Douluo Continent: The creation of Jixia Academy made Bibi Dong drool with envy.

Chapter 124 Shangguan Wan'er Appears, the Gluttonous Old Man is Startled

"Words are the voice of the heart, and words are the painting of the heart."

Shangguan Wan'er bowed gracefully to Yan Boshan, her voice clear and melodious, like pearls falling onto a jade plate.

"Wan'er greets the Dean."

Yan Boshan looked at the exceptionally talented woman before him, who exuded a scholarly air yet possessed a sharp edge and unyielding spirit hidden between her brows, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Wan'er, I have a task for you."

……

Several days later, in the Holy Grace Kingdom, at the Jixia Academy.

Elder Xuan, dressed in ordinary gray cloth robes with a huge wine gourd hanging from his waist, walked leisurely with his hands behind his back, like an old neighbor taking a stroll, to the gate of the Jixia branch, which was filled with an aura of mystery and majesty.

He gazed at the magnificent academy, seemingly created from divine power, and a barely perceptible hint of solemnity flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

He could sense that this academy was more than just a building.

It's more like a... gigantic... living thing that's constantly absorbing and releasing the energy of heaven and earth.

Just as he was about to step forward and introduce himself,

The academy gates, however, had already opened silently.

A young woman, dressed in a long blue dress, with an elegant and ethereal air, like a fairy descending to earth, stood smiling inside the door, holding a book, as if... she had been waiting for a long time.

"Junior Shangguan Wan'er has been waiting here for Elder Xuan for quite some time on the orders of my Dean."

The girl's voice was gentle and melodious, neither humble nor arrogant.

Looking at the uniquely elegant young woman before him, Elder Xuan was slightly startled once again.

He could sense that although the girl's strength didn't seem to be particularly top-tier, the strange Daoist aura emanating from her, which seemed to resonate with the brushstrokes of heaven and earth and could trigger some kind of rule power at any moment, made even this Limit Douluo feel a slight...heart palpitation.

This Jixia Academy... is getting more and more interesting.

Old Master Xuan thought to himself, but on his face he laughed heartily without showing any emotion: "Haha, little girl, you're too kind. I'm just an old man, why should you bother waiting here?"

"Elder Xuan is a grandmaster of the continent, the soul of Shrek Academy, and a highly respected senior who cares deeply for all living beings," Shangguan Wan'er said with a smile, subtly bestowing a high compliment upon Elder Xuan.

“My abbot often says that all seekers of the Dao, regardless of age or background, are fellow seekers. Since Elder Xuan has come to seek the Dao, our Jixia Academy should treat him with the highest courtesy.”

"please."

Shangguan Wan'er stepped aside and gestured for her to enter.

Looking at her flawless response and those clear eyes that seemed to see through people's hearts, Elder Xuan's evaluation of Jixia Academy rose to another level.

Even a young girl responsible for greeting guests possesses such temperament and demeanor.

The foundation of this Jixia Academy is probably... much deeper than he imagined.

He said no more, nodded, and followed Shangguan Wan'er into the Jixia Academy, a place filled with the unknown and the mysterious.

He knew that a silent contest, or rather... a "test" for him, the guardian of Shrek, had officially begun.

As he stepped through the gates of the Jixia Academy, Elder Xuan's cloudy old eyes, always tinged with a hint of drunkenness, silently scanned his surroundings.

He had expected to see a heavily guarded military fortress, exuding an atmosphere of impending doom.

However, the scene before him made him pause for a moment.

There was no swordplay or the suffocating pressure of soul power that I had imagined.

What comes into view is a wide and bright white marble path, pavilions and towers arranged in a well-organized manner, and the sound of reading aloud hidden among green bamboo and willows.

The air was filled with a faint scent of ink and the fresh aroma of grass and trees, peaceful yet brimming with vitality.

This... hardly resembles a hegemonic force that has just launched a war of annihilation; it is clearly a secluded place of tranquility, untouched by worldly strife.

"Senior Xuan, please follow me."

Shangguan Wan'er's voice, as melodious as a mountain stream, interrupted Elder Xuan's thoughts.

She did not take him to visit the martial arts arena or the soul tool workshop as Elder Xuan had expected, nor did she show off her martial prowess.

Instead, it led him to a library that looked unremarkable yet possessed an ancient and grand atmosphere.

"This is...?" Elder Xuan looked at the nine-story library, built entirely of unknown bluestone, with the three large, elegant characters "Wan Juan Lou" (Ten Thousand Scrolls Pavilion) written on the lintel, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.

"This is the library of my Jixia Academy." Shangguan Wan'er smiled, her tone tinged with pride. "My dean often says that power blinds the eyes, and only knowledge can open the mind. The cultivation of a Soul Master should not be limited to Martial Soul and Soul Rings, but should also involve reading widely and understanding the principles of things, so as to go far and steady."

As she spoke, she pushed open the heavy door of the building.

In an instant, a vast and boundless scholarly atmosphere swept over me.

Xuan Lao looked closely and saw that the inside of the building was a completely different world. Rows of bookshelves, dozens of meters high, reached all the way to the top of the building, and were densely filled with all kinds of books, scrolls and jade slips.

