Wang Chen hadn't expected Kong Deming to propose taking him as a disciple.
Kong Deming's status and importance in the Sun Moon Empire surpassed even the emperor's, making him the true pinnacle.
Wang Chen naturally wouldn't refuse. Rejecting would bring no benefits and might even cause trouble, while accepting would yield immense advantages. With Kong Deming backing him, Wang Chen could practically walk sideways in the Sun Moon Empire.
Moreover, he could learn Kong Deming's powerful soul tool techniques, enhancing his own strength. In the future, when adding soul rings or hunting soul beasts, things would become much easier. With Kong Deming's intervention, unless it was a ferocious beast with over five hundred thousand years of cultivation, it would be a matter of four words: easily within grasp.
Wang Chen bowed respectfully and said, "Disciple Wang Chen pays respects to Master!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Kong Deming's face. He stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "Good, good! From today onward, you are my disciple, Kong Deming's disciple."
Then, Kong Deming took out a silver-white badge from his storage soul tool and handed it to Wang Chen.
"This is the Hall Master's token of the Court Enshrinement Hall. With this token, you can freely enter and exit the Court Enshrinement Hall and seek help from its enshrined members if you encounter problems. Keep it safe."
Wang Chen took the badge and noticed it was engraved with a silver moon, cool to the touch, and imbued with special encrypted commands, clearly used for accessing various areas of the Court Enshrinement Hall.
Wang Chen promptly stored the badge in his storage soul tool.
Seeing Wang Chen accept the badge, Kong Deming glanced at the sun setting outside the window and said, "It's getting late today. Go back and rest. Come here tomorrow morning, and I will formally begin teaching you."
Wang Chen bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, Master. Your disciple takes his leave."
With that, Wang Chen exited the Silver Moon Hall. As he stepped out, he found Xu Tianzhen still waiting for him.
Seeing Wang Chen emerge, Xu Tianzhen immediately approached with a cheerful smile and asked, "Teacher Xiao Chen, what did Old Kong want with you?"
Wang Chen smiled and replied, "Old Kong took me as his disciple."
Xu Tianzhen's eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed, "Old Kong took you as his disciple?!"
Wang Chen raised an eyebrow and said, "What, don't believe me?"
Xu Tianzhen quickly responded, "I believe you, of course I believe you. Teacher Xiao Chen, you're amazing."
But in an instant, a sly smile appeared on Xu Tianzhen's face. "Teacher Xiao Chen, you're my teacher, so doesn't that make Old Kong my grandmaster?"
Wang Chen couldn't help but chuckle. He had casually taught Xu Tianzhen a small trick before, and she had latched onto calling him her teacher ever since.
Xu Tianzhen cheered, "It's almost evening. Teacher Xiao Chen, don't go home for dinner. Come on, I'll take you to taste the imperial chefs' cooking."
With that, Xu Tianzhen grabbed Wang Chen and ran off. Wang Chen could only follow along to sample the imperial cuisine.
…
The news of Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming taking Wang Chen as his disciple spread like a tornado.
The enshrined members of the Court Enshrinement Hall were the first to hear the news.
Then, they became little tornadoes themselves, spreading the word to their friends and family. Step by step, the news swept through the entire Mingdu, leaving everyone who heard it stunned by the bombshell.
In some ways, this news was no less significant than the selection of the crown prince.
…
Evening, at Mingde Hall.
Having just finished a busy day, Jing Hongchen leaned back on the sofa. Upon learning that Wang Chen had become Kong Deming's personal disciple, he couldn't help but sigh, his eyes revealing a hint of envy.
In the Sun Moon Empire, Kong Deming's status was unimaginably high. The reverence and admiration soul engineers held for him surpassed even that for the emperor.
Every soul engineer saw a towering mountain on their path forward, and that mountain was Kong Deming.
Even the high-ranking level nine soul engineers, standing above countless others, could only gaze up at Kong Deming from halfway up the mountain, dreaming of becoming his personal disciple.
But unfortunately, until now, not a single level nine soul engineer had caught Kong Deming's eye. At most, they received some guidance.
Jing Hongchen said enviously, "Wang Chen has actually become Old Kong's personal disciple. In the future, in Mingdu, even level nine soul engineers will have to give him some respect."
Then, Jing Hongchen stood up from the sofa, planning to contact other level nine soul engineers to visit Kong Deming tomorrow to congratulate him on gaining a disciple.
In his heart, Jing Hongchen thought, Recently, I've heard rumors from the palace that His Majesty plans to betroth Princess Tianzhen to Wang Chen.
