Lu Mingfei starts from Douluo.

"Of course, of course. You have no idea how much you've helped me earn tonight." Li Lan immediately pulled out a Soul Arena prepaid card: "It's a deal, we'll split what we earn tonight, this is yours."

Lu Mingfei scratched his cheek, feeling that it wasn't right to take someone else's money like this, since he didn't seem to have taken any risks: "Forget it, you can keep it yourself. By the way, here's the money you lent me for the registration."

Lu Mingfei took out the prize money bag he had just won and handed it over. He didn't like owing money to people, especially friends, because it would inevitably leave a knot in his heart.

Li Lan understood Lu Mingfei's thoughts, took the money bag, and casually stuffed the prepaid card into his hand as well.

"We agreed on this beforehand, otherwise I'd feel bad asking you to help me earn some more next time." Li Lan said, suppressing her excitement, "Guess how much I won tonight?"

"Two hundred?" Lu Mingfei asked uncertainly.

Li Lan's status in the academy wasn't high; he was just a nobleman's son from the countryside near Tiandou City. He ate similar meals in the cafeteria as Li Lan, and probably didn't have much of his private savings.

Li Lan shook her head, looked around, and whispered, "Two thousand!"

"I rely on!"

Lu Mingfei was taken aback. His right hand, gripping the prepaid card, trembled violently as if he had Parkinson's disease. Two thousand gold soul coins—that meant he had a thousand in the card! This was even more profitable than robbing a bank!

“Come on, Brother Lu, now that we’ve made some money, we should treat ourselves to a good time tonight.” Li Lan put his arm around Lu Mingfei’s shoulder and walked out of the Great Soul Arena. Although his family owned property in Tiandou City, they rarely had the opportunity to spend money in this area. Today, having made so much money so easily, his bourgeois hedonistic nature was instantly exposed.

The Great Soul Arena is the entertainment hub of Heaven Dou City, and also its most prosperous commercial district. A stroll around here reveals all the pleasures one could possibly want on the continent. With enough money, this place is practically paradise on earth.

Chapter 33 Ugliness

The commercial street of the Heavenly Dou City Great Battle Arena is as bustling as the Paris Opera House. Countless brightly dressed people walk through this narrow space, and even though they don't talk to each other, the street still makes the street seem like a boiling kettle.

Lu Mingfei followed behind Li Lan, walking through the crowd with his head held high. He would occasionally look back at the crowded people. The unfamiliar faces mixed together gave him a sense of déjà vu, like watching a Hollywood musical from the last century. The surging crowd even made the wind feel a little cold.

"There are so many people." Lu Mingfei remarked as he walked. At this moment, Li Lan had already led him to a luxurious white building.

"Qibao Trading Company?" Lu Mingfei read aloud, looking at the sign in front of him.

"This is the largest commercial center opened by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, one of the three upper sects, in Tiandou City. You can find everything you can imagine and even things you can't imagine here," Li Lan introduced.

Lu Mingfei has learned about the current situation of the three upper sects during his time at the intermediate academy. The Clear Sky Sect has been forced to close down by the Spirit Hall, and it is estimated that apart from Tang Haoquan, only the old, weak, sick and disabled remain.

Meanwhile, Yu Tianheng, one of the most promising Thunder Twins of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan, is highly renowned at the advanced academy on the mountain.

As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, it is the most prestigious. The continent's number one offensive, defensive, and support skills are all in their possession. Even Crown Prince Xue Qinghe has become their disciple. At the same time, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is also a merchant that travels all over the world, making them incredibly wealthy. They are undoubtedly the number one sect on the continent.

Their academy has more than a dozen outer disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, which is indeed completely different from those纨绔贵子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families).

"With this little money, is it enough to spend here?" It wasn't that Lu Mingfei was being a spoilsport; he had noticed along the way that the prices in this world were shockingly distorted.

He had just thought he had struck it rich, but before he could even rejoice, he was struck down by a noble dress priced at three thousand gold soul coins in the shop window.

"Such a luxurious place, I wonder if you have to pay for the air inside too?" Lu Mingfei couldn't help but wonder.

"Don't worry, there are also affordable shops inside, otherwise I wouldn't dare to come. I was just planning to get a few outfits made, why don't you come along? It's always good to have a few formal and casual clothes on hand at our academy." Li Lan patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder, noticing that Lu Mingfei only had one casual outfit, which was a bit inconvenient.

