Jing Hongchen was quietly sitting in the spacious hall of Mingde Hall, resting with his eyes closed.
Seeing Lin Jiayi return to Mingde Hall so quickly, he opened his eyes and frowned as he asked,
"What happened?"
"Hall Master, that Yu Tianhuang from Shrek Academy is a monster." Lin Jiayi calmed his breathing as he spoke.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy indeed covered a vast area. Even with his cultivation as an eight-ring Soul Douluo, it had taken him nearly half a quarter of an hour to hurry back to Mingde Hall. With his somewhat plump figure, his breathing inevitably became rapid.
This was also the norm for soul engineers on the Sun Moon Empire's side. Relying on medicines to assist cultivation meant that, whether it was physical fitness, soul power quality, or spiritual power intensity, they were far inferior to the traditional soul masters of the three original empires of the Douluo Continent.
At this moment, Lin Jiayi did not dare delay and reported Yu Tianhuang's physical test results to Jing Hongchen in full detail.
"During Yu Tianhuang's physical test, the data actually became disordered. In my personal estimation, he likely possesses an external spirit bone and at least three spirit bones in total. From his later strength test, there should also be an extremely high-quality strength-attribute spirit bone attached to his right arm. As for the Soul Douluo-level physical strength and toughness, that may not be accurate. Yu Tianhuang is a spirit attribute soul master, right? Hall Master, do you think it's possible that he fused a top-tier spiritual attribute skull bone and just now deliberately used a skull bone skill to interfere with the soul tool's detection? Spiritual power can indeed interfere with our soul tools."
Along the way, after careful consideration, this was the conclusion he arrived at that best fit conventional understanding.
He truly could not imagine a soul master possessing physical qualities comparable to a Soul Douluo while only at the Soul King level.
Jing Hongchen calmly listened to Lin Jiayi's report and nodded with satisfaction.
"Jiayi, I can rest assured leaving academy matters to you. Your speculation makes sense. With Shrek Academy's foundation, they can equip him with such spirit bones. However, your vision is still a bit narrow."
Lin Jiayi respectfully lowered his head.
"Please grant me your guidance, Hall Master."
"I understand the mindset of heaven's chosen like Yu Tianhuang very well. He would never do something like that. Or rather, from the moment he came to our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, he never intended to keep a low profile. That soul tool testing device may have malfunctioned, but it was probably caused by his spiritual power being far too strong." Jing Hongchen's small, sharp eyes narrowed, revealing undisguised admiration.
"Tell me about the others."
"Yes, Hall Master." Lin Jiayi responded and continued, "Besides Yu Tianhuang, the most outstanding one is the student named He Caitou. His martial soul is a cigar; although he is a food-system soul master, he has reached Soul Emperor-level physical qualities. Moreover, he is a sixth-class soul engineer at only seventeen years old. As for the remaining eight students, they can only be considered average."
Jing Hongchen was silent for a moment before saying, "Keep an eye on that He Caitou and have someone monitor his every move, especially during classes. As for Yu Tianhuang, I already promised him he could enter Mingde Hall to study at any time; someone will naturally watch him. As long as it doesn't involve Mingde Hall's core knowledge, let him study freely."
Although the fact that Yu Tianhuang was a fifth-class soul engineer surprised him somewhat, in his view, the seventeen-year-old sixth-class soul engineer He Caitou posed a greater threat.
The difference between a fifth-class and sixth-class soul engineer seemed like only one level, but the difficulty of advancing was nearly geometric. With He Caitou's talent, given time, he could even become the kind of seed student who could enter Mingde Hall without examination.
"Hall Master, should we perhaps during teaching…" Lin Jiayi probed.
Jing Hongchen shook his head.
"No need. Everything proceeds as usual. Shrek is, after all, just an academy, while we are the Sun Moon Empire's research institute. What can ten of them do? Moreover, they cannot possibly access our core secrets."
"Also, Jiayi, bring Yu Tianhuang to me."
…
The dormitory area of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy was located behind the teaching area. Compared to Shrek Academy, this dormitory area was much larger. On the maps distributed by Lin Jiayi, everything was clearly marked.
The higher the grade, the better the dormitory conditions. Although the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy was relatively relaxed in teaching, it still adhered to the principle that the capable deserve more.
