In Douluo, there is a way to die.

Chapter 130 "Gilding"

As the three education committee members entered the education committee building, Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing still appeared somewhat reserved. The former had never had a proper schooling since childhood because the Min clan was too poor, while the latter was the opposite. Although she came from the Star Luo royal family, she was also confined to the inner palace and did not have much contact with the outside world except for obtaining soul rings.

The Education Committee serves as both the office and residence of the committee members. The interior is simply decorated with only essential furnishings and plants. Combined with the solemn atmosphere of the files placed on the desks and stored in the cabinets, it gives Yin Lan the illusion of returning to the teachers' office in her previous life's school.

"I will now process the enrollment procedures for the two young friends. From now on, you two will be students of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy," Meng Shenji said as he sat down at his desk and skillfully pulled out a few documents. "I see that you two young friends are full of vigor and have achieved so much at such a young age. You are truly talented and have unlimited potential. You will surely make a name for yourselves in the world of Soul Masters in the future."

Meng Shenji's true intentions were clearly not what they seemed. "Human relationships and social customs" exist wherever there are people, and even the extraordinary Douluo Continent is no exception. Just like Yin Lan now, even though her cultivation has not yet reached the strongest level on the continent, no one dares to mess with her background.

"Alright, let's stop with the pleasantries," Yin Lan said bluntly, a smirk playing on her lips. "As long as the three of you don't cause any trouble, I can guarantee you a peaceful and worry-free life for the rest of your days. Bibi Dong won't be able to touch you either."

She had experienced these things when she entered society in her previous life and knew the ins and outs of these "unspoken rules of society." However, she died before she finished living in her previous life, so she did not develop the thick skin of a seasoned veteran and had no patience for these things. In this life, she seized the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of power in one step, so she no longer needed to flatter others. But on the contrary, some people started to do the same thing to her.

She hates all this pretense and ambiguity, so she's developed a habit of speaking the truth. She never beats around the bush with others and always says what she means. She makes things clear on the spot, without resorting to riddles or scheming. If they can't reach an agreement, she'll just have to settle things once and for all. If that doesn't work, she'll just send a white flower instead.

Meng Shenji is praising Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing's talents, but he's actually flattering Yin Lan.

“Hehe, since the Second Miss has said so, don’t blame us old folks for being so shameless as to ramble on,” Meng Shenji exchanged a glance with the other two committee members, his smile widening, but then followed by a sigh, “It’s just that we’ve heard that His Holiness the Pope’s methods have become more and more… forceful over the years, so we can’t help but feel uneasy.”

He still used a nicer adjective, "tough," but in reality, Bibi Dong's methods were already starting to develop towards "extremes." In the original history, Bibi Dong's madness at this time did indeed provoke many people, including Dugu Bo and Ning Fengzhi. The former wanted to find a way out for his granddaughter Dugu Yan because there was no hope of curing the poison, while the latter was worried because the Sword Bone Douluo was getting old and there was no successor to protect the sect.

Now it seems that she scared not only outsiders, but also her own people. No wonder these three old men ran away in the original history. It was really not easy for them to rise from commoners to their status. Seeking a way to survive is only human nature. It was just bad luck that they were born in this era.

Now that they had Yinlan's connection, it was as if they had latched onto the powerful Hall of Offerings. The three of them felt much more at ease and no longer had any thoughts of running away.

"Don't worry, the fire won't reach you," Yinlan reassured them. "To be honest, you already know a bit too much. The Hall of Offerings can't afford to lose you."

Putting everything else aside, just knowing that she is the "Second Miss of the Offering Hall" and has the cultivation of a Soul Saint is enough to prevent anything from happening to the three of them. Although that's all the three of them know, it's already information of a higher level. It's not time for Yin Lan to make a name for herself yet.

Over the years, Yinlan has always needed her own people to look after her when she goes out to do things so that things can go more smoothly. She can't really take the Clear Sky Hammer and smash people everywhere. That's a physical means that she only uses when reasoning with people has failed. She's not one of those low-class brutes from the Clear Sky Sect. Over the years, she's only used the Clear Sky Hammer to smash people when dealing with the corrupt officials in the Spirit Hall.