Lu Mingfei looked down at his clothes, which were still the same hemp clothes he wore on the first day he came to this world. He realized that he should indeed get two sets of clothes in addition to his school uniform.

The two soon arrived at a tailor shop that specializes in making formal wear. After glancing at the prices, they realized that compared to the luxury stores next door that charged hundreds of dollars, this place was indeed a bargain.

The most common men's formal attire in the world is similar to the European tailcoat, which facilitated the travel of nobles on horseback.

Lu Mingfei followed local customs and ordered a set of clothes from Li Lan to keep as a treasure, and also bought a few casual clothes before leaving.

However, he felt a little heartbroken as soon as he stepped out the door. Although the clothes were stylish, he would have to have them custom-made again when he grew up a bit more. It felt a bit like throwing money into the water and watching it splash.

He simply couldn't believe he would be in an occasion where he had to wear such clothes.

"By the way, do you sell storage soul tools here?" Lu Mingfei looked at Li Lan's storage belt and his mind started to wander. He had wanted such a convenient thing for a long time.

“Of course there are. I remember the cheapest storage soul tool I saw last time was around five or six hundred, which is enough for our daily needs.” Li Lan nodded and led Lu Mingfei to a soul tool specialty store upstairs.

All soul tools on the mainland come from ancient ruins, so even a single one is quite expensive. However, storage soul tools are the most abundant type, and their prices are not particularly high.

After all, only Soul Masters can use such items, and there aren't many Soul Masters on the continent. If each person were given one, there might be some left over.

Lu Mingfei quickly took a liking to a wearable storage wristwatch. It had less than one cubic meter of space and cost seven hundred gold soul coins, so he bought it on the spot.

After a brief experiment, it proved to be incredibly convenient. Lu Mingfei had already anticipated that if he were to use this equipment for a magic show when he got back, Chen Wenwen would definitely look at him with new respect!

Lu Mingfei left the trading company satisfied. The two found a hotel, had a hearty late-night snack, and then each booked a room to rest, planning to return to the academy the next day.

Even as he lay on the soft, warm goose feather bed, Lu Mingfei still felt like he was dreaming. How could a loser like him have such a day of extravagant spending?

Silent all night.

The next morning, Lu Mingfei was woken up by Li Lan. He deliberately indulged in a very long sleep, and when he woke up, the sun was almost high in the sky.

"This is too decadent." Lu Mingfei couldn't help but sigh as he ate his brunch. Although he had spent a lot of money yesterday, he still had two hundred gold soul coins left, enough for him to live a life of luxury for a long time.

"It seems I should come to Tiandou City less often; my willpower is too weak." Lu Mingfei had to admit that he was indeed no match for the petty bourgeoisie.

Li Lan, on the other hand, was completely unaware of this, after all, this was just the life of an ordinary minor nobleman.

"Guests, your room fee plus meal fee totals six gold coins and three silver coins." The receptionist settled the bill.

Li Lan took out seven gold coins and handed them over, saying calmly, "Keep the change."

The kind of rude thing to say, "Don't bother looking anymore," is something only a class enemy would say. Logically speaking, he would have secretly given the middle finger to show his contempt if he heard such a thing before, but now he has actually become one of them.

After leaving the hotel, Lu Mingfei went to a blacksmith shop to order a plain vibrating rod weighing about 26 jin (approximately 13 catties). He also went to the Spirit Hall to collect his monthly subsidy of one gold spirit coin. After buying some daily necessities at a street shop, he left the city to return to the academy.

Watching the Tian Dou City gate gradually disappear into the distance, Lu Mingfei breathed a slight sigh of relief. He made up his mind to stay in the academy and cultivate diligently from now on. Otherwise, if he came here a few more times, he would probably be completely corrupted by the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism.

Upon returning to school, Lu Mingfei encountered an unexpected person at the dormitory entrance.

"avalanche?"

Lu Mingfei never expected that Xue Beng, a prince, would be waiting at the door of his dormitory.

Because of his previous instruction to Zhao Tianming to cause trouble, he hadn't taken any further probing actions. What's going on today?

Upon seeing Lu Mingfei return, Xue Beng impatiently handed him an invitation: "My second brother asked me to give this to you."

After finishing his sentence, Xue Beng turned and left, clearly indicating that he didn't like Lu Mingfei either.

