Jing Hongchen's Considerations

Chapter: Jing Hongchen's Considerations

The meaning of Mingde Hall is, naturally, the meaning of Jing Hongchen.

After seeing the situation of Huo Yuhao and his two companions, Xiao Hongchen turned and ran straight to Mingde Hall to find his grandfather.

Although the work these past few days had been truly boring, he hadn't expected to discover such seedlings on the very last day. It was as if he had reached into a pile of rocks and pulled out rare metals capable of carving level-five core arrays—and he had pulled out three of them at once.

If he reported these individuals to his grandfather first and had his grandfather take them on as disciples to win them over, this credit would certainly be recorded under his, Xiao Hongchen's, name.

He wasn't entirely indifferent to his work, either. He knew that Jing Hongchen valued Mingde Hall immensely, but the position of Mingde Hall within the Sun Moon Empire was extremely delicate. It appeared to hold immense power, but in reality, it was like walking on thin ice; one careless step could lead to a total collapse. If those individuals were truly talented soul masters, Mingde Hall was in dire need of such formidable talent.

"Grandfather." He didn't even knock, simply pushing the door open and walking in.

Jing Hongchen was sipping tea while reviewing documents. In accordance with the start of the semester at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the quarterly assessment results for Mingde Hall had also been delivered to his hands.

The assessment results showed no change compared to previous years. Although to the outside world, being able to cultivate such a number of level-five to level-six soul engineers was already a remarkable achievement, Jing Hongchen felt a hint of anxiety. He took a sip of tea and evaluated the behavior of his beloved grandson, who had just barged in:

"No manners."

"I can't worry about that, who cares about manners." Xiao Hongchen slammed his hands onto Jing Hongchen's desk and held up three fingers. "Two three-ringers with top-tier martial souls, one two-ringer with twin martial souls, with the primary martial soul being of the spirit type."

"What?" Jing Hongchen adjusted the glasses that were sliding down his round face.

"The transfer students from today! Those three passed just now."

The assessment requirements for transfer students were higher than those for regular incoming students, yet Huo Yuhao and his group had still far exceeded those standards.

A sharp glint flashed in Jing Hongchen's small eyes behind his thick lenses. "Xiao, bring me the files for those three children, quickly."

Xiao Hongchen had been prepared; he placed the files on Jing Hongchen's desk and pushed the list of those who had passed the Mingde Hall assessment to the side. Jing Hongchen did not stop him; after all, if everything Xiao Hongchen said was true, then the results of this Mingde Hall assessment were not really the priority anymore.

However, after reading only a few lines, Jing Hongchen keenly pointed out the issue: "From the Heaven Dou Empire?"

"Ah." Xiao Hongchen paused. He had indeed been impulsive and had forgotten about this point.

Or rather, he hadn't cared that much about it; he wasn't sharp enough in this regard.

Jing Hongchen didn't blame him. If he expected Xiao Hongchen to handle everything perfectly at this age, then he, the Hall Master of Mingde Hall, could retire early to enjoy his twilight years.

"During the interview, what did they say about this background?" Jing Hongchen asked in a gentle tone. Now was not the time to put pressure on his grandson.

"They said... they yearned for the development of soul tools, but there was no such soil for it in the Heaven Dou Empire, so they wanted to come to our academy to study." Xiao Hongchen tried his best to recall. Aside from observing their strength, he had spent most of his time slacking off, so naturally, he hadn't listened closely to what the students said during their individual interviews.

But from the moment Wang Dong appeared, he had focused a bit more, so he still remembered some parts.

"The stories of all three were consistent?" Jing Hongchen frowned.

"Not really." Xiao Hongchen recalled, "That's what the one named Huo Yuhao said. The one named Wang Dong seemed to say he couldn't get an education in the three Douluo nations; it sounded quite genuine, as if he had been expelled for having a terrible temper. As for Chi Qiu, she spoke very little, only saying she hoped to study here."

"That's fine." Jing Hongchen nodded then. It was the most troublesome when children had a unified story. Since the three had different explanations, the worst-case scenario could be temporarily ruled out.

Over the years, the three Douluo nations had not failed to send child spies to his Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. It was just that, given the age standards for enrollment, children of this age found it difficult to maintain a perfect facade, and they were basically caught within a month.

Although the three Douluo nations had stopped doing such stupid things after being discovered, Jing Hongchen still chose to be cautious.

Even though the probability of these three children being spies from the Heaven Dou Empire was already extremely low—after all, just looking at their martial souls and soul power levels, one could tell that all three were rare, monstrous geniuses.

The Heaven Dou Empire was not stupid enough to send children with such innate talent, who had not yet formed fixed worldviews, into the hands of the Sun Moon Empire.

"What do you think?" The hurried momentum Xiao Hongchen had just now had subsided significantly.

"Let them enroll as regular transfer students, observe them in secret for a period of time, and once we are certain there are no issues, we will discuss the follow-up plans." Jing Hongchen said, "However, we should still strike first. Xiao, go with Meng and handle this; give them some special attention."

"I understand." Xiao Hongchen nodded.

And so, the scene from a short while ago occurred—Xiao Hongchen brought a portion of low-level rare metals allocated by Mingde Hall and went to visit Huo Yuhao. At the same time, in the girls' dormitory, his younger sister Meng Hongchen knocked on the door of Wang Dong and Chi Qiu's room.

"Alright, your new student ability test is now complete. All three of you have been assigned to Grade One Class One."

The teacher in charge of the test nodded at Huo Yuhao and the others while checking off items on the roster.

Huo Yuhao took one last lingering look at the soul tools used for the test before speaking: "Then we can start classes tomorrow, right?"

"Yes."

Although the test teacher kept a straight face, his heart had been shocked to the point of numbness by the results of these three children.

First was Chi Qiu; both her physical fitness and strength far exceeded her current soul power level, a physique almost comparable to a soul beast.

Wang Dong was a well-rounded warrior, balanced in every aspect beyond his peers, and possessed a soul bone of astonishing quality on his left arm.

And that Huo Yuhao... although his soul power level was the lowest of the three, he not only possessed a torso soul bone that could cause the instruments to error out, but his strength and reflexes were also top-tier.

In the reaction test, very few people could persist until four bricks lit up simultaneously, but he didn't falter until ten bricks lit up at once. Furthermore, the reason for his failure didn't seem to be a lack of reaction, but rather that his hand speed couldn't keep up.

If he were a bit older and his palms were wider, allowing him to strike all ten at once, it wouldn't be impossible for him to break this record, right?

Thinking this, the test teacher blankly made a note under the names of these three children: "Worthy of key cultivation."

He held the roster for Grade One Class One, which meant that Huo Yuhao and his group had actually been assigned their class before the test; the teacher was merely there to confirm their level.

Of course, this was also Jing Hongchen's intention.

The teaching philosophy of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy included the concept of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude," so class numbers were related to the speed and depth of instruction. Class One, in any grade, was reserved for students with the best talent and the fastest knowledge absorption rate.

Due to the academy's assessment and promotion system, the personnel in Class One were fluid. Once a student could pass the certification for the next level of soul engineer, they would be promoted to the next grade, and the vacant spots would be filled by top students from other classes in the same grade.

Naturally, the teachers capable of leading Class One were also of high caliber. Even though it was the first grade, Huo Yuhao and his group's homeroom teacher was still a highly skilled level-seven soul engineer.