Douluo Continent: From Internal Martial Arts to the Law of Heaven and Earth

Seated behind the table at the very front was a tall, thin old man with a ruddy complexion and vigorous spirit, exuding a gentle aura. However, if one looked into his eyes, it was as if staring into an abyss, drawing one in. A faint aura of soul power emanated from him, carrying a subtle chill that sent shivers down one's spine if one stayed near him for too long.

Sitting behind him on his left was a plump old man. The black tuxedo he wore didn't give him a sense of luxury; instead, it made him look rather simple-minded. When seated, he was noticeably a head shorter than the old man in front of him. His whole body was round like a ball, and his body's dimensions were probably not much different. His face was full of fat, and when he smiled, his eyes turned into slits, making people unconsciously lower their guard.

The last education commissioner next to the fat old man had an ordinary appearance and a very average build. He was not as unusual as the previous two. He had an air of refinement about him and bright eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts.

The leader should be Meng Shenji, the chief instructor of the Black Demon Martial Soul. If this Martial Soul had been around during the second era of Dou Di Zhuan, it would probably have been labeled an evil soul master long ago. However, since he is called Meng Shenji, I wonder if practicing internal martial arts in front of him will give me some mysterious boost.

This should be Bai Baoshan, the second-ranked one. His height and waist circumference are roughly the same, which is somewhat similar to the Porcupine Douluo. However, the Porcupine Douluo's influence is due to his martial soul. Could this Heavenly Star Furnace also affect the body?

The last one should be Sanxi Zhilin, whose martial soul is Tianqing Teng. He is just like his appearance, nothing special.

Tang Shan secretly observed the three of them, and the three of them subconsciously focused their gaze on Tang Shan and Xue Qinghe.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

It was Meng Shenji who had let them in earlier. When he saw Xue Qinghe and Tang Shan enter, he bowed slightly and gave a salute.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

Bai Baoshan and Zhilin followed closely behind Meng Shenji, bowing slightly as well.

"Please rise, esteemed seniors."

Xue Qinghe quickly took a few steps to help Meng Shenji up, while gesturing to the other two Soul Douluos that they didn't need to be so polite.

He is humble and polite, thoughtful in his work, and approachable.

This was Meng Shenji's first close encounter with Xue Qinghe, and in a short time, he discovered several rare qualities in Xue Qinghe. These qualities might be quite common, but they were extremely rare in a prince who had grown up in luxury and extravagance.

Moreover, he discovered that all of Xue Qinghe's emotions were genuine and not just superficial. This made him like Xue Qinghe even more, as he was indeed a good candidate to be the crown prince or even the emperor.

As his thoughts turned to this, Meng Shenji couldn't help but recall what Prince Xuexin had said to the three education committee members that morning: "Three education committee members, His Majesty's specially recruited genius, Tang Shan, should be enrolling today. I hope you can give him a good test. After all, since he's a genius, he needs to undergo more trials, right? Also, the First Prince might accompany him. I hope you three education committee members will give me some face and not get too close to the First Prince. After all, the position of Crown Prince hasn't been decided yet, and hastily taking sides wouldn't be good for you three. Although you three are Soul Douluo, it would still be troublesome if you chose the wrong side."

At that time, Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhilin all had gloomy expressions. If it weren't for their excellent relationship with Emperor Xueye, their current cultivation level largely due to the help of Emperor Xueye's father, Xue Tianming, and their fear of Dugu Bo behind Prince Xuexin, Prince Xuexin might have entered standing up and left lying down.

Although they couldn't defeat their opponent, the three of them firmly remembered two names: Tang Shan and the other, of course, the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe.

They dispatched their subordinates to gather a great deal of information, among which Tang Shan's achievements were the most astonishing: a true martial spirit, innate full soul power, and the first and second ring in a thousand years. Such talent could not be described as mere genius; it was the mark of a true prodigy.