As Yinlan's partner and the strongest soul master force on the entire continent, the Spirit Hall naturally provided her with many conveniences. That was why she wanted to get to know Qian Renxue in the first place, not because she was lusting after her body (this is a lie)! Yinlan is a very career-minded woman!

However, Bibi Dong is now the current Pope, and Yin Lan's actions, which are facilitated by the Spirit Hall, cannot be kept from her. Reporting to her on the changing situation across the continent is the duty of the Spirit Hall members, but how many of those who have come into contact with Yin Lan have been recruited by the Hall of Worship is something Bibi Dong cannot know.

To be honest, Yin Lan herself didn't know what choices the members of the Spirit Hall who had contacted her had made. This was a political game between the Papal Palace and the Hall of Worship. As the saying goes, seeking a way to survive is human nature. Everyone leaves themselves a way out. Forcing them will only backfire.

On the contrary, it is easier for dispatched personnel like Meng Shenji, Zhilin, and Bai Jiaowei, who do not need to report to Bibi Dong at all times, to choose sides.

“Xiangxiang and Zhuqing are the same age as me this year,” Yinlan glanced at Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing beside her, and then continued, “When I plan to let them participate in the competition, they will both have at least the cultivation level of Soul Master!”

The next All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament will be held in two years, which means that Yin Lan wants Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing to have a cultivation level of level 40 by the age of fourteen.

...Huh? Us? Soul Clan in two years? Really?

Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing both pointed to themselves somewhat blankly.

The three education commissioners all twitched their eyebrows. Not to mention Yin Lan, who was a prodigy with the cultivation of a Soul Saint at the age of twelve, Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing had already surpassed most of their peers on the continent by having a cultivation level of nearly level 30 at the age of twelve. Meng Shenji's words were not only flattery, but also the truth. When the three of them were twelve years old, they were not even at level 20.

Unexpectedly, Yinlan actually required the two of them to reach level 40 at the age of fourteen. The three education committee members knew that Yinlan always kept her word. If she said that they could reach level 40 at the age of fourteen, then they could... Now they knew even more.

Meng Shenji was both amused and exasperated, unsure of what to say. The more they learned, the more Yin Lan truly considered them one of her own, and the safer they would be.

To avoid making a fool of herself like the little devil, Yinlan has always maxed out her skill in understanding people's hearts.

"Just put them both into the Royal Fighting Team 1," Yin Lan smiled confidently. "You don't need to worry about their training. They'll be training with me from now on, not with the team. You don't have any objections, right?" A team usually consists of seven regular players and seven substitute players. In the early stages of the competition, each academy usually lets the substitute players play in order to hide their strength. This also gives these substitute players a chance to perform. Only when encountering some key events will they gradually reveal their strength. In the later stages of the competition, there are almost no opportunities for the substitute players to play.

That being said, Royal Fighting Team is indeed an exception. Taking into account the feelings of young people, Royal Fighting Team did not intentionally distinguish between regular players and substitute players.

The main issue is that once Yinlan takes the field, everyone else on the team becomes a substitute for her...

Therefore, even if Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing, two agility-type Soul Masters, were added to the Royal Fighting Team, it wouldn't really cause any major problems, but the composition of the team does look somewhat abstract.

“Of course not,” Meng Shenji replied immediately, then as if she remembered something, she brought up another matter, “By the way, Second Miss, there’s something I need to tell you.”

"What is it?" After dealing with Bai Chenxiang and Zhu Zhuqing's school registration issues, Yin Lan was about to leave with her people when she heard this and stopped in her tracks.

“Recently, a talented young teacher in the academy wants to apply to become the leader of the Royal Fighting Team One,” Meng Shenji said, handing a document to Yin Lan. “We have investigated him. He has a clean background, is of commoner origin, has a mutated martial soul called ‘Blazing Wolf’, and is only thirty-four years old this year. He is already a level fifty-nine Soul King. I estimate that he will break through the bottleneck by the end of the year and become the second youngest Soul Emperor in the history of the continent.”

