The Spear and Shield That Ruled the Continent, Jiang Nannan and Meng Hongchen Secretly Give Their Hearts! (Two in One)

[Yu Xiaogang]: "This Virtual World is essentially a platform for communication. With so-called virtual coins, you can buy all kinds of things and even increase the age of your Soul Rings,

and from what I've observed, the communicators also need to be connected to the Virtual World to function. Once you buy something, the communicator transports it, eliminating the steps in between."

[Ning Fengzhi]: "I see. Grandmaster, you truly live up to your title."

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Fengzhi, that Yu Xiaogang is nothing but a cripple now. Why bother treating him like that?" Bone Douluo asked in a deep voice.

Ning Fengzhi smiled calmly. "They're just a few kind words, whichever way you look at it. Rongrong is still studying at Shrek Academy, after all. The Grandmaster may be crippled, but his disciple Tang San is truly one of the finest geniuses around."

"Besides, I keep feeling that the communicator's real marvels lie elsewhere, though there are some things I can't see clearly yet. The Virtual World, on the other hand, is immensely useful. Virtual training, increasing Soul Ring ages—every feature is enough to make one drool! It's just a pity that we can only watch."

"Not necessarily." Sword Douluo Chen Xin walked over. After his baptism in radiation last time, his presence had changed slightly.

He looked at Ning Fengzhi and said,

"The Sky Screen previously bestowed the opportunity to receive radiation. Once the Virtual World expands far enough in the future, perhaps we'll be able to use it too?"

On the Sky Screen.

[Xue Qinghe]: "That's all nonsense. Isn't it obvious to anyone with eyes?"

[Yu Xiaogang]: "What bastard is this, daring to challenge the authority of Yu Xiaogang, the Martial Soul Grandmaster?"

At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang was hopping mad.

"Teacher, Xue Qinghe's surname, Xue, seems to be the surname of the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family," Tang San reminded him.

Yu Xiaogang's expression froze, as though he had swallowed a lump of shit.

He remembered now.

A few years ago, while traveling through the Heaven Dou Empire, he had met its crown prince, though the two had not spoken much at the time.

[Xue Qinghe]: "The Virtual World and the communicator are the shield and spear with which to control the continent. Nations currently use secret codes when they wage war. Once communicators become widespread, anyone who refuses to use them will fall behind, while anyone who does will risk having their information exposed to their creator.

"What's more, once they become widespread and you grow accustomed to seamless communication, he can simply shut the communicators down and cut an entire country off from the world.

"Likewise, the Virtual World requires virtual coins. What will people exchange for them? Besides resources, there are the cultivation methods and techniques held within the great sects and nations. Cling to your own old broom as though it were a treasure, and sooner or later the great ship of the times will leave you behind."

That single bullet comment was like the toll of a great bell, jolting the continent's many powers awake.

[Qian Daoliu]: "Hmph! Heaven Dou has produced a fine crown prince. His analysis is sound and orderly."

[Ning Fengzhi]: "Right on the mark, and even more insightful than my own thoughts. Crown Prince Xue, you truly see far into the future!"

[Golden Crocodile Douluo]: "Don't get cocky, Xue Qinghe. Though you're exceptionally clever, extraordinarily gifted, and remarkably capable, Heaven Dou taking on my Spirit Hall is like an egg striking a rock."

"..."

The many powers offered compliments one after another, bringing the Heaven Dou Empire considerable prestige.

Yet in a place utterly removed from the bustle, there was only deathly silence.

The Star Dou Great Forest.

Di Tian watched the scene on the Sky Screen and fell silent for the first time in a long while.

His Dragon God's Claw could tear open space, but it could not tear apart the Soul Beasts' predicament, tear apart humanity's development, or tear through the thick barrier between Soul Beasts and humans.

"Ten thousand years from now, those people will all be dead, but the many Soul Beasts around me will still be alive and well. If things truly turn out as Xue Qinghe says, what will become of the Soul Beasts?"

Di Tian murmured to himself.

Faced with the blow dealt by technology from another era, he truly felt somewhat powerless.

Neither the Virtual World nor the communicator seemed to have anything to do with Soul Beasts, and that was no good sign.

"Di Tian, if you ask me, we should attack Spirit Hall right now and wipe out all the human Soul Masters. Then someone like Xiang Bei won't appear ten thousand years from now."

Xiong Jun's eyes were red, and he looked eager to throw himself into the fight.

He was no fool; naturally, he could see the threat.

"Idiot!"

Di Tian snarled, "If we could wipe out the human Soul Masters, do you think I wouldn't do it?"

"All of you, shut up and keep an eye on those two. I'm going to contact the Lord."

Di Tian turned and walked toward the Lake of Life, sealing off the space with a wave of his hand.

