As Long as He Doesn't Tear Shrek Apart

Douluo Continent, Heaven Dou Empire, Clear Water City.

"Xiao Ming, Shrek Academy is the best advanced Soul Master Academy on Douluo Continent. You must study hard once you get there! Did you bring enough money? Do you have your Storage Soul Tools with you? Did you pack your clothes? Do you have enough food and water?"

Outside the City Lord's Mansion, a beautiful woman in her forties held Jiang Ming's hand, her face full of concern as she repeatedly reminded him.

Jiang Ming smiled and checked the items in his Soul Tools as the beautiful woman had instructed, even though he had already checked them once last night.

Beside them, Clear Water City's lord, Nie Heng, wore a helpless expression.

"You've been asking him since this morning. You've said it thirty times already! If we keep delaying, it'll be noon soon."

Hearing her husband's words, the beautiful woman glared at him irritably and said in a reproachful tone:

"Xiao Ming is going to Shrek Academy! It's thousands of miles away from our Clear Water City. Can't I talk to Xiao Ming a little more?"

"You!"

Nie Heng had no way of dealing with his wife. He could only step aside and instruct the Coachman to drive more steadily.

After giving Jiang Ming a few more reminders and secretly stuffing him a bag of Gold Soul Coins, the beautiful woman finally sent him onto the carriage with tears in her eyes.

Their Clear Water City was a border city of the Heaven Dou Empire. It did not have the advanced Soul Tools found in the continent's core cities, so carriages were their best means of transportation.

"Sigh, I wonder if this child will be able to adapt to life at Shrek Academy. I heard Shrek Academy's assessment system is extremely strict!"

Before Jiang Ming's carriage had even gone very far, the beautiful woman had already begun worrying about his future.

Hearing this, Nie Heng's lips twitched slightly as he looked helplessly at the receding carriage.

"Don't worry. If even Xiao Ming can't remain at Shrek Academy with his talent, then no one on the entire Douluo Continent would be qualified.

I only hope he doesn't tear Shrek Academy apart. That place isn't Clear Water City. Even if we sold the City Lord's Mansion, we couldn't afford to compensate them."

Inside the carriage,

Jiang Ming felt both reluctance and anticipation. His face bore traces of sorrow and excitement as he imagined what Shrek Academy would look like ten thousand years later.

That's right, Jiang Ming was a transmigrator.

Twelve years ago, accompanied by an earth-shaking cry, he had arrived in the world of Douluo Continent.

At first, he had been rather dumbfounded. After all, he had just finished the college entrance exams before transmigrating!

He had already been prepared to become a rejected applicant from Tsinghua and Peking University. Yet one night, while playing a browser game on auto-battle and reading a novel at home, a fully loaded dump truck had crashed straight into his house and run him over!

Everything had happened so suddenly that he had remained dazed for the first few months after transmigrating.

After transmigrating, his background also came with quite a story.

Jiang Ming's parents had been citizens of the Heaven Dou Empire. More precisely, they had been soldiers of the Heaven Dou Empire!

Eleven years ago, Jiang Ming's parents had died in a war between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Sun Moon Empire. Nie Heng, who had been Jiang Ming's father's comrade-in-arms, had raised Jiang Ming afterward.

Later, Nie Heng had been assigned to Clear Water City as its lord due to his military achievements.

Because Nie Heng's wife had been injured in her early years, the couple had never had any children.

All this time, they had treated Jiang Ming as their own son.

This time, Shrek Academy, the continent's number one advanced Soul Master Academy, was recruiting students. As the lord of Clear Water City, Nie Heng had one recommendation slot. Jiang Ming was now old enough, so Nie Heng directly recommended him.

"Coachman, drive steadily, okay? I need to work on something inside the carriage."

On the road to Shrek Academy, Jiang Ming poked his head out of the carriage and reminded the Coachman. At the same time, a Silver Soul Coin quietly slipped from his hand into the Coachman's.

The moment the Coachman received the Silver Soul Coin, his eyes lit up!

"Don't worry, Young Master Jiang. My carriage has been modified with Soul Tool shock absorption. With that and my driving skills, even if you were doing hehehe inside, it wouldn't affect you at all!"

The Coachman patted his chest and promised.

However, as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong.

"Young Master Jiang, sorry, I misspoke. Just pretend you didn't hear that!"

The Coachman gave an embarrassed smile.

The young man before him had come from the City Lord's Mansion and was only twelve years old. He was not like the rough men the Coachman usually drove around, so he could not casually make such crude jokes.

"It's fine. Just drive steadily."

Inside the carriage, Jiang Ming paid no attention to the Coachman's words. His palm brushed over the Storage Ring Soul Tool on his finger and the Storage Soul Tool at his waist, taking out books one after another as well as small Metal Blocks that gleamed with metallic luster.

Although he was only twelve years old now, his mind was that of an adult. Besides, compared to the crude jokes he had seen on the internet in his previous life, the Coachman's words were nothing more than child's play and could not stir the slightest ripple in his heart.

"The energy circulation here seems like it could still be optimized."

Jiang Ming picked up a Metal Block and frowned slightly. His eyes swept across the patterns engraved upon it as he considered ways to optimize them.

After looking for several seconds, Jiang Ming picked up one book from a nearby stack and began flipping through it.

That glance lasted half an hour.

Jiang Ming closed the book, a look of sudden realization appearing on his face.

"So that's how it is! Ah, how did I not think of that?"

Jiang Ming tapped his little head in self-reproach, then set the book down. His finger brushed over a gem on his waist Soul Tool, and a slender Pale Gold carving knife appeared in his hand.

Next, Jiang Ming gripped the slender knife tightly and began engraving the Metal Block.

Jiang Ming's hands were steady. The powerful strength in his arms allowed him to use the small knife to easily carve the patterns he wanted into the Metal Block.

The Coachman had not lied. Whether it was because the Soul Shock Absorber he had installed was effective or because his driving skills were genuinely excellent, the carriage rarely shook as it traveled. At the very least, it did not affect Jiang Ming.

Time passed bit by bit. Before he knew it, Jiang Ming had completely immersed himself in the process of engraving a Soul Tool Array.

Other than occasionally stopping to think or read when he encountered difficult problems, Jiang Ming spent almost every moment carving patterns onto the Metal Blocks.

In the more than ten years since transmigrating to this world, Jiang Ming had developed three greatest hobbies. Researching Soul Tools was one of them.

Perhaps because he had only just finished the college entrance exams in his previous life, some of his enthusiasm for learning still remained. The moment Jiang Ming came into contact with the technical craft of Soul Tools, he had fallen in love with it!

Moreover, he truly possessed talent in Soul Tools! At least in Clear Water City, no one had greater talent for Soul Tools than him! Even his Rank 4 Soul Engineer teacher had said that there was nothing more he could teach him.

Among all Soul Tool research, Jiang Ming especially enjoyed studying firearms and cannonballs.

After all, the Douluo world was not his previous life.

Between Soul Masters, or between Soul Engineers, battle was the main theme!

Fighting with Soul Guns or Soul Cannonballs was simply... ridiculously awesome for a hot-blooded boy!

Finally, Jiang Ming completed the engraving of another Soul Tool Core Component!

Looking at the Metal Block in his hand, Jiang Ming smiled and slowly poured Soul Power into it.

The next moment, the smile on Jiang Ming's face froze. He swiftly opened the carriage window and, without hesitation, threw the Metal Block in his hand outside!

Several seconds later,

Boom!