Director Xue was clearly very satisfied with Lin Mo's performance. He smiled and patted Lin Mo on the shoulder, his tone warm:
"Lin Mo, you did well, very well!
I'm a man of my word. From today onward, all your tuition and miscellaneous fees at our Heaven Dou Intermediate Soul Master Academy will be waived!"
He paused, took a money pouch from inside his clothes, and held it out to Lin Mo. "This is your scholarship from the academy. Consider it a small investment in your talent.
As for the amount, it'll match the standard subsidy Spirit Hall pays Soul Masters.
That means you'll receive twice the subsidy every month, enough to cover your daily living expenses."
Lin Mo accepted the money pouch and bowed earnestly to Director Xue. "Thank you, Director Xue. I'll work hard at my cultivation and won't let the academy down."
At his words, Director Xue's smile widened. He turned to Xiao Lin, who had been waiting beside them, and said,
"Xiao Lin, take Lin Mo to the logistics office to collect two sets of new student uniforms, then show him around the academy and take him to see his dorm room.
He can stay on your floor. Room 609 next door to yours seems to be empty, so let him stay there. That way, you two can look out for each other."
"Yes, Director Xue!" Xiao Lin promptly agreed. The earlier disdain was gone from the way he looked at Lin Mo, replaced by a measure of admiration.
Afterward, Lin Mo followed Xiao Lin away from the sparring grounds. They first went to the logistics office to collect two sets of Heaven Dou Intermediate Soul Master Academy uniforms.
The uniforms were silvery white and soft, with the academy's emblem embroidered on the chest. In terms of design, they were much better-looking than the uniforms issued by Nuoding Academy.
The quality of the clothing was also considerably better than Nuoding Academy's.
"This is a benefit for new students. Everyone gets two sets to alternate between," Xiao Lin explained as he helped Lin Mo carry his things.
After collecting the uniforms, Lin Mo returned to the admissions office to retrieve his rather small travel bag, then followed Xiao Lin toward the dormitory area.
The academy's dormitory area consisted of a connected stretch of buildings. Xiao Lin led Lin Mo straight to the innermost building and climbed to the sixth floor.
"I'm in 608, right next door to you." Xiao Lin pointed to a neighboring room, then pushed open the door to 609.
"Here, this is your room. Our academy has pretty good facilities. All the rooms are singles. They're not large, but living alone gives you plenty of peace and quiet.
You don't have to worry about someone suddenly showing up and interrupting your cultivation."
Lin Mo walked inside and looked around. The room was not large, and its only furnishings were a bed, a desk, and a cabinet, but it had been cleaned very thoroughly.
The window faced south, letting in quite a lot of light. He could not help praising it. "This is great. Much better than my old work-study dorm..."
When he had studied at Nuoding Academy as a work-study student, never mind having a room to himself-the work-study dormitories had not even separated boys and girls.
A whole bunch of children had shared one room.
It was precisely because there were so many people and prying eyes that whenever Lin Mo studied his own Second Martial Soul, he would find an excuse to head to the hill behind the academy.
That kept anyone else from noticing anything amiss.
After all, Nuoding Academy's work-study students that year were far from ordinary. There was not only Tang San, the son of Clear Sky Douluo, but also Xiao Wu, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had taken human form to cultivate anew.
Lin Mo had never used his Second Martial Soul's abilities in front of them.
After putting down the luggage, the two leaned against the corridor railing and chatted for a while.
Xiao Lin was straightforward. Although he had just lost to Lin Mo, he bore no grudge over it and instead took the initiative to tell him about the academy.
"The teaching schedule at our intermediate academy isn't actually that different from a junior academy's," Xiao Lin said.
"Mornings are usually theory classes covering things like Soul Master knowledge, continental history, and Soul Beast identification.
Afternoons are for independent cultivation. The academy has dedicated training grounds where everyone cultivates their Soul Power or practices Soul Skills."
Lin Mo listened attentively. It was much as he had expected.
