· Apprenticeship to Jing Hongchen, Hongchen's Guard

Chen Ming sized up Jing Hongchen, carefully studying this important figure from the original novel and the man who might become his future teacher.

Jing Hongchen was not very tall, only about four and a half feet (1.5 meters), but his body was exceptionally round and fat, nearly four and a half feet across as well. Perhaps because of his obesity, his eyes always remained half-closed.

With such a ball-like figure, he seemed oddly comical beside Chen Li, who stood three meters tall but was only a little over one and a half meters wide. Judging by build alone, Jing Hongchen only came up to Chen Ming's chest and Chen Li's waist. It seemed that if Chen Li bent over, he could pat Jing Hongchen's head as though he were a yoga ball.

But in terms of strength, even though Chen Li and Jing Hongchen were both Level 94 Titled Douluo, Chen Li would not be able to gain any advantage against Jing Hongchen in close combat. At long range, he would be even less capable of posing the slightest threat to him.

After all, in the original novel, Jing Hongchen had dared to face Level 98 Xuan Zi with the strength of a Level 94 Titled Douluo. So long as he maintained his distance, he might even have been capable of defeating Xuan Zi—a truly formidable man.

"Greetings, Senior Jing Hongchen." Chen Ming cupped his fists and bowed to Jing Hongchen, who was only as tall as his chest. Jing Hongchen nodded, then revealed a faint smile.

"Brother Chen, it has been a long time. Is this your junior? He truly looks outstanding."

As he looked at Chen Ming, who at six years old was already more than a head taller than himself, a trace of nearly imperceptible envy flashed through Jing Hongchen's narrowed eyes.

But in an instant, Jing Hongchen, already accustomed to being looked down upon in daily life, stopped dwelling on such matters and cupped his fists toward Chen Li. Combined with his build and his smiling, narrowed eyes, he gave off an indescribably gentle impression.

"Brother Hongchen, it has indeed been a long time. I apologize for disturbing you during this busy New Year period." Chen Li answered Jing Hongchen's greeting in a hearty voice, an honest smile on his face.

Judging solely from their conduct, the two seemed like old friends who had known each other for decades.

But in truth, while they could not be said to have had no dealings before, they had only met once a year—or even once every few years—at certain major conferences of the Sun Moon Empire. They had basically never spoken to each other.

Only after deciding that Chen Ming would take Jing Hongchen as his master had the two sides secretly met several times. They had long since settled every exchange of benefits, and this visit was merely going through the motions so that Chen Ming could smoothly become his disciple.

Jing Hongchen knew Chen Ming and Chen Li were putting on an act, and they knew that Jing Hongchen knew they were putting on an act. But the proper procedures still had to be followed. Even without anyone else watching, taking on a disciple required a process, so that there would be something proper to say when it was discussed in the future.

After all, if someone later asked Jing Hongchen why he had accepted Chen Ming as a disciple, he could not exactly say that it was because he had received ten million Gold Soul Coins in cash and a fist-sized Dragon Marrow Crystal, a rare material worth fifty million Gold Soul Coins.

Though sixty million Gold Soul Coins really was enough to make the vast majority of Titled Douluo on the continent swallow their pride and accept a disciple for proper training.

And Chen Ming's talent truly was rare across both continents. His family also had an excellent inheritance, and he was certain to become a powerhouse in the future. Whoever accepted him as a disciple would definitely not lose out.

But dignity was still something best preserved whenever possible.

If Chen Ming became a powerhouse in the future, today's apprenticeship would become a fine tale—Jing Hongchen had recognized his talent and chosen Chen Ming. Their master-disciple relationship would be pure and natural, without even the slightest trace of anything else mixed in.

If Chen Ming failed to become a powerhouse in the future or died midway, it would not ruin Jing Hongchen's reputation for nothing, leaving him with the reputation of someone who took money without doing any work.

Private matters were discussed in private. In public, everyone was respectable, and whenever they had a choice, everyone wanted to save face.

Even...

No, especially Shrek!

After more than ten minutes of back-and-forth, Jing Hongchen was finally "moved" by Chen Ming's talent and diligence. He began showing the intention to accept him as a disciple, then proceeded to test Chen Ming's foundation as a Soul Master and his store of knowledge as a Soul Engineer.

After a brief but far from simple exchange of questions and answers, Jing Hongchen nodded at Chen Ming in satisfaction.

With the Dragon Elephant Sect's influence, the money they had offered, and the favor owed by Chen Ming's father, even if Chen Ming's talent had been mediocre, Jing Hongchen would still have chosen to accept and teach him, so long as he was not too foolish or possessed a personality too detrimental to Jing Hongchen himself...

But how could taking in a useless disciple compare to taking in a genius?

Especially when this genius had come to his doorstep at his own expense.

"Xiao Ming, you possess Innate Full Soul Power and a superior Martial Soul. Such talent is rare even across the two continents. This old man cannot help but be tempted by such fine jade."

"However, I am not a Soul Master who specializes in combat. I am a research-oriented Soul Engineer, so I cannot teach you much in the area of battle. I can only provide you with some help in the field of Soul Tools..."

As Jing Hongchen spoke, he took a Soul Tool resembling a breastplate mirror from his robes and placed it in Chen Ming's hands.

"This is a Level 8 Soul Tool I made in my youth, called Hongchen's Guard. It is a semi-automatic shield-type Soul Tool. When worn against the body, it slowly absorbs the Soul Power that naturally leaks out to charge itself. You may also actively inject energy into it to charge it."

"It will activate on its own when the wearer triggers it or when their life signs begin to decline drastically, releasing a protective barrier that can last for up to three seconds and withstand the attacks of a Super Douluo during that time. This was the tool I used to protect myself in my youth. I will give it to you now."

"Thank you, Teacher, for this treasure." Chen Ming cupped his fists, then respectfully accepted the Level 8 Soul Tool Hongchen's Guard from Jing Hongchen. It was, in essence, a prototype of the Rank 9 Soul Tool Hongchen's Protection. He carefully pressed it against his chest.

As the Soul Tool came into contact with his skin, this special Level 8 Soul Tool began slowly changing shape like a living creature. It conformed to Chen Ming's chest and formed a thin metal lining, absorbing his leaking Soul Power at an extremely faint rate while monitoring his heartbeat.

Its judgment mechanism sounded rather mysterious, but it was actually simple. The instant its Soul Power and heartbeat fluctuations fell to half their previous level, it would immediately trigger its shielding function.

No matter how much Soul Power it contained or what level of enemy it faced, it would immediately unleash the strongest shield it could produce at that moment.

But because its defensive strength was fixed and its activation was too passive, if it lacked sufficient Soul Power when triggered, not only would it produce nothing, it would directly consume all the Soul Power it had accumulated.

And if it activated too late, its owner would become nothing more than a corpse wrapped inside a protective barrier capable of resisting a Super Douluo.