he cannot discover you, right?" Shi Quan confirmed once more. He had actually asked Xiao Meng before coming. He knew that joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy would inevitably involve an examination, but he had not expected it to happen so quickly.

"Do not worry. He cannot discover me," Xiao Meng said confidently.

"That is good." Only then did Shi Quan relax. Pretending not to have noticed anything, he followed Meng Shenji into the Education Committee of Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

After probing Shi Quan's condition, Meng Shenji's eyes visibly lit up. He lightly nodded toward Bai Baoshan and Zhi Lin beside him.

Once everyone had taken their seats as host and guests, Xue Qinghe first introduced Meng Shenji and the other two to Shi Quan.

Meng Shenji, seated in the center, then spoke with a smile. "Shi Quan, we have already learned the general details of your situation. But I still wanted to see for myself, so could you show us your Spirit Rings?"

"No problem, Teacher."

Shi Quan raised his right hand and summoned Blue Silver Grass. Beneath him, one yellow and one purple Spirit Ring slowly rose.

"It really is a Thousand Year Spirit Ring." Light flickered in Meng Shenji's eyes as he stared excitedly at the Spirit Rings beneath Shi Quan.

Beside him, Zhi Lin's gaze fell on the Blue Silver Grass in Shi Quan's hand. He murmured, "Blue Silver Grass can actually evolve into such a form."

"Shi Quan, let me see your strength." A sharp glint flashed through Zhi Lin's eyes. After smiling faintly at Shi Quan, the air around him suddenly distorted slightly.

Before Shi Quan could react, he clearly felt as if the air around his body had solidified. Enormous Spirit Power Fluctuation surged toward him, instantly pressing down on him until even moving became difficult.

The second round of testing is here already?

Shi Quan sighed helplessly in his heart and hurriedly circulated the Inner Force within his body to resist the force constantly invading from all around.

"Not bad!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Zhi Lin's calm eyes. He knew Shi Quan's strength was around level twenty-one. He was curious just how strong Shi Quan's endurance was, so from the outset, he directly released the pressure of level twenty-four Spirit Power.

Despite possessing only level twenty-one strength, he could directly withstand the pressure of level twenty-four Spirit Power, and he even appeared quite at ease. As expected of someone capable of Over-Level Absorption of Spirit Rings...