Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Skywater Academy

Xiao Yao used the "Incomplete Chapter of the Seventy-Two Transformations" to turn himself into that snake-playing man who shared his surname.

As his appearance changed into the man's, Xiao Yao suddenly felt some new instincts emerge in his body.

Fire-related abilities and Dou Techniques such as Buddha's Fury Fire Lotus, the Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique, the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, and the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations were almost instinctive to him, ready to be unleashed with a thought.

Only, a single use might just drain him dry...

There was also the fact that he could only use these skills. He knew nothing about exactly how to execute them or when the best moment to use them was.

What Xiao Yao needed to do was choose a skill and use it repeatedly, eventually relying on his own comprehension to grasp how it worked and make it his own.

Neither Snake Lance nor Porcupinefish Douluo was around, giving Xiao Yao ample opportunity to cop a feel of Qian Renxue and practice his skills.

By the time they returned, the three were already approaching Heaven Dou City.

They said something to Qian Renxue, and her expression changed. She said to the other two:

"Your big sister has something urgent to attend to, so I have to leave first. Take this, and you'll be able to enroll in Heaven Dou Royal Academy. It's the best Soul Master academy in Heaven Dou City. If you need anything, you can come find me at the Crown Prince's residence. I'm off."

Then she handed them a gold token and hurried away.

Xiao Wu brought her ear close to Xiao Yao's ear and asked, "Did something happen to Sister Xue'er?"

Xiao Yao thought for a moment, but he really could not remember any important events in the original story around this time:

"It's probably something personal. Her identity is pretty troublesome. Come on, let's head into the city. Traveling with them was quite a bit faster than traveling on our own."

Indeed, the carriage they had bought was merely ordinary, even somewhat shoddy, while Qian Renxue rode in one drawn by top-quality blood-sweating horses, whose stamina and speed could even rival some Soul Beasts with low cultivation ages.

The two arrived before Heaven Dou City, one of the three most prosperous cities on the continent. Its gates were extremely tall and wide, surpassing even the Forbidden City, the most magnificent place Xiao Yao knew, by some measure.

The streams of people and carriages entering and leaving formed eight orderly lines.

The Heaven Dou Imperial Guard before the gates was also solemn and dignified. The oppression of ordinary people that so often appeared in wish-fulfillment novels did not occur among them.

Neither of the two had any intention of cutting in line, and they obediently joined the queue.

Suddenly, Xiao Wu's Mind-Concentrating Rabbit Ears twitched, and she looked diagonally behind her, toward another line.

Xiao Yao followed her gaze and spotted two familiar faces.

"Gu Yihan, Gu Sanshui."

Hearing him, the Gu siblings also looked over. "You are?"

They had not recognized Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu.

Although Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu had left an extremely deep impression on them, a year and a half had passed, after all.

Of course, more importantly, Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu had simply changed far too much.

Take Gu Yihan and Gu Sanshui, for example. They were also outstanding among Soul Masters their age and grew quickly. Now nearly twelve, their physiques were no worse than those of fifteen-year-old boys and girls.

But Xiao Yao and Xiao Wu were even more exaggerated. A year and a half ago, Xiao Yao had been fairly normal, about the same height as them, while Xiao Wu had looked every bit a six-year-old child.

Only a little over a year had passed, yet Xiao Yao had grown to 1.8 meters, more than a full head taller than them.

At 1.6 meters, Xiao Wu was about their height, and her figure had developed curves in all the right places.

It was truly difficult to connect them with the pair from Mo City's "New Soul" tournament.

Seeing the confusion on their faces, Xiao Yao smiled faintly and snapped his fingers.

Fallen Heart Flame ignited simultaneously on his finger and inside Gu Yihan's body.

Gu Yihan immediately flushed scarlet. "Stop, hurry up and stop. Ah~ I remember now."

Xiao Yao stopped, and Xiao Wu, well practiced, went over and linked arms with her, greeting her with giggles and laughter.

The short, plump Gu Sanshui looked helplessly between his sister and Xiao Yao.

As her younger brother, seeing his sister bullied like this, he should have rushed forward immediately to fight with his life on the line.

But he knew full well the gap in strength between himself and Xiao Yao. Seeing that his sister had suffered no harm apart from the lingering flush on her face, he decided to follow his heart and chicken out.

Gu Yihan was not as experienced as Xiao Wu. It took her quite a while to recover before she said to the two, "Thank you."

Xiao Yao was taken aback for a moment before remembering what she meant.

Back then, he had represented Nuoding City and won the "New Soul" tournament at the Mo City branch hall level. According to the rules, he could have gone to the main city to compete at a higher level.

However, he had chosen to withdraw because of Xiao Wu, giving the siblings a chance to advance further. They had also become auxiliary members of Spirit Hall.

They did indeed have reason to thank him.

But Xiao Yao did not care. It had merely been something done in passing. "No problem."

The four chatted for a while, though, of course, it was mainly the Gu siblings asking questions.

Gu Sanshui had always wanted to change his short, plump figure. Someone tall, strong, and handsome like Xiao Yao was what he aspired to be.

Gu Yihan felt the same way. Although she was also beautiful and confident that she would grow into a gorgeous woman with plenty of curves.

The trouble was, she had someone to compare herself to.

Just over a year ago, Xiao Wu had still been a little six-year-old girl, yet now her development had already surpassed Gu Yihan's.

This made it impossible for her to remain calm, and she asked Xiao Wu how she had done it.

The line continued moving forward as well. Time always passed quickly while chatting, and to Gu Yihan and Gu Sanshui, it felt as though hardly any time had passed before they entered the city.

Just then, two voices, one gentle and the other bright, reached their ears.

"Yihan."

"Sanshui."

"We're over here. Mom sent us to pick you up."

Xiao Yao also turned to look, and two pure-looking girls came into view, one as tender as water and the other brimming with youthful vitality.

Even though Xiao Yao had already been exposed to Xiao Wu and Qian Renxue's beauty, the sight of them still made his eyes light up.

The slightly older girl stood around 1.6 meters tall and had a very well-proportioned figure, neither extravagantly voluptuous nor thin and petite.

Long aqua-blue hair fell loosely down her back, and delicate features adorned her fair face.

At first glance, she was not particularly breathtaking, but a closer look revealed more and more of her beauty. It was a hazy sort of beauty.

The other girl's features bore some resemblance to hers, but she had short, dark-green hair and a more petite figure.

"Eldest Cousin, Second Cousin!" Gu Sanshui was thrilled to see the two girls and bounded over to them like a child.

Gu Yihan smiled apologetically:

"They're Sanshui's and my older cousins. We've come to visit their family during the holiday."

"They're both excellent Soul Masters, far more talented than Sanshui and me. They're studying at one of the best academies in Heaven Dou City now."

"Oh? Which academy?"

"Skywater Academy."