Chapter 35: Heaven Dou Imperial Academy

The reason he is currently maneuvering between these factions is none other than his desire to strive to improve his strength and possess the ability to protect himself; it remains the same sentiment: as long as they don't come to provoke him, then everyone can be well, but if they do provoke him, then he can only strike back with a heavy fist.

Ending the idle chat, Shi Quan returned to his own room.

In the palace on the other side.

Xue Qinghe sat on an armchair, quietly listening to Furei's report on the past month or so.

"... Your Highness, this child's mental state has already far exceeded that of an ordinary person; he absolutely cannot be viewed as a ten-year-old child. His wisdom is even completely worthy of being called monstrous." Furei was serious and earnest.

Xue Qinghe nodded and said, "I understand. Captain Furei, you and the others have worked hard during this time. Take everyone and rest for a month first; I will handle the matters that follow."

"Many thanks, Your Highness. Then this subordinate will take his leave." After bowing, Furei retreated.

Xue Qinghe leaned lightly against the armchair, a faint smile on the corners of his mouth as he said, "He is indeed a rare talent."

A thin, tall old man walked out from behind Xue Qinghe and said, "There are many smart people, but very few smart people like him. He is the only one who is not only smart but also lacks arrogance, while carrying a touch of steadiness and tact."

Xue Qinghe looked at the thin, tall old man and said, "Elder Snake Lance, what did that woman say?"

Snake Lance Douluo said, "I do not know why, but Her Excellency only sent people to keep an eye on Shi Quan; she did not send anyone to win him over."

Xue Qinghe looked at Snake Lance in surprise, "Oh? That woman would actually give up on such a rare talent? This is not her character."

Snake Lance shrugged, "Who knows what Her Excellency is thinking? But it is also fine; doesn't this give the Young Master an opportunity? If this Shi Quan can be subdued, he will certainly be able to become a great help to the Young Master."

Xue Qinghe shook his head: "This Shi Quan is not so easy to subdue. He appears smooth, but in reality, he has his own pride deep down; otherwise, how could he have reached this step today relying on innate rank one soul power?"

Snake Lance smiled faintly and said, "Since Your Highness says so, you must have already thought of a way, right?"

Xue Qinghe smiled indifferently and said nothing more.

On the other side.

Shi Quan finally had some free time and prepared to check the system's rewards.

System Space.

Looking at the rewards opened from the Destiny Treasure Chest, Shi Quan couldn't help but sigh, "As expected of rewards opened by a villain; even the rewards are worthy of being called villainous."

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

Note: This item can only be used once. During extraction, the target must remain in an unconscious state, otherwise the extraction will fail. After a successful extraction, the bloodline within the target's body will disappear.

"Interesting. Could it be that it wants me to go and extract the Angel Bloodline? Setting aside whether it can succeed, if I dared to set my sights on Qian Renxue, Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong would not let me off. I'm numb, truly numb."

Shi Quan shook his head repeatedly.

Although this Bloodline Extractor is powerful and can directly plunder a specified bloodline from someone else's body, it didn't say whether the bloodline could be fused after extraction.

Moreover, the Bloodline Extractor only extracts the bloodline, not the martial soul. Even if the extracted bloodline could be fused, there is a certain degree of uncertainty as to whether the fused bloodline could awaken the corresponding martial soul.

Furthermore, for the Bloodline Extractor to succeed, the owner of the bloodline must be in an unconscious state.

Yet, those who possess powerful bloodlines, whether human or Spirit Beast, are none of them weak.

It is also impossible for Shi Quan to use such a treasure to randomly extract a trash bloodline.

Under these heavy limitations, his targets were suddenly compressed down to only a few.

"No need to rush. Anyway, this Bloodline Extractor won't expire in the System Space, so take it slow." Shi Quan murmured in his heart, and after clearing the miscellaneous thoughts from his head, he sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.

The night passed in silence.

Early in the morning, amidst the maid's soft calls, Shi Quan walked out of the guest room. After eating breakfast with Xue Qinghe, he immediately boarded the carriage that had already been prepared and set off toward the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.

The Heaven Dou Academy is about twenty kilometers away from Heaven Dou City, which is not far.

The carriage prepared by Xue Qinghe was truly both large and steady, and its speed was also very fast. In less than half an hour, Shi Quan could see from afar that mountain peak nestled against the mountains and rivers.

Shi Quan knew that the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy had a vast area, nestled against mountains and rivers, with a beautiful environment.

When he truly saw it, he couldn't help but feel shocked, especially as the golden sunlight spilled over the mountainside at this moment. Against the backdrop of the golden light in the east, whether it was the lake at the foot of the mountain or the thousand-meter-tall mountain covered in various plants, it all gave people a feeling of a paradise on earth.

The carriage drove all the way to the foot of the mountain before it finally stopped.

"Brother Shi, let's walk together. I'll take the opportunity to introduce you to the detailed situation of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy."

Following Xue Qinghe, he got off the carriage and stepped onto the stairs leading up the mountain.

