"My legs are numb..."
"Uh..."
Sigh. Just how many more things that were hard to bear was this old man supposed to bear?
Du Busi's first-time composure was gone today.
His expression unchanged, he tried to adapt on his own, only to find it far too difficult.
So he decided to cut the Gordian knot!
Giving Xu Qing no time to react, he grabbed him, and the two vanished in an instant!
Only a faint ripple in space remained.
A few seconds later.
Sun Moon, Ming Capital, Red Rose Hotel.
This was one of the busiest areas in Ming Capital.
The bustling pedestrians suddenly witnessed a strange sight.
A muscular hulk with green hair and a green beard had appeared from nowhere.
He was carrying a handsome young man with a blank expression, who seemed to have lost the will to live.
The man strode into the local favorite, the QQ Hotel.
The curious onlookers froze in place.
Some high-ranking Soul Masters had sharp eyes and barely made out Xu Qing's astonishingly handsome face.
They all seethed inwardly at his lack of self-respect—he was so young, yet he'd taken such a crooked path?
What a disgrace! What a disgrace!!
The Soul Tool sensor doors slid open automatically.
The burly man and the boy entered the lobby together. The perfume in the air was a little pungent, so Xu Qing simply controlled his senses and shut off his sense of smell.
The Soul Master ladies at the front desk were all smiling with narrowed eyes.
They hadn't expected such an unusual pair to walk in.
The moment they opened their eyes, their flawless, standard customer-service smiles twisted.
But thankfully, their professionalism was up to the task, and they forcibly held it together.
They quickly checked the two in, then continued working without looking at them.
"Sigh... I mean, Master, couldn't we have done this in a more dignified way...?"
Xu Qing really felt like he'd lost the will to live.
Had this old geezer injected so many drugs that they'd gone to his head?
To put it charitably: he was incredibly decisive.
To put it bluntly: he was a reckless brute.
Xu Qing opened his mouth, but in the end, swallowed those words.
Sigh... You could've just told me you were bringing me to Sun Moon. I wouldn't have refused.
Instead, before I could react, space was torn open. By the time I saw the light, the whole world had changed...
Good grief, he'd taken me from a tiny village straight to a big city.
Xu Qing looked at the colorful room and wasn't surprised. It certainly lived up to its name.
Thump, thump, thump...
He sat on the waterbed and fell backward, spreading himself out like a character.
The soft, silky feel brought the warmth of technology to a boy who'd grown up sleeping on the Body Sect's hard wooden beds, and stirred memories of the same sensation from his previous life.
I don't want to move...
"Is there some business in Sun Moon that requires your Brother Xu to handle personally?"
Du Busi completely ignored Xu Qing's thunderous complaint and took out a square Soul Tool. It even had an antenna, making it look a lot like a Big Brother Phone.
He thought:
How did this kid break through to level forty-four?
Whatever. I'm used to it by now.
Wait...
Could it be that my dear disciple couldn't wait to absorb that scorpion's Soul Ring?
Was he worried that if he waited, something might change?
Heh... This master knows what to do!
"It was a little rushed, so don't blame your master. Time waits for no one. We still have to keep a low profile and not make special arrangements."
"Coincidentally, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's new student registration is in two days."
"Hall Master Jing will be here soon. If you have any questions, you can ask him on the communicator first."
Du Busi dialed the Soul Tool communicator, then tossed it to Xu Qing. His Martial Soul appeared out of thin air and caught it.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
While the call was connecting, the old man used his spiritual power to send Xu Qing the chat history from his conversation with Hall Master Jing last night.
There was quite a lot of information.
The Body Academy was canceled, an alternative enrollment plan, Xiao Meng's Martial Soul had apparently mutated...
Before Xu Qing could finish processing it, the old man had already vanished from the room.
Whoosh—
A crack opened in space, and a green-haired, barefoot little girl appeared out of thin air, pattering across the wooden floor.
She looked rather travel-worn.
"Where has this emperor been sent?"
The Ice Empress was completely bewildered. She'd sensed the spatial fluctuations just now and concluded that the green bald-headed Limit Douluo had left.
Though her power was sealed, the Soul Power Xu Qing supplied her with was enough.
At least, she thought she could escape. She didn't care about anything else—she'd get out of this tiger's den first!
But just as she was about to step beyond the Body Sect's grounds, she felt her body go light and everything went black.
Then she appeared in a room with a rather bizarre atmosphere.
And that evil human was in the room too!!
When enemies met, their eyes burned red!
The little Ice Empress lowered her body and charged straight at Xu Qing, trying to seize the initiative and defeat him at once, but he turned his palm and pinned her down.
Humiliation!!
"Shh..."
"I'm on the phone. Be quiet..."
Xu Qing held his index finger a few centimeters from the Ice Empress's lips, very gentlemanly avoiding touching her.
It would've been better if not for the silver-white phantom standing beside him with its fist raised.
You actually have Twin Martial Souls!!? The Ice Empress was deeply shocked and didn't dare act rashly.
"Hello?"
Hall Master Jing's voice came through, sounding rather tired.
"Hall Master Jing, this is Xu Qing. My master wants me to use my Mystic Ice Marrow Martial Soul to enroll in the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy..."
He frowned slightly, puzzled.
"I don't know what you think of this, but I'm honestly confused."
"The old man only gave me some vague information,"
"So... did something happen with the Body Academy?"
What a headache... From the looks of it, the plan hadn't gone through? Had they come up with some alternative?
Jing Hongchen was handling official business at the moment: reviewing Soul Tool procurement proposals, the Protein Powder manufacturing process, the arrangements for the successful bidders, and various other odds and ends.
He rubbed his brow. His tone was still fairly calm.
"The plan to establish a shadow Body Academy here in Sun Moon has been scrapped. The reason—"
He glanced at his granddaughter, Meng Hongchen, who was sitting in the chair across from him, full of energy and unable to sit still, and swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue, changing his explanation.
"Simply put, there was too much resistance. The specific reasons are a little complicated to explain right now..."
"I'll tell you the most important part."
"Xiao Meng's Martial Soul seems to have undergone some kind of beneficial mutation, and there's an eighty percent chance it's related to your Mystic Ice Marrow. We'll probably have to discuss the details in person."
Xiao Meng's Martial Soul had undergone a beneficial mutation?
Could eating too much Mystic Ice Marrow make a Martial Soul evolve...? Then why hadn't mine evolved?
Isn't Mystic Ice Marrow a type of Ice Martial Soul, too...?
"Also, Heaven Dou suddenly wants to build an academy for the Body Sect. My guess is that they want to cling tightly to Brother Poison, their Limit Douluo."
"And this was only decided in the last couple of days. As far as I know, it was brought up by your junior, the princess of the Heaven Dou Empire... Wei Na."
Xu Qing was swept up in a storm of thoughts.
Heaven Dou wanted to build an academy for the Body Sect... and Wei Na was the one leading the effort...?
Before you continue