The Pope's Favor?

"Brother Chen!?"

"How did my matter go?"

The middle-aged man seated in the office immediately looked delighted when he saw You Chen, while You Chen greeted him from afar.

This guy was Ye Han, You Chen's former classmate.

But compared to You Chen, who could barely be considered somebody, Ye Han's achievements were rather mediocre. At thirty-five, he was only a level-thirty-five Soul Elder. He would probably max out at Soul Ancestor level in this lifetime.

A Yellow-robed Deacon had already moved beyond the duties of a White-robed Patrol Deacon, who often had to travel outside. Within the entire Spirit Hall organization, they belonged to the backbone.

When manpower was lacking, they might even be dispatched to serve as the master of a Spirit Hall branch.

Soul Masters were already considered important figures to ordinary people, while a Yellow-robed Deacon's status was comparable to that of a modern town administrator. Ordinary people would find it difficult to even see one in daily life.

But in Spirit City, the sacred land in the hearts of Soul Masters across the continent and a gathering place for the world's strongest, he was merely an insignificant errand-runner.

Although Ye Han had initially been jealous when he saw You Chen, whose talent was weaker than his own, become a Soul Master several steps ahead of him, he remained unconvinced even after getting thoroughly beaten up. In his heart, he cursed You Chen's cultivation speed to slow down. There was no shortage of verbal provocations and troublemaking afterward, either.

But as You Chen revealed his extraordinary qualities time and again and eventually seized the momentum to rise to heights Ye Han could only look up at, the jealousy in Ye Han's heart instead turned into admiration.

Watching You Chen, whose talent was close to his own, rise through exceptional wisdom and hard work, Ye Han seemed to see another version of himself who had taken a different path.

His Innate Soul Power had clearly been only level two, yet he had become a Soul Master at nine, a Soul Grand Master at fifteen, and a Soul Elder at twenty-one!

By comparison, Ye Han also had level-two Innate Soul Power. He became a Soul Master at twelve, a Soul Grand Master at twenty-one, and only became a Soul Elder at twenty-nine. Such cultivation speed already showed that this was probably the limit of his life.

Fans worshipped idols and projected their emotions onto them. Ye Han was likely the same. Perhaps he regarded You Chen as the continuation of his own dream of becoming a powerful Soul Master.

When someone who should have been ordinary shattered his shackles and rose to prominence, he would inevitably draw gazes of admiration, disgust, or rejection.

Once, when You Chen was mocked and provoked, it was Ye Han, who usually did not get along with him, who stepped forward and spoke in his defense. That became the turning point in their relationship.

Around five years ago, You Chen had even attended Ye Han's wedding to one of his colleagues.

After so much time had passed, the conflicts of their youth had long become memories they could laugh off.

You Chen trusted Ye Han. That trust allowed him to safely tell Ye Han some of his requests and have him help arrange a position in a city near Notting City.

"Done and dusted."

Ye Han made an assured gesture and said, "Brother Chen, your transfer procedures are all finished. All that remains is for Notting City to accept you. At the earliest, you can prepare to take up your post in Notting City in about three days... uh, as a deacon."

Even Ye Han found it a little awkward to say.

After all, You Chen was a Soul Ancestor on the verge of breaking through to Soul King, and he was also a renowned professor and theoretical master of Spirit Hall!

Within the Spirit Hall Research Institute, the ranks went from junior, intermediate, and senior researcher before reaching the title of professor!

Researcher ranks corresponded to White-robed Deacons, Yellow-robed Deacons, and Purple Robe Bishops. Professors had no fixed rank and were graded according to their positions, but at the very lowest... they should still be Black-robed Bishops, right!?

A Black-robed Bishop was unquestionably a major figure in Spirit Hall. It was one thing to be sent to serve in some backwater, but why was he only becoming a Yellow-robed Deacon!?

Even though these procedures had passed through his hands, Ye Han could not quite understand it.

He could not understand why the higher-ups of Spirit Hall would assign such a humiliating position, nor could he understand why You Chen would choose to leave his research post and become a low-level deacon.

"Brother Chen, I wouldn't even bother asking if it were someone else, but why are you going to a little place like Notting City? I really don't understand. Isn't it good to stay at the main hall? I even heard before that the Pope seemed quite fond of you and planned to promote you to director of the Research Institute."