"My Lord, judging by the scenes shown on the Sky Screen, the Soul Beasts will be in an unprecedentedly difficult position ten thousand years from now!"

Di Tian spoke.

"Humanity's development of Soul Tools has already left the Soul Beasts behind once. Now, with the humans on the Sky Screen developing communicators and the Virtual World, the Soul Beasts will fall behind twice more. If this continues, I fear the Soul Beasts' end will come."

"...When soldiers come, block them with generals; when floods come, dam them with earth. I will act ten thousand years from now."

After that quiet reply, Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena said no more.

Di Tian tactfully withdrew and stood guard in silence. The Lord's transformation is getting closer and closer to success. Even the way she speaks is becoming more like a human's.

On the Sky Screen.

Time flew like a white steed glimpsed through a crack.

Three days passed.

A hundred Azure Luan Communicators were laid out before Xiang Bei. Each contained one hundred-thousandth of Xiao Yu's subsystem computing power, making it the equivalent of a foolproof intelligent guidance system.

They could only provide automated guidance for the Virtual World's functions.

"Master, with Shrek Academy's current production capacity, a hundred in three days is already the limit. And these communicators still need to connect to the Virtual World before they can communicate over long distances."

Xiao Yu wiped nonexistent sweat from its forehead as it spoke.

Based on my analysis of Master, wiping my sweat will make him think I'm exhausted. Maybe he'll reward me... hehe.

"Thanks for your hard work. Double portions today."

Xiang Bei nodded with a satisfied smile. A hundred Azure Luan Communicators were enough to take the first step in spreading the Virtual World.

"Yay!"

Xiao Yu cheered and instantly conjured two heaping bowls of rice, a bowl of red-braised pork, a serving of stewed pork ribs, a serving of sweet-and-sour pork with pineapple, and a serving of candied sweet potatoes.

With its current abilities, conjuring these things was not particularly difficult, but only with Xiang Bei's approval could it consume the Snow Empress's origin to spur its own evolution.

"Eat! Big mouthfuls! When I get back to Mingde Hall, who knows which of us will be the subsystem?"

He walked out of the room.

A host of dead-fish eyes greeted him.

Xian Lin'er, Jiang Nannan, Meng Hongchen, Qian Duoduo, Wang Dong, and the other teachers and students all wore bitter smiles.

Meng Hongchen spoke first. "Brother Bei, you finally came out! These past few days have worked me to death."

"The work looks easy, but after doing it over and over without a break for three days, my back's about to snap."

Jiang Nannan nodded emphatically. "Xiang Bei, when are you going to give me a massage with that fascia scraper?"

"Me too!" Meng Hongchen called out.

"All right, all right, but I have something to do right now. Next time, both of you together."

Xiang Bei put the two women off and met Dean Xian Lin'er's gaze. She spoke with a weary sigh.

"It's really strange. It was obviously just simple, repetitive work, but I feel as though I've fought a great battle for three days and three nights."

Hearing that,

he nearly burst out laughing. Sure enough, no matter where you were, an electronics factory assembly line was not something just anyone could endure.

"Dean, how many satellites have you made?"

"Thirty in three days. We've nearly used up a lot of the materials."

Xian Lin'er mustered what little spirit she could. Three days and nights of labor without sleep or rest had almost completely drained her.

"That's enough. With this many satellites, their detection and signal coverage will be sufficient to cover the area around Shrek Academy. We can start preparing for launch."

"What did you say? We can launch them?" Xian Lin'er's voice suddenly rose three pitches. She had heard so much about the benefits of the Virtual World that her ears had grown calluses.

Now that she had heard the Virtual World's coverage could expand, how could she not be excited?

"Yes. The Virtual World's first step will begin at Shrek, and afterward it will gradually expand to every corner of the continent."

Xiang Bei spoke in a serious tone.

Shrek Academy was an enemy of the Sun Moon Empire, but it was also one of the continent's rare neutral grounds.

If the Virtual World were researched and unveiled at Mingde Hall, and he then brought out the communicators...

Heh...

The moment the satellites appeared would be the moment he was brought under the control of a Holy Spirit Cult Limit Douluo.

Xiang Bei did not believe Xu Tianran would allow such a devastating weapon to slip through his fingers. That was also the main reason Xiang Bei had waited until after the exchange to bring out the Virtual World.

He had no desire to make a wedding dress for the Sun Moon Imperial Family.

"I'll go find Mu En." Xian Lin'er promptly rose and left. Matters involving the Virtual World warranted a Sea God Pavilion Meeting to reach a decision.

Before that,

Mu En and Xiang Bei needed to confer.

After she left,

Xiang Bei looked at the students still there and said, "Little Meng, Nannan, come here. I have something to show you."

