Lu Mingfei starts from Douluo.

"Qinghe, from now on, you should go to the academy more often to look after your younger brother Xue Beng, and of course, that Lu Mingfei as well." Emperor Xueye said meaningfully, but the father and son did not say it outright.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Xue Qinghe knelt down to receive the decree, kowtowing heavily to show his attitude.

"You've had a long day, go and rest." Emperor Xueye waved his sleeve.

The relationship between fathers and sons in the royal family is never as warm as that between ordinary people.

Xue Qinghe left Xueye's bedchamber with his head down. When he raised his head, he had a smile on his face. He had achieved a partial victory today, which was indeed something to be happy about.

When he returned to his own palace, the palace servants were taking the gifts brought by the guests that day into his personal treasury and registering them.

"By the way, where did you put the gifts that Xue Beng and the others brought this morning?" Xue Qinghe asked as he entered the study.

"Please wait a moment, Your Highness." The palace maid hurriedly retrieved the three gift boxes that had been placed in the side room that morning and presented them to the Crown Prince with both hands.

"Put it down. All of you, get out. No one is allowed to come in without my permission." Xue Qinghe waved his hand, and the people around him left the study.

He then took off his heavy formal attire, changed into a white long shirt to relax a bit, and after thinking for a moment, picked up the gift box on the table and began to open it.

Avalanche's gift was a magnificent dagger inlaid with gemstones, quite valuable. Ning Rongrong's gift was a fragment of an ancient script scroll, likely from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's collection. As for Lu Mingfei's gift, it was simple: a pure white jade folding fan.

"It seems he's adapting quite well." Xue Qinghe had already heard that Lu Mingfei went to the Great Soul Battle to take the opportunity to gamble and make a fortune with his classmates. The value of this folding fan might be negligible in the eyes of the royal family, but for a six-year-old boy like Lu Mingfei, it was already quite a thoughtful gesture.

After weighing it in his hand, Xue Qinghe felt it was pretty good. He opened the fan and was surprised when he took a closer look. The front was an ordinary ink painting of bamboo forest, but the back had a poem he had never seen before.

May you live ten thousand years, and may every year bring you spring.

"Interesting." Xue Qinghe smiled slightly. He was well-read, and this level of poetry was not common in Tiandou City. Where did Lu Mingfei, a child, hear it from?

-

"Achoo!" Lu Mingfei suddenly looked up. There were pedestrians coming and going all around him, and the sun was high in the sky, radiating a warm light.

…But why did a chill suddenly rise in his heart? It felt just like when he was betrayed by the teacher on duty at Notting College Library last time.

"Damn, could it be that someone's got their eye on me again?" Lu Mingfei couldn't help but shiver. "It's all Ning Fengzhi's fault, that troublemaker."

Lu Mingfei thought maliciously, then went to a hotel next to the Great Soul Arena, booked a room, changed back into his everyday clothes, and prepared to wait for Li Lan to come and meet him that evening.

Although he earned 1,400 gold soul coins last time, he didn't have much money left after buying the gift for the prince. Two months have passed, and he plans to make another fortune in case of need.

Thinking of this, he felt a little resentful towards Xue Qinghe, that dog of a prince. He had put so much effort into preparing the gift, but in the end, he was pushed into a pit of fire.

If he had known, he wouldn't have bothered with any finishing touches. That poem was Chen Wenwen's QQ signature during her summer vacation in her second year of high school. He thought it was fitting for her birthday, so he used it, but it turned out to be a complete waste of effort.

He was already thinking about when Xue Qinghe would mess things up, so he could tease him mercilessly to vent his anger. Even if he didn't mess things up, who knows if he had already jumped to the Spirit Hall's camp. At that time, he would let Xue Qinghe see what a righteous betrayal was like!

Chapter 40 Daily Life

On a bright and sunny morning, Lu Mingfei opened his eyes, got up and washed up. He had recently been experimenting with various postures to see the effects of meditation, hoping that one day he could meditate on his own while sleeping, or even meditate and cultivate while awake.

It also transforms the active skill of meditation into a passive skill. If successful, it's equivalent to having a 24/7 auto-training cheat.

