Chapter Sixteen: The Celestial Duel Royal Academy

From the perspective of a traveler from another world, the Tian Dou Royal Academy of the Tian Dou Empire was not a truly top-tier force. However, for Chen Shijie and Chen Tianyun, it was the highest and most reliable power they could access.

At this time, the title of Seal Douluo was still highly prestigious, unlike in later years when it became commonplace. Each Seal Douluo was a formidable figure shrouded in mystery, and Soul Douluo were top-tier elites renowned across the continent.

With three Soul Douluo-level instructors on the academy’s committee and the backing of the royal family of the Tian Dou Empire, they were more than capable of suppressing anyone who harbored ill intentions toward Chen Ming.

Chen Ming carefully considered his options and realized that joining the Tian Dou Royal Academy was truly the best choice for him.

On Douluo Continent, only the Martial Soul Hall could rival the Tian Dou Royal Academy, matched by the Royal Academy of the Xing Luo Empire. With his background, joining the Martial Soul Hall was not a problem, but gaining access to the higher echelons for optimal training was not guaranteed.

Even if within five years Chen Ming could join the ranks of the Martial Soul Hall’s Golden Generation and receive corresponding cultivation, the previous five years would be wasted.

Moreover, Chen Ming was unwilling to spend five years under the Martial Soul Hall’s watchful eyes waiting for recognition. He had coveted the sacred herbs for a long time, and if he delayed, even the grassroots resources might be snatched up by Tang San.

That simply wasn’t worth it.

The Tian Dou Royal Academy might not match the Martial Soul Hall in terms of millennia-old heritage and divine backing, but it possessed everything a conventional top academy should have. Without Seal Douluo instructors and being a noble academy, personal privacy was respected, making it less likely for someone to be under constant surveillance.

There was also another aspect: the academy boasted Du Gu Yan, granddaughter of Du Gu Bo, who was not only the continent’s top poison master but also the keeper of the Ice and Fire Eyes—a legendary treasure that spanned the four volumes of the Douluo series.

To Chen Ming, the Du Gu family was a treasure, even more valuable than the academy itself.

With all this in mind, the Tian Dou Royal Academy truly seemed like a fine place.

So, Chen Ming agreed to Chen Shijie’s proposal. After returning to the Chen family, they packed briefly and waited two months until the academy’s enrollment period began. Then, they drove straight to Tian Dou City, the capital of the Tian Dou Empire.

Out of concern for Chen Ming, Chen Shijie handed over his personal Storage Soul Ring to him. Chen Tianyun spent several days contemplating all the possible scenarios Chen Ming might face and stuffed the ring with nearly eight cubic meters of storage space.

The admission process to the Tian Dou Royal Academy went smoothly without any issues.

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The Chen family was a hereditary count family. Though not very conspicuous, their noble title had stood for centuries and was beyond doubt.

For a baron or viscount’s child, entering the Tian Dou Royal Academy required passing various tests, and if their talents were too poor, they wouldn’t be admitted. But a count’s child only needed to register basic information such as age, name, martial soul, and soul power to enter directly.

Though this system sounded rather corrupt and unfair, the academy was the premier institution for nobles of the Tian Dou Empire—a place not only for learning but also for socializing among aristocrats. This explained the peculiarities in its enrollment process.

It wasn’t until the very end, when everything was nearly complete, that the crucial test finally took place.

“Hello, I’m Qin Ming, an instructor at the Tian Dou Royal Academy, specializing in the agile attack category and a War Soul King. I’ve been entrusted by the three committee members to verify the authenticity of the new students’ martial souls and soul power.”

In a dim, enclosed room, a plainly dressed middle-aged man smiled politely at Chen Ming, his eyes behind glasses revealing a trace of helplessness and weariness.

Douluo Continent was rife with foolish and love-struck individuals. Though they seemed invisible most of the time, every now and then, a “divine” case would blow up spectacularly.

Even in an important process like academy admission, every year there were bizarre cases—some possibly the result of close-kin marriages—causing endless trouble.

For example, some would register a tiny loach soul as a black dragon, others would claim to be great soul masters who hadn’t absorbed a second soul ring, or teenagers of fifteen or sixteen insisting they were eleven or twelve years old.

In short, all kinds of absurd cases appeared regularly, shining like a cluster of bizarre stars.

Because these individuals came from wealthy or noble families, even the three committee members couldn’t outright reject them. Instead, the final step each year involved trusted personnel personally verifying the children from count or higher families.

Before inspecting Chen Ming, Qin Ming had already checked over a dozen children, and at least half were fakes or exaggerations.

There were those whose martial soul was an orange tabby cat but stubbornly claimed to be a little tiger, nobles with two white soul rings despite their martial soul being offensive type but insisting they were support type, or male soul masters demanding to stay in the female dormitory.

As for arrogance or self-delusion—such as a seventh-level innate soul power youth claiming he would inevitably become a famed Seal Douluo—these were even more common.

Qin Ming’s patience was remarkable, but after enduring this parade of absurdities, he was mentally exhausted, wishing he could manifest a fifth soul skill to incinerate these ridiculous beings to ashes.

Chen Ming’s registered information stated he was eleven years old, male, a twenty-third-level great soul master, with a jade scorpion martial soul of the control type, and two soul rings—one yellow, one purple.

If this were true, he would be a super genius. But knowing the usual behavior of these nobles, Qin Ming didn’t take it seriously.

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In Qin Ming’s mind, it was doubtful Chen Ming even had a second soul ring, let alone being a thousand-year great soul master.

“Student, please release your martial soul,” Qin Ming said, waving his hand before Chen Ming could respond, with an awkward but courteous tone.

“Alright…” Chen Ming didn’t quite understand the man’s thoughts but complied, releasing his martial soul and soul rings.

His form suddenly expanded, the scorpion tail extending. As the aura of a twenty-third-level great soul master radiated from him, Qin Ming, who had been somewhat distracted, immediately raised his head, filled with surprise. When the yellow and purple soul rings appeared, Qin Ming jumped up, throwing aside his notebook and swiftly moving closer to scrutinize Chen Ming from head to toe.

“Chen Ming?” Qin Ming’s voice carried hesitation.

“Yes.”

“Eleven years old, twenty-third-level great soul master?” Qin Ming pressed further.

“Yes.”

“Soul rings: one yellow, one purple?!” Qin Ming’s voice rose sharply, almost causing discomfort.

“Teacher, didn’t you see the information I registered?” Chen Ming stepped back slightly, frowning, his voice wavering as he faced Qin Ming’s almost obsessive disbelief.

“No… I… I was just…” Qin Ming waved his hand, trying to explain but found it difficult to describe those bizarre noble-born specimens that seemed to be products of close-kin marriages. He didn’t want to tarnish this prodigy’s ears with such tales. After stammering for a while, he finally managed a full sentence:

“I just can’t believe I’m actually seeing such an outstanding genius.”