Chapter 36: Ning Fengzhi's Visit

As Zhilin probed with his soul power, he also sensed that although Shi Quan's soul power was not as strong as his own, it possessed a vibrant, upward-surging quality; the greater the pressure he applied, the more magnificent the power erupting from within Shi Quan, much like a warrior who grows braver with every battle.

"His soul power is indeed quite special," Zhilin thought to himself. His robes gradually began to flutter without any wind. Although he was merely sitting there simply, the pressure around Shi Quan increased bit by bit.

Shi Quan's expression remained unchanged. He continuously circulated his Divine Art within, and as the pressure kept increasing, he began to secretly use his Internal Energy to stimulate the Life Attribute of his Blue Silver Grass.

A faint layer of blue light gradually emerged around his body, radiating a vibrant vitality.

To an outsider, it looked as if his martial soul was helping Shi Quan share the pressure brought on by Zhilin's soul power.

At this moment, the soul power pressure released by Zhilin had already reached Level 30.

"Such rich Life Essence. His physical constitution is truly astonishing. At Level 21, he can actually withstand the soul power pressure of Level 30. No wonder he was able to absorb a Millennium Soul Ring. However, it looks like he hasn't reached his limit yet!" Zhilin smiled faintly and increased his soul power output once more.

Thirty-one, thirty-two...

As the level of soul power pressure continued to rise, Shi Quan revealed a pained expression. In order not to expose his true limit, he could only say to Xiaomeng in his mind: "Xiaomeng, wrap me up with the Blue Silver Grass."

"No problem." A deep blue radiance erupted from the Blue Silver Grass. The next second, the Blue Silver Grass in Shi Quan's hands extended up along his arms, directly wrapping him up and protecting his entire person in the center.

Zhilin looked at this scene in surprise, thinking that Shi Quan had finally reached his limit, and only then did he withdraw his soul power pressure. Level 34—this was already a truly astonishing degree; he had crossed a full thirteen levels.

Whew!

Seeing that Spirit Douluo Zhilin was no longer releasing soul power, Shi Quan finally let out a sigh of relief, and the Blue Silver Grass around his body slowly receded.

As the pressure dissipated, Shi Quan felt that the Internal Energy within his body had not stopped circulating; instead, with the disappearance of the "boulder" that was Spirit Douluo Zhilin, it began to circulate faster and faster.

"This is... a breakthrough?" A flash of joy crossed Shi Quan's eyes.

"Many thanks for your help, Teacher." Shi Quan stood up and bowed to Zhilin.

How keen were the perceptions of the three Spirit Douluos? They immediately noticed that Shi Quan's soul power level had actually increased because of Zhilin's pressure.

Originally, Shi Quan's Internal Energy was about to break through to Level 22, and Spirit Douluo Zhilin's pressure had become the catalyst for his breakthrough.

After breaking through Level 20, Shi Quan had discovered that the difficulty of cultivation was significantly harder than it had been from Level 10 to Level 20.

The saying that if one cannot break through to Level 30 before the age of twenty, one will never be able to break through again, was not without foundation.

The difficulty of cultivating from Level 20 to Level 30 was actually much harder than cultivating from Level 30 to Level 40; this was also one of the reasons why Tang San only broke through from Level 13 to Level 29 in six years at Notting Academy.

Level 20 to Level 30 was effectively the first bottleneck in a Spirit Master's cultivation; the earlier this bottleneck was broken, the smoother subsequent cultivation would be.

"To actually break through with the help of the soul power pressure released by Zhilin—hahaha, not bad, not bad, truly worthy of being a genius." Meng Shenji laughed loudly. "Shi Quan, let's talk about your enrollment. If you have any requirements, you can bring them directly to us."

"Teacher, I hope you can help me find a forest. It would be best if it were a place with a good natural environment and quiet, because I don't like being disturbed when I am cultivating or studying."

Meng Shenji said directly: "You can rest assured about that. We have the most Mimicry Environments for the plant system here. I can send someone to take you to see them in a while. Whichever one you like, just tell them, and I will have it set aside for you alone."

"I hope the academy can provide materials regarding martial souls. Heaven Dou City should possess more comprehensive and abundant theoretical knowledge, right?"

"That is certain. We also don't want your Spirit Theory to go to waste. Whatever materials you need, as long as you propose them, we will satisfy you as much as possible."

"There is one more thing: I want to join the Heaven Dou Team to participate in the next Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament."

Hearing this request from Shi Quan, the three people present were stunned.

In their imagination, Shi Quan should have been a bookworm; they never expected that he would want to participate in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.

After a pause, Meng Shenji spoke up: "Shi Quan, the Heaven Dou Team is special, and the team members are selected fairly and impartially. If you want to participate, you can only rely on your own strength to take part in the selection."

"Selection?" Shi Quan looked at Meng Shenji in confusion.

"The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament is held every five years. After the previous Heaven Dou Team finishes the competition, the academy begins internal selections for the next team's members. In the first year, sixteen people are initially selected, seven of whom are the Heaven Dou First Team, and the other nine are the Heaven Dou Second Team."

"For the next three years, a selection for Heaven Dou Team members will be held every year. It won't stop until the final year. Once the final team is decided, further coordination and training will be conducted."

