Mentor Jing Hongchen

Mentor Jing Hongchen

Xiao Hongchen was so furious on the hospital bed that he was on the verge of a breakdown.

He had lost again.

And this time, it was not merely a matter of losing. More importantly, he had gotten beaten up.

And he had paid twelve million three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for that beating!

Not only had he failed to regain his confidence, he had even paid money to get beaten. No one could accept that if it happened to them!

Xiao Hongchen covered his swollen face and recalled how confidently he had declared before...

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Let alone me, a dignified four-ring Soul Ancestor and the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire—even an ordinary four-ring Soul Ancestor could not possibly be defeated so casually by a Soul Elder!"

And now he was lying in a hospital bed. Xiao Qiang had even been the one to take him to the hospital. After spending so much money, he had bought himself a beating. Just how large was Xiao Hongchen's psychological shadow right now?

"Xiao, I heard you paid money to get beaten up?"

"Grandpa! Can you not bring up what I'm trying to avoid... Grandpa."

Jing Hongchen entered Xiao Hongchen's hospital room with a treatment-type Soul Sage Soul Engineer beside him. At Jing Hongchen's signal, Xiao Hongchen's injuries were quickly healed.

"Tell me. What exactly happened?"

"Mm... After being defeated by Xiao Qiang, I reflected deeply on it. I truly cannot underestimate an enemy, even if that enemy appears weaker than me."

Jing Hongchen nodded as he listened. This was the effect he wanted. Sure enough, after being beaten, Xiao Hongchen was finally willing to listen to what he said.

"I now deeply understand what you told me, Grandpa, but..."

"I, Xiao Hongchen, the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire—how could I be casually defeated by a three-ring Soul Elder? Although it was an accident, I still had to defeat him to prove that I am the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire."

"Therefore, I went to him to challenge him to another fight. But he also knew how strong I was, so he did not intend to fight me at first. It was only at the auction house, after I said I would pay for him, that... well, you already know what happened afterward."

After Xiao Hongchen finished speaking, Meng Hongchen poked her head out from behind Jing Hongchen. "So that's how you paid to get beaten, big brother."

"Meng, shut up."

"I see. But if you want to fight him, there is no need to go through so much trouble. The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament will begin in less than a year. You, Meng, and Xiao Qiang are all people I intend to send out in the next tournament."

"So, I plan to let you go and watch this one first. In a couple of days, when you meet the official team members, there will definitely be sparring matches. Then, you can fight Xiao Qiang."

"Really, Grandpa?" Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists. "This time, I definitely will not lose again."

"Pfft, big brother, your eyes get so heated whenever you think of Xiao Qiang."

"You little brat." Realizing Meng Hongchen's thoughts had gone in a strange direction, Xiao Hongchen was speechless. When had his sister become such a fujoshi?

"Do not underestimate him. Although he only has three rings, he is also my disciple. His talent is extremely high, and his top-tier martial soul is Mental Type. Without a way to restrain his spiritual power, anyone who does not surpass him by more than two rings will inevitably be controlled by him."

"Two rings?" Xiao Hongchen frowned. If someone needed two more rings than Xiao Qiang to defeat him, then what kind of genius was he?

"However, if you have a Spirit Defense Soul Tool, Xiao Qiang's abilities can be restrained. But even the most basic Soul Tool for dealing with spiritual power needs to be rank seven. No one has tried lowering the rank further."

"A Spirit Defense Soul Tool? Grandpa, teach me how to make one. I must learn how to craft that Soul Tool."

"Alright." Jing Hongchen did not say much. His grandson was finally willing to work hard. Whether as a Soul Master or in Soul Tools, as long as he was willing to study seriously, that was enough.

Xiao Hongchen was preparing to learn Soul Tool crafting from Jing Hongchen in order to defeat him, but Xiao Qiang knew nothing about that yet.

Xiao Qiang was busy with something else.

The items he had prepared for Bai Qingshan, the vice principal of East Sea Junior Soul Master Academy who had sponsored him, still needed someone to deliver them, so Xiao Qiang went to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Transport Group.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Transport Group was almost equivalent to a post office in this era. However, compared to the post offices Xiao Qiang knew from his previous life, this transport group operated under a feudal imperial system, making it far less reliable.

When Xiao Qiang entered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Transport Group, the first thing he saw was several large words on the wall.

'Customers may not be beaten without reason. Even if there is a reason to beat a customer, do not beat them to death or cripple them.'

Xiao Qiang: "..."

That slogan was practically the Soul Engineer version of the supply and marketing cooperatives from his previous life.

What normal business beat up customers for no reason?

Xiao Qiang looked over the nearby service windows. Seven of them were full of people cursing and shouting, while only one window had no one yelling.

That was because the only person at that window was lying there asleep. No one went there to handle business at all.

After some thought, Xiao Qiang eventually walked up to the man sleeping at his post.

Half-awake, Zhang Zhao glanced at the approaching Xiao Qiang. He compared Xiao Qiang's face to the important figures he had seen before and confirmed that Xiao Qiang did not resemble any of them. Once he determined that Xiao Qiang was neither the child of some important figure nor an illegitimate son of one...

"Get lost. Go somewhere else if you have business. I'm not in the mood to deal with you."

Zhang Zhao displayed the bearing of a state enterprise employee collecting a dead salary. Without another word, he told Xiao Qiang to get lost.

As a transport group under a feudal imperial system in a world of extraordinary powers, Zhang Zhao held this position not only because he was a Soul Master. The fact that he could earn money while practically lying around also proved, to a certain degree, how powerful his family background was.

Those who came here needing goods transported were almost certainly not great nobles.

If the imperial family gave an order directly, they would naturally work. As for the great nobles, places like Mingde Hall had their own independent transport channels and had no need for their services.

That was why Zhang Zhao only needed to glance at Xiao Qiang, confirm that he was not some great noble, and then continue sleeping with his nose in the air.

However, Xiao Qiang looked at the other seven windows. Not only were people cursing over there, but crowds were also lining up. Xiao Qiang did not want to queue, so he still chose to walk up to Zhang Zhao.

"I have some things that need transporting."

"You brat, are you asking for a beating?! Do you know who my father is?" Seeing that Xiao Qiang had failed to take the hint and had come back to bother him, Zhang Zhao slammed his palm onto the table and glared furiously at Xiao Qiang. "My father is the Imperial Censor and Deputy Minister of Ceremonies! Zhang..."

"Mentor Jing Hongchen."

Zhang Zhao: "..."