As for Xue Qinghe, all the information he gathered was praise for the other party, saying that he was humble and thoughtful in his work. After meeting Meng Shenji today, he was indeed worthy of his reputation.

Xue Qinghe was naturally unaware of the events that had transpired that morning, and how her nominal uncle had so much trouble for the three school leaders. After paying her respects to the three Soul Douluos, she introduced them to Tang Shan: "Tang Shan, these are three members of the teaching committee of our Heaven Dou Royal Academy: Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Senior Zhilin. They are all Soul Douluo-level experts, not far from the ultimate title of Soul Master. If the three of them join forces, they are enough to rival a Title Douluo."

"Greetings to the three seniors."

Tang Shan stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

"Your Highness flatters us. We are still a long way from becoming Title Douluos, let alone joining forces to rival one. That's utter nonsense." Meng Shenji declined Xue Qinghe's praise, as no one understood the gap between Soul Douluos and Title Douluos better than them. Even against the weakest Poison Douluo, they would inevitably be at a disadvantage; rivalry was out of the question.

Turning to Tangshan, Meng Shenji's eyes shimmered with spiritual power: "No need for formalities. You must be the genius His Majesty spoke of. Indeed, you possess an imposing presence and exceptional talent."

His senses were incredibly sharp. As Tang Shan approached, he sensed the terrifying power of blood and qi within his body. He was secretly shocked. With such power and qi, he would believe that Tang Shan was a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast.

"Good health, what a strong young man. He must eat a lot of good food usually."

Bai Baoshan's round figure flashed to Tang Shan's side with an agility that belied his size. He patted Tang Shan's body up and down for a moment with his large hands, and then stroked his white beard with satisfaction.

"His soul power is refined and not superficial, which shows that he has cultivated it steadily and practically."

The Zhilin Education Committee also made the same judgment in the end.

“I understand your purpose. Since His Majesty has spoken, joining the academy is definitely not a problem. In addition, we are aware of your talent, Tang Shan. Even if His Majesty had not spoken, we would have made an exception and accepted you into our fold.”

Meng Shenji was decisive and efficient. After confirming Tang Shan's talent, he got straight to the point without any hesitation. As for what Xue Ye Dadi had said about giving Tang Shan some tests, what a joke! Such a genius, tests? Were they trying to push him away?

As for distancing themselves from Xue Qinghe, they are only engaging in necessary exchanges and do not intend to get closer to Xue Qinghe, so don't overthink it.

"Then I'll have to trouble you three seniors."

Xue Qinghe and Tangshan expressed their gratitude once again.

"It's nothing, no need to thank me, we're all family. The Crown Prince is a member of the royal family, so you can treat coming to the academy as coming home."

Bai Baoshan said with a smile, looking at Tang Shan's talent with extreme satisfaction.

In fact, their personalities can be seen from the actions of the three education committee members in the original work. They genuinely love teaching and sincerely hope that the Heaven Dou Royal Academy can have more geniuses. They are even willing to clash with titled Douluo for the sake of geniuses.

This is extremely rare. After all, those who can cultivate to the level of Soul Douluo are either evil Soul Masters or, no matter how much they enhance their talent through other means, their innate talent will never be weak, and they will inevitably want to try to reach the final realm of Soul Master. Given limited time, the willingness to dedicate so much energy to training students suggests genuine passion; otherwise, there is no other possibility.

Forget about the Heaven Dou Emperor's order. Even setting aside the fact that the Heaven Dou Emperor wouldn't be so short-sighted, he certainly knows the difference between the importance of some low-level Soul Masters and the three potential Title Douluos. Moreover, unless a Title Douluo-level expert intervenes, virtually no one can stop the three Soul Douluos from leaving or joining other major powers.

It can only be said that if they didn't have a passion for it, they wouldn't have become the teaching committee members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Instead, they would have become Heaven Dou elders, like the Sea God Pavilion elders of Shrek Academy in the future, only taking action at crucial moments and spending the rest of their time cultivating.

