Chapter 6: The Truth of Soul School

  Gǔ Tài Chéng, Xuán Líng Guó dì dū, zhè lǐ céng jīng shì yuǎn gǔ shí qī mǒu yī gè wáng cháo de huáng gōng, bèi mǒu zhǒng shén mì de lì liàng zhěng gè zhuàn rù le dì xià, cháng nián tàn xiǎn de rén zì fā de zài zhè lǐ xíng chéng le yī gè chéng zhèn, hòu lái Xuán Líng Guó kāi guó guó zhǔ zài zhè lǐ qǐ bīng, yú shì hòu lái yě jiù chéng wèi dū.

  Legend has it that beneath the ancient city of Taiyuan there is still a large-scale relic from remote antiquity, and every year many people go down to explore.

  Two dusty figures appeared at the gate of Gutaicheng. The young man in front had a wheat-colored complexion, his face was pale and weak, his body thin and frail, obviously caused by long-term malnutrition.

  A young man followed by an old man in a brown robe, with a hint of respect between his expressions.

  These two men, without needing to be mentioned, naturally were Zhong Hui and Sima Zhao who rushed over at full speed.

  Mu Zongguan didn't know what kind of strength he possessed, but the horse carriage he drove was as fast as a speeding soul device. The ancient city of Gutai, which would have taken over a month to reach, was reached in just ten days, arriving at a relay station just outside the city. However, by the time they arrived at the relay station, the old horse that had been exhausted for years finally lost its last bit of vitality.

  The carriage's wheel also cracked and could no longer be used, so the two of them had no choice but to walk into the ancient city of Tai.

  Zong Yinhui squinted his eyes and sized up the outer contour of Gutaicheng, disdainfully pursing his lips. It wasn't that impressive, completely unlike what he had imagined, and even less majestic than some ancient city he had visited before. Except for the city walls looking quite old, there was hardly anything worth mentioning.

  As soon as they entered the city, Mu Zongguan, who had been hiding behind Zong Xiong, took the lead and walked half a body length ahead of him towards the west of the city.

  Zong Yue was also a city owner, and in the ancient Thai city, he had some property. The two of them walked for a while before finding a small courtyard in a corner of the west city, where an old man who looked like he could die at any moment sat on a stone bench at the gate, basking in the sun.

  "Master, these are all of Old Master's properties in the Imperial Capital. From now on, they will be yours. Also transferred to your name is a grocery store not far from here."

  Mu Zongguan took out two deeds from his bosom and handed them over to Zong Yin, then enthusiastically went forward to greet the old doorman, looking like they were familiar with each other.

  Zong Yue held the two deeds in his hand, looking at the old mansion in front of him, and the small grocery store about 20 square meters away. He couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Zong Yue was really miserable, after all, he was a city master, but in the imperial capital, he only had such a small property.

  Better to have something than nothing, so he carefully picked up the land deed and followed Mu Zongguan into the mansion.

  "Ah, young master, I used to be a guard under the old master's command. Unfortunately, I grew old later on, but fortunately, the old master didn't abandon me and arranged for me to have this job in the imperial capital... those were the days..."

  It was from Mu Zongguan that he learned the name of this old doorman, Lao Shan, who used to be under Zong Yue. Out of respect for the elderly and children, Zong Yin didn't plan to fire him, but Lao Shan was really too garrulous, chattering non-stop since he entered the door!

  "Emmm, Director Mu, let's go and handle the admission procedures first. By the way, can students live on campus?"

  Fortunately, Mu's answer made Zong Yin feel a great relief in his heart. As a student like Zong Yin, he had to board and only had one day a week to go out.

  Dingsheng Soul Academy is one of the top three soul academies in the entire Imperial Capital, and even if you look at the entire Xuanling Empire, it can be ranked among the top ten. It became famous thanks to a bronze tripod unearthed from an underground relic, which is also the origin of the two characters "Dingsheng".

