The Snow Empress's Trail! The Holy Spirit Cult's Plan!

Mu En's voice gradually deepened.

"In the field of soul tool technology."

"We have already fallen far, far behind the Sun Moon Empire."

As these words fell, the expressions of many elders within the Sea God Pavilion shifted, especially those from the Martial Soul Department.

Their countenances were somewhat unnatural, for they knew that Mu En spoke the truth.

How could they not be aware that the pace of the Sun Moon Empire's development over these years had reached a terrifying speed? Yet, what could they do?

Since soul tool development could not take off and they could not keep up with the rhythm, they could only go all-in on martial souls; as long as they cultivated a peerless genius, there would still be hope.

However, how rare are peerless geniuses? At the very least, in the past hundred years, they had not cultivated a single one.

Seeing everyone bowing their heads in silence, Mu En couldn't help but sigh before continuing, "Admitting to being behind is not shameful."

"What is terrifying is being behind while still deluding oneself into thinking one is the best in the world."

This single sentence made many of them feel ashamed.

Subsequently, Mu En's gaze fell upon Qian Duoduo and Yan Shaozhe.

"Duoduo, Shaozhe."

The two rose simultaneously, bowing to Mu En with cupped hands, "Teacher."

Mu En spoke slowly, "The Soul Tool Department shall select five students who are the most outstanding and have the most potential in soul tool research."

"The Martial Soul Department shall select five elite disciples."

"Form this exchange student team."

"Head to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy for study and exchange."

When he said the words "study and exchange," Mu En deliberately emphasized his tone.

"Remember."

"The purpose of their trip is not to compete or fight."

"And it is certainly not to flaunt Shrek's sense of superiority."

"It is to learn."

"To learn the technology, concepts, and experience in which the Sun Moon Empire leads us."

Qian Duoduo's expression was solemn, his heart stirred; the academy was finally going to value the Soul Tool Department!

"Yes!"

Mu En nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Yan Shaozhe.

"The Martial Soul Department disciples have only one duty."

"Protect them."

"Ensure that the Soul Tool Department students can study with peace of mind."

"If anyone dares to cause trouble, block them on their behalf."

"But do not go looking for trouble."

"And do not ruin the academy's overall situation due to a moment of impulse."

Yan Shaozhe nodded solemnly.

"This disciple understands, rest assured, Teacher."

Mu En leaned back into his chair, slowly closing his eyes with a hint of exhaustion.

Yet, his final sentence caused everyone's hearts to tremble.

"Remember."

"This time, it is not about who teaches whom."

"It is about who can set aside the pride in their hearts and learn more useful things."

"If they can bring back the Sun Moon Empire's most advanced soul tool technology."

"That will be more valuable than winning a hundred soul fighting matches."

With Mu En's final word, the matter was settled. Compared to the somewhat pedantic Shrek, the Sun Moon Empire seemed to be much more open-minded.

Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, Third Laboratory.

This was Xuan Ziwen's exclusive laboratory, and also the place where he taught students and conducted research daily.

And Xu Tianyao had officially begun his study of soul tool courses.

He had never expected that becoming a qualified soul engineer would be so difficult.

Not to mention anything else, the basic theoretical knowledge alone was as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

From the precise control of Soul Power to basic soul tool theory, rune analysis, materials science, and so on.

It truly gave Xu Tianyao a massive headache, but fortunately, with Xuan Ziwen's explanations and guidance, his learning was twice as effective with half the effort.

Today, he also officially met the other students of Xuan Ziwen, namely Ju Zi, Keke, and the others.

Xu Tianyao remained quite curious about Ju Zi, and likewise, Ju Zi, who had yet to come into contact with Xu Tianran, was equally full of curiosity about Xu Tianyao.

The two of them, each harboring their own thoughts, thus became senior sister and junior brother.

Since Xuan Ziwen did not have much spare time, many of the basic lessons were taught and explained by Ju Zi and Keke on his behalf.

As time went on, the group grew familiar with one another, and Xu Tianyao could clearly sense the differences between these two senior sisters.

Ju Zi was the type of girl who was very shrewd and clever; she understood things at the slightest hint, and being around her was very comfortable.

Keke, on the other hand, was the typical image of a college student—clear-eyed and full of pure, unadulterated foolishness.

Aside from his daily flirting with Meng Hongchen and bickering with Xiao Hongchen, Xu Tianyao devoted himself entirely to cultivation.

Ever since he condensed his Sun-Moon Soul Core, he had truly and tangibly felt the terrifying nature of this thing.

Cultivating with Twin Martial Souls was already faster and produced higher-quality Soul Power than ordinary Soul Masters, but now, with the Soul Core assisting his cultivation, it achieved an effect where one plus one was greater than two.

In just these few months, with winter fast approaching, he finally broke through to become a Soul Elder before the age of eight.

Yet, having reached the rank of Soul Elder, choosing his next Soul Ring became difficult.

Why was it difficult?

His first Soul Ring was a thousand-year Red Sun Golden Crow, and his second was the five-thousand-year Blazing Lion King kept in the Imperial Forest.

As for his third Soul Ring, they had no options left; Soul Beasts in the Sun Moon Empire were already scarce and of low quality, making it even harder to find a high-quality thousand-year Soul Beast that matched his Sunlight Martial Soul.

Furthermore, Xu Tianyao himself was unwilling to settle for another thousand-year ring for his third.

Since his first two rings were already thousand-year, it would be unreasonable not to absorb a ten-thousand-year ring for his third.

Not to mention that a high-quality, ten-thousand-year fire-attribute Soul Beast was extremely hard to find.

The ten-thousand-year threshold itself, along with the soul shock brought by a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, caused Xu Tianyao quite a bit of distress.

After much deliberation and recalling all the plot points in his mind, he quickly thought of two possible directions for a solution.

One of them was the God Sealing Platform.

In his previous life, the Snow Empress, sensing she could not survive her next heavenly tribulation, ultimately chose to undergo human transformation to seek a path to survival.

Yet, at her weakest and most defenseless moment, she was discovered by a Level 9 Soul Engineer and forcibly sealed within the God Sealing Platform.

At first glance, this seemed like a mere coincidence.

But when Xu Tianyao carefully recalled the whole affair, the more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

Coincidence?

There are not that many coincidences in this world.

A Level 9 Soul Engineer, for no reason, venturing deep into the very heart of the Far North.

Happening to encounter a seven-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast undergoing human transformation.

And happening to carry a Level 9 Soul Tool specifically designed to suppress Soul Beasts—the God Sealing Platform.

When this series of "happenings" was stacked so tightly together, it was no longer a coincidence; it was clearly a deliberate arrangement.

How cautious was the Snow Empress? How powerful!

If she decided to undergo human transformation, she would surely choose a place that was absolutely secret and absolutely safe, not even letting any other Soul Beast know her tracks.

In such a situation, how could an outsider find her with such precision?

Unless that person had been searching for the Snow Empress from the very beginning.

Or perhaps they had long since been tracking her movements.

Thinking of this, Xu Tianyao's gaze gradually deepened.

To verify his conjecture, he had specifically asked Kong Deming, Xu Tianran, and Jing Hongchen.

The answers he received were surprisingly consistent.

Among the existing Level 9 Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire, no one possessed a special Soul Tool like the God Sealing Platform.

There were not even any records of its manufacture, which made the situation clear.

Because such a Soul Tool was far too special.

It required not only a vast amount of rare resources but also the coordination of an extremely large research team.

It was definitely not something a single Level 9 Soul Engineer could build secretly while hiding in a laboratory.