"Cough cough."

Zhilin coughed to remind Bai Baoshan that he shouldn't say things too clearly, otherwise some unreasonable people would come and cause trouble every day. Although nothing serious would happen, it would still be annoying.

"Come on, Tangshan, fill in these basic information and the enrollment procedures will be completed soon."

Meng Shenji pulled a form from his desk and handed it to Tang Shan.

Tang Shan took the form and quickly began filling it out. There wasn't much important information; it mainly consisted of his martial soul, soul power level, and what type of soul master he wanted to become, such as a control type or a power-attack type.

Tangshan had nothing to hide, so he filled out everything truthfully and handed it back to Mengshenji.

Meng Shenji took it back and fiddled with it for a while, then handed a golden token to Tang Shan: "This is the mark of a Heavenly Supreme level student. Remember to keep it safe. If you lose it, you will need to pay one hundred gold soul coins to replace it."

Tang Shan took it and examined it carefully, his lips twitching slightly. It was truly made of pure gold. Giving away gold upon enrollment—wasn't that a bit too much of a perk? But upon closer reflection, he realized he was a genius personally selected by Emperor Xue Ye, and his tuition was free. If those noble children wanted to enroll, their tuition for one semester would probably be enough to forge dozens of such tokens.

"Thank you very much, three members of the Education Commission."

Xue Qinghe expressed his gratitude once again.

"It's alright. It's our responsibility to not let any genius of the empire slip through our fingers. As members of the teaching committee of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, even if we encounter some obstacles, we must do our best to keep the Soul Master geniuses here."

"Dream God said meaningfully."

Xue Qinghe said thoughtfully, "Thank you for the reminder."

Tang Shan blinked, feeling as if they had said something, but he didn't quite understand it.

Forget it, I should just focus on getting into school as soon as possible.

Looking at the golden token in his hand, Tang Shan revealed a satisfied smile.

The sunlight outside the window shone on the golden token, making the character "至" on it shine brightly.

P.S.: There's at least one more chapter.

Chapter 134: Special Protection from the Serpent Spear Douluo, Bonus Chapter for Prince Xuexin of the Dugu Manor (700 Monthly Tickets)

After saying goodbye to the three education commissioners, Tangshan picked up his school uniform and found his dormitory.

In terms of accommodation, the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy is quite generous: two students at the Tianwei level share a room of about 100 square meters, while students at the Tianzhi level also have a room of about 100 square meters, but each student lives alone; as for the Tiandou level, they can choose a place within the academy's designated area to build a two-story loft.

It can only be said that even compared to Shrek Academy's outer courtyard ten or even twenty thousand years later, the accommodation conditions of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy are absolutely superior.

"Alright, Your Highness, I think I'm all done here. You can go and attend to your business."

Tang Shan felt rather helpless looking at Xue Qinghe, who had arranged everything for him from beginning to end.

After inspecting Tang Shan's dormitory and confirming that everything was in order, Xue Qinghe nodded and said, "Alright, if you need anything, just tell Senior She. I'll have him stay at the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy. I'll go and say hello to the noble children; they won't be coming over later."

Wow, a Title Douluo is protecting him! Tang Shan was deeply moved. Miss Angel is amazing! With such a strong backer, he really made the right choice in choosing her.

Seeing Tang Shan's burning gaze, Xue Qinghe shifted uncomfortably: "Your gaze feels strange. Are you thinking about something impolite?"

Tang Shan coughed lightly: "Your Highness, you're overthinking it. Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

As he spoke, his face was full of sincerity, and he looked directly into Xue Qinghe's eyes.

Seeing Tang Shan looking at him so calmly, Xue Qinghe's suspicions dissipated somewhat.

In the end, I still suffered from my lack of education. Who says that looking someone directly in the eyes is not lying? A person who is truly telling the truth will neither look away nor stare directly at you, but will be in a dynamic state of gaze.

"I'm leaving now. Be sure to let me know if anything happens."

