Tian Meng, the Model Worker, Continues

"Wait, what did you just say I should become? A Soul Engineer? Me?" In the Sea of Spirit, Tian Meng stared at Xiao Qiang in utter disbelief, unable to believe what he had heard.

"Mm."

Xiao Qiang nodded. The idea of making Tian Meng a Soul Engineer had come to him the moment he learned that he needed to reach Rank 40 before he could fuse with the Ice Empress.

The reason was simple. Whether it was his Rank 32 self back then or his current Rank 33 self, reaching Rank 40 in less than a year was normally impossible.

The first abnormal possibility was taking Immortal Herbs, like the original Shrek Seven Devils.

There was no point even thinking about that right now. The poisonous miasma outside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well alone was already beyond what Xiao Qiang could handle at this stage. Not to mention the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts he would encounter afterward. Going there would most likely not mean a narrow escape from death, but certain death.

The second was receiving Shrek Academy's full support. Yes, Shrek Academy's full support.

Although Shrek Academy was always mocked as an academy that only knew how to run, Shrek's ten-thousand-year foundation was there. When it came to genuine treasures, they definitely had them.

Leaving aside everything else, there was that room inside the Golden Tree that boosted Huo Yuhao's spiritual power and Soul Power. That room alone was worth more than a thousand Fear Demon Dragon Head Spirit Bones. Sigh, and that room was merely one of the hundreds of rooms within the Golden Element.

Shrek absolutely had genuine treasures. They simply never truly gave them to Huo Yuhao.

The soul bone Mu En casually gave Wang Dong was of the Hundred-Thousand-Year level. Since Douluo Continent II, Shrek had never lacked good things. They might not have Immortal Herb-level treasures, but they definitely had slightly inferior heavenly treasures. The people above simply did not want to give them to Huo Yuhao.

As for heavenly treasures one tier below Immortal Herbs, taking two of them at intervals, combined with proper cultivation, would make raising a Three-ring Soul Master's Soul Power by seven or eight ranks within a year no difficult feat at all.

But Shrek was not from his own country, and Xiao Qiang also knew that Shrek would never give him any tangible benefits. Even if he joined Shrek, the final result would only be getting heavily Blood Drained. As for benefits, he might as well forget about them. Genuine treasures like heavenly treasures were even less worth dreaming of.

Thus, Xiao Qiang ruled out Shrek. The only factions left that could help him improve were the Body Sect and Mingde Hall.

As for the Body Sect, first, Xiao Qiang had no idea how to find them. Second, he was from the Sun Moon Empire. Although the original novel said that the Body Sect was fiercely protective of its own and that the entire sect was as close as family, with the future enemy-nation issue hanging between them, even if the Body Sect truly did not mind, Xiao Qiang could not guarantee that he would not overthink it.

If the Body Sect were truly his only choice, Xiao Qiang would try to find them. But the problem was that he still had another option.

Mingde Hall!

In Douluo Continent II, Xuan Ziwen, who had switched from the Sun Moon Empire to Shrek City, had said that aside from being number one in Soul Tool weapons, the Sun Moon Empire was also number one in alchemy.

That was precisely why the Sun Moon Empire could allow so many people with poor martial soul talent to cultivate all the way to Titled Douluo.

Mingde Hall certainly did not have things like Immortal Herbs. Even in terms of heavenly treasures slightly inferior to Immortal Herbs, Mingde Hall could not compare to Shrek, which had the Star Dou Great Forest at its back. But when it came to finished pills, Mingde Hall definitely would not be inferior to Shrek.

And Xiao Qiang was from the Sun Moon Empire. If he joined Mingde Hall, he would not need to worry about situations like those with Shrek and the Body Sect. If someone from his own country joined a faction from his own country, there was no way their background check would be a problem.

The only thing Xiao Qiang needed to worry about was what level the higher-ups of Mingde Hall would consider his talent to be.

As long as the Mingde Hall higher-ups considered Xiao Qiang talented enough, he could obtain resources. And if his talent reached a terrifying level, he could obtain a great many resources.

But Mingde Hall also presented a problem: Xiao Qiang was currently rather unimpressive when it came to Soul Tools.

With Innate Rank 5 Soul Power, yet reaching Rank 30 at only thirteen and a half years old, Xiao Qiang was destined not to have much time or energy to devote to Soul Tools.

Even Tang San and Xiao Wu, with Innate Full Soul Power, only reached Rank 30 close to the age of thirteen in Douluo Continent I. Having cultivation speed that matched or even surpassed Innate Full Soul Power despite only possessing Innate Rank 5 Soul Power was no easy feat.

Given Xiao Qiang's current circumstances, cramming Soul Tool knowledge in a short time and turning himself into a Soul Tool genius was almost impossible.

Fortunately, Xiao Qiang still had Tian Meng. This million-year Soul Beast possessed spiritual power far beyond that of an ordinary Titled Douluo.

Xiao Qiang, as a Three-ring Soul Master, could not quickly master Soul Tools and turn himself into a Soul Tool genius. But Tian Meng might be able to use Xiao Qiang's body to turn Xiao Qiang into a Soul Tool genius.

As long as Xiao Qiang displayed talent in Soul Tools, combined with the ability of his third soul ring, obtaining sufficiently good resources would no longer be too difficult.

Of course, that was what Xiao Qiang thought, but that was not how he put it.

"It's like this, Brother Sky Dream. Don't you want revenge against those hateful Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest? Once my strength reaches Limit Douluo, taking revenge for you certainly won't be difficult. But would that kind of revenge really make you happy?"

"What do you mean? Of course I'd be happy if you helped me take revenge."

"Brother Sky Dream, what I mean is, compared to me taking revenge for you, wouldn't it feel better if you pinned them down and beat them up yourself?"

"Huh? Me pinning them down and beating them up? How is that possible? I don't have any attack power."

"Normally, that would be true, but only without Soul Tools. Brother Sky Dream, with Soul Tools, as long as you pour Soul Power into them, you can turn it into any kind of attack you want."

"Actually, when you told me about everything you experienced over the years, I was already thinking about it. If you had come into contact with Soul Tools when you were nine hundred thousand years old, learned how to make and use them, and used Soul Tools to convert your Soul Power into attack power, then under those circumstances, shouldn't you have become the true king of the Star Dou Great Forest instead of those Soul Beasts that hadn't even reached nine hundred thousand years?"

"Perhaps. But combat really isn't my strong suit. Besides, I'm quite satisfied with my life now. I have food to eat and sleep to get. That's already pretty good."

"Is that so? I thought you'd enjoy overwhelming every Fierce Beast on the Douluo Continent, while countless female Fierce Beasts looked at you in worship and hoped to bear your offspring."

All at once, Tian Meng caught a keyword. "Hm? Countless female Fierce Beasts worshiping me and hoping to bear my offspring? What do you mean?"

"Oh, that. The human world is governed by the law of the jungle. Every woman likes someone powerful who can make them feel safe. That should be even stronger in the world of Soul Beasts, right?"

"What did you say at the beginning?"

"What I said at the beginning... Brother Sky Dream, how about becoming a Soul Engineer?"

"Okay."