Next, Lan Ling did not cheat by relying on the demon star again. Instead, he painstakingly used his own mental power to complete the third step of initiation: Dragon Force control.
It was truly difficult, so very difficult, extraordinarily difficult…
Because the energy released in an instant was completely chaotic and disorderly, consisting of thousands upon thousands of strands, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
First attempt, second attempt, third attempt…
Since the energy dissipated far too quickly from release to vanishing, in the first ten tries, Lan Ling’s mind could not capture anything at all. He gained nothing whatsoever.
Half an hour passed, then one hour, then two hours.
He had lost count of how many attempts it had been — perhaps a hundred, perhaps a hundred and one.
“Phew…” The moment the demon star released its energy, Lan Ling’s mental power suddenly seized hold.
Finally, it was not a complete failure. He had captured a single strand of energy, though it was less than one percent.
But this was already a tremendous breakthrough. After hundreds of previous attempts yielding nothing, his scalp had truly begun to tingle with frustration.
The demon star also breathed a sigh of relief — if it were capable of such a thing. Its energy had already become extremely faint. Although the amount released each time was tiny and not used to alleviate extreme bodily pain, a hundred releases still constituted no small consumption. It truly had very little energy left.
A moment later, Lan Ling asked, “At this rate, how long will it take me to complete the third step of initiation?”
“One month,” the demon star replied. “It will require one full month.”
Lan Ling asked, “And if I use my consciousness to control it instead?”
“Instantaneous,” the demon star answered.
Lan Ling tried it. With a mere thought, he commanded the demon star’s power.
“Whoosh…” The moment the demon star’s power was released, it was instantly and completely captured. Not a trace leaked outward. He directly used his consciousness to guide it to the lower dantian, circulate it through the entire body, and finally return it to the heart region.
This demon star was simply far too heaven-defying.
What normally required a month could, because of its existence, be accomplished in a single instant.
At that very moment, Ye Jingyu’s voice sounded in his ear. “That is enough for today.”
Lan Ling opened his eyes and realised that night had already fallen outside.
Time had passed far too quickly. What had felt like only a short while had actually been half a day.
When he opened his eyes, Lan Ling felt overwhelming exhaustion. He wanted nothing more than to lie down on the ground and fall asleep immediately.
“How is your progress?” Ye Jingyu asked.
Lan Ling replied, “I just managed, for the first time, to use my mind to capture Dragon Force — and only less than one percent of it — before you woke me.”
After he finished speaking, he clearly saw Ye Jingyu let out a long sigh of relief.
For some reason, this result brought Ye Jingyu secret joy. In the first and second steps of initiation, Lan Ling had completed each in only half a day, which had truly frightened her.
Top geniuses elsewhere required half a month or even a full month. Yet Lan Ling needed only half a day. This was no longer genius — it was monstrous, abnormal.
Such monstrous talent did not bring Ye Jingyu delight. Instead, it filled her with unease and a faint trace of fear.
Now that Lan Ling had taken half a day just to achieve his first successful capture of Dragon Force, she felt relieved. In the end, Lan Ling was still a normal human being after all.
“How good is this result?” Lan Ling asked.
“Very good. One in a thousand,” Ye Jingyu replied. “All right, go eat.”
At the dinner table, his sister Suo Ningbing repeatedly warned Lan Ling. Suo Lun had terrible relations at school because he had toyed with and abandoned so many girls, even stealing quite a few people’s girlfriends. In class, he must be careful and avoid conflicts with others.
Once again, Lan Ling inwardly cursed that bastard Suo Lun. Thinking of tomorrow’s classes, he felt a twinge of apprehension. He absolutely hoped no abandoned ex-girlfriend would suddenly pounce on him.
…
The next morning, Ye Jingyu drove Lan Ling to the Royal City Academy.
To enter the noble branch, one had to first pass through the central axis of the commoner branch. Lan Ling had arrived early today, just in time to witness the peak hour when large numbers of noble children were heading to school. He saw hundreds of luxurious carriages parading ostentatiously along the road, each emblazoned with various family crests.
At such times, no commoner students were permitted to pass along the central avenue of the commoner academy. When noble carriages passed through, the commoner students could only stand meekly by the roadside with lowered heads, waiting silently for the carriages to go by.
Lan Ling clearly saw the flames of rage and humiliation burning in the eyes of those commoner students. Yet the noble children not only showed no consideration, they even laughed out loud, deliberately instructing their coachmen to drive slowly.
This was blatant provocation, hatred-stirring done in broad daylight — and it happened every single day. After this, how could the commoner students and noble students ever coexist peacefully?
If it were merely ordinary commoners, that would be one thing. But the commoner students of the Royal City Academy were all elites. In the future, they would enter key civil and military positions in the kingdom and hold real power. Once they gained authority, would the nobles still enjoy good days?
Lan Ling had read the records. In the past, many commoner elites had willingly served under noble houses. But in recent decades, more and more elite commoner children had chosen to pledge themselves directly to the royal family, even accepting lower positions and salaries.