As for why he suddenly had this idea, it wasn't just because he wanted to improve and speed up his cultivation, but more because he was bored.

Attending classes, exercising, cultivating, and reading—these days have been so boring lately that they remind him of the daily tasks he used to do in games. But even the most fun games will eventually become tiresome after a few months of repetitive gameplay. Since the official events aren't happening, he has to find his own ways to have fun.

Actually, this AFK training method isn't just something he imagined; to be precise, it has some scientific basis.

He had previously read science popularizations illustrated in novels, which explained that the left and right hemispheres of the brain can actually function separately through training, much like the left hand drawing a square and the right hand drawing a circle in martial arts novels.

Lu Mingfei thought the idea was fantastic; if it could be implemented, he could get home even faster.

He has recently achieved some results, and can enter a meditative state at will without sitting cross-legged. Although it does not greatly improve the speed of cultivation, it has solved the problem of frequent back pain caused by sitting cross-legged every night.

Walking out of the dormitory with his head held high, Lu Mingfei was invigorated and ready to greet the new day. Lately, on his way to the cafeteria, he would often encounter a few soft calls and smiling greetings.

"Brother Lu."

"Brother Lu."

Good morning, Lu.

……

After the Crown Prince's coming-of-age ceremony, everyone in the high-ranking noble circles of the Heaven Dou Empire knew that another genius named Lu Mingfei had emerged in the Royal Academy, and even the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was full of praise.

The entire faculty and students of the college already knew that Lu Mingfei was destined for great success and unlimited potential, so in an instant, his popularity at the school suddenly skyrocketed.

In the past two months, not only did a group of shameless sycophants modeled after Li Lan suddenly appear, but a group of young girls who randomly appeared in the academy also shyly bowed their heads to ask him questions.

Lu Mingfei was amazed by this.

If it weren't for his young age, he estimated that he would have already dethroned Yu Tianheng, who was at the top of the Royal Academy's "List of Those Who Deserve to Be Killed".

Who would have thought that Lu, with all his virtues and abilities, would one day enjoy the same treatment as Chu Zihang from Shilan Middle School?

However, he was still very self-aware; he didn't have the top-tier attributes that allowed him to debut in South Korea like Chu Zihang.

Everything before my eyes is a dirty capitalist sugar-coated bullet.

"Brother Lu, I heard that the training hall recently expanded with a swordsmanship training room and even hired a swordsmanship instructor from the Royal Knights to teach. Shall we go check it out at noon?" Li Lan brought the food to Lu Mingfei, diligently reporting the latest news from the academy as a true lackey.

Because he practices kendo for an hour every noon, many imitators have recently appeared in the training hall, and they follow suit no matter what exercises Lu Mingfei does.

Seeing that his students, who had previously been irresponsible, had suddenly changed their minds and turned to the right path, the teacher immediately approved the expansion application.

Although swordsmanship can only be effective at the low-level Soul Master stage, it is still a legitimate way to train, which is better than letting those noble students go out and cause trouble.

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He knew about the training room, but he didn't expect it to be completed in just one week. The Royal Academy was indeed very wealthy.

However, it didn't matter to him whether he had it or not. He practiced swordsmanship only to add another attack method in the early stages and to exercise his body. After all, his body was only six years old, and too strenuous exercise might not be good for his future physical development.

"Let's go take a look." Lu Mingfei picked up another bun and took a bite. Lately, he really has been evolving into a glutton.

-

When Lu Mingfei finished his class and arrived at the training hall to meet Li Lan, more than a dozen students were already waiting in the newly opened sword training room. When they saw Lu Mingfei, everyone showed a friendly smile.

The expanded training room is a spacious room that can comfortably accommodate nearly a hundred people. The black stone floor is polished to a shine, and there are several sections of the ceiling with glass curtain walls that allow sunlight to pass through, so the room does not feel cold.

Lu Mingfei had just toured the training room and found some wooden swords and human-shaped targets, which looked quite impressive.

He then took out his vibrating rod and continued his daily exercise, and the other students immediately started moving around him as well.