That kid Wang Chen is sly. Knowing that refusing would lead to unpredictable consequences, he didn't refuse and has been getting along quite well with Princess Tianzhen.
Moreover, he hasn't visited Meng'er these days, showing he knows to avoid suspicion.
Jing Hongchen's feelings toward Wang Chen were complex—admiration, helplessness, and even a touch of resentment.
He resented that Wang Chen, who was once his prospective grandson-in-law, had now become the emperor's son-in-law.
But Jing Hongchen felt fortunate that, to prevent others from knowing how exceptional Wang Chen's talent and strength were, he hadn't revealed that Wang Chen was his grandson-in-law. Otherwise, things would be awkward now.
However, thinking of his granddaughter, Jing Hongchen felt a headache coming on.
He hadn't yet told his granddaughter about Wang Chen becoming the prince consort.
The reason for not telling her was fear that she might take it badly and do something foolish. So, these past few days, he had assigned Meng Hongchen a heavy load of study and cultivation tasks, keeping her busy at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.
The excuse was that her cultivation progress lagged behind her brother Xiao Hongchen's, and she needed to catch up.
But he could only keep it from her for so long. When the emperor issued the marriage decree, his granddaughter would inevitably find out.
Jing Hongchen only hoped that when that day came, the blow wouldn't be too great for her. There was nothing he could do about it.
Who could blame Wang Chen for being so monstrously talented and strong? Even as the Hall Master of Mingde Hall and a level nine soul engineer, Jing Hongchen couldn't keep Wang Chen for himself.
…
At the deposed crown prince Xu Tianran's residence, in his bedroom.
"Wang Chen became Old Kong's personal disciple? No!!! This can't be true, this can't be true."
Crash, crash, crash. All the furnishings, furniture, and decorations in the room were smashed to ruins by the furious Xu Tianran.
After venting, Xu Tianran sat dazed in his wheelchair.
These days, bad news had come one after another, leaving Xu Tianran somewhat despairing.
Originally, he had conspired with the Holy Ghost Church to have their people eliminate all of Xu Tianyu's supporters, ensuring Xu Tianyu couldn't become crown prince.
But who would have thought that the Holy Ghost Church, with its abundance of Title Douluo powerhouses, would fail? Not only did they fail to destroy the Wang family, but they were counter-killed by that Wang Chen from the Wang family.
Upon learning that the Wang family, supporters of his second brother, had a monster like Wang Chen, Xu Tianran felt things were going terribly wrong.
As expected, a few days ago, his father issued a decree naming his second brother as crown prince. And now, that monster Wang Chen had become Old Kong's personal disciple.
Xu Tianran knew clearly that with the current situation, it was nearly impossible to pull his second brother down from the crown prince position unless Xu Tianyu suddenly died or was killed.
Otherwise, to overthrow his second brother, he would need to deal with his supporters, the Wang family. But dealing with the Wang family was incredibly difficult.
Wang Chen was a top-tier powerhouse capable of killing Title Douluo. Now, as Kong Deming's personal disciple, eliminating him was a task of astronomical difficulty.
Xu Tianran knew that with his own strength and influence, he had no chance of dealing with Wang Chen. But if Wang Chen wanted to deal with him, it would be quite easy.
At this moment, Xu Tianran had only one thought: he could only rely on the Holy Ghost Church. If the Holy Ghost Church couldn't eliminate Wang Chen, the battle for the throne was already decided.
Xu Tianran, hysterical and with a ferocious expression, let wild thoughts flood his mind one after another. "Doesn't the Holy Ghost Church have two Limit Douluo powerhouses? Why don't you act? Why don't you kill Wang Chen?!"
…
At the Xishui League headquarters, in the meeting hall.
Dark Spirit Douluo Shen Kang sat expressionlessly on a chair. Across from him was Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Ghost Church.
Below them were the second and third elders of the Holy Ghost Church, both evil soul masters with Title Douluo cultivation and level nine soul engineers.
They currently served as the leader and deputy leader of the Xishui League, managing its affairs.
Zhongli Wu said coldly to Shen Kang, "Shen Kang, what's the situation with Wang Chen lately? Any weaknesses?"
As the leader of the Holy Ghost Church, Zhongli Wu was deeply invested in its interests.
Upon learning that Wang Chen, a genius who could threaten the balance between the Holy Ghost Church and the Sun Moon Empire, had become Kong Deming's disciple, Zhongli Wu's desire to kill Wang Chen grew even stronger.
