Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen

"Too rare? Hard to believe?"

"With me, Xiao Hongchen, here, how could there still be—"

Before the handsome young man could finish, the girl beside him with long wine-red hair slapped a hand over his mouth.

"That's enough. I knew you were about to start showing off your own situation again."

"Meng Hongchen, what are you doing?!"

The handsome young man forcefully broke free and turned to berate her.

"Keeping you from bragging all day, obviously."

"Honestly, you're such a headache. Teacher, please continue. Don't mind my brother."

As she spoke, the girl slapped her hand over again, firmly covering the young man's mouth once more.

"Uh... hehe. Then, let's continue. Continue."

The teacher smiled awkwardly from the podium.

"That's more or less the situation with student Ye Luochen. Just as Xiao Hongchen said, everyone should look after him more in the future and help student Luochen integrate into our big group as soon as possible."

"All right, student Luochen. Return to your seat first."

Though the interruption had left him somewhat confused, Ye Luochen still nodded.

He then returned to his seat and sat down.

However, his gaze could not help drifting toward the young man and young woman who were still tussling with each other.

From what had been said earlier, the two should have been siblings.

Of course, that was not what Ye Luochen cared about. It was their names.

Xiao Hongchen. Meng Hongchen.

If he remembered correctly, the master of Mingde Hall whom he had met only yesterday...

Was called Jing Hongchen, wasn't he?

Coupled with how the young man had silenced everyone with just a few words earlier...

Those siblings surely had a close connection to the master of Mingde Hall.

Looks like I'm not the only one in this class with connections.

After the interruption, class resumed, and the teacher began the regular lesson.

Time passed until noon approached and the dismissal bell rang.

Only after the teacher announced the end of class did the classroom become lively again.

Quite a few students gathered in twos and threes, though it was unclear whether they were discussing the lesson or the morning's little incident.

Ye Luochen, meanwhile, remained seated.

He stared at the few marks in his notebook, lost in thought.

Strictly speaking, they could not even be called words.

The page was mostly filled with randomly drawn symbols.

Of course, that was not because Ye Luochen had failed to pay attention or take notes seriously.

He had always been extremely serious about anything that could help improve his strength.

But unfortunately, he had not understood a single sentence of what the teacher had explained.

Just then, a figure stopped beside his desk.

Ye Luochen looked up and met a pair of blue eyes.

The visitor was none other than the handsome young man, Xiao Hongchen.

After glancing at Ye Luochen's notebook, which had nothing to do with the lesson, Xiao Hongchen seemed slightly taken aback and asked in confusion,

"Why didn't you take any notes at all?"

Ye Luochen nodded frankly.

"I couldn't understand it, so I couldn't take notes."

"You couldn't understand any of it?"

"None of it."

Xiao Hongchen's brows rose slightly.

Even with his temperament, he could not help finding this somewhat novel.

"Then what were you doing sitting here all morning?"

"Listening to the lesson."

"Did you understand it?"

"No."

"..."

Just as Xiao Hongchen was rendered somewhat speechless by Ye Luochen's reply,

the wine-red-haired girl, Meng Hongchen, who had appeared beside them at some point, once again slapped her hand down solidly.

"There you go again. He already said he just started learning about Soul Tools, yet you're still making him feel bad."

"Having a brother like you is a stain on my reputation, Meng Hongchen's reputation."

"Shut up."

Xiao Hongchen forcefully broke free and shot his sister an irritated glare.

"Watch what you say, Meng Hongchen."

"What do you mean, I'm making him feel bad? I was just curious about the new student's situation."

"Though his knowledge of Soul Tools does seem rather weak at the moment, at an age close to yours and mine, he already has Soul Power approaching Rank 40.

That already makes him one of the few people in the academy who can spark even a little of my interest."

Xiao Hongchen was answered by another powerful, utterly unrestrained slap from his sister.

"You're incredible, Xiao Hongchen. Showing off without even realizing it again."

"Hit me again and I'll get mad!"

After breaking free once more, Xiao Hongchen turned and snapped at her before looking back at Ye Luochen.

"Ye Luochen, right?"

"Yes."

"Let's get acquainted."

Xiao Hongchen held out his hand.

"My name is Xiao Hongchen."

"If there's anything you don't understand in the future, you can ask me."

Ye Luochen was slightly stunned by this, but he still extended his own hand.

"Thank you for looking out for me."

After watching Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen leave,

several students who had been watching from the sidelines immediately gathered around him.

"Student Luochen, do you... know the Hongchen siblings?"

A male student could not help asking.

Ye Luochen shook his head.

"We just met."

"You just met?"

The few exchanged looks, clearly finding that hard to believe.

After all, they knew Xiao Hongchen's usual personality very well.

That guy was not someone who liked taking the initiative to make friends, much less specifically coming over to greet someone.

"Your luck is really good."

Another student sighed.

"There aren't many people in the entire academy whom Xiao Hongchen would take the initiative to speak to."

Hearing this, Ye Luochen's heart stirred slightly.

Though he had already guessed as much, he still asked,

"Is he famous?"

The moment those words came out, the people around him wore strange expressions.

"You don't know who he is?"

"I don't."

Ye Luochen honestly shook his head.

"..."

The few fell silent for a moment, then looked at him as though he were some kind of monster.

"That's Xiao Hongchen."

"The grandson of the master of Mingde Hall."

"The academy's publicly acknowledged number one genius."

"At fifteen, he already has the cultivation of a Soul King. I've also heard that he's begun preparing for the Level 5 Soul Engineer examination."

At this point, the student's face was filled with envy and emotion.

"Someone like that lives in a completely different world from us."

The others nodded in agreement, clearly fully accepting that statement.

Upon hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed through Ye Luochen's eyes as well.

Fifteen years old, with Soul Power above Rank 50.

A Level 5 Soul Engineer.

That kind of talent was truly astonishing.

Even in Shrek, which was renowned for gathering geniuses, it would absolutely have been considered remarkable.

No wonder he had given off such an utterly natural confidence when he spoke earlier.

Just then, someone beside him asked curiously,

"By the way, student Luochen, how old are you this year?"

"Fifteen."

Ye Luochen answered.

"You're only fifteen too? So young?"

The student froze for a moment.

"I remember that after you introduced yourself, didn't the teacher say your Soul Power Level was close to Rank 40?"

As soon as those words fell, the few people who had been chatting noisily all fell silent.

Several pairs of eyes turned toward Ye Luochen at once.

"That's right, close to Rank 40."

Ye Luochen answered truthfully.

"Hiss... fifteen years old, and close to Rank 40."

"I thought we were going to become good brothers, but now it seems..."

"You're not from the same world as us either!"