Shock, Sacred Marks, Conditions

Bang! Bang!

Two inconspicuous bullets shot out of the handgun. Even Meng Hongchen herself had not expected the recoil to be so strong; despite being a four-ring Soul Ancestor, she was knocked back five meters.

However, the White Training Armor's power did not disappoint her. Those two unremarkable bullets actually pierced straight through the two Soul Cannon Shells Xia Xuanchen had fired!

Crack... Bang!

The two Soul Cannon barrels on his arms were shattered along with them.

"Th-This..." Both parties were stunned.

One move. Just one move. Two bullets against two shells, and the bullets had won.

"...Meng Hongchen wins." Even the Soul Tool instructor presiding over the match was dumbfounded.

Xia Xuanchen sat blankly on the ground, feeling as though both his hands had nearly gone numb. He remained utterly motionless, like his soul had left his body.

Only then did the teachers and students of Sun Moon Academy come to their senses, and another uproar immediately broke out.

This test match had been far too quick, lasting only around ten seconds from beginning to end. It looked as though Meng Hongchen had stepped up, fired twice, and instantly ended it. There was nothing more to say.

There had not even been any dazzling Soul Power radiance around her. The audience had not even seen her soul rings. Yet she had won! And she had won so easily.

Jing Hongchen appeared calm on the surface, but stormy waves had already risen in his heart. The energy contained in those two bullets his granddaughter had fired was not Soul Power at all, yet it possessed the strength of a seven-ring Soul Saint!

One bullet from that handgun was actually equivalent to a Soul Saint...

He turned around and suppressed his excitement as he asked, "Mr. Lu, is there anything else worth demonstrating?"

Lu Xueling remained perfectly composed. "Hall Master, does merely the tip of the iceberg excite you this much?"

Seeing his attitude, Jing Hongchen could not help feeling worried amid his excitement. He turned his gaze back to the arena, only for his expression to instantly collapse.

The second person to take the stage was Xiao Hongchen.

"Hey, little sis." Xiao Hongchen grinned as he greeted his sister.

Spinning the handgun in her hand, Meng Hongchen pouted. "Big bro, why are you joining in the fun too?"

"Heh, I want to see for myself what exactly is so special about the thing that has Grandfather paying so much attention to it."

Meng Hongchen put away her handgun and was about to speak when, for some reason, a faint stabbing pain came from her back. Still, she endured it. "Fine, big bro. Then I'll send you off the stage with something big."

"The second match begins."

Whoosh...

Meng Hongchen's body swiftly rose into the air. An intense white light flashed from her chest, and her eyes changed in an instant. Almost instinctively, she shouted a phrase in a language that did not belong to the Douluo Continent.

"Neko Charm!"

Something miraculous happened.

With a casual wave of Meng Hongchen's hand, a gigantic object resembling a cat's paw emerged from the hollow in her palm and slapped directly toward Xiao Hongchen!

His expression changed drastically in an instant, and he could not move his feet. It was not that he did not want to fight back or dodge; from his perspective, his dear little sister had completed three actions in the blink of an eye. By the time he thought to retaliate, that enormous cat paw was already almost against his face!

Slap—Bang!!!

A shattering sound exploded. As the gray mist dispersed, Xiao Hongchen was already sitting flat on the ground, with his Grandfather, Jing Hongchen, standing before him.

What had shattered was a defensive Soul Tool in the latter's hand—a Class 6 one.

Jing Hongchen hid the terror in his eyes and said heavily, "Enough, Xiao Meng. Stop."

"O-Okay... Grandfather." Meng Hongchen was panting heavily as well. The arm that had swung out the cat paw appeared dislocated. Valkyrie Armor · White Practice automatically disengaged, and she staggered all the way back to the rest area.

After watching the entire process, Lu Xueling gave his assessment. "Not bad. This girl's body just can't handle it."

"M-Mr. Lu, what exactly was that..." Huo Yuhao had kept his Spiritual Eye open the entire time, but his cultivation was too weak, so he could only make out the general idea.

"Valkyrie Armor · White Practice. And it is still incomplete. Even if a Soul Ancestor wears it, they would be enough to contend with a seven-ring Soul Saint."

Lu Xueling took out a small notebook and made a record. "It is just that Soul Masters of Douluo Star who do not understand Honkai Energy are destined to be unable to unleash the armor's full strength. They cannot even sustain short-term combat. When Meng Hongchen activated her ultimate just now, she had already exhausted all the Honkai Energy I had charged into the armor beforehand."

After finishing the juice in her hand, Sirin revealed a trace of disdain in her eyes. "They cannot even control the most basic toy of that stupid bug. This Queen is truly disappointed."

"Your Majesty, you cannot put it that way. I do have a way to let these Soul Masters use the full power of Valkyrie Armor for a short time." As Lu Xueling spoke, a chill flashed through his eyes.

"Human, don't tell me you mean..."

Lu Xueling put away his notebook and nodded slightly. "That's right. Sacred Marks!"

"Mr. Lu, you have mentioned yet another concept that this old man has never heard of." Jing Hongchen had already returned from the arena, and his expression looked somewhat pained. It seemed that damaged Class 6 defensive Soul Tool had been rather expensive.

"Red Dust Hall Master, how much did you hear?"

"From when you said Soul Masters could also use the armor's full abilities for a short time."

The corners of Lu Xueling's lips rose. "It seems the Hall Master is interested in Sacred Marks again?"

Jing Hongchen did not waste words. "This old man will invest in this project. Tell me, how much is the startup capital?"

Lu Xueling raised three fingers. "Promise me three things."

"Go ahead."

"First, I want the position of Deputy Hall Master—the kind with real authority. Second, regarding research into Valkyrie Armor, no matter how many resources or personnel are invested during the process, including the final research results, only I get to decide what happens to them."

"...Fine. This old man can agree to that." Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth, but ultimately nodded.

"Third." Lu Xueling patted Huo Yuhao's shoulder beside him. "This child, Huo Yuhao. Let him enroll in the academy and further his studies in Mingde Hall. Arrange for him according to the highest standard of student treatment."

Jing Hongchen looked at Huo Yuhao with an indescribably strange expression in his eyes, but he agreed in the end.

Though he did not understand why Lu Xueling cared so much about a mere one-ring child, this condition was basically just asking him to make an exception. There had been precedents involving imperial relatives and nobles before, and Jing Hongchen had the authority to do this.

Everyone soon dispersed. Jing Hongchen also took Huo Yuhao to handle his enrollment procedures. In a specially arranged room, Lu Xueling blissfully enjoyed Sirin's lap pillow as he gazed out the window, seemingly reminiscing about something.

The space within the room had long since been sealed off, and no sound from inside could be eavesdropped on from outside.

Sirin ran her fingers through his hair and asked, "Human, can you still produce Sacred Marks?"

"Of course, my Queen. Your servant cannot do everything, but in the eyes of these people of Douluo Star, I might as well be omnipotent."

"Then do you really intend to give away Valkyrie Armor technology just like that?"

"Of course not. I only told them half of it."

Lu Xueling sneered. "Sacred Marks are only one way to unleash Valkyrie Armor's power. The second is to receive my blessing, which allows the wearer to convert everything they possess into Honkai Energy as the armor's activation energy. Without Sacred Marks, they can still use it freely."

"But everything comes at a price. Sacred Marks are indeed powerful and allow one to fight without relying on my mark, but they will gradually drain the user's life force, until in the end..."

"...They are devoured by Honkai." Sirin finished his last five words.

Bzzzz...

"Hm? Shi Bao... is she angry?"

This kind of interwoven writing style, with the perspective switching from time to time, is okay, right?