At this moment, Yae Miko had fully returned to her human form. Her dreamy pink hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders, its ends elegantly tied with a vibrant red ribbon, appearing simple yet exquisite. Every movement she made exuded grace and charm. She was dressed in a traditional red and white shrine maiden outfit, which perfectly accentuated her slender and graceful figure.
The moment Yae Miko appeared, her deep purple eyes fixed intently on Lu Jingming. The corners of her lips curled into a smile that wasn't quite a smile as she said, "Little one, don't you think you owe me an explanation?" Her voice was soft and melodious, yet it carried a subtle hint of shyness and anger. Clearly, she hadn't forgotten her various experiences during her time as a small fox. Recalling her embarrassing behavior from that period, Yae Miko wished she could strike everyone down with a bolt of lightning, then erase their memories one by one, ensuring her "dark history" remained buried forever.
"Ahem, well, Divine Maiden, you know, these were all due to irresistible factors!" Lu Jingming felt a little uneasy under Yae Miko's gaze, his words unconsciously tinged with awkwardness. He recalled some rather egregious things he had done when the Divine Maiden was in her fox form, such as attempting to determine her gender. Thinking back now, it was indeed quite inappropriate.
"Heh heh, do you think I'd believe your nonsense?" Yae Miko's smile was unsettling, and a dangerous glint flickered in her eyes. Her gaze was like that of a fox stalking its prey, tinged with a chilling coldness. In her view, she was usually the one who found amusement and played tricks on others. When had she become the object of amusement, to be teased by others? This left her feeling quite displeased.
Feeling the dangerous aura emanating from Yae Miko, Lu Jingming felt a chill run down his spine, cursing his luck inwardly. He knew Yae Miko's cunning personality all too well. This mischievous fox clearly intended to settle scores later. The thought of potentially living a life without peace if she truly set her sights on him gave Lu Jingming a headache.
To compensate Yae Miko, Lu Jingming directly raised her power level to ninety-four this time. The reason for stopping at this level was that breaking through to ninety-five signified entering a new realm, which would require a multi-fold increase in the consumption of Realization Power. But even at ninety-four, Yae Miko's current strength could easily deal with Lu Jingming, with no effort at all.
Lu Jingming, helpless, could only cast pleading glances at Ganyu, Keqing, and Ningguang, hoping they could help him out of this predicament. However, things didn't go as planned. The three women seemed to ignore his plea for help. Keqing, especially, made no attempt to hide her schadenfreude, her expression clearly saying, "You made your bed, now lie in it."
"Fine, for her sake, I'll let the past go." Just as Lu Jingming was about to make a run for it, Yae Miko's expression suddenly softened. She tilted her head slightly, looking at the blood-red Stigmata on the back of Lu Jingming's hand. Her eyes revealed an extremely complex mix of emotions, joy mingled with a hint of nostalgia.
Lu Jingming instinctively looked at the Stigmata in his hand, then subtly glanced at the figure quietly sleeping in the Stigmata Space, letting out a long breath. Thankfully, his preemptive safety measure had worked. He wasn't the type to act rashly without preparation. As early as when he decided to restore Yae Miko's intellect, he had anticipated that once she recovered, she would undoubtedly try every means to get even with him. But he still dared to proceed precisely because he had prepared a hidden trump card. The facts proved that this trump card did not disappoint him; the Divine Maiden, indeed, decided to let him off the hook for now because of her presence.
"However, while you may be spared from death, you won't escape punishment, little one. Just you wait!" Just as Lu Jingming had sighed in relief, Yae Miko's playful voice softly echoed in his ears.
Lu Jingming's mouth twitched, and he inwardly groaned. So, after all that, he couldn't escape the fate of retaliation! But this time, judging by the Divine Maiden's demeanor, she probably wouldn't do anything too outrageous...
The All-Continent Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament held in Haiyuan City caused a sensation far exceeding expectations. Among its many highlights, the most captivating was not St. Freya Academy's repeated championship victory, but rather the emergence of the Stigmatas. This entirely new development instantly stirred up immense waves across the entire Spirit Master world.
For most Spirit Masters, the birth of the Stigmatas was undoubtedly fantastic news. Previously, to acquire spirit rings, Spirit Masters had to venture deep into the perilous Spirit Beast Forest. In that dangerous environment, a moment of carelessness could mean the Spirit Master hunting for a ring might become food for a spirit beast, leaving no trace. Now, the situation had changed. Spirit Masters only needed to accumulate wealth, no longer risking their lives to enter the Spirit Beast Forest to hunt spirit beasts. They simply needed to go to the Jade Chamber, spend the appropriate money to purchase a Stigmata, and easily obtain a spirit ring.
Even more remarkably, high-quality Stigmatas could not only provide Spirit Masters with multiple spirit rings but also possessed a legacy characteristic, with a chance of being passed down to descendants. Furthermore, Spirit Masters now had great autonomy in choosing Stigmatas. They could select the Stigmata most suitable for their own spirit's characteristics, thereby acquiring spirit skills that best aligned with their development. Compared to the previous method of blindly relying on luck to acquire spirit rings in the Spirit Beast Forest, this was undoubtedly a huge step forward, a thousand times better.
However, with such enormous benefits laid out, Haiyuan City attempting to monopolize this enticing prize would clearly face immense difficulties and was destined to undergo severe challenges. After all, the changes brought by the Stigmatas touched upon the interests of too many factions.
But Lu Jingming's goal was not solely limited to the material profits gained from selling Stigmatas. For him, acquiring a large amount of Realization Power was the more crucial objective.
