To be honest, after being tormented by too many of those "noble-brained weirdos," Qin Ming nearly had a stroke when he saw the spirit rings on Chen Ming.
He had fully expected this kid to be yet another delusional brat spewing nonsense. Who would've thought—this one's actually legit?!
Was he really enduring all these "noble-born anomalies" purely because of the orders from the three Spirit Douluo-level deans?
Well, that was certainly part of it, but the main reason? It was because he himself was hoping to discover a truly talented student to cultivate!
"Seriously… a thousand-year second spirit ring, eleven years old, Spirit Grandmaster at level 23. A genius! A genius among geniuses!"
"Chen Ming, entering Heaven Dou Royal Academy was absolutely the right choice for you. With your talent, you're among the few across the entire continent. Only our Heaven Dou Royal Academy has the ability to nurture someone like you."
"If I may ask—though this might be a bit bold—could you tell me what your two spirit skills are? You don't need to go into full detail; a general description will do. If it's inconvenient, we can skip the topic."
"My spirit skills aren't really a big secret…" Chen Ming watched Qin Ming's sudden excitement with some confusion, but stayed composed and went through the motions.
Spirit skills were typically personal, but aside from a few rare exceptions, most spirit skills were easy to recognize. Even if someone didn't know the exact name or the beast it came from, they could usually tell the type of skill.
Chen Ming's two spirit skills were the kind of abilities that anyone could remember with just one glance. Their activation and effects were glaringly obvious—practically impossible to hide in real combat.
Given that he'd be training at the academy for the next few years, Chen Ming knew there was no way he could keep his skills secret anyway, so he decided to be upfront—though he still kept some of the finer effects to himself.
"My first spirit skill is called Toxic Cloud. It creates a poisonous mist. My second skill is Toxic Detonation, which explodes anything that's been infected with my poison. It can also be used to detonate the mist from my first skill. But each use has a bit of a delay before it activates, and I can only use it five times a day."
"A poison-type spirit master… First skill covers a large area, good for control or damage… Second skill can trigger the first…?" Qin Ming's eyes lit up more with each word. To him, this combo was nothing short of brilliant.
Though Chen Ming's student file hadn't been formally archived yet, Qin Ming had already made up his mind. He had to recommend this genius to the three deans so that Chen Ming could join one of the academy's two combat teams for advanced training.
"Xiao Ming, you're really only eleven years old?" Qin Ming asked suddenly.
"I really am eleven. My birth registration and the Awakening Certificate from the Spirit Hall should already be in the file," Chen Ming replied calmly.
"Ah… right, right…" Qin Ming said, a bit awkwardly.
Technically, students with innate spirit power above level 7 were supposed to have a special notation in their entry files. But for some reason, no matter how many times he looked through it, Qin Ming hadn't found any such mark in Chen Ming's documents. At this point, he wasn't even sure what Chen Ming's innate spirit power was.
"Xiao Ming, are you married? Or engaged?" Qin Ming's question came off as abrupt, but within the cultural norms of the Douluo Continent, it was actually fairly standard.
Due to low productivity and the maturing effects of spirit power, most commoners married very early. Kids as young as 12 or 13 getting married was quite normal—some even earlier. Among nobles, early marriages were less common, but engagements? Very frequent.
So while the question seemed odd, it was not entirely unexpected.
"I'm neither married nor engaged. My goal is to become the strongest spirit master in the world. Women are just a distraction."
"Unless she's rich," Chen Ming added silently to himself.
"..." Qin Ming stared at the serious-faced boy and wanted to tell him he was being a bit extreme. But then he thought about all the drama caused by students falling in love at the academy, and suddenly, Chen Ming's stance didn't seem so bad.
How did Qin Ming get to where he was today? Was it purely because of talent or his mutated martial spirit?
That was part of it, sure—but more importantly, in a world where everyone had romance on the brain, Qin Ming had never dated. He'd been single his whole life. Maybe not entirely obsessed with training, but he certainly devoted most of his time to it. No drama, no heartbreak—just steady, focused cultivation. That was why he got stronger.
"Hoo…"
"Xiao Ming, is it okay if I call you that? You can just call me Teacher Qin or Sir. Your talent is truly exceptional. I don't think I have the authority to determine the best training path for you. We'll need to go to the deans and let the three of them decide."
"As long as you can demonstrate your true capabilities, I believe that you'll definitely be able to join one of our Heaven Dou Royal Academy battle teams in just a few years—and eventually, compete in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, considered the pinnacle competition for young spirit masters."
As he spoke, Qin Ming became a bit emotional. He himself had graduated from Shrek Academy—a school that, at the time, didn't even meet the basic qualifications to be called a proper spirit master academy. Forget competing in the elite tournament—he couldn't even get a seat in the audience.
Though Qin Ming never talked about it, that had always been a sore spot for him. He believed his own talent and strength were on par with those geniuses on stage, but due to various reasons, he never got the chance to shine.
Ever since joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy as a faculty member, he'd paid extra attention to the academy's two battle teams. Recently, he'd even been applying to become the leader of one of the squads—hoping to make up for the regrets of his youth, even if just a little.
Chen Ming had no idea what was going through Qin Ming's mind. He simply looked at the older man's excited expression with some confusion. After a moment of thought, he figured the man probably wasn't going to do anything shady, so he agreed to Qin Ming's proposal to take him to meet the three deans.
After leaving the room, Qin Ming didn't rush off. Instead, he stopped by another room to find his assistant. He briefly explained the situation, handed over his current tasks, and only then did he take Chen Ming and head toward the innermost part of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy—where the three deans had their offices.
(End of Chapter)