  When Zong Yin arrived at the grand entrance, about twenty children of roughly his age were already standing on one side of the gate, waiting to enter together. Each of their faces looked gloomy, as if they had been sentenced to death.

  The wall, full of iron wires and electric nets, stretched out as far as the eye could see. From the gap in the metal fence, he entered through the main gate, and there was more than 500 meters of empty space to the nearest building. This environment suddenly made Zong Yin understand what Zhao Ya Jing had said to him when he left.

  "You will be sent to the prestigious Soul Academy, where there is no freedom. As soon as you enter, you will become a caged eagle, and one day, you will degenerate into a canary. Your life will always be in danger."

  This is no school, it's a prison! Zong Yin couldn't help but shake his head, filled with emotion.

  Looking around at the crowd of people who were about the same as him, Zong Yin felt a sense of sympathy in his heart. These people, like him, were all hostages from various important departments and heads of state's children.

  The previous rulers of the Xuanling Kingdom almost destroyed the country due to the betrayal of a dozen or so city masters and high-ranking officials, but fortunately, the old men who had been in seclusion appeared in time to quell the chaos, otherwise there would be no Xuanling Kingdom today.

  Although the Xuanling Empire has now recovered, in order to avoid the same mistakes from happening again, the Council of Elders unanimously decided that in order to commend the merits of a group of backbone forces of the empire, each city master and ministers above the third rank who hold great power in the empire must send their children to the imperial capital for further study. The empire will uniformly manage them and provide systematic education for six years.

  In short, every important figure had to give their children as hostages to the empire. If you didn't obey, your child would lose their life.

  At the same time, the empire will also brainwash these people over the six-year period, turning them into fanatics of the empire.

  It's just that over time, this system has become somewhat formalized; otherwise, a private son like Zong Yin who suddenly appeared would not have been recognized.

  But the problem lies in this formalized system, if it is really a legitimate child, the empire will certainly treat them well, but the empire is very clear that many people are illegitimate children, even if they die, those imperial ministers will not be too heartbroken, so over the years, countless children who entered the capital to study have died.

  The highest mortality rate is just a few border towns. Once defeated, the children of these city masters and generals are basically in danger. The Ninth Ring City is one of the borders with the demon tribe, and the frequency of the demon tribe's recent activities has been getting higher and higher, and it is very likely that war will break out.

  Once the Ninth Ring City loses, with the temper of a contemporary national master who would rather die than lose face, Zong Yin almost had no chance of survival.

  These were all told by Zhao Yajing before she left, in short, Zong Yin's trip to the imperial capital this time was more ominous than auspicious.

  Mu Zongguan handed an ID to the doorman, who roughly checked the information and then waved his hand to let Zong Yin go aside and wait.

  When the sun rose to its peak, the metal gate emitted a series of mechanical sounds and slowly opened to both sides. A group of students who had been waiting for a long time rushed out, each face filled with joyful expressions of rebirth, and disappeared into the streets of Gutaicheng in the blink of an eye.

  "New students go to the nearest building to register. All attendants are not allowed to enter, someone will guide you. After entering the Soul School, you are not allowed to leave within a week."

  The gatekeeper glanced at the twenty or so new students behind him and said coldly.

  "Young master, I'll see you off here. This is your file bag, the living expenses for the next few years and some other things are all inside. If there's anything, just tell Old Shan, he'll send someone to pass it back to Jiuhuan City."

  Mu Zongguan handed a package to Zong Yin, his expression still as respectful as ever.

  "Help me take care of my mother and tell her I'll be back."

  Zong Yinyin nodded, took over the package, and resolutely entered Ding Sheng.

  After entering the Ding Sheng, what enters the eye is a square of over 1,000 square meters. In the center stands a bronze tripod with a height of 10 meters, a width of 5 meters and a side width of 3 meters. This must be the treasure of Ding Sheng.

  When no one was entering or exiting, the metal gate closed with a loud bang again. Zong Yin took a deep breath and gazed at the empty square, his mouth slightly curving into an arc.

  "New world! New life! I'm here!"