Lu Mingfei opened the invitation and realized that it was actually a birthday party invitation, to be held two months from now, at the Tiandou Imperial Palace.

This is an invitation to Prince Xue Qinghe's sixteenth birthday celebration, which also marks his coming-of-age ceremony.

"Wow!" Lu Mingfei was shocked. This was even more outrageous than Prince William sending Prince Harry to invite him to Buckingham Palace for a birthday cake.

In particular, there was a letter tucked inside, most likely written by Xue Qinghe himself, reminding him that he and Xue Beng rode in a royal carriage from the academy to the palace for the banquet that day.

How could a nobody like me possibly deserve the attention of such an important person?

Damn it!

Lu Mingfei had some doubts in his mind.

During this time, he had learned some information about the Heavenly Dou royal family from Li Lan. The current Emperor Xue Ye previously had four princes, but two of them died in recent years, leaving only the most virtuous eldest prince Xue Qinghe and the youngest Xue Beng.

With just one sentence, Lu Mingfei immediately imagined an eight-hundred-episode clichéd war of successors in his mind.

Xue Qinghe was definitely not as gentle and refined as he had initially perceived him to be, and even Xue Beng might not be an ordinary playboy. Lu Mingfei would not be surprised if Xue Beng suddenly died a few days later.

The Crown Prince is a ruthless man!

This is probably something everyone in Tiandou City knows, but the first thing everyone says about Xue Qinghe is that he is wise and virtuous, which shows that Xue Qinghe is not only ruthless to others, but even more ruthless to himself.

"Since things have come to this, let's wait and see." Lu Mingfei calmed down a bit. In the end, he was just a minor Soul Master. The Crown Prince's attitude towards him was at most to win him over, and there was basically no danger to him.

As for expecting me to open my heart to him, that's absolutely impossible. He'll just eat the sugar coating of the sweet talk and throw the bullets aside.

The situation on Xue Qinghe's side is very good, but Xue Beng might really do something desperate in the future, so he should be more careful.

"By the way, my dress arrived just in time." The dresses he and Li Lan ordered wouldn't arrive for another month, so they wouldn't have to make a special trip.

-

Back in his dormitory, Lu Mingfei continued his cultivation journey. His trip to Tiandou City had wasted an entire day, and he felt inexplicably guilty. So, he resolved to work hard and immediately began overclocking his cultivation to make up for the wasted time.

So, six days later, just as Lu Mingfei finished his cultivation and was enjoying a luxurious barbecue feast at the cafeteria, Li Lan came running over again.

Lu Mingfei immediately felt that something was very wrong, and suddenly had the same feeling as when Lao Tang used to notify him on QQ to log in and play a game.

"No! I must resist bad temptations!" Lu Mingfei encouraged himself in his heart.

"Brother Lu, what are the plans for tonight?" Li Lan raised her eyebrows, giving a frantic hint.

"I have no plans. I'm going to cultivate." Lu Mingfei said seriously, without changing his expression.

"Have you forgotten the exercise equipment you ordered from the blacksmith's shop?" Li Lan asked, her eyebrows dancing with excitement.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me, but we need to agree that we’ll come back after we get the stuff,” Lu Mingfei struggled.

“Of course!” Li Lan straightened her back. “I’ll just buy some food on the way.”

"That's good." Lu Mingfei comforted himself, thinking that going for a walk would help him digest his food.

So when they stood at the entrance of the Heaven Dou Arena that night, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but slap himself.

"Hu Shizhi, Hu Shizhi, how could you have fallen so low! Have you forgotten the plans we made before? I must examine myself three times a day; I can't go on like this!"

This is the motto of the Shilan Middle School Literary Society, which was strongly recommended by Lu Mingfei, a director. Chen Wenwen commented that this motto was humorous and witty, but also served as a great reminder.

"Aren't you surnamed Lu? Why are you surnamed Hu now? Brother Lu, think positively. We're just trying to gain combat experience." Li Lan covered her mouth and chuckled, then casually walked into the registration hall with her arm around Lu Mingfei's shoulder.

"I made a bad choice in making friends." Lu Mingfei covered his forehead, but his steps didn't slow down at all.

"Lu Mingfei, Soul Master level one-on-one duel." Lu Mingfei came to the front desk and handed over his Iron Fighting Soul Medal.

