Xu Kun: This Lonely One Has Seen the Light, You Are All Experts

Compared to the exaggerated, sharp intake of breath and dilated pupils of Ye Yulin, Jing Hongchen, who sat on the other side in silence, merely scanning the file repeatedly with his eyes, appeared much more "mature and composed."

Of course, this maturity and composure were predicated on ignoring his frantically twitching eyelid, the slight quivering of fat beneath his black, gold-patterned robes, and his leg, which was shaking incessantly.

"The two of you have finished reading, I presume?" Xu Kun sat up slightly, tapped his right hand gently against the imperial desk, and said slowly, "I wonder what plans you two have now."

To reach the realm of a Titled Douluo, whether one is a soul master or a soul engineer, there are no fools in the true sense of the word.

Therefore, both Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin believed that His Majesty the Emperor would not have suddenly and urgently summoned them from their respective posts to Wenhua Hall, only to hand them this file, just to say:

"Hey, how about it? You two, the stuff above is interesting, right! Go back and have dinner now that you've finished. I just called you here today because I was bored and wanted to tease you, to let you come over and experience the agony of seeing something you can't have, mwahahahaha."

If the Emperor were truly bored enough to toy with the Titled Douluos under his command, then, to be honest, this Sun Moon Empire would be "doomed."

"..."

Ye Yulin pondered for a moment, secretly thinking: His Majesty the Emperor summoned both himself and Jing Hongchen—both of whom are significant figures even among Level 9 soul engineers—into the palace and showed them the information on a top-tier genius. The purpose is already obvious, isn't it!

His Majesty wants to pick a super mentor from the two of them who can cultivate a Guardian Douluo capable of holding up the heavens of the Sun Moon Empire in the future!

He is waiting for them to showcase their core competitiveness to decide who gets the rights to this genius!

In an occasion where silence is equivalent to a regretful exit, Ye Yulin decided to strike first:

"Your Majesty, you know me. This old man has yet to take on a personal disciple to inherit my mantle. Although... although I once swore to find a genius soul engineer to inherit my legacy, but... but if that genius soul engineer were replaced by such a top-tier genius soul master, that would not be impossible."

"Pfft—"

Watching Ye Yulin's desperate display, where he had even cast aside his old face, Jing Hongchen, feeling that the advantage was his, finally couldn't hold it back and let out a laugh.

"?"

Following the direction of the laughter, Ye Yulin looked suspiciously at Jing Hongchen and said, "Jing Hongchen, what are you laughing at?"

"I am just laughing that you, Elder Ye, are so old that you've even discarded your dignity just to get your hands on this child." Jing Hongchen slowly closed the file in his hand and asked Ye Yulin with a straight face, "Elder Ye, have you ever taught a student?!"

Good for you, Jing Hongchen, using offense as defense, trying to contrast yourself with me by proving I'm bad at teaching!

Thinking of this, Ye Yulin was about to flare up, but seeing Xu Kun staring straight at him, he could only suppress his anger and grit his teeth: "No, otherwise I wouldn't be begging Your Majesty to bestow this good seedling upon me."

"Since Elder Ye has never taught a student or apprentice, how can you be sure you can teach one well?" Jing Hongchen stood up, gave Ye Yulin a look that was not a smile, and turned to face Xu Kun, who was sitting upright behind the imperial desk:

"Your Majesty, forgive this old subject for speaking bluntly, but professionals should handle professional matters. The candidate to cultivate such a once-in-a-millennium genius should be chosen from those with rich teaching experience, whose students are spread across the world, and who can teach according to the student's aptitude."

"Hmph, (`3´), rich teaching experience, students spread across the world—you might as well just say your own name." Ye Yulin snorted coldly and rolled his eyes at Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen, however, was neither hurried nor annoyed. He bowed to Ye Yulin and said with a smirk, "Since Elder Ye also admits that this old subject has rich teaching experience and students spread across the world, then I thank Elder Ye for yielding."

"Yield your mother's ass! When did this old man say I was yielding!"

Realizing he had been played by this shorty Jing Hongchen, Ye Yulin stood up from his chair with a start, glaring at Jing Hongchen from across the room.

"Ahem, ahem..."

Xu Kun, who had never seen such a scene, coughed twice, seemingly reminding Ye Yulin to mind the occasion.

"Your Majesty."

Suppressing the frustration in his heart, Ye Yulin turned abruptly toward the imperial desk and said with annoyance, "This old subject has more to say."

"Mm, proceed." Xu Kun nodded expressionlessly.

"Hall Master Hongchen, as the head of Mingde Hall, holds multiple positions. He must oversee the progress of numerous experimental subjects within Mingde Hall and shoulders the important duty of urging researchers and students. Even if you were to hand such a good seedling to him, does he have the energy to look after them? Don't forget, Hall Master Hongchen's grandson is also a 'fairly famous genius'! With his own grandson by his side, can he wholeheartedly cultivate an outsider?"

At this point, Ye Yulin proudly patted his own chest, as if signing a military pledge to Xu Kun:

"This old man is not as busy as Hall Master Hongchen, nor do I have a grandson to raise, nor do I have so many major affairs that require my personal attention. I have plenty of time and can fully commit to cultivating that child, even treating him as my own."

Ye Yulin, you have the nerve to call me shameless? This Hall Master thinks you are no better!

Eating so much of the imperial grain while doing less work than me, you aren't ashamed but rather proud, and you even have the nerve to say it so openly. You are the one who has no face left!

Jing Hongchen wanted to resign from a few unimportant positions to prove he had spare time to cultivate talent, but after thinking carefully for a while, he discovered a terrifying fact:

The jobs he held all seemed quite important; he couldn't really resign from any of them. Besides, he couldn't tell the Emperor to his face that he could ignore his own grandson to focus on an outsider!

If he said that, His Majesty wouldn't believe him anyway...

However!

Such a bleak life could not hinder Jing Hongchen's determination to compete with Ye Yulin.

As the saying goes, one may lose the person, but not the stance. He, Jing Hongchen, was locked in a battle with this old shameless man Ye Yulin today.

What should I say next? Where does my competitiveness lie? I must think carefully... Brain, think fast! We cannot lose to that old scoundrel Ye Yulin!

Just as Ye Yulin saw Jing Hongchen's silence and felt he had victory in his grasp, fantasizing about the super genius bowing to him as a master, Jing Hongchen, having fully engaged his brain, suddenly spoke.

He said, "Your Majesty, this old subject believes that neither I nor the Starry Sky Douluo are suitable to cultivate this genius."