Sea God Pavilion Meeting

A week later.

Tian Meng had pestered Huo Yuhao into taking advantage of this free time to go shopping and make up for everything he had owed him before.

After roughly calculating the time and finding that he did indeed have some spare time, Huo Yuhao agreed to Tian Meng's idea.

Just as the two leisurely strolled through a small town not far from the Extreme North, the original three great empires of the Douluo Continent, as well as the more distant Sun Moon Empire, had already erupted into uproar.

Nearly every faction had once again turned its attention toward Shrek City, while countless forces flooded into it at the same time.

On the surface, Shrek City remained peaceful. However, anyone who observed carefully would discover that the city's security forces had tripled in just one week.

At that moment, inside the Golden Tree of Shrek Academy.

More than ten Sea God Pavilion Elders were gathered together, listening to a report from Qian Duoduo, the vice dean of the Soul Guide Department.

"After seven days of testing, we can basically confirm that the effects of this 'Soul Power Storage Core' are exactly as described in the manual.

"During that time, Dean Xian Lin'er, Fan Yu, and I all attempted to completely seal our own Soul Power and rely solely on drawing the Soul Power within the 'Soul Power Storage Core' to manufacture Soul Tools.

"Through those attempts, relying only on our own knowledge and the 'Soul Power Storage Core,' all three of us successfully produced Class 6 Soul Tools.

"This basically proves that as long as one has sufficient knowledge, anyone can use the 'Soul Power Storage Core' to manufacture Class 6 Soul Tools.

"At present, our Soul Guide Department has recruited ten ordinary people in Shrek City with no Soul Power as test subjects and taught them knowledge of Soul Tools.

"So far, the fastest among them have already been able to use the 'Soul Power Storage Core' to carve some basic Soul Guide Arrays. If this progress continues, they should be able to become genuine Class 1 Soul Engineers through the 'Soul Power Storage Core' within four or five months."

Qian Duoduo delivered his report.

Seven days ago, the Soul Guide Department had received a special package, and the sender's name was "Tian Meng."

Those in the Soul Guide Department were all quite familiar with that name.

A Rank 8 Soul Guide Master who had suddenly appeared in Shrek City nearly two years ago, whose whereabouts were unpredictable, and who would release an innovative Soul Tool every few months.

The people from the Martial Soul Department were not particularly interested in this. At most, they felt that the man had some skill, but only some.

Yet as Soul Engineers, they knew it was absolutely not as simple as merely having some skill!

For a Soul Engineer, being able to develop one or two innovative Soul Tools in an entire lifetime was enough to be called exceptionally gifted. After all, Soul Tool research and development did not depend on hard work, but on fleeting flashes of inspiration!

And this "Tian Meng" released a new product every three or four months, and every product he sold contained an entirely new idea!

If such a person was not a genius, then what was?!

Furthermore, based on the intelligence gathered over the past two years, Master Tianmeng was not from the Sun Moon Empire, but a native of one of the original three great empires.

Coupled with qualifications such as "innate Rank 9," "under forty years old," "Rank 8 Soul Guide Master," and "proficient in Soul Tool manufacturing," the Soul Guide Department had almost instinctively developed the desire to recruit him.

However, recruiting this "Master Tianmeng" into the Soul Guide Department meant that he first had to join Shrek.

And an "outsider" Soul Master, especially an eight-ringed Soul Douluo, was not someone Shrek had raised themselves. Ultimately, he could not be trusted.

Because of this, starting a year ago, every time the Soul Guide Department applied to recruit "Tian Meng" during a Sea God Pavilion meeting, the elders of the Martial Soul Department would reject it without hesitation.

But now... a turning point had come.

Seven days ago, Master "Tian Meng" had sent them a package containing ten "Soul Power Storage Cores" and a user guide.

There was also a single sentence enclosed in the package.

"I have delivered identical packages to the Heaven Dou Empire, Star Luo Empire, Dou Ling Empire, Sun Moon Empire, Body Sect, and others."

A simple sentence, yet it revealed Master Tianmeng's intentions.

He was preparing to choose a faction to serve as his backer!

It made sense. A wandering Rank 8 Soul Guide Master would be eagerly sought after by everyone. Even if they were rejected, people would only find it regrettable.

After all, every major faction within the original three great empires of the Douluo Continent had one or two Rank 8 Soul Guide Masters, more or less.

But once this wandering Rank 8 Soul Guide Master became a Rank 9, the meaning behind it would be entirely different!

A Rank 9 Soul Guide Master... could be said to be the most precious strategic resource, worth far more than an ordinary Titled Douluo!

Therefore, none of the factions would allow such a precious strategic resource to remain "wandering outside." One faction had to take in this strategic resource before the others would withdraw.

But if this strategic resource remained "wild," or fell into the hands of an enemy faction... then sorry, to prevent an uncontrollable situation from arising, they would ultimately choose the strategy of "if we cannot have it, destroy it."

Thus, anyone with a normal train of thought would know that Master Tianmeng needed a sufficiently powerful faction that could ensure his safety and provide him with protection.

And clearly, as a free agent, Master Tianmeng had many choices.

The Soul Guide Department, which had coveted Tian Meng for who knew how long, naturally would not let this opportunity pass. Combined with the newly developed, era-defining product known as the "Soul Power Storage Core," the Soul Guide Department practically wished they could tie Tian Meng up and drag him back to Shrek immediately!

Therefore, after simple experiments confirmed the effects of the "Soul Power Storage Core," the Soul Guide Department convened another Sea God Pavilion meeting!

"In summary, I believe we should recruit Master Tianmeng. This is also an opportunity for Shrek!"

After finishing, Qian Duoduo sat down and waited for the other elders to voice their opinions.

Yet the moment he sat down, an elder spoke. "I disagree. Allowing someone of unknown origins to enter Shrek Academy and directly serve as vice dean of the Soul Guide Department is utterly unreasonable! Besides, they are merely Soul Tools! They are ultimately nothing more than external objects!"

"I agree."

"I think that makes sense."

Qian Duoduo's expression turned somewhat grim. These old fossils were all utterly rotten. Were they not simply afraid that once the Soul Guide Department rose, it would receive a greater share of the funding, leaving them with less to enjoy?!

Just as Qian Duoduo was about to speak, Xian Lin'er beside him could no longer sit still. She slammed her hand on the table and rose to her feet!

"Shut up! What do you know? So far, this 'Soul Power Storage Core' released by Tian Meng clearly has restrictions placed on it!

"Perhaps he has an unrestricted version in his possession! Think about it yourselves. If your younger disciples had an external energy source storing Soul Power at the Soul Emperor level on their bodies during battle, capable of replenishing their Soul Power at any time, would that not be equivalent to having an extra life?!

"And that is merely the most basic application!"