Xue Qinghe glanced at Tang Shan with some reluctance, but finally turned and left. Ultimately, everyone needs to have their own life, and she couldn't always keep Tang Shan by her side. There were also some things that were best left unsaid to him for the time being.

"I'll drive Your Highness back and then come over."

Serpent Spear Douluo said to Tang Shan.

Serpent Spear Douluo had no worries about being able to provide close protection for Tangshan.

After all, even after he left, Xue Qinghe still had two titled Douluo, Golden Crocodile Douluo and Porcupine Douluo, by his side; if even Golden Crocodile Douluo couldn't handle the opponent, having one more or one less wouldn't make a difference.

After watching the two leave, Tang Shan lay back on the bed, lost in thought.

……

Dugu Mansion

The Dugu family mansion was not large and its decoration was very simple. There were basically no other residents around the mansion.

At this moment, a carriage with a frame made of thousand-year-old sandalwood stopped in front of the mansion. Dozens of pigeon blood rubies were adorning the edge of the curtain, swaying gently in the breeze and reflecting a dazzling halo.

The wheels were wrapped in thick tendons from the spirit beasts, and rolled silently.

Around the carriage, soldiers in heavy armor stood solemnly, their armor bearing the prince's exclusive insignia. Their hands rested on their swords at their waists as they vigilantly scanned the passersby.

"Your Majesty Dugu, Tang Shan is exceptionally talented and has a deep mind. If he is allowed to grow, he will surely become the Crown Prince's right-hand man."

Even so, that would be one thing, but what if the First Prince really does rise to the throne and Tang Shan tries to use the Emperor to command the other lords? I hope Your Majesty will consider the overall situation of Heaven Dou and expel Tang Shan from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.”

The speaker's tone was impassioned and passionate, filled with excitement and indignation. The intensity of his emotions made one believe that he was truly dedicated to public service.

This was a middle-aged man, appearing to be around forty or fifty years old, with an unnatural flush on his face. His noble appearance was tinged with a hint of ruthlessness. He was speaking eloquently about his opinions, while simultaneously slandering someone behind their back.

"Your Majesty has lost your mind. Doesn't he know that the most important thing for an emperor is to maintain balance? If the eldest prince becomes too powerful, and then he is made crown prince in the future, aren't you afraid that the crown prince will stage a coup and force him to abdicate?"

If it were me, I certainly wouldn't do that. I would carefully consider the positions of all my sons and wait until my deathbed to issue an edict confirming the next emperor.

This person was none other than Prince Xuexin, the younger brother of Emperor Xueye.

How could he not be aware of the undercurrents that have been brewing in the Heavenly Dou Empire recently? If he didn't understand the situation, how could he have taken advantage of the changing power structure to make a fortune and maintain his extravagant lifestyle?

Recently, Xue Qinghe's prestige has greatly increased, both in the heart of Emperor Xue Ye and in the court. In addition, he already has a good reputation among the people, and many people have been spreading rumors in private that Xue Qinghe is the only candidate for crown prince and the only successor to the throne.

Especially after the other side not only snatched the Soul Master genius Tang Shan from the Spirit Hall, but also became Ning Fengzhi's teacher, they truly lived up to everyone's expectations.

How could this be allowed? If the crown prince and even the throne were decided early on, the situation in the empire would not have fluctuated much at all; if the situation did not change, how could he possibly take a risk?

"Your Majesty, please act for the sake of the nation!"

Prince Xuexin bowed deeply, but a hint of resentment flashed across her face: Why am I not a Soul Master? Why must I compromise? Why, even though I saved this old man's life, does he refuse to be my lackey?

Dugu Bo's long, dark green hair was scattered like withered grass. His gray robe was woven from coarse hemp mixed with silk spun by poisonous silkworms. He was surrounded by a chilling aura that seemed to have a tangible presence, as if even the air itself had been stagnant due to the potent poison emanating from him.