While some students were planning to use the training center to try and get closer to Lu Mingfei, others genuinely wanted to learn and become stronger by imitating him.

After all, many students at school had already seen him achieve five consecutive victories in the Great Soul Arena using only a fire poker, which was enough to prove that his swordsmanship had some merit.

Their talent for cultivation is not high, so it would be good if they had more ways to enhance their strength.

Lu Mingfei neither advocated nor discouraged this, since there's never any harm in exercising anyway.

"Stop, everyone stop! Is this how you usually practice swordsmanship?" The training room door opened, and a slightly shrill voice came from the doorway.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over. It was a tall, thin middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a wide-mouthed longsword at his waist.

"I am Jin, the swordsmanship instructor who just arrived at the academy today. I previously served in the Royal Knights, and I will be teaching you swordsmanship from now on," Instructor Jin introduced himself.

"Is there a problem with our training?" Li Lan, acting as a lackey, immediately spoke up. This teacher had come to establish his authority by denying their training methods as soon as he arrived.

“Of course there’s a problem. Swordsmanship isn’t just about swinging a sword.” Teacher Jin stepped forward and took a wooden sword from the wall. “Someone, without using soul power, let’s have a simple sparring match and we’ll find out.”

As soon as Teacher Jin finished speaking, everyone involuntarily looked at Lu Mingfei, since it was Lu Mingfei who first led the sword practice.

"Damn it!" Lu Mingfei felt helpless; he had been forced into this situation.

"Teacher, is that alright? We were just practicing on our own anyway. Now that you're here, you can just teach us directly."

Lu Mingfei was speaking from the heart. He had only taken three kendo lessons and didn't know anything about sword training. He shouldn't embarrass himself in front of professionals.

He also wanted to see what was worthwhile about the swordsmanship of this world.

Mr. Jin was somewhat surprised. He was a graduate of the Royal Academy. Didn't he know what the atmosphere was like here?

At first, he didn't pay much attention when he received the transfer order, thinking that he was just there to make up the numbers. He thought that these spoiled brats in the academy were always doing things haphazardly, and that he, as a so-called temporary instructor, would probably be transferred back in less than a month because the students' interest had waned.

When he saw so many students diligently practicing the most basic swordsmanship at the entrance, he initially thought he was hallucinating.

"Pick up your swords. This is the first lesson I'm going to teach you. The basics are important, of course, but real combat is always the essence of swordsmanship." With a flick of his wrist, Teacher Jin sent a wooden sword hanging on the wall spinning in mid-air and steadily into Lu Mingfei's hands.

Lu Mingfei didn't expect this teacher to be so direct. He had no reason to refuse; sparring was indeed the fastest way to improve.

Since his classmates started following suit, they have also conducted sword sparring training, but no one can keep up with his speed, so he has basically been training alone. Now that he has an instructor, he has a good sparring partner for him.

The two arrived at the center of the training room, where the surrounding students kept their distance, their faces full of interest and eagerness to try.

"What's your name?"

"Lu Mingfei".

"So you are Lu Mingfei." Teacher Jin nodded and smiled. "Then, Lu, please guide me from now on."

"Please give me your guidance, teacher."

Lu Mingfei assumed a starting stance with his sword held in the middle of his body. It was just a simple starting move, but it was full of charm and power to everyone present.

Teacher Jin's eyes lit up. As expected, his reputation was well-deserved. Just a moment ago, he thought that the person opposite him was not a child, but a warrior who could suddenly attack at any time.

He composed himself and took the confrontation seriously. He gripped his sword with both hands, pointing the tip at the ground, and assumed the starting stance for the lower stance. This was the most common starting stance for two-handed heavy swordsmen, and it was suitable for defense and counterattack.

"Do you know what's most important in sword fighting?" Teacher Jin said with a smile: "Speed ​​or strength are important, but they have little to do with swordsmanship. The most important thing in swordsmanship is always the initiative."

Lu Mingfei understood the meaning of those words. Iaijutsu and the sword-drawing technique were based on this advantage. The other students, however, were impressed but didn't understand. After all, the two of them, just by facing each other with their swords, exuded the demeanor of masters.

