Xu Jiujiu's Tournament Invitation, Qiangu Yunche: Leave the Door Open, and I'll Show You Something Big!

On the way to Star Luo City, Xu Jiujiu learned that Qiangu Chengjun would be joining the royal Offering Hall. She was extremely delighted by the news and spent the entire journey pestering Qiangu Yunche with question after question.

She was especially interested when they brought up the first Soul Core Qiangu Yunche had condensed at the Soul Emperor level.

"Yunche, what does cultivation feel like with a Soul Core? What does a Soul Core look like? Can you show me?"

Qiangu Yunche patiently explained it to Xu Jiujiu. "With a Soul Core assisting me, my cultivation speed is more than twice what it was before. As for what a Soul Core looks like..."

As he spoke, golden light flashed in Qiangu Yunche's right hand. A cluster of golden radiance slowly rose up, spiraling as it continuously rotated. The surrounding space warped and rippled because of its appearance, while endless heaven-and-earth energy was devoured by it. Merely watching it gave Xu Jiujiu the feeling that her own soul was about to be dragged inside.

"My first Soul Core's primary attributes are metal and destruction. With it, I can draw power from space itself instead of merely absorbing heaven-and-earth energy from the physical world."

Nebula Douluo and Qiangu Chengjun, standing nearby, were also drawn to it. Both were powerful figures who possessed Soul Cores, so they could naturally sense the uniqueness and strength of Qiangu Yunche's Soul Core.

Compared to the first Soul Cores they had condensed, Qiangu Yunche's was exceptionally complete and stable. Its affinity with space was unimaginably high, and its rate of energy absorption even surpassed Nebula Douluo's Soul Core.

"So this is the terrifying part of a Soul Core."

Xu Jiujiu felt a little envious, but she also knew that with the characteristics of her Martial Soul and her physical constitution, she would have to wait until she broke through to become a Title Douluo before she could condense her first Soul Core.

And that might already have been the best-case scenario.

After arriving in Star Luo City again, Qiangu Yunche no longer needed to stay at an inn. Xu Jiujiu directly had him move into her magnificent Princess Mansion.

Don't get the wrong idea. Though he was staying in the Princess Mansion, the distance between their sleeping quarters alone would take at least ten minutes to cross on foot. After all, a massive artificial lake and a beautiful garden filled with renowned flowers and rare plants from across the land lay between them.

The sheer size and lavish decoration of the Princess Mansion showed just how lofty Xu Jiujiu's status was within the Star Luo Empire. The weight of being the empire's second most powerful figure was fully on display.

The following evening, Qiangu Yunche met the Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, at a private banquet held specifically for him and Qiangu Chengjun.

This middle-aged emperor looked only a little over thirty. He was handsome, composed, and gentle in bearing, yet he did not lack the majesty expected of an emperor.

However, before Qiangu Yunche and Qiangu Chengjun, the emperor wisely put on no airs. Instead, he treated himself as an elder brother to one and a senior to the other. He handled the balance perfectly, expressing warmth without diminishing his imperial dignity.

From what Qiangu Yunche knew, Xu Jiawei was not really a bad ruler. But when faced with the unprecedented upheaval brought about by the Soul Tool revolution, his ability and understanding meant he was destined to be a qualified conservative ruler, not a sovereign capable of turning the tide and reviving an age.

Xu Jiujiu was much the same. She possessed a certain degree of foresight and capability, but her limitations were also obvious. Her desire for power was too strong, and her schemes could sometimes feel too heavy-handed, making her seem less than sincere.

Still, that was an inescapable flaw shared by people in politics. No one was perfect. Since they had chosen to cooperate, they had to accept certain imperfections.

Halfway through the banquet, Qiangu Yunche and Xu Jiujiu left together, leaving Xu Jiawei and Qiangu Chengjun to trade cups of wine while discussing Qiangu Chengjun's appointment as the master of the Offering Hall.

As they walked between the towering, imposing palace walls and watched the layers of glazed tiles in the distance shine magnificently beneath the lights, Xu Jiujiu suddenly spoke.

"Yunche, would you be interested in joining me in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament a year from now?"

Qiangu Yunche rubbed his chin, looked into Xu Jiujiu's expectant eyes, and said,

"I could consider going to Shrek Academy and taking one of the Shrek Seven Devils' spots. Then, a year from now, I could face you as an opponent and give you a brutal lesson on the tournament stage."

"You're awful!" Xu Jiujiu huffed coquettishly, though she could not help feeling worried. "You're not really planning to go to Shrek Academy, are you?"