"On the surface." Yinluo, who had been silent all along, suddenly added, her competitive spirit arising in a seemingly inexplicable way.

"I misspoke, Your Majesty Lan Yin..." Meng Shenji quickly apologized, but before he could finish speaking, Yin Lan snatched the documents from his hand and quickly glanced at them.

She said the name sounded familiar; it turned out to be Qin Ming.

"What do you mean? You agree?" Yinlan put down the documents and then asked.

“Yes,” Meng Shenji replied truthfully, not noticing anything amiss in Yin Lan’s tone. “We intend to cultivate him, wanting to set an example for the teachers and students in the academy. Moreover, his talent is not bad. I estimate that he will become a Title Douluo before he turns sixty, much stronger than the three of us old men. We want him to become our successor. However, please rest assured, Second Miss, he is still in the ‘probationary period’ and we haven’t said anything we shouldn’t have.”

Yin Lan's tone was perfectly fine. In her eyes, Qin Ming was just a "tool." She would only put effort into developing her own people. She might pay a little more attention to Oslo, the grandson of Ghost Leopard Douluo, from the Royal Fighting Team. It was impossible for her to be attentive to everyone. But if she didn't care about the Royal Fighting Team, it would be ridiculous if these "substitute players" in her eyes couldn't form a reliable fighting force and were eliminated during the competition.

Judging from the information, Qin Ming's clean background and commoner origins gave him a lot of points with the three education committee members. The three education committee members also rose from the bottom of society, so it's no wonder that they thought of cultivating him as their successor and placed high hopes on him. Moreover, just as Meng Shenji guessed, in the original history, Qin Ming did reach the 81st level of cultivation when he was 44 years old, and he was likely to break through to become a titled Douluo when he was 60 years old.

Although according to Yinlan's speculation, Shrek Academy was likely actually holding Qin Ming back and wasting his talent, Qin Ming was unaware of this. In Qin Ming's eyes, he was raised by Shrek Academy, which is why he had immense respect for Flander and the others. That's why, in the original history, he followed Shrek Academy and left, thus dashing the expectations of the three education committee members.

It's obvious that the three education commissioners appointed Qin Ming as the leader of the Royal Fighting Team to essentially enhance his resume, since the champion of this competition is bound to be Yinlan, which is an honor that can be said to be obtained for free, adding a glamorous chapter to his life resume.

There's no harm in having such a useful tool. Qin Ming will leave on his own eventually, and by then the competition will be approaching. Yin Lan will only need to take over the established Royal Fighting Team.

“You want to give him a boost, fine,” Yin Lan nodded slightly, “but he had better understand that he’s here to benefit from my fame. I don’t want him to interfere with my decision-making and management of the Royal Fighting Team in the future, and end up making some unpleasant jokes. He had better understand his place.”

The second young lady is so mature that she doesn't seem like a twelve-year-old child at all... Meng Shenji, whose little thoughts have been seen through, looks to the other two education committee members for help. However, Zhilin and Education Committee Member Bai also look at him, and all three of them are filled with a bit of embarrassment.

"Don't worry, Miss. We instructed him in advance that everything within the team should be based on your decisions," Meng Shenji said. "Qin Ming is an excellent young man who can distinguish between what's important and what's not."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief, which showed that the Second Miss was magnanimous and tolerated their little scheme to support Qin Ming.

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the Education Committee building.

"Please wait a moment." Meng Shenji looked over with some surprise. Who would come to the Education Committee at a time like this?
Just then, Yinlan finished giving her instructions and was about to leave. Out of courtesy, the three education committee members also prepared to see her off and see who the newcomer was.

As soon as the group stepped out of the Education Committee, they saw two girls chatting outside the door; to be precise, one was talking and the other was listening silently.

The one speaking was a woman with purple hair and green eyes, wearing a purple high-slit cheongsam with an incredibly alluring figure. The one listening silently was a girl with sickly pale skin, a slender figure, wearing a black dress, and blue hair and blue eyes, who was holding a parasol. Her emotions were not fluctuating much, but you could vaguely see her nodding slightly in response to the former.

It is Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling.

(End of this chapter)