259 Headmaster (1/2)

A lane of trees was planted on the side of the road. These were all cherry trees, and they were in full bloom; beautiful pale pink petals were dropping from the trees like snow, glistening in the sunshine that was cascading down from high above.

The road had a few people going back and forth, but this was by no means a bustling atmosphere. There were only a few low conversations that were being drowned out by the sound of singing birds.

Xue Wei was looking at this picturesque scene in front of him, and he could not help but smile.

They had left the Imperial Palace and walked for half an hour before they reached this road of cherry blossoms, and this was the road leading to the Garden of Shadows. As a matter of fact, only the students and the teachers of the academy would traverse this path, which was why it was not overly crowded.

The vast majority of these people on the road had three eyes. There was also one with four eyes and another with two.

All of the students bowed in greeting when they saw Elder Sun while looking inquisitively towards Xue Wei and his friends.

Elder Sun gently nodded to the people, but not even coming across the other teachers made him stop to answer any questions they might have.

The cherry trail was rather long, and it took them a full hour before they stood in front of a massive gate. There were ten guards, five on each side, in front of the gate, and there were also many guards on top of the walls that stretched far to each side.

These guards all looked with reverence at Elder Sun when he appeared in front of them, and they quickly opened the doors with a deep bow.

They could not help but look at Xue Wei and his friends with curiosity. After walking through the gate, Xue Wei noticed that they kept observing him and his group while sometimes glancing at one another.

It was clear that they were communicating through a mental link, most likely discussing the identity of Xue Wei and the others.

Although the amount of people on the road outside the academy had been scarce, it was an entirely different sight when they stepped inside of the Garden of Shadows itself. There were scores of students running back and forth in every direction, from building to building.

Some were walking alone, others in groups, but all of them looked curiously at the entourage that arrived together with Elder Sun.

Elder Sun smiled wryly due to the strange glances that were sent their way, but he said nothing and walked deeper and deeper into the academy itself.

There were many buildings in the academy. The entire east and north of the academy encompassed the residential area, while the center had the most important buildings at the academy, and the west and south comprised other buildings and facilities important to the academy such as classrooms, libraries, training fields and so on.

”In the center of the academy, you will find the Soul Tower,” Elder Sun explained. ”The Soul tower has a number of functions. Where we are going is the house right next to the center, the mansion you can see right there.” He pointed at a magnificent mansion that was built with spires and arches, looking like an old medieval mansion that was built from some sort of black stone.

In fact, the entire Garden of Shadows was built from some sort of black stone that seemed much tougher than most metals. It also seemed to draw the ambient soul energy towards it, which one could refine into spiritual energy, which can then be absorbed by the surrounding experts.

”In Yan Dalu, many die every day, and as a result there is much soul energy in our surroundings.” Elder Sun could see Xue Wei's curiosity pertaining to the density of the soul energy in this place and decided to explain it. It was no secret after all.

”When someone dies, the soul energy starts to dissipate rather fast, and if you do not absorb it just as fast, you will miss out.

”Fortunately, these Black Nebula Stones that we have used to build the Garden of Shadows is actually able to make the speed at which the soul energy dissipates much slower. In fact, they absorb the soul energy and anchor it to itself instead of allowing it to dissipate.”

”Black Nebula Stones are incredibly rare. They can be considered a treasure and someone who cultivates spiritual energy getting their hands on a fist-sized stone of it can be considered tremendously lucky,” Bai Tianyi said with a frown as he looked around them. ”How was it possible for you to gather this much Black Nebula Stone?”

Elder Sun looked at Bai Tianyi with some surprise. This young boy had not spoken much in their previous conversations. In fact, he had always had an amiable smile on his face and seemed rather aloof and carefree until now, but now his brows were furrowed and his question was incredibly sensible.

”I had not expected this young master to know about the Black Nebula Stone,” Elder Sun admitted readily, but then he grinned. ”The Garden of Shadow is a place where the sun never shines. It is a garden filled with shadows and it has been like this for many thousands of years.”

”Black Nebula Stone is created in places such as this, and this place happened to have a giant vein of Black Nebula Stone which we used to create the academy from.”

”I see.” Bai Tianyi was quiet for a short while before he looked at the Soul Tower in front of him. ”If I am not incorrect, you have fused the heart of the vein with the Soul Tower, making it a wondrous place to cultivate spiritual energy?”

Although this was a question, it sounded more like a statement. Hearing it, Elder Sun raised an eyebrow in surprise and nodded his head.

”It is indeed like this,” he answered, agreeing readily. Although it was not something that most students knew about, it was not some great secret either. They usually just did not talk about how the Soul Tower worked, but now it seemed as if Bai Tianyi understood it well on his own.

Xue Wei pondered on the words Bai Tianyi had said. The heart of the vein had to be filled with soul energy and be much stronger than the stones themselves, making this Soul Tower a wonderful place to cultivate.

”But even so, it should not be capable of producing too much of a difference in the soul power from the outside. Are there other secrets hidden within the Soul Tower?”

Hearing the question Elder Sun's face turned awkward and slightly horrified. ”I do not know,” he finally admitted with a sigh after a bit of time.

After hearing these words, Xue Wei was slightly stunned but he also felt that this Soul Tower was quite important for him to explore if he wanted to solve the mystery of the academy.

If he had the chance, he definitely had to step inside this tower later on and see for himself just how wondrous its effects could be.