Xu Jiujiu knew all too well what kind of place Shrek Academy was. The continent's most outstanding geniuses gathered there. In earlier years, there had been no shortage of astonishing talents from outside who joined Shrek Academy just to challenge geniuses their own age.

In the end, once they went in, they never came back out.

In response to Xu Jiujiu's concern, Qiangu Yunche merely shrugged and smiled.

"I'll definitely visit Shrek Academy someday, but I have no interest in joining it. On the other hand, I'd be happy to join you in teaching Shrek Academy a lesson. It's just that..."

"Just what?" Xu Jiujiu's eyes lit up. "Tell me quickly. As long as it's something I can do, I'll agree to it."

For nearly a thousand years, Shrek Academy had practically monopolized the championships of every major tournament, suppressing every Soul Master Academy across the continent until they could barely lift their heads.

Xu Jiujiu had watched the previous Soul Fighting Tournament held in Heaven Dou City. Rather than a competition, it had been more like a one-sided showcase for Shrek Academy's representative team.

Whether it was their captain, Silver Moon Zhang Lexuan, or team members such as Golden Fairy Han Ruoruo, Golden Crow Saintess Wu Ming, and Lotus Fairy Hua Yao, any one of them could outclass the captains of the Four Great Academies' teams. Yet Shrek Academy had gathered a full seven people like that!

Even their reserve second team could crush squads that some advanced Soul Master Academies had painstakingly cultivated with enormous effort.

That had not been a competition. They had simply come to stock up on championships and Soul Bones.

And according to what Xu Jiujiu knew, the current Shrek Seven Devils were only stronger than the previous generation. Barring any surprises, their consecutive championship was already a foregone conclusion.

But Xu Jiujiu loved challenging the impossible. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. In order to pull Shrek Academy down from its pedestal, she had already conducted countless studies and preparations.

Xu Jiujiu knew very well that more than eighty percent of the people on the Douluo Continent worshipped strength. That was precisely why Shrek Academy, which had repeatedly won the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament—the only platform where ordinary people could encounter the world of genius Soul Masters—with overwhelming force, was so revered and regarded by so many as a sacred land to pursue for life.

Therefore, as long as the Star Luo Empire could defeat Shrek Academy and win this tournament, the empire's national prestige and the royal family's authority would immediately rise to another level. The loss of talented people within the empire would also be greatly alleviated.

Xu Jiujiu believed that if their chances of defeating Shrek Academy had originally been only thirty or forty percent based on their existing lineup and preparations, then with Qiangu Yunche added to the team, the Star Luo Empire's odds would soar directly to one hundred percent!

Shrek Academy, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, and all the rest of them could kneel before her!

Did they even understand what it meant for a Soul Core expert to descend upon a Soul Fighting Tournament and crush it from a higher level?

Seeing Xu Jiujiu's hopeful, pleading little eyes, Qiangu Yunche smiled. Then he lowered his head and, beneath Xu Jiujiu's slightly shy and startled gaze, gently lifted a strand of her golden hair.

"Jiujiu, you should know that every generation of the Shrek Seven Devils has consisted of the greatest geniuses of their era. They won't be easy to handle..."

"Then what do you mean?" Xu Jiujiu snatched her hair back from Qiangu Yunche's hand and asked in confusion.

"What I mean is... you'll have to pay more!" Qiangu Yunche said with a grin.

"Pay... more?" Xu Jiujiu was both puzzled and bewildered. "It's not like you're short on Gold Soul Coins."

"How could I possibly be short on Gold Soul Coins?" Qiangu Yunche's smile became even more wicked as he leaned a little closer to Xu Jiujiu. "What I mean is, leave the door open for me tonight, and I'll show you something big. Then I'll join the tournament with you and help you kick the asses of those people from Shrek Academy. How about it...?"

"Y-you... what are you talking about?" Xu Jiujiu's eyes flew wide open. Her cheeks instantly turned crimson, and a flash of panic and helplessness appeared in her eyes.

"Hehe... Jiujiu, you wouldn't want Shrek Academy to step all over your Star Luo National Academy on their way to another championship, would you?"

Having experienced the cultures of many nations in his previous life, Qiangu Yunche immediately subjected Xu Jiujiu to a soul-searching question.

Sure enough, after hearing it, the expression on Xu Jiujiu's face immediately shifted from shyness to intense conflict and hesitation.

But before she could make a decision, Qiangu Yunche was already walking ahead with a smile, as though he did not care about her answer at all...