"Is that so?" Shi Quan raised an eyebrow.

But thinking about it, it made sense. The Heaven Dou Team was the face of the royal family; it wasn't something one could join just because they wanted to. Even if you were powerful and full of potential, you had to see if you were a fit for the team as a whole.

In those novels where people could join whenever they wanted, the prerequisite was still having the strength to do so.

"No problem, I will join the Heaven Dou Team by relying on my own strength." Shi Quan nodded. With his strength, joining the Heaven Dou Team would not be much of a problem.

Afterward, Meng Shenji and the other two discussed Spirit Theory with Shi Quan for a while, and then they concluded this first meeting.

Shi Quan was then led by Xue Qinghe to his dormitory. The items in the dormitory were very complete; it looked like they had put some thought into it.

Xue Qinghe still had to attend to other government affairs and naturally could not stay with him the whole time. After sending Shi Quan to the dormitory, he gave him a few more instructions, telling him that if he had any problems, he could go directly to the Education Committee Members or come find him, and that there was no need to be polite.

After Xue Qinghe left, the servant arranged by the Education Committee Members to take Shi Quan to see the Mimicry Environments arrived. Under this person's guidance, they soon arrived at the first Mimicry Environment.

If nothing else, the layout of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Mimicry Cultivation Environments was indeed well done. Walking into these specialized plant-type Spirit Master mimicry cultivation grounds, Shi Quan could clearly feel that his Blue Silver Grass martial soul had become much more sensitive to its surroundings.

Shi Quan was in no rush to make a decision because Meng Shenji had said that the academy had many mimicry cultivation grounds, so he naturally had to look at them slowly and then choose the one he liked best.

From the mountainside, down to the foot of the mountain, and then from the foot of the mountain to the lakeside.

Along the way, Shi Quan looked at more than ten mimicry cultivation grounds, each of which was very complete, but Shi Quan delayed making a decision. It wasn't until he saw a mimicry cultivation ground at the foot of the mountain that Shi Quan's eyes lit up, and he decided on the spot to choose this one.

The place Shi Quan chose was an open space beside the foot of the mountain. One side of the open space leaned against the mountain, yet it would not block the sunlight. Although the surrounding forest was not dense, it gave people a feeling of vibrant vitality.

Beside the open space was a small pond, with a diameter of no more than twenty meters. A small stream about two meters wide quietly injected water from the other side of the woods and then flowed away, keeping the water in this pond constantly refreshed.

The key point was that there was also a simple house beside the pond. The house was built with wooden planks, simple and clear, as if it had merged with the surrounding environment.

It was a condensed version of being nestled against the mountains and near the water, and there was also a place to stay, so he wouldn't have to run back and forth between the cultivation place and the dormitory every day, which saved a lot of trouble.

After finalizing the Mimicry Cultivation Environment, Shi Quan listed a list of items he needed and gave it to the servant.

The contents of the list were mostly materials.

The academy was currently on holiday, so most of the students had gone home, and only a very small number of students remained in the academy.

Although there were few students, the academy's canteen kept several windows open twenty-four hours a day, which could be said to have maximized convenience for all the students.

Shi Quan had long been accustomed to cultivating alone and did not feel bored; being by himself could be considered a leisurely pleasure.

It had to be said that the efficiency of the Heaven Dou Academy was quite good. By the next day, most of the things on his list had been delivered, and he was notified that the remaining small portion would be delivered within two or three days at most.

Shi Quan still maintained his previous habits: studying and researching Spirit Theory in the morning, practicing Martial Arts in the afternoon, and cultivating the Nine Yin Nine Yang Divine Art at night.

Less than a week later, Xue Qinghe brought a middle-aged man to find Shi Quan.

The middle-aged man's face was like polished jade, his nose straight and mouth square, his appearance scholarly and gentle. He wore a spotless, snow-white robe. He looked to be in his forties, his gaze was soft, and a head of smooth black hair was draped over his back. Everything about him looked so natural, without any affectation.

"Brother Xue, who is this?" Shi Quan asked Xue Qinghe.

Xue Qinghe smiled and introduced: "Brother Shi, this is the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi, who is my teacher. Teacher came here today specifically to visit you."

"Junior Shi Quan, pays respects to Sect Master Ning." Shi Quan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in salute.

However, Ning Fengzhi stepped forward, supported him with one hand, and said with a smile: "No need for formalities. Right now, I am only Qinghe's teacher, and since you call Qinghe 'Big Brother', you should just call me 'Uncle Ning'. I also hope to hear you call me that."

Facing Ning Fengzhi's display of goodwill, Shi Quan bowed again, neither servile nor overbearing, and said: "Hello, Uncle Ning."

Ning Fengzhi laughed heartily and said: "Good, good. Then from now on, I shall call you Xiao Quan."

"Uncle Ning, whatever you prefer is fine."

Xue Qinghe, who was to the side, said at the opportune moment: "Since Teacher and Brother Shi have already met, why don't we go inside to talk?"

"Uncle Ning, Big Brother Xue, please come this way. My little wooden house is quite humble; I hope you will not mind." Shi Quan smiled and led the two of them toward the wooden house.

(End of chapter)