Chapter 28: Emperor Team Leader Qin Ming
Under Zhi Lin the Soul Douluo's gaze, Xiao Wu grew increasingly flustered.
Zu Zong could only smile wryly—perhaps she'd been a rabbit for so long that, even in human form, she still carried psychological shadows.
Clearing his throat, Zhi Lin spoke seriously, "Young lady, may we see your martial soul?"
Zu Zong took Xiao Wu's hand and reassured her, "It's fine, they just want to see your martial soul."
With Zu Zong's encouragement, Xiao Wu clearly felt much better. She nodded, took a deep breath, and said with courage, "Xiao Wu. Martial soul: Rabbit. Power-attack type, level 33, three-ring Battle Soul Elder."
A red glow flared from Xiao Wu's body. Shrouded in soft crimson light, her eyes began to turn red, and her ears gradually lengthened. Covered in soft white fur, they perked up from the sides of her head.
Her figure seemed to grow taller, and a gentle soul power aura fluctuated around her body. The soul rings beneath her feet rose—yellow, yellow, purple—the same configuration as Zu Zong's.
The three teaching committee members all nodded in approval.
"Hmm! Not bad."
Meng Shenji turned to the middle-aged man standing to the side and laughed heartily. "Qin Ming, what do you think? Are these two qualified for the Emperor Team?"
The middle-aged man was clearly excited. Joy spread across his face as he smiled and replied, "Honored elders, if these two aren't qualified, then I doubt anyone on the continent is."
When Meng Shenji first called him here and told him two freshmen would be joining the Emperor Battle Team today, he had initially refused.
It wasn't that he held some bias against new students—rather, most incoming students were nobles. The nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire were notoriously decadent, among the worst in the entire continent.
Even those with decent talent often ended up wasting their potential, spending every day idling with their useless friends. The Fourth Prince Xue Beng was a perfect example.
The fact that the Emperor Team even managed to gather talents like Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan was already a miracle. He didn't want a single bad apple ruining the whole team.
But since Meng Shenji was the chairman of the academy's teaching committee, he couldn't refuse outright. He'd suggested meeting them first before deciding—never expecting reality to give him such a pleasant surprise.
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "My name is Qin Ming. I'm thirty-two years old—look it up on Baidu if you don't believe me. I'm a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and also the team leader of the Emperor Battle Team."
"My martial soul is a mutated Flame Dark Wolf. I'm a power-attack type Soul Emperor with six rings at level sixty-two. Starting today, you two are official members of the Emperor Battle Team."
Zu Zong: What!?
Xiao Wu: Nani? (Learned from Zu Zong)
After helping them complete their admission procedures, Qin Ming led Zu Zong and Xiao Wu to the team's assembly point.
As they walked along the path, Qin Ming enthusiastically introduced everything around them.
"This is the academy's cafeteria. The food is decent—and it's all free."
"This is the Martial Soul Mimicry Training Grounds. You can use it in the future, but you'll need to apply first."
"This over here is…"
With the three Soul Douluo from the committee no longer around, Xiao Wu reverted to her carefree self. She touched and poked at everything, clearly curious.
The moment she heard the word 'cafeteria,' she nearly froze in place. Her eyes locked straight onto Zu Zong.
Helpless, Zu Zong had no choice but to sign a series of unequal agreements, including the "One-Day Tour of Heaven Dou City," just to move things along.
Once the buildings started thinning out, Xiao Wu finally calmed down and asked, "Teacher Qin, isn't there supposed to be an entrance exam for new students? Is it really okay for us to skip that and come in through the back door like this?"
Zu Zong's expression turned serious.
'What the heck? This rabbit actually cares about something besides food?'
While thinking that, he reached out and placed his right hand on Xiao Wu's forehead.
Being touched like that, Xiao Wu's face instantly turned red, but she didn't push his hand away. She pretended to scold him sweetly, "What are you doing?"
Zu Zong raised his other hand to feel his own forehead and smiled. "No fever. And here I thought you'd ask Teacher Qin what time the cafeteria opens."
"Go die—awoo!" Xiao Wu pushed away Zu Zong's right hand, grabbed his arm, and gave it a vicious bite.
"Ah! This is abuse—damn rabbit, let go!"
"Nope!"
"Let go or not!?"
"Not letting go!"
Qin Ming watched the two of them bickering and revealed a knowing smile. These two were truly childhood sweethearts.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly for a second: the poor wolf's heart is getting crushed.
After all, Qin Ming's martial soul is a wolf, and Su Yuntao's is a dog—so this is "tormenting a wolf," while Su Yuntao's case would be "tormenting a dog." Yeah, that sounds about right.
The two of them noticed Qin Ming's gaze.
Zu Zong didn't mind—he was already a seasoned pro.
But Xiao Wu couldn't take it. Realizing she had done something so embarrassing in front of her new teacher, she was mortified. She quickly let go and hid behind Zu Zong in a panic.
Qin Ming gave a light smile at Xiao Wu's reaction and said, "Your abilities have already been acknowledged by the academy's three highest-ranking members. So the exam the day after tomorrow will be little more than a formality."
Then, his tone shifted and he let out a helpless sigh.
"Besides, at today's Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the entrance exam is almost meaningless.
Most students who qualify for entry are those with strong family backgrounds. Whether they pass or fail the exam, they still get admitted.
Once inside, most of them don't even bother cultivating seriously—they just waste the academy's massive resources.
As for those with real ability but no background, they can't even step through the academy gates."
"You two are lucky—you met Elder Meng Shenji's granddaughter. If not, no matter how talented you were, the higher-ups in the academy wouldn't have known about you, and you still wouldn't have gotten in.
That said, things have improved somewhat in recent years ever since His Highness the Crown Prince took over as dean.
But even then, it's a drop in the ocean. The noble networks are just too deeply entangled."
Zu Zong nodded in deep agreement.
The current situation reminded him all too well of the Eastern Han era in his past life on Blue Star. The root of that chaos lay in the aristocrats controlling the vast majority of land and population.
The people starved, leading to massive civil wars and decades of chaos.
Ironically, after all the fighting among Wei, Shu, and Wu, it was the Sima clan, representing the aristocracy, who ultimately won.
Decades later, another internal struggle among the nobles erupted. Foreign invasions followed, and the Han people suffered massacres for hundreds of years—a bitter and ironic fate.
And how different was the path of the Douluo Continent?
The "righteous" protagonist helped the "righteous nobles" win a war launched by the "evil" Spirit Hall.
But decades later, without Spirit Hall to unite them against a common enemy, wars broke out once more—wars that raged on for tens of thousands of years.
After becoming a god, the protagonist sat high above, watching as war and chaos continued, as evil soul masters ran rampant.
He claimed he wouldn't interfere in mortal affairs—until the day the continent once again had a chance to unite.
And then that same god descended to forcibly halt the unification.
The continent was plunged into another era of constant tension, where war could break out at any time.
Thinking of all this, Zu Zong clenched his fists and said to himself, "Maybe I can change something."
(End of Chapter)
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