Xuan Ziwen's Shock

Xiao Hongchen's arrogant demeanor nearly drove Meng Hongchen mad.

If not for the fact that the person she cared about was standing right beside her, she would have undoubtedly abandoned all decorum to engage in a much more heated confrontation with her foolish brother.

But now, unwilling to tarnish her image in front of Xu Tianming, she could only suppress the fury in her heart. She cast one final look of pity at the still-smug Xiao Hongchen, thinking to herself:

You idiot, you're finished! Do you really think you have this in the bag? Heh, once the Fourth Prince's identity is revealed, you'll realize just how stupid your actions were!

As a direct descendant of the Hongchen Family, even as a girl, Meng Hongchen had been raised with the same rigorous education from a young age. Because of this, she saw through the situation quite clearly.

Even if Xu Tianming had just been spouting nonsense, so what?

For the son of a subordinate official to dare provoke the majesty of the imperial family was an unforgivable, heinous crime!

Although her grandfather held immense power and might be able to protect Xiao Hongchen for a time due to his years of contributions to the Sun Moon Empire, what would the cost be?

What if this Fourth Prince harbored a grudge and waited for the right moment to settle the score later on?

The various terrifying consequences were so daunting that Meng Hongchen didn't even dare to dwell on them.

Perhaps she should have revealed Xu Tianming's identity the moment Xiao Hongchen tossed those Gold Soul Coins; it would have saved them a lot of trouble.

But now that the deed was done, there was no point in playing the "Monday morning quarterback."

Since her foolish brother was beyond saving, she, the more gifted genius sister, would have to shoulder the future hopes of the Hongchen Family!

As for how to shoulder them...

Meng Hongchen's bright, beautiful eyes darted around, and then, gathering her courage, she directly hooked her arm through Xu Tianming's left arm and cooed in a sweet, sugary voice:

"Brother Tianming, please don't be angry, okay? Xiao Hongchen must have something wrong with his brain, which is why he was spouting such nonsense... If you're still really upset... how about you just hit me a few times to vent? But remember to be gentle, okay? I'm afraid of pain~"

As soon as these words left her lips, Xiao Hongchen rubbed his eyes in disbelief, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.

What had he just heard?

Was that deathly sound really coming from the sister he knew?

Were those coquettish words something Meng Hongchen could actually say?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Something was wrong!

Something was at least twelve times more wrong than it should be!

After carefully reviewing his memories of the Meng Hongchen he knew, Xiao Hongchen reached a conclusion that, while hard to believe, he had no choice but to accept:

The foolish sister he had known all his life had likely been possessed!

Ye Guyi was practically grinding her teeth to dust.

The moment Meng Hongchen hooked her arm through Xu Tianming's, Ye Guyi's eyes widened, staring daggers at their linked arms.

Though she didn't yet understand the nature of romance, this scene made her feel inexplicably uncomfortable, and a single thought kept repeating in her mind:

Let go! Let go right now! Young Master, hurry and pull her hand away! Why should she be allowed to get so close? I was clearly here first...

Within the Mental Sea of Consciousness.

Even the cheerful Mavuika was deeply shocked by Meng Hongchen:

"My goodness, are the young people in this world always this bold?"

However, Columbina was focused on a different issue:

"Mavuika, do you think Tianming likes being approached by girls like this?"

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

"Because I feel that if Tianming didn't like it, this girl would never have had the chance to hook her arm through his."

Following Columbina's line of reasoning, Mavuika fell silent.

It really did seem to be the case!

"While what you say makes some sense, I think we should just watch and see."

At the same time, Xu Tianming tilted his head to look at his arm, then carefully felt the softness pressed against it.

It was hard to imagine that while Meng Hongchen wasn't very old, her physical development was already so advanced!

No, now was not the time to be thinking about such things!

Forcing himself to clear his mind of thoughts that shouldn't be there, Xu Tianming didn't even glance at Xiao Hongchen. Instead, following what Columbina had said earlier, he pointed his finger toward the tip of the Soul Tool Sword:

"First, this spot. If I'm not mistaken, when Brother Xuan engraved the soul array here, he intentionally applied two parts more force. While this wouldn't cause the array to fail, when activated in actual combat, the array's response time would be about a second slower than a perfect one. Am I correct?"

Xuan Ziwen had expected the scene to devolve into a petty squabble between two youths, but he never imagined Xu Tianming would steer the conversation back to the right track—and be spot-on with his assessment!

He was deeply shocked, his gaze toward Xu Tianming filled with astonishment:

This young man with such an extraordinary air had actually spotted the minor, intentional error he had made in such a short time!

One had to know, this was a test question he had specifically designed to stump Xiao Hongchen; even a veteran fourth-level Soul Engineer might not have been able to see through it, even after witnessing the entire process!

A few days ago, Xiao Hongchen, the Hall Master of Mingde Hall, had requested that he take the Hongchen siblings on as his personal disciples.

However, Xuan Ziwen was solely focused on researching civilian Soul Tool technology, and furthermore, his philosophy did not align with that of Jing Hongchen, so he had no desire to agree to this request.

Yet, Jing Hongchen held great power, and given his status as the Hall Master of Mingde Hall, Xuan Ziwen had to show him some respect; after all, even though Mingde Hall was primarily driven by scientific research, it was impossible to completely ignore social conventions.

But he had one condition.

He would accept the Hongchen siblings as his personal disciples, but the requirement was that the two siblings had to pass a trial he had specifically designed. If they could not pass, it would prove they were not suited to be his students, and he could not be blamed for that.

As one of the chief researchers within Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen could not force Xuan Ziwen too far, so after hearing this requirement, he only pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.

And today, it just so happened to be the day the Hongchen siblings were to undergo his trial.

Because Meng Hongchen was slightly younger and preferred play over work, the trial was merely a formality for her, and she voluntarily gave up after only a short while.

As for Xiao Hongchen.

He had completed the previous basic tests quite well, but unfortunately, when the intensity was truly ramped up, his performance was less than satisfactory.

Perhaps compared to the average person, Xiao Hongchen's talent could already be considered high.

It was a pity that, given his status, the talent he could currently display was completely insufficient.

Coupled with the issue of their conflicting stances, it ultimately led Xuan Ziwen to make the firm decision to give up on taking him as a disciple.

And the way he chose to reject him was by letting him observe the Soul Tool Sword he had crafted himself.