From the basic theories of Soul Master cultivation to the customs and traditions of various countries on the continent, from the study of ancient ruins to the illustrations of rare flowers and herbs, and even... some profound classics about "rune technology," "mechanical structures," and "astrological divination" that he had never seen before.

Countless young students are immersed in this ocean of knowledge, some deep in thought, some writing furiously, and some gathering in twos and threes to debate in hushed tones about some profound academic question.

The entire library was filled with a strong atmosphere of seeking knowledge, yet it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The elder Xuan was deeply shocked by what he saw.

He lived for hundreds of years and traveled all over the continent, seeing countless sects and academies.

However, no place has ever elevated "knowledge" and "wisdom" to such a high level as the Jixia Academy before us, even surpassing the level of "power" itself.

"Hmph, all that fancy talk." Although Elder Xuan was shocked, he still didn't hold back. He took a swig of wine, curled his lip, and said, "In the world of Soul Masters, it ultimately comes down to fists. No matter how many books you read, if you can't beat someone, what's the point?"

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Wan'er simply smiled and did not refute it.

She turned gracefully and made a "please" gesture: "What you say is true, senior. Then, Wan'er will take you to see just how 'powerful' our Jixia Academy is."

She led Elder Xuan through several corridors to a much larger workshop filled with strange energy fluctuations.

This is the workshop for manufacturing mechanical soul guide devices at the Jixia Academy branch.

The moment you step inside, a scorching metallic aura and a dense surge of soul power hit you.

Inside the workshop, hundreds of students were working enthusiastically, with the sounds of hammering, polishing, and the sizzling of soul-power engraving knives inscribing the core magic array filling the air.

In the center of the workshop, Master Lu Ban was gesturing wildly, pointing and gesturing at a huge, unfinished mechanical contraption, spitting as he spoke.

"Idiot, idiot! How many times have I told you, the energy conduction circuit here needs to use a 'serpentine' routing to minimize energy loss!"

"And you, Huo Yuhao!" Master Lu Ban suddenly turned his attention to a thin boy beside him who was intently observing a miniature soul guide core with eyes that shimmered with purple-gold light. "Don't just look, tell me your opinion! What exactly is the core flaw of this 'Three-Phase Energy Gathering Ring'?!"

Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao was taken aback at first, then immediately calmed down and carefully observed for a moment before saying somewhat uncertainly, "Reporting to Master, this disciple feels that the problem... seems to lie in the 'α'-shaped rune between the third and fourth energy nodes. Its inscription angle seems to have a deviation of 0.01 millimeters, causing a slight... reverse impact when the soul power flows through this area?"

"Hahaha! Well said!" Upon hearing this, Master Lu Ban was not angry but delighted, and slapped his thigh. "That's it! Ordinary Soul Masters, even Level 8 Masters, might not be able to spot such a subtle flaw at a glance. You have a pair of eyes that are truly a treasure!"

Elder Xuan watched all of this unfold, his heart filled with an even more intense storm than when he was in the library.

Is that boy... named Huo Yuhao?
His martial soul was actually... a pure mental martial soul, the Spirit Eye?

Moreover, he was able to spot a core flaw in a soul tool that even an eighth-level soul master might not be able to detect, all with just his eyes!

This...this is simply unbelievable!
What alarmed him even more was the so-called "mechanical soul guide device" that the trainees were making.

The ingenious construction, advanced concepts, and complex energy circuits of those soul tools were completely beyond his comprehension!

This is no longer a simple soul tool; it is clearly... a brand new, terrifying weapon capable of overturning the entire continent's war landscape!
It turns out that the "power" of Jixia Academy does not refer to the individual strength of its students.

Rather... these mechanical soul tools that can be mass-produced and are sufficient to arm an entire army!

At this moment, Elder Xuan finally understood why the Holy Grace Kingdom was able to sweep across the seven surrounding countries with overwhelming force.

He finally understood why Ming Shiyin dared to remain so calm and composed in front of him, a top-tier Douluo.

Because they possess a power that... is enough to change the world!

"Senior Xuan, this way please."

Just as Elder Xuan was deeply shaken, Shangguan Wan'er's voice rang out again.

"My master knew of your arrival and specially prepared a small gift. Please, senior, step forward and take a look."

Forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, Elder Xuan silently followed Shangguan Wan'er to a quiet and elegant room next to the workshop.

The quiet room was completely empty.

Only on the wall in the very center hung a single-character scroll.

On the scroll was a single character, written with vigorous strokes, as if it contained some profound truth of the universe.

"road."

It was just a single word, yet the moment Elder Xuan saw it, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning!

He felt his soul power and spiritual sea, which had long been cultivated to the highest level and were extremely stable, actually... trembled violently and uncontrollably in the face of this one word!

It was as if all his life's cultivation and enlightenment seemed so insignificant and so vulnerable in the face of this simple word "Tao"!
This...this is much more than just calligraphy!
This is... a divine proverb containing the writer's supreme will and understanding of heaven and earth!

The dean of Jixia Academy... Yan Boshan...

Just how terrifying is he?!
For the first time, a bead of cold sweat appeared on Elder Xuan's forehead.

(End of this chapter)