"Oh, right." As though remembering something, Xiao Lin added, "The academy occasionally organizes live sparring sessions, or teachers lead us out to gain experience along the edges of the Soul Hunting Forest outside the city, but that's for later."
"What about obtaining Soul Rings?"
After they had chatted for a while, Lin Mo raised his head and lowered his eyes to look at Xiao Lin, asking the question that concerned him most.
"That's not much different from a junior academy either." Xiao Lin spread his hands and said seriously:
"Normally, the year is divided into two semesters, and there's a Soul Power Level test at the end of each one.
If your Soul Power Level is confirmed to have reached the level-twenty bottleneck, you can apply to join a Soul Hunt organized by the academy."
At this point, a trace of fervor flashed through Xiao Lin's icy wolf eyes. "Although the destination is still a Soul Hunting Forest where Soul Beasts are raised in captivity, the quality of the Soul Beasts in the forests near Heaven Dou City is considerably better than elsewhere.
And it seems the teachers taking us Soul Hunting will be led by a teacher with Soul King cultivation, assisted by several others with three or four rings.
You could say there's basically no danger. The academy takes the safety of us students quite seriously!"
"I see..." Lin Mo nodded and murmured.
His current Soul Power Level was sixteen, just like Xiao Lin's, but unlike Xiao Lin, he was confident that he could raise his Soul Power to the level-twenty bottleneck within the next year.
There was no need to rush that, then.
Through their conversation, Lin Mo had also formed a favorable impression of Xiao Lin.
The fellow was strong and straightforward, the sort one only got to know after exchanging blows. After chatting for a while, the two had grown considerably closer.
"Oh, and one more thing..."
Before returning to his own room, Xiao Lin stopped, turned to Lin Mo, and reminded him:
"Remember to go to the academy infirmary tomorrow to collect your medicinal bath for this month. Medicinal baths are very helpful for our cultivation, especially for improving our physical constitution."
"Thank you." Lin Mo nodded and thanked Xiao Lin.
After seeing Xiao Lin off, Lin Mo tidied up the room a little and put all his belongings into the cabinet.
Sitting on the bare bed, he could not help beginning to plan the future direction of his cultivation.
Whether judged by their Martial Soul traits or their fighting styles, both he and Charmander would certainly follow the Power Attack System path in the future. There was no doubt about that.
The only thing Lin Mo found slightly regrettable was that, from what he had asked Xiao Lin, Heaven Dou Intermediate Soul Master Academy did not seem to have established any dedicated Mimicry Cultivation Environments for students to accelerate their Soul Power cultivation.
"Mimicry Cultivation Environments seem to be exclusive to advanced Soul Master Academies. Major powers like Spirit Hall have also built their own dedicated cultivation environments," Xiao Lin had told him at the time.
At the thought, Lin Mo could not help scratching his head.
This was also why Dean Wang Zongchang had instinctively assumed he would attend one of the two lower-level academies affiliated with Blazing Fire and Exotic Beast. Those two advanced academies had the Mimicry Cultivation Environments best suited to Lin Mo and Charmander.
Of course, Wang Zongchang had believed those two academies suited Lin Mo best because he did not know that Lin Mo also possessed a Body Martial Soul he had never revealed to outsiders.
It was precisely because of his Body Martial Soul that Lin Mo had chosen not to attend either academy.
The Mimicry Cultivation Environments at the two advanced academies, Blazing Fire and Exotic Beast, might indeed suit Charmander, but they were almost certain to lack a Mimicry Cultivation Environment suited to cultivating his Body Martial Soul.
After all, as far as Lin Mo himself could sense, the attribute of his Second Martial Soul, the Body Martial Soul composed of his heart and blood, was Qi and blood-or rather, Blood Qi.
Only Heaven Dou Royal Soul Master Academy, with its nearly one hundred Mimicry Cultivation Environments, might have somewhere suitable for cultivating his Body Martial Soul.
After all, Heaven Dou Royal Soul Master Academy's admissions advertisement explicitly stated: there was always a place that suited you.