Meng Hongchen's eyes lit up. She thought Xiang Bei had finally caught on.

Jiang Nannan simply assumed Xiang Bei had developed another new massage tool. The past few days had truly exhausted her.

Inside the room.

Xiang Bei took out two communicators made later and placed them in the women's hands.

"These are Azure Luan Communicators. They allow you to communicate without hindrance within the Virtual World's coverage, provided you've entered the other person's ID.

"Besides that, they can connect directly to the Virtual World. In there, you can seek guidance from renowned teachers and buy technical documents and cultivation insights. I'll be improving those features later."

Jiang Nannan's eyes widened as she stared at the communicator in her hand, her gaze full of disbelief.

"This little thing? It can do all that? What kind of Soul Tool is it?"

"You can think of it as a Communication Soul Tool. The azure luan was an ancient divine beast that governed the transmission of messages and could send its voice across ten thousand miles."

Xiang Bei explained.

Meng Hongchen cradled it like a treasure. Brother Bei gave this to me. I have to cherish it.

"Oh, right, Brother Bei, tell me your ID. I'll add you."

"Me too." Jiang Nannan belatedly caught on and hurriedly spoke up.

"No problem." After they added each other's IDs, Meng Hongchen called Xiang Bei, and her voice echoed through the room.

"Brother Bei, Brother Bei!"

"Brother Bei, Brother Bei!"

"I'm here."

"Hehe." Meng Hongchen smiled. "Thanks, Brother Bei. This is so much fun."

Smack!

While Xiang Bei was not paying attention, Meng Hongchen suddenly pecked him on the cheek, her face as red as a ripe apple.

"Don't rush off. Take ten communicators with you. Give one to your brother, and do as you like with the rest."

"Oh."

Meng Hongchen put away ten Azure Luan Communicators and walked out of the room, her face back to normal.

She openly handed out communicators to the Sun Moon Empire's lead teacher and her own brother. Though young, she was shrewd.

Xiang Bei was unfamiliar with the empire's exchange students, and he had given her ten communicators. Clearly, they were to be distributed after she returned.

Jiang Nannan looked at Xiang Bei expectantly, as if asking how many she should take.

"Nannan, the academy has quite a few monsters. Take twenty, and you can decide how to distribute them too."

Jiang Nannan smiled at that and stopped in the doorway.

As though recalling what Meng Hongchen had just done, she suddenly turned around, pecked Xiang Bei twice on his other cheek, and fled with her face bright red.

Xiang Bei touched his face, seemingly savoring the moment.

"Damn it! Let this world be destroyed, boo-hoo..." From the Sea of Consciousness, Tian Meng watched Xiang Bei flirt with girls and thought of his Bingbing. He immediately burst into wails.

"All right, all right, stop yelling. When the Virtual World reaches the Far North, I'll give your Bingbing a communicator too. Happy?"

"Really?" Tian Meng stopped crying, excitement in his voice.

"Why would I lie to you?"

Xiang Bei shrugged. In his plans, the Far North was an indispensable piece of the puzzle.

In the future, as the Virtual World expanded and its data centers grew, ordinary locations would no longer be able to meet the cooling requirements.

Most likely, he would have to find somewhere in the Far North to build a database and set up servers.

At Shrek Academy.

Apart from Huo Yuhao and He Caitou, who had already gone to the Sun Moon Empire, every member of both the future and current generations of the Shrek Seven Devils received an Azure Luan Communicator. After Jiang Nannan explained what they did, almost everyone was astounded.

Except...

"What did you say? Nannan personally delivered everyone else's communicators, but she asked someone else to bring mine?"

In his room, veins bulged on Xu Sanshi's forehead.

"Damn you, Xiang Bei! What bewitching soup did you feed Nannan? Give me back my Nannan!"

In a small villa somewhere in the inner court.

"Senior Xiaotao, I'm leaving."

"Nannan, wait." Ma Xiaotao, tall and shapely, called Jiang Nannan back, looking as though the information simply would not enter her head.

"You just said I need someone's ID number to communicate with them using the communicator, right?"

"That's right, Senior."

"Oh, I see. By the way, do you have Xiang Bei's ID number? I'll add him. I'll still need his Ultimate Ice to suppress my Evil Fire in the future. With a communicator, I won't have to search everywhere for him."

"I see. Xiang Bei's ID number is 1*******." Jiang Nannan repeated it one character at a time.

"Oh, and Xiang Bei also said this communicator can connect to the Virtual World. Senior, you can try it when you get the chance."

"Mm."

The inner court.

The Sea God Pavilion Meeting.

For the first time in history, a student from the Sun Moon Empire had taken part in a Sea God Pavilion Meeting shortly after arriving.

Xiang Bei brought several Azure Luan Communicators and gave one to each member present, then found a corner and sat down.