Chapter 116: Lost Lands

"Teacher Zhao, you're taking me to train?" Tie Li looked at Zhao Tianhe with some surprise.

Just after leaving the dormitory, he saw Zhao Tianhe waiting outside for him.

"Training is also a form of cultivation. Let me ask you first: how do you find the academy's simulated training environment?"

"It's okay, it's considerably faster than ordinary meditation cultivation," Tie Li answered honestly.

"Then do you know where the concept of the simulated training environment originated?" Zhao Tianhe said, feigning mystery.

Tie Li subconsciously thought of Baidi, the gathering place of Thunder Attribute Plant Soul Beasts; training among Plant Soul Beasts refines Thunder and Lightning Attribute, making soul power more active and speeding up cultivation.

His martial soul is the Purple Thunder Hammer; against the higher-tier Blue Electric Tyrannosaurus martial soul, there is suppression, but after the Thunder and Lightning Attribute is refined by Plant Soul Beasts, it gains the ferocity unique to Thunder Attribute Soul Beasts, reducing the suppression on his martial soul.

"Special realms easily gather Soul Beasts, called Soul Beast gathering places; actually it's not just Soul Beasts, we Soul Masters also occupy naturally formed realms, because natural environments are more suitable for our cultivation;

such as fire-attribute sects that like to occupy volcano craters, ice-attribute Soul Masters in the far north, and sea Soul Masters in coastal regions."

"Within the empire there are many Soul Master sects; after millennia, even ten thousand years of development, their research and development of martial souls is very profound;

Your martial soul, the Thunder-attribute Purple Thunder Hammer, can try training at a Thunder-attribute sect; they occupy natural training environments."

As he spoke, Zhao Tianhe took a Token from his chest, representing the Tian Dou Imperial House.

To increase Tie Li's sense of belonging to the Tian Dou Royal Academy, the Three Great Sect Committee invested a huge amount of capital.

Having experienced the benefits of natural training environments, Tie Li naturally could not refuse.

"So, are you interested?" Zhao Tianhe, seeing Tie Li's expression, knew he was moved.

"Then which sect shall we go to first?"

"Fenglei Sect."

Tie Li's gaze shifted slightly; the Lei Long Meditation Method he obtained earlier seemed as if it came from Fenglei Sect.

But wasn't Fenglei Sect destroyed by the Spirit Hall?

"Fenglei Sect no longer exists; almost everything of the sect was taken by the Spirit Hall, most buildings turned to ruins, but the Spirit Hall did not destroy Fenglei Sect's natural training environments, the wind caves and Leichi.

The remnants of Fenglei Sect are currently controlled by the empire; with this Token, I can take you into the Leichi to train."

Hearing this, Tie Li's eyes lit up.

Three days after Zhao Tianhe and Tie Li left the academy, Ning Ning and Gu Qi returned, their faces looking very unnatural, and a youthful girl followed behind them.

"So this is the Tian Dou Royal Academy, looks pretty good," Ning Rongrong said curiously.

The ones responsible for greeting them were the three-seat Zhi Lin Soul Douluo of the Education Committee; facing the prized daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect's sect master, they dared not be lax.

This person, dearly favored by the two titled Douluo of Sword Bone, if angered this little ancestor, might cause the entire Tian Dou Royal Academy to be overturned.

"You must be Rongrong!" Zhi Lin said amicably.

"You are Teacher Zhi Lin, I'm glad to meet you," they said respectfully, approaching Zhi Lin and bowing obediently.

This time Zhi Lin hesitated a bit; wasn't he supposed to be willful and capricious? Why does he differ slightly from the rumors.

"Teacher Zhi Lin, what do you think of my talent? Can I join the academy's Second Team? I want to work hard with everyone to become stronger."

"That is certainly possible; let me first take you to meet the members of the Second Team!"

Before Ning Rongrong arrived, the Education Committee had already received a messenger from the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect, aware of Ning Rongrong's purpose in coming, and thus were prepared.

When the time comes, they'll throw Ning Rongrong to Fulangde and his group; didn't the master say he hoped the team would have an excellent supporting Soul Master?

Is this sect's legitimate daughter, who possesses the Seven Treasure Glazed Tower Weapon Soul, sufficiently outstanding?

……

Zhao Tianhe and Tie Li have been on the road for three days; they are both wearing their own clothes, having put away the academy's attire, as wearing it would be too conspicuous.

Before departing, Tie Li visited a blacksmith shop in Tiandou City, paid half of the Gold Soul Coins, and explained that he wouldn't retrieve the armor soon, asking them to keep it temporarily, and he would pay an extra fifty Gold Soul Coins as reward later.

The distance to Fenglei Sect's remnants is still some way; after three consecutive days of travel, both need rest.

Baiba City is a small town along the route, suitable for spending a night resting inside.

Due to terrain and environment, Baiba City's economy is poor, and its buildings still retain the appearance of a decade ago.

In an inn in Baiba City, two rooms were booked; Tie Li chose one to rest.

Zhao Tianhe suddenly left the inn!

Shortly after Tie Li lay down, a fierce knocking came from the door.

"Open the door, hurry and open it for me!"

The coarse shouting sounded like, "If you don't open, I'll force my way in."

"Bang" The room's door was violently pushed open, and three burly men appeared in Tie Li's view.

"I told you to open the door, didn't you hear?"

"Since it's your first time in Baiba City, we won't argue. Be sensible and hand over ten Gold Soul Coins as the entry fee."

"What? Didn't you hear us speak?"

The three men showed displeasure, and one of them gestured as if to give Tie Li a lesson.

He reached out to grab Tie Li's collar, but Tie Li's right hand clasped the man's outstretched hand.

"Clack"

"Stop, it hurts... hurts," the man immediately showed a look of pain.

The other two, seeing this, snorted coldly, their bodies becoming even more massive, brown fur covering them, two long curved tusks like some kind of Elephant-type martial soul.

A white Soul Ring appeared beneath them; these three were actually Soul Masters.

To deal with these three scoundrels, Tie Li didn't even need to release his martial soul; he took a chain from his storage ring, and his soul power formed purple electric arcs winding around the chain.

"Snap"

The chain's harsh slapping sound as it struck the air made the three realize they had picked the wrong target.

"Wait, we are outer disciples of the Elephant Ivory Sect," one of the burly men immediately stated his identity.

The Elephant Ivory Sect is a subsidiary of the Xiang Jia Sect; it is said to have been founded by a collateral disciple of Xiang Jia Sect, recruiting Soul Masters with any kind of Elephant-type martial soul, regardless of talent.

The area around White Tooth City is the Ivory Sect's territory, but because of the terrain the local economy is poor, there's little profit to be made, so the outer disciples set their sights on the travelers passing through White Tooth City.

If they encounter someone easy to bully, they demand money lavishly; but if they meet a tough opponent, they immediately reveal their identity.

The three of them had only recently joined the Ivory Sect and had only been pulling off such schemes for a short time, and they never expected to run into Tie Li.

(End of chapter)