“But you’re a student and I’m a teacher, so you should go first,” Teacher Jin said with a smile to Lu Mingfei.

But Lu Mingfei did not answer, clearly indicating that he did not accept the proposal.

The person opposite him was undoubtedly a true master swordsman, and this scene instantly stirred up a strange sense of excitement in him.

Imagine yourself in the era depicted in the comics, a time when people live and die with swords.

To create the atmosphere of a final battle, they would be under a cherry blossom tree, bathed in the bright moonlight, and the breaking point would be a petal falling in the wind.

The door to the training room was suddenly pushed open.

Lu Mingfei moved, and everyone around stared intently at the two figures, afraid of missing this exciting duel, but for a moment everyone thought they were seeing things.

They only saw Lu Mingfei take one step before turning into a hazy phantom, leaving only the terrifying, sharp whistling wind as proof that he had drawn his sword.

But Teacher Jin reacted even faster, his incredibly powerful upward thrust interrupting Lu Mingfei's Kasaya Slash. Using the momentum of the rising sword, he instantly swung his sword down to deliver a slash.

However, Lu Mingfei also countered with a whirlwind attack, and the two wooden swords clashed violently. Lu Mingfei was immediately forced back several steps.

Without a doubt, Lu Mingfei is at a complete disadvantage in terms of both speed and strength.

"Very good, fast speed and quick reflexes," Teacher Jin commented with ease, wielding the sword with one hand.

Lu Mingfei ignored it. The difference in size and strength between the two was already significant, so it was only natural that he was pushed back. However, he still planned to try again.

With a slight bend in his knees, Lu Mingfei stepped forward again. Tang bamboo, cassock, Buddha face, left dagger... Lu Mingfei moved nimbly, slashing and cutting one blow after another, fierce and sharp, as if a demon was roaring in the room.

But Teacher Jin strolled leisurely through the sword net, defusing Lu Mingfei's attacks with simple thrusts of his sword in one hand, and then swept his sword across, instantly repelling Lu Mingfei once again.

"A very sharp attack. Now watch mine." As soon as Teacher Jin finished speaking, he stepped forward.

It lacked the ferocity of Lu Mingfei's swordsmanship, but enveloped Lu Mingfei like a gentle breeze and drizzle.

Faced with this relentless onslaught, Lu Mingfei retreated again and again, and was soon forced back to the wall. He used the wall as leverage to roll and regain some space to move.

“Your sword is fast, but not fast enough.” Teacher Jin said as he continued his attack. “You can always find the weaknesses in my moves, but weaknesses are constantly changing. If you think too much, your speed will naturally not be able to keep up with mine.”

Lu Mingfei didn't have time to ponder the deeper meaning of these words. He kept swinging his sword to defend himself. He knew that his teacher was giving him pointers and he couldn't miss this opportunity.

The sword attacks came so fast that he was always caught off guard. Just when he got used to the rhythm, his opponent would speed up again.

How can we make it even faster?

In his haste, Lu Mingfei almost activated his Golden Eyes, but a cold laugh suddenly rang in his ears.

His heart skipped a beat, and he tried to calm himself down. Even his breathing gradually became steady. His pupils were no longer fixed on the tip of the incoming sword, nor did he think about any counterattack moves. He just kept swinging his sword.

Teacher Jin didn't say anything more and continued to teach Lu Mingfei the moves step by step, but Lu Mingfei didn't seem to be struggling at all. As time went on, his movements became lighter and more agile.

Everyone around stared wide-eyed, instinctively covering their mouths, afraid that any action might affect the duel.

The wind from their swords sometimes fluttered like butterflies, and sometimes it was as dense as a fine net.

Finally, at a certain moment, a butterfly leaped onto Teacher Jin's shoulder, and at the same time, Teacher Jin's right hand, which was holding a sword, was intercepted and struck by Lu Mingfei's fist.

"Oh my god!" Everyone present screamed inwardly.

Teacher Jin gave a helpless smile and let out a long sigh: "It seems I have nothing more to teach you."

Abandon thinking and trust your instincts.