This was the main theme of this world. Only the strong deserved to enjoy more resources.
According to the introductions from the academy's teachers, the ten of them had been arranged on the top floor of the sixth-year dormitory area, which usually allowed them to avoid disturbance from others. It could be considered a very quiet place.
Each person was assigned a separate dormitory room. The rooms were about twenty square meters—not luxurious, but very clean and tidy. They came with a private bathroom and a small balcony with excellent lighting.
There was also a metal worktable equipped with functions such as polishing, shaping, grinding, and quenching. Although these facilities were not as complete as the laboratories in the experimental area or teaching buildings, they were sufficient for making small parts.
After Xu Zihuang entered his room, he immediately locked the door.
He used his tangible yet intangible spiritual power to probe every corner of the room. Still feeling uneasy, he woke Tianmeng Ice Silkworm in his spiritual sea.
"Zihuang, it's been a long time since you actively talked to me." Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's lazy voice sounded. Being disturbed from its sleep, it was not the least bit annoyed; instead, it was unusually excited.
During the rare moments it had been awake recently, it had also sensed Xu Zihuang's rapidly growing strength.
It was happy, of course, but it also felt somewhat uneasy. It hadn't done anything yet, and Xu Zihuang had already become this strong. Wouldn't that make it, the king of soul beasts, the noble million-year soul beast, seem like a freeloading good-for-nothing?
No, this bro must re-establish a tall and majestic image in Zihuang's heart.
Xu Zihuang directly explained why he had awakened Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
"Tianmeng, use your spiritual power to check if there are any special surveillance soul tools in the room."
"No problem, leave it to bro." Tianmeng Ice Silkworm chuckled. After one breath, it gave Xu Zihuang a definite answer.
"Rest assured, Zihuang. This Sun Moon whatever soul engineer academy is quite generous; they didn't install anything."
Only then did Xu Zihuang relax a little. He opened the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony to let in some air. The view from the balcony was extremely open; from here, most of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy could be overlooked.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice rang out again in Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea.
"By the way, Zihuang, when do you plan to let me help raise the years of your first three soul rings? To be honest, although your first three soul skills aren't purely spiritual attribute skills, each has its own unique features. If their soul ring years are raised to over fifty thousand years, your strength will definitely rise another level."
"There's no rush for that. You know my situation." Xu Zihuang gazed into the distance as he conversed with Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
"I have twin martial souls myself. As long as I cultivate step by step and obtain soul rings, I won't lack powerful soul skills. Instead, problems have started appearing on the spiritual side. Ever since my spiritual power broke through to the tangible yet intangible realm and then absorbed your spiritual origin power, I can clearly feel that my spiritual sea is almost unable to support this level of growth."
"There's no helping it; the speed of your spiritual power realm advancement is simply too astonishing. Fortunately, your Golden Pupil martial soul has extraordinarily high quality and is subtly helping you consolidate your spiritual sea."
"That kid from your Shrek Academy—oh right, the one called Huo Yuhao, the little guy we met in the Star Dou Great Forest after our fusion. Even though his martial soul is also an eye, its quality is far inferior to your Golden Pupil. The same goes for that Princess Wei Na you came into contact with. Bro can guarantee that if their spiritual power advanced this quickly, their spiritual seas would have long collapsed. Moreover, I have a strong premonition deep down: the potential of your Golden Pupil martial soul has not been fully developed yet. Zihuang, have you carefully observed the patterns around your pupils when using the Golden Pupil martial soul? The patterns in your two eyes are different."
Toward the end, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's tone became profound. Ever since its most fundamental origin power fused with Xu Zihuang, this vague feeling had been lingering in its mind.
"Hm?" Reminded by Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, Xu Zihuang's body slightly trembled. As the saying goes, the person involved is often confused. After cultivating for so many years, he truly hadn't noticed this. After all, he wasn't idle enough to deliberately look in a mirror while using the Golden Pupil martial soul.
Following his thoughts, he released his Golden Pupil and walked to the mirror at the washstand.
Obscure and complex patterns swirled around his pupils—indifferent yet noble. However, in the mirror, those golden eyes gave off a strange, hazy, and illusory feeling, making them hard to see clearly.