At the same time, he had a worry: if Wang Chen broke through his bottleneck in the future and Kong Deming accompanied him to hunt soul beasts for soul rings, what could be done?
If that happened, to kill Wang Chen, wouldn't it require both his mother and Uncle Long to act together? Otherwise, who could kill Wang Chen under Kong Deming's protection?
But if they did that, would Kong Deming let it go? At that point, the Holy Ghost Church might end up in a full-scale war with the Sun Moon Empire.
For a moment, Zhongli Wu couldn't help but feel deeply worried.
Shen Kang sat in his chair, facing the inquiry from Zhongli Wu, the Holy Ghost Church leader, with a calm expression.
As an enshrined member of the Enshrinement Hall, he wasn't under Zhongli Wu's command and didn't have much reverence for the Holy Ghost Church leader.
In terms of strength, Zhongli Wu was slightly stronger, but if Shen Kang wanted to escape, Zhongli Wu couldn't stop him.
He was here only because of Long Xiaoyao's orders.
Shen Kang said indifferently, with a hint of nonchalance in his tone, "Wang Chen has been active in Mingdu recently, showing no signs of leaving. His routine is regular, moving between two points: the Wang family and the imperial palace, with no apparent weaknesses.
Both locations are heavily guarded. Even a Limit Douluo powerhouse would find it hard to infiltrate unnoticed.
Moreover, having just become Kong Deming's personal disciple, he's likely to stay with Kong Deming to study for the time being and probably won't leave Mingdu anytime soon."
Hearing Shen Kang's response, Zhongli Wu frowned, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
He had hoped to hear about some weakness in Wang Chen, so they could secretly find an opportunity to kill him and be done with it.
But who would have thought that Wang Chen was such a dedicated cultivator, rarely leaving his home?
For a moment, Zhongli Wu had no good ideas and could only say to Shen Kang, "Closely monitor Wang Chen. If he shows any weakness, act immediately if there's an opportunity. If not, report back at once."
Shen Kang nodded, saying nothing more. He stood up and left the meeting hall.
After Shen Kang left, Zhongli Wu's expression grew darker. He looked at the second and third elders below and said coldly, "Continue your activities in the Xishui League, gather resources for the Holy Ghost Church, and closely monitor the movements in Mingdu."
The second and third elders quickly nodded in agreement, not daring to show any negligence. They knew Zhongli Wu was in a foul mood and couldn't afford to anger him.
Zhongli Wu waved his hand, signaling them to leave. After everyone had gone, he sat alone in the meeting hall, his eyes flickering with a cold glint.
"Wang Chen… To kill you, will it really require Mother and Uncle Long to act?" Zhongli Wu murmured softly.
At Wang Chen's home.
Having finished the imperial meal and returned from the palace, Wang Chen had just entered the house when he was met with the angelic Ye Guyi, radiating an intense aura of displeasure.
Seeing Wang Chen return, Ye Guyi felt both angry and aggrieved. She had woken up to find Wang Chen gone and asked Ju Zi, who claimed not to know where he was. This left Ye Guyi anxious and on the verge of tears.
Ye Guyi had been waiting at the door since noon, and now, finally seeing Wang Chen, her grievances erupted. She cried and questioned, "Wang Chen, where have you been? Sob sob sob."
Seeing Ye Guyi's pitiful expression, Wang Chen felt guilty, knowing he was in the wrong. After all, having just been intimate with her, disappearing the next day would understandably upset her.
Wang Chen explained gently, "Guyi, this morning the emperor summoned me to the palace to meet Silver Moon Douluo Old Kong. An imperial decree cannot be disobeyed.
So I had to go to the palace… After some tests, Old Kong took me as his personal disciple, which is why I'm only back now."
Ye Guyi wasn't unreasonable. With her angelic martial soul, she had a kind heart. Hearing Wang Chen's explanation, half of her anger and grievance dissipated.
Seeing Ye Guyi's mood improve, Wang Chen seized the opportunity, walked to her side, and pulled her into his arms.
He stroked her back, comforting her, "There, there, don't cry, don't cry. It's my fault. If you keep crying, you won't look pretty anymore."
"I don't care if I don't look pretty. You don't like me at all, sob sob sob." Ye Guyi cried while pounding Wang Chen's chest with her small fists.
Seeing Ye Guyi cry harder the more he comforted her, Wang Chen felt a headache coming on. Finally, he kissed her lips directly, and her crying gradually subsided.
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