One Year Later

Unlike her usual bold, lively self, Xu Tianzhen wore a formal princess's gown today, its hem falling all the way to her ankles. Even her hair had been neatly tied up.

Clearly, the servants had gone out of their way to dress her before she came.

Even so, the sparkle in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Xu Guoren looked at her and deliberately put on a stern face.

"Do you know why I summoned you?"

"I do."

Xu Tianzhen lowered her head, her voice so obedient it hardly sounded like her.

"Because of Xiao Hongchen."

"Then tell me yourself: was what you did appropriate?"

Xu Tianzhen fell silent for two seconds, then answered honestly:

"Not really."

"What was inappropriate about it?"

"Confessing my feelings in public..."

She spoke softly:

"It was unbecoming of the imperial family."

Xu Guoren fixed his gaze on her, his tone turning more somber.

"You are a princess of the empire, yet you confessed to a young man in front of thousands of people and made the whole Ming Capital talk about it. What does that do to the imperial family's dignity?"

Xu Tianzhen pressed her lips together.

"Father is right to reprimand me. Your daughter knows she was wrong."

She lowered her head, unusually honest for once.

But Xu Guoren knew his daughter too well.

Just as he'd expected.

After only a few seconds of silence, Xu Tianzhen couldn't resist sneaking a look up at her father.

When she saw that although Xu Guoren looked serious, he wasn't truly angry, she immediately found a little more courage.

"But, Father..."

She edged forward slightly.

"Your daughter really does like him."

Xu Guoren said nothing.

Xu Tianzhen bit her lip, then added in a quiet voice:

"It wasn't just a passing fancy."

The scene from that day on the field involuntarily surfaced in her mind again.

That liquid-metal arm, burning with heat.

The strange sensation that had run through her body when she was restrained.

And Xiao Hongchen's commanding, mismatched eyes as he pulled her closer.

At the thought of it, she felt heat rising all over her body.

"He's different from everyone else. Your daughter... just likes him."

"Father loves me most. Please say yes..."

Looking at her, Xu Guoren was barely managing to keep a straight face.

Of course he knew Xu Tianzhen was sincere.

He also knew that once this girl set her mind on something, not even ten Soul Beasts could drag her away from it.

Besides,

after Kong Deming's assessment, he had already completely changed his mind.

Still, when it came to this sort of thing, the emperor couldn't be the one to make the decision outright.

Otherwise, this little girl would be so pleased with herself that her tail might reach the sky.

So he deliberately cleared his throat and resumed his stern expression.

"Liking someone is one thing. Rules are another. The two must not be confused."

Xu Tianzhen immediately stood properly.

"Your daughter understands."

"Good."

Xu Guoren slowly lifted his teacup, his tone finally softening a little.

"I'm not an unreasonable man."

Xu Tianzhen's ears perked up at once.

"One year from now, the Continent-Wide Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament will be held."

Xu Guoren said calmly:

"If the Sun Moon Team wins the championship, I'll grant your request."

Xu Tianzhen's eyes lit up in an instant.

Xu Guoren raised a hand to rein in her excitement again.

"But you'll have to keep yourself in check this year. No more carrying on the way you did before."

"Don't disgrace the imperial family. Do you understand?"

"I understand!"

Xu Tianzhen answered at once.

The way she could barely contain her joy gave Xu Guoren a headache.

He shook his head helplessly and tapped her forehead with a finger.

"You're this happy already. Aren't you afraid people will laugh at you?"

Xu Tianzhen immediately grinned and leaned toward him, gently hugging his arm.

"What's the point of pretending in front of Father? Father's the best."

"Save your flattery."

Xu Guoren sounded annoyed, but a hint of a smile still crept into his eyes.

Still, he knew perfectly well that his condition was practically the same as agreeing outright.

If Xiao Hongchen really was as formidable as Kong Deming had said, then the championship a year from now would likely belong to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy anyway.

A year passed in the blink of an eye. The Continent-Wide Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament would begin next week.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during that time. The one thing worth mentioning was that Mingde Hall sent people to comb through the thousand-year-old Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bears in the outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest. After killing the third one, they finally obtained a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Palm Bone. Congratulations were in order.

As for the Soul Rings, naturally, none went to waste. In the time he'd had to spare from researching Humanoid Soul Tools, Xuan Ziwen had somehow managed to invent a Soul Ring Storage Device as well. What a monster.

Over the past year, Xiao Hongchen's Soul Power had increased by five levels, reaching level fifty-nine.

It wasn't much, but considering he'd devoted most of his energy to developing Humanoid Soul Tools, it was understandable.

His work on Humanoid Soul Tools had gone quite well. Recently, he'd completed one entirely on his own, using metal of Thousand Refinement rank two or higher as the raw material.

Once the high-ranked Soul King put it on, his strength was equivalent to that of a Soul Saint without a Martial Soul Avatar.

He'd originally planned to make a custom Humanoid Soul Tool for Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi as well, but once they learned how much of his energy it took to refine Thousand Refinement metal, they declined.

"We'll be satisfied just watching big brother sweep through the Soul Master Tournament. We can get ours later," Meng Hongchen had said at the time.

Sigh, at least they knew how to be considerate now.

Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi had both broken through to level fifty a little over a month ago. Jing Hongchen had taken them to hunt for Soul Rings.

Meng Hongchen absorbed the Ice-and-Fire-type Soul Beast she'd had her eye on from the start and gained the Soul Skill "Ice Fire Poison Dragon Drill." It filled in a decent close-range offensive option for her.

Ye Guyi, meanwhile, killed a Radiant Unicorn with a cultivation of over fifteen thousand years and gained her fifth Soul Skill—Holy Sword.

When she activated the Soul Skill, she condensed her sacred Soul Power into a massive golden Holy Sword, greatly increasing her attack power and the strength of her holy attribute. Every swing of the sword carried a fierce purifying sword arc.

More importantly, Holy Sword could be perfectly combined with her second Soul Skill, Holy Spirit Slash. While in the Holy Sword state, using Holy Spirit Slash multiplied the attack's area, power, and holy energy. With the boost from Radiant Holy Body, the move's power could reach the level of a Soul Emperor.

Speaking of which, today was the day the Main Selection Team and Reserve Team of Sun Moon Academy met to exchange ideas.

Trial Grounds.

In the middle of the field, the group was divided into two sides.

Six Reserve Team members stood on the left, and seven Main Selection Team members stood on the right.

"Xiao, you're late."

Jing Hongchen, standing in the middle, frowned.

"Sorry. Helping an old lady across the street took a while."

Xiao Hongchen hurried over and slipped into the middle of the line on the left, standing beside Meng Hongchen and Ye Guyi.

This was the Reserve Team, whose members were generally under fifteen years old.

"You'd help someone across the street? I wouldn't believe it if you swore on your life."

Meng Hongchen poked him in the waist.

"Don't say that. When you're an old lady, I'll definitely help you across."

"Although you may already know one another, let's still introduce ourselves properly."

Jing Hongchen clapped his hands, interrupting their hushed exchange.