Now, not only in the military, but also in various counties and prefectures, and even within the cabinet, commoner elites had begun to appear. The royal family’s strategy of replacing nobles with commoner elites was already showing initial success.
If the royal family were to completely overhaul the ruling class, the end of traditional nobility would arrive. As an outsider, Lan Ling saw this clearly with a single glance. Yet these noble children remained immersed every day in the pleasure of humiliating commoner students.
…
After entering the noble academy, Ye Jingyu led Lan Ling to his classroom.
Ye Jingyu was far too stunningly beautiful, and her figure was explosively alluring. Along the way, she drew countless brazen stares from noble youths, along with muttered curses about “a fresh flower stuck in cow dung.”
Upon entering the classroom, Lan Ling was surprised to find that its layout was not much different from university lecture halls back on Earth. It was a tiered large classroom, complete with a blackboard and chalk. The only real difference was the extravagantly ornate desks and chairs.
Of course, none of this was coincidence. Clearly, it was the handiwork of the previous Earth transmigrator, His Majesty the Dragon Emperor.
Not only the classroom layout, but the entire education system closely resembled universities on Earth. He had bypassed the imperial examination system entirely and adopted a higher academy system to cultivate large numbers of specialised talents — namely, talents in literature, martial arts, arts, and politics.
His Majesty the Dragon Emperor must have been a liberal arts student back on Earth, as he had delved very little into the sciences. The Royal City Academy basically offered no related courses.
As class time approached, noble students trickled into the classroom one after another.
At this moment, Lan Ling truly felt how despised Suo Lun had been. When male students entered, they either ignored him completely or looked at him with contempt.
When female students entered, they avoided him like a venomous snake or scorpion. Occasionally, a few women shot him icy, hostile glances — clearly girls whom Suo Lun had loved and abandoned.
Thus, a peculiar sight appeared during class. In the vast classroom, every other seat was packed full, yet the five seats in front of, behind, to the left, and to the right of Lan Ling remained completely empty. The entire classroom, male and female alike, was ostracising him.
A moment later, the mentor entered.
This was a refined-looking middle-aged man. His mentor’s robe was impeccably neat, and every strand of his hair was combed perfectly in place. Though he did not appear very old, he already had quite a few white hairs.
This was Suo Lun’s strategy and debate mentor, Xiu Yan. He came from commoner origins but now held a high position. In addition to being a mentor at the Royal City Academy, he was also a state policy advisor in the kingdom’s cabinet.
When he stepped onto the podium and caught sight of Lan Ling with his first glance, he could not help but pause slightly in surprise. This wastrel Suo Lun had not shown up in class for a very long time.
“There are one hundred and thirty-nine days left until the graduation examination. Your six years of study will then come to an end,” Mentor Xiu Yan said. “Of course, for you all, the graduation examination is merely a minor hurdle. It is not like in the commoner academy, where the graduation examination is either the gates of hell or the golden gate to opportunity — something that can completely decide their fate.”
Then Mentor Xiu Yan’s gaze fell upon Lan Ling. “Of course, this graduation examination will also decide the fate of one person among us here. Suo Lun, you know I am referring to you. If you fail the graduation examination, it means losing the two-hundred-year foundation of your family. I hope that now you can regret and reflect on the absurdity of the past six years.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the other noble students burst into laughter, filled with schadenfreude.
Lan Ling immediately replied coldly, “What are you all laughing at? Today it is my Suo Clan’s turn. Tomorrow, it may very well be your families.”
These words caused the expressions of many present to change slightly. Mentor Xiu Yan’s gaze flickered with surprise.
Then someone jeered in a strange voice, “Our families do not have a useless waste like you. Ignorant and incompetent, unable to even truss a chicken.”
“Suo Lun’s strength must all be concentrated three inches below his navel,” someone else mocked with a sneer.
Lan Ling retorted coldly, “How would you know? Have you tasted it yourself? Or has the woman in your family tasted it?”
As soon as he said this, the classroom erupted in uproarious laughter. The person who had attacked him flushed crimson with embarrassment.
Many of the girls hurriedly covered their ears, refusing to listen. Only a few had their minds shaken, their faces blushing to the roots of their ears. Because they really had tasted it. Almost every beautiful woman in the class had been pursued by Suo Lun.
But some people secretly marvelled. In the past, Suo Lun had been extremely skilled at seducing girls, yet he was also somewhat roguish. When attacked en masse by the boys, he would only lower his head and pretend not to hear, letting others mock him freely. No one had expected the current Suo Lun to be so sharp-tongued.
In truth, Lan Ling back on Earth had always been this kind of person. Having grown up as an orphan, he was frequently mocked and bullied. Though his heart was kind, he was extremely vindictive. If someone cursed him, he had to curse back. If someone hit him, he had to hit back.
At that moment, someone outside shouted, “Suo Lun, your fiancée has sent a letter for me to pass to you.”
As soon as these words rang out, every male student in the room burned with boundless jealousy and hatred.
Everyone knew that Suo Lun’s fiancée, Gui Qin Shao, was the campus belle of the Royal City Academy. Although she had already graduated, admirers of her could still be found everywhere in the school.