Peerless Monster Enters Mingde Hall

Once the smoke cleared,

Xiao Hongchen stood somewhat miserably within the arena. His face was smeared with black soot, and a trace of blood had been forced from the corner of his mouth. His eyes remained fixed on Zi Yao in the distance, while the ground was littered with wreckage from metal Soul Tools.

After realizing he could not evade the missile's attack,

he had immediately mobilized every Soul Tool Cannon in front of him as a defense. Other than the injuries caused by the recoil, he was not seriously hurt.

Seeing that Xiao Hongchen was unharmed,

Jing Hóngchén relaxed, but he also let out a sigh.

More than half of the hundred-plus Soul Tools had been destroyed, while Zi Yao had remained unscathed from start to finish. His Soul Power and physical condition were also far superior to Xiao Hongchen's. In truth, the outcome of this battle had already been decided.

"Xiao'er, come down. This battle... is already over."

Jing Hóngchén spoke reluctantly, inwardly blaming himself for insisting on finding an opponent for Xiao Hongchen.

He had seen too many arrogant geniuses sink into despair after suffering a crushing setback. This battle had shattered the pride Xiao Hongchen had built over more than a decade.

"How is that possible? I haven't fallen yet. Haven't you always taught me to learn Shrek's fighting spirit? For the pride of the Hongchen Family, I absolutely cannot lose here!"

Xiao Hongchen smiled as he wiped the blood from his lips.

"Golden Sacrifice!"

The Soul Tool wreckage on the ground transformed into Gold Liquid, reforming into a spiked iron sphere. Another portion of the metal was absorbed by the phantom of the Golden Three-legged Toad and converted into Soul Power to replenish him.

Zi Yao rather acknowledged Xiao Hongchen's abilities.

Other than having been born at the wrong time,

he was indeed a genuine genius.

Unfortunately,

in the original story, his opponent had been Huo Yuhao, the Child of Destiny.

But now, his opponent was the Son of the God King.

In the end,

the already frail Xiao Hongchen did not struggle for long before Zi Yao struck his chest with a palm. At the instant his palm pressed against Xiao Hongchen's chest, the Soul Tool Palm Cannon fired, blasting Xiao Hongchen out of the Soul Fighting Arena.

Jing Hóngchén hurried forward and caught Xiao Hongchen. Before leaving, he tossed a token engraved with the character "Chen" to Zi Yao.

"This is Mingde Hall's token. You may enter Mingde Hall to study for two years."

"Also, thank you for showing Xiao'er mercy."

He could naturally sense that Xiao Hongchen had merely fainted. Zi Yao's Palm Cannon contained lightning power, which had immediately disrupted Xiao Hongchen's nervous system and sent his body into an emergency shutdown, causing him to lose consciousness.

Xiao Hongchen's injuries only required a few days of rest. At the very least, his foundation as a Soul Master had not been damaged.

"You're welcome."

Zi Yao stored the token in his Space Soul Tool.

Meng Hongchen naturally had no interest in continuing the battle. She gave Zi Yao a deep look before leaving the Soul Fighting Arena with her grandfather.

Wang Dong stared wide-eyed as she placed a hand on Zi Yao's shoulder. "You're way too fierce, aren't you? Tell me honestly, you aren't some Blue Silver Emperor that successfully cultivated into human form, are you? What normal Soul Master could possibly be this monstrous?"

"You're the one who isn't human," Zi Yao retorted.

"Then explain it. How did you use the Blue Silver Emperor Domain? Even if your Martial Soul is the Blue Silver Emperor, there's no way you could unleash such a powerful domain as a Soul Elder, right?"

Wang Dong was filled with confusion. "You have to know that even the Sea God Ten Thousand Years Ago only fully mastered the Blue Silver Domain after reaching the Titled Douluo level!"

"If you're weak, train more. The past was the past; the present is the present."

Zi Yao casually brushed her off and left the Soul Fighting Arena.

The spectators in the Soul Fighting Arena also rose and departed, their praises unceasing as they all said the tickets had been well worth the price.

They did not mock Xiao Hongchen for his defeat. He was absolutely worthy of the title of the Sun Moon Empire's number one genius.

It was simply that his opponent had been far too monstrous. For a Soul Elder to unleash combat power at this level was an unprecedented phenomenon.

Ju Zi on the stands stared intently at Zi Yao's departing back and adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on her nose.

"Where did this genius Soul Master come from? With the cultivation of a Soul Elder, he defeated Xiao Hongchen, the Sun Moon Empire's greatest genius. He truly is a peerless monster."

"With Xu Tianran's personality, he should recruit someone like this into his ranks. I only hope he won't affect my future plans."

Early in the morning, warm sunlight shone into the bathroom, refracting off the tiles and falling across the floor.

Zi Yao, lying in the bathtub, slowly opened his eyes. The tub was filled with dark green medicinal liquid, and a bitter scent permeated the air.

This was a Potent Prescription he had obtained through the Ordinary Alliance. It could expand the body's pores and acupoints, doubling cultivation speed for a short period of time.

Such miraculous prescriptions were not uncommon in the Sun Moon Empire.

After all, the Sun Moon Empire ranked first on the continent when it came to medicine. Its Soul Masters had originally possessed the worst cultivation talent of all the Empires, without exception, yet they had forcefully piled up quite a few Titled Douluo through Herbal Medicine and Pills.

Combined with Soul Tools, these Titled Douluo were no weaker in battle than experts of the same realm.

Not to mention prodigies like Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. They could be said to have grown up in Medicine Pots, using only the finest cultivation medicines with the fewest side effects.

Taking too much medicine could indeed damage a Soul Master's foundation. The accumulated medicinal impurities did more harm than good to a Super Douluo's cultivation, which was one reason there were almost no native Super Douluo in the Sun Moon Empire.

But as long as it was used in moderation, there would be no major issue. This was one great shortcut to increasing cultivation speed.

After completely absorbing the medicinal liquid,

he stepped out of the bathtub, rinsed himself beneath the shower, and left wearing a bathrobe.

His wet white hair hung down his back. His skin, washed by the mist, was pale with a hint of rosiness, and his purple eyes were calm and unruffled.

If Wang Dong had been there, she would surely have blushed and rebuked Zi Yao.

A few days after the match,

Wang Dong had packed her luggage, said goodbye, and returned to the Clear Sky Sect. Zi Yao was now the only one left in the Dormitory.

After putting on his School Uniform,

he dried his hair and left the Dormitory, heading toward Mingde Hall.

Along the way, quite a few Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who had also remained at the academy looked his way. After the battle with Xiao Hongchen, he had become completely famous at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Master Academy. He was hailed as the greatest monster without precedent or successor, and he received Love Letters until his hands went numb.

Finding it troublesome, he piled all those Love Letters outside his Dormitory door and burned them, lest people come to bother him every day.

Such heartless behavior left many Senior Sisters able only to admire him from afar, not daring to approach.

He arrived before a massive hexagonal building whose walls were made entirely of red glass capable of withstanding the attack of a Rank 6 Soul Tool Missile. It looked extraordinarily magnificent.

This was the central location of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Master Academy, as well as Mingde Hall, one of the continent's three great powers.

As the Holy Land in the hearts of all Soul Engineers, Mingde Hall produced Rank 7 and Rank 8 Soul Tool Masters one after another. Rank 6 Soul Tool Masters were merely the threshold for entering this Holy Land, serving as assistants to those High-level Soul Tool Masters.

If they performed poorly, these Rank 6 Soul Tool Masters—who would be incomparably precious in other factions—would not even qualify to do menial work.