Breathing in the fresh air all around and stepping on the stone steps carved from white marble beneath his feet, Shi Quan couldn't help but sigh at the sheer extravagance.

Every stone step had different Spirit Beast patterns, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. These things could be sold for a good price if taken out, yet here they could only be used to step on.

After entering the mountain, Shi Quan's mood improved even more. These plants covering the mountains and plains were completely an upgraded version of the Notting Academy's back mountain. The plants and natural creatures on this mountain were far more numerous than those on the back mountain of Notting Academy. If one were to cultivate here, the cultivation speed would surely increase by quite a lot.

This is what is called cultivation resources. Although external facilities are not decisive, they have an auxiliary effect that cannot be ignored. Under the accumulation of these aids over time, the results brought about are still very astonishing.

Along the way, Xue Qinghe introduced the scenery on the road while introducing the situation of the academy.

The distance up the mountain was only a few hundred meters; this bit of mountain road was nothing at all for a Spirit Master.

Soon, the two arrived at the main campus area on the mountainside.

"The original work said the layout here is somewhat similar to the Tang Sect?" Shi Quan curiously examined the layout of the main campus area.

Walking inside the outer courtyard wall and looking at the bungalows scattered all around, Shi Quan curled his lips, "Just this? It looks like the Tang Sect is just so-so."

Under Xue Qinghe's lead, the two arrived before the largest building in the center of the main campus. Although it was still a single-story bungalow structure, the highest point of this building was a full ten meters, looking very magnificent.

After listening to Xue Qinghe's introduction, Shi Quan knew that this place was the destination of their trip, the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Education Committee.

The two had not yet arrived at the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Education Committee when they could already see the three old 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 also felt a bit of excitement in his heart. He was only a Great Soul Master, so how could it be his turn to have three Spirit Douluos waiting for him?

This lineup was a bit too much; this was truly being flattered and humiliated.

Shi Quan hurriedly quickened his pace and bowed to the three old men, "Junior Shi Quan, greets the three seniors."

"Truly a young talent." The thin, middle-aged old man stepped forward to help Shi Quan up.

According to the description in the original work, Shi Quan recognized at a glance that this old man was Meng Shenji among the Three Great Education Committees; the old man on the left should be Bai Baoshan, and the one on the right should be Zhilin.

It was mainly because the physical characteristics of these three were too obvious: one was so thin he was nothing but bones, one was burly and round, and the last one was not much different from a normal person.

If he couldn't recognize this, he would have to gouge his eyes out.

"No need to be so polite. From now on, you are a member of the academy. Treat this place like your own home. You can address me directly as teacher; there is no need to call me senior. Let's go, let's head inside." Meng Shenji said with a chuckle, pulling Shi Quan toward the Education Committee.

The moment Meng Shenji touched him, Shi Quan could feel a very subtle energy enter his body.

"Ameng, he is probing your strength," Xiaomeng reminded him in his mind.

"Ameng, he shouldn't be able to discover you, right?" Shi Quan confirmed once more. In fact, he had already asked Xiaomeng before coming here. He knew that if he wanted to join the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, he would inevitably be checked, he just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

"Rest assured, he cannot discover me," Xiaomeng said confidently.

"That's good." Hearing Xiaomeng say this, Shi Quan finally set his mind at ease and, pretending not to have noticed anything, followed Meng Shenji into the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Education Committee.

After clearly probing Shi Quan's situation, Meng Shenji's eyes brightened noticeably, and he nodded slightly toward Bai Baoshan and Zhilin beside him.

Everyone took their seats as host and guests, and Xue Qinghe first introduced the three of them—Meng Shenji and the others—to Shi Quan.

Meng Shenji, who was seated in the center, then smiled and said, "We have already roughly understood your situation, Shi Quan, but I would still like to see for myself. So, could you let us see your Soul Ring?"

"No problem, teacher."

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

"It really is a Millennium Soul Ring." A glow appeared in the depths of Meng Shenji's eyes, and he stared excitedly at the Soul Rings beneath Shi Quan.

Zhilin, standing to the side, fixed his gaze on the Blue Silver Grass in Shi Quan's hand and murmured, "To think that Blue Silver Grass could evolve into such a form."

"Shi Quan, let me see your strength." A sharp glint flashed in Zhilin's eyes. After smiling slightly at Shi Quan, the air around him suddenly twisted slightly.

Before Shi Quan could react, he clearly felt as if the air around his body had solidified. A massive surge of soul power rushed toward him, instantly making it difficult for him to even move.

"The second wave of testing is already here so soon?"

Shi Quan sighed helplessly in his heart, hurriedly circulating his Internal Energy to resist the power constantly encroaching from all sides.

"Not bad!"

A sharp glint flashed in Zhilin's calm eyes. He knew Shi Quan's strength was around level 21, and he was very curious about just how strong Shi Quan's endurance was, so he had released a level 24 soul power pressure right from the start.

To have only level 21 strength, yet be able to directly withstand the pressure of level 24 soul power, and to appear so composed while doing so—he is truly worthy of being someone capable of absorbing a Soul Ring beyond his level...

(End of chapter)