"Feeling tired?"
Secretary Juzi quickly moved closer, her delicate hands beginning to massage his shoulders.
Xu Cheng turned his head.
Sunlight streamed through the car window, casting a warm glow on the young girl's face.
Her pretty face was filled with earnest concentration as she worked on his shoulders, giving the moment a certain charm.
But to the young girl, was he not the same?
Bright and new, a reformist, a man for the people—holding great power at such a young age. Especially at the moment he stepped down, when countless iron-blooded soldiers followed behind him.
To a young girl, such attraction was just as deadly.
"Next year, you'll enter the military. You need to establish enough prestige within the army to personally command future wars and avenge your parents."
Xu Cheng spoke.
"Next year?" Juzi lifted her head, her large eyes filled with confusion.
"Yes. In three months, I'll be heading to the Star Luo Empire to participate in the Continental Tournament. Just last month, Elder Jing sent out an invitation for exchange students. In the next two to three years, I may go to Shrek Academy as an exchange student…"
Xu Cheng explained.
"Shrek Academy? Exchange student? But… they haven't agreed yet, have they?"
Juzi was taken aback.
"They will."
Xu Cheng smiled.
After the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Church, Xuan Zi, stirred things up, Mu En would come to understand the importance of soul tools and agree to the Sun-Moon Empire's exchange request.
"Oh…"
The girl seemed a bit sullen.
"Ah Cheng, you're going to Shrek Academy?"
Inside the spiritual sea.
Tianmeng Iceworm asked in surprise.
"Yes. Shrek Academy's research on martial souls is unmatched. There, I may gain a deeper understanding of martial souls." Xu Cheng nodded.
Is Shrek Academy weak?Undisciplined, foolish, and arrogant.
During the journey to the tournament, that Soul King probably had the highlight battle of his entire life—not just because of intelligence warfare but also because their opponents were simply too weak.
Would you believe it if I told you they just kept charging into my gunfire?
But there was no denying that for nearly ten thousand years, countless genius students had continuously poured into Shrek Academy. Through a positive cycle, the academy had only grown stronger.
Especially the books hidden in the Sea God's Pavilion.
Those were treasures of wisdom.
Ma Xiaotao and the other inner-court students might lack brains and be foolish, but they weren't weak…
"…"
Back at the academy.
As usual, he swiped his card and entered the lower levels of Mingde Hall.
Along the way, countless soul tool technologies left the Ice Emperor in his spiritual sea utterly stunned.
"Indeed, human technology is terrifying…"
"Sigh, Ice Ice, I used to be really proud too. A million-year-old soul beast with powerful spiritual strength. I always thought that while humans had strong individuals, they were far inferior to our soul beast race. But ever since I sacrificed myself to Ah Cheng, my thoughts have slowly changed."
Inside the spiritual sea.
Tianmeng poked his head out and sighed lightly.
"Humans seem to be a race favored by the heavens. Their strength isn't just in their cultivation speed but also in their intelligence—their use of technology, their use of tools. This is the fundamental reason they have come to dominate the world."
"This massive city is called Mingdu. You must be seeing it for the first time, right? The towering buildings, the streets and roads, the countless lights at night, and the variety of soul tools—all are products of human wisdom. And what about us soul beasts? We just use urine to mark our territory and fight to the death over small patches of land…"
"Ah~~"
Tianmeng howled dramatically.
The Ice Emperor retracted her tail and glared at Tianmeng coldly.
"It's YOU who marks your territory with urine! Not me! Don't insult soul beasts!"
She turned back around.
Looking once again at the dazzling soul tool technology surrounding her.
The Ice Emperor fell into deep thought.
If this continued, what future would soul beasts have?
"Ding!"
With the sound of machinery, the doors slowly opened.
Xu Cheng successfully entered the underground depths.
This was the private laboratory of Elder Cheng.
Mingde Hall was divided into several sections. Like Jing Hongchen, Cheng had his own private research area, deep underground.
"Buzz~"
Xu Cheng walked forward slowly.
A black-and-white mecha stood in front of him.
At its core, a vortex device roared with immense power as Elder Cheng infused soul power into it. The overwhelming noise echoed throughout the entire testing area.
"This is…"
The Ice Emperor was so shocked that her mouth fell open.
Tianmeng, who had just been pretending to be dead after being stung on the back, instantly came back to life. He flailed his limbs excitedly and explained,
"This is the Prototype Unit, created by a Rank Nine Soul Engineer—Ah Cheng's master! It doesn't require soul power and is instead driven by spiritual power. If I were in my prime, I could operate it at the strength of a Rank 99 Limit Douluo! If converted to soul beast cultivation… hmm, hard to say, but at least 600,000 years!"
"…"
The Ice Emperor remained silent for a long time.
The last time she had come to human territory was thousands of years ago.
She hadn't expected that in just these few years, while her own strength had grown significantly, human progress had utterly transformed the world…
"Oh, Xiao Cheng, you're here."
Elder Cheng flickered and appeared beside Xu Cheng.
He gestured toward the mecha.
"It's now in the final optimization phase. In about a week, I've enhanced the spiritual power consumption and improved the milk bottle's endurance. With your current spiritual strength, you should be able to exert the power of a Rank 91 or 92 Titled Douluo, with a runtime of about an hour."
"…"
Hearing Elder Cheng's words, the Ice Emperor fell even deeper into silence.
Xu Cheng, however, smiled brightly.
"Got it!"
Elder Cheng chuckled helplessly.
"You've been missing for a whole month. Where did you go? Even Nana couldn't find you."
"I went to the Extreme North." Xu Cheng smiled.
"The Extreme North? Why go there? Need a soul ring? No, that's not right. You just added a fifth soul ring to your Blood Pupil Martial Soul and even showed it off to me, claiming it was a million-year soul ring." Elder Cheng raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, I ran into a big one."
Xu Cheng grinned.
A crimson soul ring slowly rose from beneath his feet.
"A hundred-thousand-year soul ring?!!"
Elder Cheng's eyes widened.
"No… This is a new martial soul?!! How did you do it?!"
"I happened to encounter a soul beast at the end of its lifespan. It willingly sacrificed itself to me, contributing a new martial soul as well."
"How interesting, how interesting."
Elder Cheng paced back and forth, carefully examining Xu Cheng.
His eyes were full of astonishment.
After all, the conditions for acquiring a new martial soul were incredibly harsh—so much so that most people wouldn't even dare to dream about it.
Yet such a miraculous stroke of luck had actually fallen upon his foolish disciple.
"When do you plan to attach a soul ring?" Elder Cheng asked.
"Probably… after the Academy Tournament. Shrek Academy isn't worth me rushing." Xu Cheng replied.
"Alright, you always have your own ideas. I won't interfere. But as it happens, I also made a trip to the Extreme North." Elder Mu smiled and pointed to the other side of the lab.
"I happened to come across a soul beast undergoing transformation. Based on estimates, it's at least a hundred-thousand-year-old beast. Its exact strength is unknown, but if you can absorb it, it'll likely be another soul ring for you."
Xu Cheng's expression stiffened.
He slowly turned his head.
On the other side, behind a glass containment unit—
Inside a massive device, a cloud of white mist constantly crashed against the outer shell.
Yet no ripples formed…
(End of Chapter)