Ye Han's voice was filled with regret, even a little indignation.

It was like a die-hard fan seeing his idol accept a sponsorship deal completely beneath his stature and wondering whether something had gone wrong.

"The Pope's... favor?"

Hearing Ye Han's question, You Chen could not hold back his laughter for once.

"Uh, Brother Chen, is there... something wrong?"

Seeing You Chen laugh, Ye Han realized that he had most likely said something wrong. Lacking information that someone at his level had no way of knowing, he had said something that You Chen found both absurd and amusing.

Seeing Ye Han's embarrassed expression, You Chen had no intention of blaming him.

After all, among Spirit Hall's upper ranks, some matters were understood without being spoken of. But the lower and middle ranks knew nothing of the conflicts above and thought everyone was one big happy family, with the higher-ups united in purpose.

Such circumstances were hardly rare in any organization.

You Chen's current achievements and cultivation had certainly not come from the two words "hard work" alone.

When had there ever been a shortage of hardworking mediocrities in this world? In the end, did they not all become crop after crop of chives?

You Chen had cultivated to level ten by the age of nine, a pace comparable to some more lax geniuses with level-five Innate Soul Power.

But a large part of that was because Soul Power before level ten was relatively easy to raise.

Moreover, You Chen had inherited the ideas of scientific training from his previous life, as well as an adult's self-discipline. While his classmates were only six and could neither focus wholeheartedly on cultivation and learning nor cultivate systematically and scientifically, he had managed to overtake them on the curve.

But if You Chen had continued cultivating step by step like this, he might not have fared much better than Ye Han. A low-level worker handling complicated affairs for Spirit Hall might have been the life You Chen was meant to live.

As one's level rose and one drew closer to the shackles of one's innate talent, cultivation speed would become slower and slower.

The odd-numbered major realms of Soul Masters all involved obvious qualitative changes.

A one-ring Soul Master possessed their first soul skill. For a three-ring Soul Elder, the third ring was often a Soul Master's first thousand-year soul ring in the conventional sense. For a five-ring Soul King, the fifth ring was the first ten-thousand-year soul ring. For a seven-ring Soul Sage, the seventh ring brought the domineering and powerful Martial Soul Avatar. As for the strength of a nine-ring Titled Douluo, there was no need to say more.

Yet alongside those qualitative changes came even more stubborn shackles.

The seventh and ninth rings in particular were shackles roughly twice as firm as those at the other odd-numbered realms.

You Chen had read quite a few Douluo fanfictions. In many of them, the protagonists easily broke through the shackles of their talent, evolved their Martial Souls by absorbing suitable soul rings beyond their limits, and from then on found the path to Titled Douluo smooth and open.

Therefore, at the start of his Martial Soul Awakening, You Chen had not been discouraged by his low Innate Soul Power or the poor quality of his Martial Soul.

Naturally, he could not give up and lie flat simply because his aptitude was insufficient.

To absorb soul rings beyond one's limit, Whale Rubber was inevitably the first resource most transmigrators thought of.

But even during the era when Whale Rubber's body-improving effects had yet to be discovered, it was by no means cheap. At the very least, it was not something a child with no foundation like You Chen could afford.

The best method was to offer Whale Rubber's effects to Spirit Hall and seek this reward in return.

Of course, there was more than one way to "offer" it.

It was obviously unwise to loudly tell everyone what Whale Rubber could do.

The best approach was for You Chen himself to take on the work of "discovering" Whale Rubber's effects. In other words, under the name of research materials, he would use Spirit Hall's funds as a researcher to purchase thousand-year and even ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber.

Naturally, that gave rise to many more problems.

How could he ensure people trusted him? How could he prevent himself from being fobbed off with some trivial reward because he was too young, only to have someone else steal the fruits of his research? How could he maximize his gains while ensuring his own safety?

You Chen's choice was to keep Whale Rubber's effects secret for now, first establish himself as a theoretical prodigy, and then...

At the age of twelve, the same year Yu Xiaogang published "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul," he published "Refuting the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."

That caught Qian Xunji's attention and earned his favor.

At the same time, it earned the lasting hatred of that love-struck woman.