Therefore, as soon as the tournament concluded, he immediately initiated cooperation with the Star Crown Sect. Of course, the method of creating the Stigmatas was a core secret that absolutely could not be leaked, but the profits generated from sales could be reasonably distributed among other factions. Regarding the Stigmata project, Lu Jingming publicly announced that he welcomed other major factions to invest and participate, sharing in the profits. However, the core technology had to remain firmly in Haiyuan City's hands; this was his unshakeable bottom line.
Once the news spread, various major factions immediately took action. The first to actively seek cooperation and invest in the Stigmata project was the Star Luo Empire. Following closely, Princess Vina of the Heaven Dou Empire could no longer hold back. She sought out Xu Jiujiu, asking for help in connecting with Lu Jingming to express her desire to participate and claim a share of the profits. The Dou Ling Empire was equally unwilling to fall behind, swiftly dispatching envoys to negotiate with Haiyuan City, attempting to secure a place in this feast of profits.
Far away in Shrek City, Shrek Academy also recognized the immense business opportunity behind the Stigmatas. They, too, approached Ningguang, expressing their interest in investing in the Stigmata project.
Lu Jingming welcomed the participation of these major factions, accepting all of them with pleasure. He understood very well that in this Spirit Master world, trying to keep all the profits for oneself was an unwise move, as it could easily make one a target and attract endless trouble. On the contrary, appropriately giving up some profits and establishing cooperation with major factions, although it meant surrendering a portion of the earnings, could avoid many unnecessary disputes and secure a relatively stable environment for development. As long as the core technology remained firmly in their grasp, no matter how the profits were distributed, Haiyuan City would always maintain a dominant position and be the greatest beneficiary.
Sun Moon Empire, Sun Moon Royal Spirit Tool Academy, Mingde Hall.
Jing Hongchen tightly clutched two blood-red crystals, his expression focused and solemn. Within one of the crystals, a small Mountain-Mover Ape was sealed, encircled by a striking blood-red spirit ring. This undoubtedly indicated that it was an incredibly precious hundred-thousand-year Stigmata. In the other blood-red crystal, a pure white toad floated quietly, possessing fiery red eyes. A deep black spirit ring encircled its body; clearly, this was a ten-thousand-year Vermilion Eye Ice Toad Stigmata.
This ten-thousand-year Vermilion Eye Ice Toad Stigmata was the reward Lu Jingming had specially selected for Meng Hongchen after the Sun Moon Royal Spirit Tool Academy won third place in the tournament. The goodwill behind this gift was self-evident. The Vermilion Eye Ice Toad spirit beast typically inhabited the outer regions of the extreme north, and their numbers were exceedingly rare. However, with the Snow Empress, the ruler of the extreme north, now aligned with Lu Jingming, it was no difficult feat for him to find a ten-thousand-year Vermilion Eye Ice Toad and extract its genetic soul information.
When Meng Hongchen first saw this Stigmata, her face flushed with excitement, and her eyes sparkled with joy. If not for the setting, she might have rushed forward to embrace Lu Jingming and kiss him fiercely on the spot.
"Is this a Stigmata? It's truly hard to imagine what kind of genius could master such an incredible technique," Jing Hongchen exclaimed with genuine admiration, gazing at the Stigmatas in his hand. Even though the Sun Moon Empire had long been at the forefront of spirit tool technology, even mastering advanced genetic techniques like extracting male reproductive cells and implanting them into females for conception, they were still completely baffled by this miraculous Stigmata technology that allowed Spirit Masters to easily acquire spirit rings. This feeling was akin to facing a simulated universe; Stigmata technology far surpassed their existing knowledge and understanding.
Another person might have suspected the Stigmata to be the masterpiece of Lady Herta. But Jing Hongchen didn't think so. He had long followed Lady Herta's every move. Although he had never met her, through various channels of information, he knew that Lady Herta was an extremely proud and narcissistic individual. If the Stigmata truly was her invention, given her personality, she would never have kept it a low-profile secret. Therefore, Jing Hongchen concluded that the developer of the Stigmata was someone else, and that person must have come from Haiyuan City. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Haiyuan City truly hides dragons and crouching tigers; talented individuals emerge one after another!"
Jing Hongchen's expression grew more solemn. Haiyuan City's rise had already broken the Sun Moon Empire's long-standing leadership in the field of spirit tools. This situation had long drawn the serious attention of the Sun Moon Empire's high command. Furthermore, the numerous advanced spirit tool technologies displayed by Haiyuan City in this tournament had truly opened his eyes and left him in awe. Not to mention the Stigmata technology, which had shaken the entire continent; its immense influence was enough to change the entire landscape of the Spirit Master world. All these changes clearly indicated that the Douluo Continent was about to usher in an unprecedented transformation, and a turbulent era was fast approaching.
Although the Sun Moon Empire had always regarded Haiyuan City as a potential competitor and hypothetical enemy, Jing Hongchen also understood that if Haiyuan City could be drawn in and made a member of their own faction, that would naturally be an even better outcome. Thinking of this, Jing Hongchen involuntarily cast his gaze towards his precious granddaughter, Meng Hongchen. He knew Meng Hongchen's personality like the back of his hand. Although she was usually a bit boy-crazy and would stop dead in her tracks upon seeing a handsome man, it was mostly just eye candy, without any substantial actions. However, judging by Meng Hongchen's almost obsessive admiration for Lu Jingming, she was clearly deeply enthralled and unable to extricate herself. Regarding this, Jing Hongchen not only had no intention of pulling Meng Hongchen away, but he even secretly plotted to push things along.
"Meng, Xiao, would you two like to study at St. Freya Academy for a few years?"
Jing Hongchen narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, as he slowly asked.
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