To build St. Freya Academy, Lu Jingming spared no expense, spending hundreds of millions of gold soul coins.
Most of the construction materials were sourced through special channels from the Sun Moon Empire.
Especially the simulation cultivation room—costly, technologically advanced, and priceless.
It's no exaggeration to say that in terms of environment, St. Freya is on par with any well-known academy.
On this sunny day, Lu Jingming strolled through the academy holding a pink-haired little fox.
Passing the crystal-clear lakeside, he tossed some food to the golden carp kept in the lake.
The carp swam happily, fighting for food and creating ripples. Then Lu Jingming walked to the lakeside pavilion.
There, Jingliu sat on the railing, gazing at the sparkling lake, lost in thought.
Changli and Zhang Lexuan were sitting at the stone table, playing chess. Zhang Lexuan's brows were furrowed, clearly in a tough spot and at a disadvantage.
This was normal since her teacher and opponent was Changli, who had deep expertise in chess.
Lu Jingming walked to Zhang Lexuan's side and, with just a glance, realized she'd been forced into a dead end, with almost no chance to turn the game around.
Zhang Lexuan put down her chess piece with a sigh. "No wonder you're so strong, Sister Changli. I'm still far behind you."
Changli's lips curled into a gentle smile. "Your chess skills aren't weak, I've just studied it longer. Compared to certain people, you're already quite good." She glanced meaningfully at Lu Jingming.
Lu Jingming felt a little embarrassed and instinctively looked away.
Changli had tried to teach him chess, but he never cared for it. He only learned the basics; as for skill, it was too embarrassing to mention.
Zhang Lexuan, seeing this, couldn't help but giggle—she knew exactly who she referred to.
At that moment, Jingliu had quietly come to Lu Jingming's side. "It seems you're ready. Let's go," she said lightly.
Zhang Lexuan quickly reminded him, "Xiao Ming, the first soul ring is crucial. Be careful. And stay safe."
She knew that with Jingliu at his side, there was nothing to worry about—it was just a habit to say so.
Changli waved with a smile, "Come back soon."
She was confident in Jingliu's strength, so had no worries; Jingliu's powerful aura made everyone feel at ease.
"Ying!" The little fox, sensing Lu Jingming was heading out, immediately jumped from his arms into Zhang Lexuan's lap.
She didn't want to leave with Lu Jingming; there was no tasty fried tofu outside, so she had no desire to leave her comfort zone!
Seeing the little fox abandon him without hesitation, Lu Jingming's mouth twitched. He muttered inwardly, "As expected of you, little goddess—truly trash to the core, always sticking with whoever feeds you!"
Normally, getting the first soul ring isn't difficult; just find a suitable soul beast in a small soul beast forest and hunt it.
But Lu Jingming's situation was different—he aimed for a thousand-year first soul ring.
In ordinary soul beast forests, thousand-year soul beasts were rare, and finding one with the right attributes was even rarer. For larger soul beast gatherings, options were few. Haiyuan City was a coastal city of the Star Luo Empire, quietly located at the far west of the empire.
To the north was the border with the Heaven Soul Empire, where the border city Maple Leaf Mansion stood.
West lay the vast sea; beyond it was the Sun Moon Empire.
South was the border—the Mingdou Mountains—between the Sun Moon and Star Luo Empires.
The mountains were rugged, like a sleeping dragon between the two countries.
For years, this was the front line of skirmishes between their border armies, with conflicts never ceasing.
Soldiers clashed constantly, fighting as if to bash each other's brains out.
To the east was Star Luo City, the heart of the Star Luo Empire, a magnificent capital carrying thousands of years of glory.
From Haiyuan City, heading east past Star Luo City, you'd reach the central continent's Star Dou Great Forest.
This vast forest was home to countless powerful and mysterious soul beasts, the soul master's dream place to get soul rings.
In a normal world, Haiyuan City, with its advantageous location, ought to have limitless prospects.
It had rich marine resources and was close to two great empires—perfect for trade and cultural exchange. Development should have been easy.
But due to historical conflicts, the Sun Moon and Star Luo Empires hadn't erupted into all-out war, but border skirmishes never stopped.
The border armies faced off in the Mingdou Mountains, and the tension prevented Haiyuan City from establishing normal sea trade with the Sun Moon Empire.
The neighboring Heaven Soul Empire's Maple Leaf Mansion faced the same problem; both cities could only barely scrape by with the sea.
On Douluo, sea soul beasts far outnumber land soul beasts and mostly live in groups, rarely alone.
When they do appear, it's usually in large, menacing groups. Thus, all coastal cities on Douluo are frequently attacked by sea soul beasts and suffer greatly.
Residents are too busy defending against these fierce sea beasts to exploit the sea's resources for development.
Six years ago, Haiyuan City was such a struggling city.
It was neglected among the Star Luo Empire's cities, long plagued by sea soul beast raids, and found development hard.
Moreover, it lacked powerful sects or families to anchor it, making its overall strength relatively weak.