This was the perspective of outsiders.
Only when he injected soul power and used the Golden Pupil martial soul's ability to see through all illusions did it feel like passing through a layer of fog, allowing him to see clearly. The patterns in the two eyes were completely different, yet they seemed to contain the laws of the world.
It was an existence that transcended all things in the world. Even the eighth-class core array assembly he had once observed in Shrek Academy's soul tool department was not even one ten-thousandth as profound.
"You noticed, right?" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's voice carried a hint of pride.
In fact, the only one who could see the mystery of Xu Zihuang's Golden Pupil martial soul was it. It had accidentally discovered this a while ago and now had the perfect chance to show off.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm spoke in an old and experienced tone: "Zihuang, that's all bro can tell you. As for what you can uncover in the future, that depends on yourself."
It was just short of standing with its hands behind its back, posing like a worldly expert. Unfortunately, in Xu Zihuang's spiritual sea, Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was merely a big white silkworm. It wriggled its plump body, its small eyes flashing with golden light.
"Don't speak in riddles, say it plainly." In this situation, Xu Zihuang's heart still stirred with some ripples.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Well… actually, I discovered it by accident too."
Xu Zihuang was momentarily speechless. He really didn't know how to evaluate this Tianmeng Ice Silkworm.
But Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's reminder was still meaningful.
To be able to match the quality of his second martial soul, the Zihuang Thunder Prison Dragon, how could the Golden Pupil possibly be simple? However, digging deeper into its potential was not something that could be achieved overnight.
Perhaps only after fusing Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's million-year soul ring and using the martial soul true body to comprehend the true essence of the Golden Pupil would he gain some insight.
The fact that his spiritual-attribute Golden Pupil martial soul absorbed a Dark Devilgod Tiger soul ring and directly gained a time-attribute domain soul skill was indeed thought-provoking.
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm cleared its throat lightly and changed the topic.
"However, regarding your spiritual power problem, bro can still give some guiding advice. The reason your brain is starting to have trouble bearing it is that your spiritual power is too strong. Solving this is simple—you just need to fuse a skull bone of extremely high quality, preferably a hundred-thousand-year-old one."
"With your current physical qualities, you will definitely be able to absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul ring at level sixty. You can ask a powerhouse from your academy to hunt a hundred-thousand-year-old Evil Eye Tyrant Lord for you. Pure spiritual-attribute Evil Eye Tyrant Lords are very suitable for you, and their innate soul skills are powerful enough. Your fifth soul skill is the best example. Most importantly, once an Evil Eye Tyrant soul beast drops a spirit bone, it is guaranteed to be a skull bone."
"Tianmeng, I already have plans for all of this." Xu Zihuang nodded slightly. After more than three years of interaction, with their fates intertwined—prosper together, suffer together—a seed called trust had unknowingly begun to sprout in their hearts.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang and Tianmeng Ice Silkworm tacitly stopped their conversation.
Xu Zihuang walked out of the bathroom and looked toward the door. The next moment, a calm knock sounded.
Although Tianmeng still wanted to chat with Xu Zihuang for a while, it also knew that Xu Zihuang had just arrived at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy and had many things to do. So it simply said to Xu Zihuang, call bro if anything comes up, and went back to sleep.
Xu Zihuang stepped forward and opened the door. Standing at the entrance was none other than the academy's teaching director, Lin Jiayi.
Lin Jiayi smiled and said, "Student Yu, I hope I'm not disturbing your rest."
"Director Lin, visiting so late—may I ask what the matter is?" Xu Zihuang knew that Lin Jiayi coming to his door at this hour definitely had a reason.
Lin Jiayi did not beat around the bush and got straight to the point: "The Hall Master wishes to see you."
Xu Zihuang's gaze focused slightly. He had roughly guessed Jing Hongchen's purpose. Of course, he would not refuse. On the contrary, this was an excellent opportunity to get in contact with Jing Hongchen.
"Then I'll trouble Director Lin to take me to see Hall Master Hongchen."
"Please follow me."
Lin Jiayi was very satisfied with Xu Zihuang's straightforward manner. He immediately led Xu Zihuang in the direction of Mingde Hall.
