Mingdou Mountain Range.
Rugged mountain ranges stretched between heaven and earth, their verdant ridgelines coiled like dragons. A chilly early-spring breeze swept through the valleys, setting both sides' battle flags fluttering.
At that moment, under the tight protection of the Sun Moon Empire's Dreadclaw Soul Engineer Legion, the student exchange party slowly arrived at the agreed-upon handover site.
Since the continent's collision, this was the first formal student exchange between the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms.
The royal families of every nation and Shrek Academy alike had attached unprecedented importance to this exchange.
To ensure everything went smoothly, the Xingluo Empire had specially sent the commander of the Northwest Field Army, the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao, to personally oversee the site and safeguard the entire handover.
Shrek Academy, meanwhile, had sent Qian Duoduo, dean of the Soul Guidance Department, to lead the party.
Although he was the only one accompanying them in plain sight, powerful figures like Xian Lin'er and Elder Song had already concealed themselves nearby, keeping watch over every movement around them.
As for the Sun Moon Empire, its delegation was nothing short of magnificent.
Aside from the entire Dreadclaw Soul Engineer Legion escorting them along the way, several Titled Douluo who served as royal retainers had secretly come along as well.
And openly leading the party was the Level-9 Soul Engineer, Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin.
Such an imposing lineup made clear just how seriously both sides took this exchange.
Xu Tianyao stood among the crowd, discreetly surveying the Shrek delegation.
He didn't recognize most of the exchange students across from him, but they were all exceptionally talented standouts.
On his own side, aside from Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and himself, most of the others were gifted students handpicked by Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy. Nearly all of them had reached the Soul Ancestor level.
At its heart, this student exchange was more like a test of each side.
The Sun Moon Empire had already shown ample sincerity.
Not only had it sent the grandson and granddaughter of the Mingde Hall master, it had also sent Prince Ming Xu Tianyao, hailed as the empire's greatest genius, to Shrek Academy.
At a glance, it seemed the Sun Moon Empire had indeed shown greater sincerity. But on closer consideration, things weren't so simple.
For Shrek Academy and the Douluo Three Kingdoms, the current situation was one they were willing to see.
If relations between the two sides could truly improve, it would benefit both nations and their people.
But what gave them the biggest headache was precisely the other side's high-ranking delegation, especially the question of Xu Tianyao's safety.
Before the exchange began, the Sun Moon Empire's emperor, Xu Tianran, had deliberately let slip some information about Xu Tianyao.
Twin Martial Souls, Peerless talent, a scion of the imperial family, a Soul Tool prodigy...
Those extraordinary labels alone were enough to make the forces that hated the Sun Moon Empire target Xu Tianyao at any cost. After all, there was no shortage of people who hated the Sun Moon Empire.
And if anything happened to Xu Tianyao during the exchange—even if he were only injured—it could very well give the Sun Moon Empire an excuse to make trouble.
By then, relations between the two sides would take a sharp turn for the worse, and could even erupt into all-out war. The exchange was meant to be a good thing, but if anything went wrong during it, a good thing would become a bad one!
No one could bear the consequences.
For that reason, the entire handover proceeded exceptionally smoothly. Neither side, longtime enemies though they were, tried to trip the other up or resort to underhanded tricks.
Ye Yulin stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze calmly fixed on Dai Hao and Qian Duoduo.
"Since that's settled, I'll leave these children in your country's and your academy's care."
"Before I left, His Majesty personally gave me his instructions."
At this, Ye Yulin's eyes narrowed slightly. His tone turned solemn.
"His Highness Prince Ming's importance to the empire goes without saying. I'm sure you all understand that he came here in good faith."
"I know that many in your country and academy harbor deep hatred for my Sun Moon Empire. So let me state this clearly: if anything happens to His Highness Prince Ming during this study exchange, the Sun Moon Empire will hold your country and academy accountable with the utmost severity. We will not hesitate to wage all-out war. I trust you understand."
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere, which had been fairly calm, suddenly grew tense.
Seeing things starting to turn sour, Dai Hao stepped forward first.
The battle-hardened White Tiger Duke gave his solemn assurance. "You have nothing to worry about, Your Excellency Starry Sky."
"The soldiers of my Northwest Field Army have guarded the frontier for years. Even if a powerful enemy attacks, they won't get one step past the line."
"As long as I'm alive, nothing will happen to His Highness Prince Ming."
Qian Duoduo chimed in with a genial smile.
"The White Tiger Duke is right. Shrek Academy has always stood by its own."
"Once they enter our academy, every student is one of ours, whether they come from the Sun Moon Empire or the Douluo Three Kingdoms."
"We'll naturally see to the children's safety, whatever it takes."
Then he added meaningfully, "Of course, when our Shrek students arrive in your country, we hope they'll receive the same treatment."
At that, a faint smile finally appeared on Ye Yulin's face.
"Of course."
The four simple words represented an understanding reached between the two sides.
Then his gaze passed over the crowd and settled on Xu Tianyao.
Their eyes met briefly.
Ye Yulin smiled and nodded. Xu Tianyao returned the gesture with a slight nod.
With that, the handover ceremony officially ended.
The two delegations began transferring to their carriages.
Under the escort of the Xingluo Empire's troops and Shrek Academy's powerful figures, the ten exchange students from the Sun Moon Empire set off for Shrek Academy.
The wheels rolled on as the scenery along both sides of the mountain road slipped past.
Xu Tianyao sat cross-legged in the carriage, eyes closed as he silently circulated his Soul Power and adjusted his condition. He had only broken through to level thirty-seven the previous night, so he could use the journey to consolidate his realm.
It was common knowledge across the continent that cultivating an Ultimate Attribute was slower. But a closer look would show that Xu Tianyao's cultivation wasn't slow at all—in fact, he was even faster than ordinary Soul Masters.
Xu Tianyao and Kong Deming attributed this to the Sun-Moon Soul Core. Cultivating both Martial Souls at once doubled his Soul Power gains, almost making up for the slow cultivation caused by his Ultimate Attribute.
What's more, absorbing Soul Power through a Soul Core was several times more efficient than absorbing it through meditation. That was what had produced this unusual result.
Even Meng Hongchen, who was nearly two years older than him, lagged far behind in cultivation. Of course, that was also because she had taken Xu Tianyao's advice and stopped taking pills for the time being.
Compared to Xu Tianyao's calm, Meng Hongchen, sitting beside him, seemed much more excited.
The girl leaned against the carriage window, her wine-red hair swaying gently in the mountain breeze.
Her beautiful eyes darted over the scenery outside, and now and then she let out a gasp of wonder.
This was the first time she had truly left the Sun Moon Empire.
Everything beyond it filled her with curiosity.
This bright, carefree youthfulness was what someone Meng Hongchen's age should have—and it was also what attracted Xu Tianyao to her most.
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