"Okay, please come and test your martial spirit and soul power level." The staff member guided the procedure step by step.

"Soul Master Lu Mingfei, Iron Medal, Eye Martial Soul, Soul Power Level 15, One Win and Zero Losses, has been added to the draw. Please wait a moment and then follow the staff to the No. 30 Soul Arena to wait in the waiting room."

"Wow, level 15? Brother Lu, when did you break through again?" Li Lan was a little surprised. He had only been enrolled for less than a month and he had already broken through?

Lu Mingfei didn't react much. After absorbing the soul ring, he reached the end of level thirteen. After cultivating in the mountains for a few days, he reached level fourteen. It's been a month since he leveled up again.

"Lu Mingfei?" Just as the two were standing and waiting, a young-looking man, accompanied by three teenagers, also came to the front desk to register.

"Hello, teacher. Hello, senior students." Lu Mingfei and Li Lan quickly bowed slightly. They didn't recognize the young teacher, but the strong young man with long black hair and the alluring girl with purple hair behind him were well-known figures throughout the Royal Academy.

Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Zong Yutianheng, Azure Phosphorous Serpent Dugu Yan.

Lu Mingfei had encountered the two people before when he was in the simulated training ground, but that was only a brief encounter.

Both of them are direct descendants of the current titled Douluo, and even Xue Beng dares not provoke them.

"I'm Qin Ming, a new teacher at the Advanced Academy," Qin Ming introduced himself. "Are you here for combat training too?"

Lu Mingfei nodded, while Li Lan said she was accompanying her classmate to take a look.

"Few students have the same awareness as you." Qin Ming nodded approvingly. He had heard about the top genius of the intermediate academy, but he never expected to encounter one himself.

Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, and another student behind him were also curiously observing Lu Mingfei. They had also heard what the staff member had said earlier: "So young and already at level fifteen, he's truly a genius even more than them."

"Let's give it a try." Lu Mingfei scratched his head. No matter what, he always felt a little guilty about having teachers or similar figures around him.

Just then, staff members appeared and interrupted their conversation. Everyone had been gathered, and it was time to go to the waiting room.

Lu Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief and followed the staff after saying goodbye. Li Lan also went to the audience seats. Qin Ming, however, shook his head with some regret as he watched Lu Mingfei's departing figure.

The Education Committee intended for him to become the future instructor of the Heaven Dou Academy Royal Team, which is why he began selecting students to come to the Great Soul Arena for practical training. Unfortunately, Lu Mingfei was too young and it was basically impossible for him to team up with Yu Tianheng and the others.

"Alright, everyone, please register."

Qin Ming clapped his hands. He hadn't forgotten his purpose for tonight. He firmly believed that only by allowing students to grow through battle, like Shrek Academy, could they become truly powerful Soul Masters.

On the other hand, Lu Mingfei quickly put the embarrassment of running into the teacher while doing something wrong out of his mind. In fact, even if Li Lan hadn't seduced him, he would have had a reason to participate in the competition tonight.

He can't go to the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire's coming-of-age ceremony empty-handed, can he?

It's really too much for him to give his first birthday present not to Chen Wenwen, but to a man.

Chapter 34 Warning

"Next up is the third match of the one-on-one Soul Battle in Arena 30. The two Soul Masters will be the first to enter: Lu Mingfei, a Battle Soul Master with an Eye Martial Soul who has a perfect record of one win and zero losses, and Dan Lan, a Battle Soul Master with an Ice Wolf Martial Soul who has won three consecutive matches."

"Alright, both sides please release your martial spirits. Miss Danlan only needs one more victory to advance to the Silver Battle Spirit Medal. She is one of the recent..."

"Oh, Danlan is down and can't get up. Let's congratulate Mr. Lu Mingfei on his second victory, bringing his record to two wins and zero losses."

Lu Mingfei wiped the unknown powder off his hands and stepped off the stage. Who knows what went wrong with his opponent? As soon as the match was announced, his opponent charged forward and launched a surprise attack, seemingly planning a sneak attack to kill him on their first meeting.

As a result, he was a little distracted and didn't have time to pull out the iron spike. He accidentally threw a punch that hit his opponent's face directly.

He couldn't understand what these so-called agility-type Soul Masters were thinking. Didn't they even know how to launch a sneak attack and find an opening? Why did they insist on learning from the power-attack type Soul Masters and engaging in head-on confrontation?