Exchange, the Holy Spirit Cult's Ambush!

Mingdou Mountain Range.

Rolling mountains stretched across the horizon, their verdant ridges coiling like giant dragons. The early spring mountain breeze swept through the valley with a hint of chill, causing the military banners of both sides to snap and flutter.

At this moment, under the tight protection of the Sun Moon Empire's Dreadclaw Soul Engineer Legion, the exchange student teams slowly arrived at the designated handover zone.

This was the first formal exchange of students between the Sun Moon Empire and the three Douluo nations since the collision of the continents.

Whether it was the royal families of the various nations or Shrek Academy, both sides placed unprecedented importance on this exchange.

To ensure absolute security, the Xingluo Empire specifically dispatched the commander of the Northwest Field Army, Duke White Tiger Dai Hao, to oversee the scene personally and take charge of the safety of the entire handover process.

On the side of Shrek Academy, the team was led by the Dean of the Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo.

Although he was the only one seen accompanying the group on the surface, in reality, powerhouses like Xian Lin'er and Elder Song were already hidden in the shadows, monitoring every move in the surroundings.

As for the Sun Moon Empire, their lineup was even more luxurious.

Beyond the entire Dreadclaw Soul Engineer Legion responsible for escorting them along the way, several royal-level Titled Douluo were secretly accompanying them.

On the surface, the team was led by the Level 9 Soul Engineer, Starry Sky Douluo Ye Yulin.

Such a formation was enough to show how much importance both sides attached to this exchange.

Xu Tianyao stood within the crowd, his gaze sweeping over the Shrek side without a ripple.

He had no impression of most of the exchange students on the opposite side, but they were all gifted individuals with extraordinary talent.

As for his own side, aside from Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and himself, most of the others were genius students carefully selected from Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, with cultivation levels mostly at the Soul Ancestor stage.

When it came down to it, this exchange was more like a probe between the two sides.

The Sun Moon Empire had already shown sufficient sincerity.

They had not only sent the grandson and granddaughter of the Mingde Hall Master but had also sent Prince Ming Xu Tianyao, hailed as the empire's greatest genius, to Shrek Academy.

Looking at it this way, it seemed the Sun Moon Empire was indeed more sincere, but in reality, if one thought about it carefully, it was not that simple.

For Shrek Academy and the three Douluo nations, this was a situation they were willing to see.

If the relationship between the two sides could truly be improved, it would be a great benefit to the country and the people.

However, the thing that gave them the biggest headache right now was precisely that the other side's standards were too high, especially regarding the safety of Xu Tianyao.

Before the exchange began, the Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire, Xu Tianran, had deliberately leaked some information about Xu Tianyao.

Twin Martial Souls, peerless talent, royal lineage, a genius in soul tools...

These unusual labels alone were enough to make those forces that hated the Sun Moon Empire desperate to strike at Xu Tianyao; after all, there were quite a few forces that loathed the Sun Moon Empire.

Once an accident befell Xu Tianyao during the exchange, even if it were just an injury, it could very likely become an excuse for the Sun Moon Empire to stir up trouble.

At that point, the relationship between the two countries would inevitably plummet, potentially even triggering an all-out war. The exchange was meant to be a good thing, but if a problem arose during the process, it would turn into a disaster.

No one could bear the consequences that would bring.

Therefore, the entire handover process proceeded exceptionally smoothly; neither side, usually hostile, resorted to petty tricks or underhanded schemes.

Ye Yulin stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze resting calmly on Dai Hao and Qian Duoduo before him.

"Since that is the case, these children are now entrusted to your nation and your academy."

"Before I departed, His Majesty personally gave me instructions."

At this point, Ye Yulin's gaze tightened slightly, and he spoke with great solemnity.

"The importance of His Highness Prince Ming to the empire goes without saying. I trust you all understand clearly that His Highness comes with sincerity."

"I know that many in your nation and academy harbor deep hatred for my Sun Moon Empire, so I must declare here: should any accident befall His Highness Prince Ming during this study program, my Sun Moon Empire will hold your nation and academy accountable with the utmost severity, even if it means an all-out war. I hope you all understand this."

As soon as these words were spoken, the previously calm atmosphere suddenly became somewhat tense.

Seeing that the situation was turning sour, Dai Hao stepped forward first.

The battle-hardened Duke White Tiger vowed with certainty, "Rest assured, Starry Sky Douluo."

"My Northwest Field Army soldiers have guarded the border for many years. Even if a powerful enemy were to invade, they would not be able to cross a single step."

"As long as I, Dai, am alive, His Highness Prince Ming of your nation will not come to any harm."

Qian Duoduo also chimed in with a chuckle.

"The Duke White Tiger is right; our Shrek Academy has always been protective of our own."

"Once they enter the academy gates, whether they are students from the Sun Moon Empire or the three Douluo nations, they are all students of the academy."

"We will naturally be responsible for the children's safety to the end."

Having said this, he added meaningfully, "Of course, we hope that our Shrek students will receive the same treatment when they arrive in your country."

Upon hearing this, a faint smile finally appeared on Ye Yulin's face.

"That goes without saying."

The simple four-word response represented a consensus reached by both sides.

Following this, his gaze crossed the crowd and landed on Xu Tianyao.

The two locked eyes for a brief moment.

Ye Yulin nodded with a smile, and Xu Tianyao gave a slight nod in return.

With this, the handover ceremony officially concluded.

Both teams began to transfer to their carriages.

Escorted by the Xingluo Empire's army and the powerhouses of Shrek Academy, the ten exchange students from the Sun Moon Empire embarked on their journey to Shrek Academy.

The wheels rolled forward, and the scenery on both sides of the mountain road receded steadily.

Xu Tianyao sat cross-legged inside the carriage, his eyes closed as he silently circulated his Soul Power to adjust his state. Having just broken through to level thirty-seven last night, he could use this journey to properly stabilize his cultivation base.

It was a consensus across the continent that those with ultimate attributes cultivated slowly, but if one observed closely, they would find that Xu Tianyao's cultivation speed was not slow at all—it was even faster than that of an average soul master.

Xu Tianyao and Kong Deming attributed this to the Sun-Moon Soul Core; the double Soul Power gain from cultivating two martial souls simultaneously almost entirely compensated for the slow cultivation speed inherent to ultimate attributes.

Not to mention that the efficiency of absorbing Soul Power through a soul core was several times higher than that of standard meditation techniques, which created this unique situation.

Even Meng Hongchen, who was nearly two years his senior, had her cultivation level left far behind by him at this moment—though this was also because she had followed Xu Tianyao's advice and refrained from taking medicinal supplements for the time being.

Compared to Xu Tianyao's calmness, Meng Hongchen, sitting beside him, appeared much more excited.

The young girl leaned against the carriage window, her wine-red hair fluttering gently in the mountain breeze.

Her beautiful, large eyes constantly scanned the scenery along the way, and she let out an exclamation of wonder from time to time.

This was her first time truly leaving the Sun Moon Empire.

She was filled with curiosity about everything in the outside world.

This youthful, carefree beauty was exactly how someone of Meng Hongchen's age should be, and it was also the quality that attracted Xu Tianyao to her the most.