Mingde Hall was located at the very core of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy. On the surface, it appeared to be just a building covering about five hundred square meters—nothing remarkable. But once inside, one would discover that the scale of Mingde Hall was far larger than it appeared from the outside.
Lin Jiayi took Xu Zihuang through three strictly guarded checkpoints before reaching the first-floor hall of Mingde Hall. The hall, filled with a strong metallic atmosphere, contained dozens of elevators, each one more than twice the size of those in the Nine Treasures Pavilion and capable of accommodating dozens of people at once.
Xu Zihuang was well aware that these elevators all led underground. The true core of Mingde Hall lay hundreds of meters below the surface.
Jing Hongchen stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from Xu Zihuang and Lin Jiayi.
"Hall Master, the person has arrived."
Lin Jiayi softly reminded him, then respectfully withdrew from the hall.
Jing Hongchen slowly turned around. His round belly gave him a somewhat comical air, but no one dared to underestimate the master of Mingde Hall.
The closer he got to Xu Zihuang, the more satisfied he became with what he saw.
Jing Hongchen looked at Xu Zihuang with gentle eyes.
"Tianhuang, may I call you that?"
"Of course. You and Elder Mu are both elders worthy of respect."
Xu Zihuang's words greatly pleased Jing Hongchen. Being mentioned in the same breath as a powerhouse like Elder Mu was indirectly elevating him.
But in the next moment, the smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by extreme seriousness and sincerity.
"Tianhuang, if you are willing to come over, whatever conditions Shrek Academy offers you, our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy can offer double. Consider it."
After saying this, Jing Hongchen's gaze fixed firmly on Xu Zihuang. Given his personality, he disdained beating around the bush.
If Yu Tianhuang's talent hadn't tempted him so much, he would never have lowered himself like this.
As expected.
Xu Zihuang understood in his heart. Unfortunately, the conditions he wanted to propose were ones that Jing Hongchen, at this stage, was destined to be unable to fulfill.
And it was precisely Xu Zihuang's moment of hesitation that made Jing Hongchen's eyes light up. He immediately pressed the advantage:
"How about it? I dare not promise too much else, but in terms of financial resources, no force on the continent can compare to our Mingde Hall. Hundred-thousand-year soul rings and spirit bones—I can get them for you as well. But high-level soul tools are something no other place can offer."
After a moment of contemplation, Xu Zihuang gently shook his head.
"Thank you for your recognition, Hall Master Hongchen."
Jing Hongchen could tell that the hesitation in Yu Tianhuang's eyes was not fake, so he did not show disappointment. Smiling, he took out a brilliant golden token from his storage soul tool and handed it to Xu Zihuang.
The token was only palm-sized, engraved on the front with a divine golden toad pattern, while the back bore the elegant characters "Hongchen."
"Since that is the case, I will not force you. Take this token. During your two and a half years in Mingdu, if you encounter any problem you cannot solve, you may show this token, and I will ensure your safety. When the exchange ends, simply return it to me. Of course, if you are willing to join us, you can tell me anytime, and there will be no need to return the token."
"Then this junior will accept it respectfully." This time, Xu Zihuang readily took the token.
Free benefits were not to be refused.
A strong smile appeared in Jing Hongchen's small eyes. He waved toward Lin Jiayi outside the hall.
"Jiayi, escort Tianhuang back. Tomorrow, arrange for Teacher Xuan to personally serve as Tianhuang's mentor."
"Student Yu, this way please."
Lin Jiayi looked at Xu Zihuang with a strange expression before nodding to him.
Xuan Ziwen?
Xu Zihuang pondered the "Teacher Xuan" mentioned by Jing Hongchen while following Lin Jiayi.
Suddenly, Jing Hongchen's voice called from behind.
"Tianhuang, wait a moment."
Xu Zihuang and Lin Jiayi stopped and turned back.
The smile on Jing Hongchen's face became somewhat cryptic.
"What do you think of Meng? My granddaughter, that is."
Hearing this, the strange look on Lin Jiayi's chubby face grew even more pronounced.
Their Hall Master truly valued Yu Tianhuang highly.
However, Xu Zihuang did not reply immediately, and Jing Hongchen did not press him for an answer.
Some things did not need to be said too clearly; it was enough for both sides to understand.
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