Wu Sidu

Faced with this, while marveling at how wealthy the Spirit Pagoda was and how willing it was to invest, Wang Chuan also felt quite satisfied in his heart.

This was the poise and vision that a major organization should have!

Recognizing potential, they spared no cost in making investments early on, provided unreserved support, and did not demand immediate returns, waiting only for future growth to give back to the organization.

Only through this model could a truly solid sense of belonging and identity be established.

In contrast, he thought of the highly praised "work-study student system" of Shrek Academy in the original story.

As well as Tang Sect's mission patterns that seemed like tests but were actually cheap labor.

He found it incomprehensible and even somewhat ridiculous.

Shrek Academy made geniuses work as work-study students, euphemistically calling it "tempering character" and "experiencing the lower rungs." It saved the academy a huge amount of resource investment, yet it still required the geniuses to be deeply grateful to the academy.

In the original story, Tang Wulin and the others subsequently risked their lives for Shrek Academy and even participated in its reconstruction. Which of the "opportunities" they obtained was not earned by risking their own lives and completing difficult missions?

During this period, Shrek Academy and Tang Sect mostly provided an "opportunity" or "channel," and even profited from it themselves!

So where was that substantive, early-stage investment that did not count on returns?

On the one hand, they kept geniuses running around and exhausting themselves for survival and advancement to earn contribution points; on the other hand, they bound them with grand causes and sentiments, demanding gratitude and loyalty.

In Wang Chuan's view, this model looked more like a combination of shrewd calculation and emotional kidnapping rather than true nurturing as the core.

A benevolent organization is predicated on the organization first making tangible contributions without regard for short-term returns.

Otherwise, that is merely an equivalent exchange, or even an unequal employment relationship. How can one speak of grace and righteousness?

Wang Chuan thought to himself.

This was also one of the important reasons why he resolutely chose the Spirit Pagoda back then and kept a respectful distance from Shrek Academy.

The Spirit Pagoda also had its internal struggles and calculations.

Yet, at least in the cultivation of someone like him who belonged to their own side, it currently appeared entirely sincere, simple, and direct.

Resources were given in full, support was provided silently, and they waited for you to grow.

This clear and straightforward model actually made Wang Chuan feel much more reliable, and it also made him more willing to give back to this "investment" in the future.

He put away his stray thoughts.

Wang Chuan cast his gaze back toward the forging table.

The clamor brought by the ranking would eventually pass.

The true foundation...

Still had to be the continuous improvement of one's own strength.

Looking at the brown-haired girl with a cold, frost-like demeanor who had taken the initiative to come and challenge him, Wang Chuan felt a trace of helplessness in his heart, but even more confusion.

Wu Sidu.

She came from Star Luo City and was hailed as a once-in-a-century genius of Star Luo. With twin martial souls, she even possessed a rare Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill, ranking eleventh on the newly announced Youth Wind and Cloud Ranking.

Under normal circumstances, challengers would usually tend to challenge opponents ranked right next to them, climbing upward step by step to test their own limits.

Skipping the first nine people and directly challenging himself, who was at the top of the ranking, was truly somewhat baffling.

"I remember you are currently ranked eleventh on the Youth Wind and Cloud Ranking, right?"

Wang Chuan asked straightforwardly, his tone level.

"Why come to challenge me directly?"

"Logically speaking, shouldn't you start from the tenth place?"

Standing before him, Wu Sidu was only nine years old, and her stature had not yet fully developed, but a coldness and composure beyond her years were already evident between her brows.

Hearing this, she looked calmly at Wang Chuan, her voice like ice pearls falling on a jade plate.

"Most of the people ranked ahead of me are already between sixteen and eighteen years old, and their soul power levels have reached the Five-Ring or even Six-Ring stage."

"With my current strength, my chances of winning against them are not high."

Wang Chuan nodded slightly, a sudden understanding dawning on him.

He had actually overlooked the age span issue of the Youth Wind and Cloud Ranking.

The upper limit of eighteen meant that the top positions on the ranking were very likely occupied by "older" geniuses who had practiced longer and were in the rapid growth phase of soul power.

The gap in soul power accumulation brought by age was particularly obvious in the eleven-to-eighteen age stage.

Even if Wu Sidu was extraordinarily talented, possessing powerful trump cards like twin martial souls and a Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill, wanting to span two or three major tiers to defeat opponents was practically a pipe dream.

After all, although her Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill was immensely powerful, the consumption of soul power was entirely borne by her alone, leaving a natural bottleneck in terms of protracted battles.

"Then what is your current cultivation?"

Wang Chuan asked in passing.

"Three-Ring Soul Venerable."

Wu Sidu answered crisply.

"Yet I remember the data on the Youth Wind and Cloud Ranking should also indicate my cultivation..."

"Four-Ring Soul Ancestor."

A deeper look of curiosity appeared in Wang Chuan's eyes.

"Since I can parachute to the top of the ranking with a Four-Ring cultivation, it's enough to show that the judges believe my comprehensive strength can suppress those Five-Ring and Six-Ring geniuses further down."

"I'm very curious, where did this confidence—or rather, courage—come from when you came to challenge me?"

Wu Sidu's gaze locked directly onto Wang Chuan, a rare trace of earnestness surfacing on her cold face.

"I know your strength is bound to be very strong."

"But looking across the entire ranking, among those ahead of me, you are the only one whose age is comparable to mine."

She paused slightly, then continued.

"Therefore, I want to know..."

"Just how strong you are!"

There was another sentence she did not speak aloud.

She wanted to know on what grounds Wang Chuan was able to securely hold the top spot of this Youth Wind and Cloud Ranking!

Everyone was a genius chosen out of ten thousand; who lacked the ability to fight above their rank?

Although she was only a Three-Ring Soul Venerable, relying on her twin martial souls and Self Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Her comprehensive combat power had long surpassed ordinary Five-Ring Soul Kings and could even contend with ordinary Six-Ring Soul Emperors.

As for the former top-ranked person, who was now ranked second.

That eighteen-year-old Six-Ring Soul Emperor even had the fierce battle record of defeating a Seven-Ring Soul Saint and fighting to a draw with an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo!

In Wu Sidu's view, among geniuses, fighting above one's rank was the norm.

No matter how monstrous Wang Chuan was, with Four-Ring cultivation, his theoretical limit was at most defeating a Six-Ring, or barely holding his own against a Seven-Ring.

Could he possibly cross four major tiers?

She did not believe it, nor was she convinced.

This curiosity and competitive spirit drove her straight to this parachuted "top-ranked" opponent, wanting to personally weigh his heft.

"Fine."

Wang Chuan looked at the undisguised inquiry and fighting intent in Wu Sidu's eyes and nodded.

Since the other party insisted on a fight, he would simply accompany her.

Rightly so, he also wanted to see what the "gold content" of other top geniuses of this era was really like.

And given his identity as the closed-door disciple of Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua.

Temporarily applying for a competition arena used for sparring within the Heaven Dou City Blacksmith Association was a breeze.

Word spread, even attracting a regular of the association, Zhen Hua's good friend and exclusive chef—

Body Sect Master Mu Ye.

Hearing there was a spectacle to watch, and that it was a bout involving this kid Wang Chuan, this sturdy man with an aura heavy and condensed like a mountain immediately ran over with great enthusiasm to voluntarily act as the referee.