Soul Tools-Pretty Amazing, Right?

Soul Tools—Pretty Amazing, Right?

"What... did you say?"

Xi Xi's voice trembled.

"I'm not making this up. Mingde Hall really can solve your problem. If you want, we can even make your face more beautiful." Jing Hongchen smiled.

His words struck one of Xi Xi's sore spots. She had always told herself not to let her looks bring her down. In the world of Soul Masters, strength came first. But her teammates were Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochеn, after all.

Having to stand between two stunning beauties with such distinct styles—one fiery, one icy—while looking so ordinary that people couldn't remember her face, she couldn't keep the comments about her appearance out of her mind, no matter how tightly she covered her ears.

"Xi Xi? Who's that?"

"Oh, the girl on Sister Xiaotao's left? I can barely remember what she looks like."

"Isn't she pretty strong? Hmm... I only watched Sister Xiaotao and Sister Luochеn perform. I didn't notice her at all."

Jing Hongchen watched her expression change and asked again, "What do you say?"

"What do you need me to do?" The despair in Xi Xi's voice had faded, replaced by a measure of caution. Jing Hongchen was pleased. He could tell she was wavering.

A Soul Bone... Xi Xi struggled to suppress the emotions surging in her chest and asked as calmly as she could, "Your academy is a Soul Engineer academy, and I have no experience as a Soul Engineer. I didn't even hold any position in the Soul Tool Department at Shrek Inner Court. Why ask me to teach?"

"You need only lower yourself to come to my academy and teach some students." His tone was sincere. "Recently, we recruited some talented children, but we're short on teachers. I can't bear to waste their potential."

She stared blankly for a moment, then abruptly threw off the covers and sat up. The infirmary was silent. No one else was there.

"The Emperor has arrived—"

Jing Hongchen's voice came from outside. "There's no need to be so formal... For now, get familiar with this place. If you want to return to the Dou Ling Empire, you can contact us and we'll send people to protect you. Once the children return from the tournament, you can start teaching them."

By the time the night had grown dark and still, she had finally adjusted the chaotic Soul Power within her. She slowly raised her new right arm, then clenched her fist. A streak of Soul Power flashed across it like lightning.

The face in the mirror still held a hint of her old features, but her bearing had changed completely, now carrying a kind of ethereal beauty. Unless someone knew her intimately, they would hardly recognize her as the once-plain Xi Xi.

He had said that deliberately. Even Shrek couldn't produce a Soul Bone whenever it wanted, let alone for someone like Xi Xi, on whom the academy had spent so few resources. She certainly hadn't been "soaked in rare treasures."

As if her last excuse had been torn away, Xi Xi closed her eyes and fell silent again. But her eyelashes kept trembling.

Once Xi Xi agreed, they got to work at once. First, they amputated her original arm; there was no way to save it. Then, under Xi Xi's astonished gaze, they took an artificial arm from a refrigerated storage box. It looked just like her original one...

Jing Hongchen smiled. "Didn't I just say we could make your face more beautiful?"

Every word Jing Hongchen spoke struck straight at her weak points.

"I'll never forget your kindness in giving me a new life. I'll teach the students you entrust to me with all my strength."

"This is a Level 9 Soul Tool," Xuan Ziwen explained. "It's a by-product of one of Mingde Hall's secret projects. I implanted skin on its surface so it looks like normal skin. Once it's attached, the channels inside—which imitate human meridians—will let your Soul Power circulate."

"Also, we removed a section of the mechanical skeleton to make room for the Soul Bone. Once it's connected to you, you'll be able to use the Soul Bone's power."

Xi Xi was silent for a long time before she managed to force out, "If Shrek finds out I've joined you... they won't let me go."

"How does the arm feel?" Xuan Ziwen had a different question on his mind. "Tell me what it's like to use."

Before arriving, Jing Hongchen had already gathered comprehensive information on Xi Xi. He understood her weaknesses very well.

The operation to connect the arm went smoothly. Xuan Ziwen then stepped aside, and two female Soul Engineers came forward to repair her chest and face.

A deep, resonant call rang out across the vast Star Luo Plaza.

"All right." To her surprise, Jing Hongchen agreed without hesitation. "I'll contact our doctor and chief researcher right now."

"You're a Shrek graduate who received the finest Soul Master education. I believe you can help them reach their full potential. If you're willing to accept the position, Mingde Hall will also give you a Soul Bone in addition to the terms I mentioned. We noticed that you still haven't obtained one during all your years at Shrek."

He had already made the arrangements, so Xuan Ziwen and the doctors arrived very quickly. Xuan Ziwen was interested in the project too; it was a major clinical experiment in directly connecting a Soul Tool to the human body.

"I... can live again..."

"It feels just like my own body," Xi Xi said. "So Soul Tools can do this much..."

"...I'll agree only after you've actually fulfilled your promises to me." After a long pause, she continued, "I'm in your Sun Moon territory anyway. I can't escape. You can save me first, right?"

"Perhaps a Soul Bone means little to you, surrounded as you are by Shrek's rare treasures, but for Mingde Hall, it's a substantial sacrifice—a show of sincerity."

"Heh. We saw you at the last Soul Fighting Tournament. You were a reserve team member back then. Even so, your matches left a deep impression on our teachers and students. This time, when we learned you'd most likely become a regular, we prepared as many tactics against you as we did against Ma Xiaotao and the others."

Xi Xi bowed deeply in their direction.

Once all the work was done, it took about half a day for her body to recover on its own.

The chance to start over with a new face was right before her eyes, and it might be her only chance in this life. She could make a name for herself again at Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy—or watch everything crumble to nothing.

Xi Xi bowed once more before slowly rising to her feet. "Yes. My name... from now on, I'll be called Liu Xi."

"It's no longer appropriate to say 'we Shrek.' I'm a teacher at Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy now."

"Good. Get up; the floor's cold. Would you like to change your name?" Jing Hongchen nodded with satisfaction. "After all, you can't let Shrek find out."

Still wearing her white hospital gown, she stumbled over to the mirror and looked at herself—

"If a Soul Master as talented as you could come to my academy, we'd be honored. You should know from facing us that we're far behind in Soul Master cultivation."

She immediately turned and ran to the door. She yanked it open. Jing Hongchen was outside, discussing something with Xuan Ziwen. Moonlight spilled in from the end of the corridor, edging their dim silhouettes in silver.

"Pretty amazing, right?" Xuan Ziwen said. "It's a mistake for Shrek not to take the Soul Tool Department seriously."

She touched her face, then pinched it. Her palm felt the soft, elastic texture of skin. This wasn't a dream.

In an instant, more than a hundred thousand people in the plaza knelt as one. The other teams, apart from the Star Luo competitors, bowed ninety degrees to pay their respects to the Star Luo Emperor.

Huo Yuhao kept sneaking glances toward the Shrek team. He had no respect for the Star Luo Emperor in his heart; he just wanted to see what kind of lineup Shrek had brought.

As it happened, his gaze met Wang Yan's, who had also been secretly looking his way.