Joining the Team

"There is still too little recorded information regarding gods.

I only felt that the two evolutions of your martial soul bear some resemblance to the pattern of a god's trial, which is why I formed this conjecture."

"But a conjecture is just a conjecture; until it is verified by facts, you should just listen to it and leave it at that."

Jing Hongchen reminded him.

"You must not get caught up in the word 'god'."

Hearing Jing Hongchen's words, Ye Luochen finally snapped back to reality.

He let out a long sigh and nodded.

He figured Jing Hongchen must have been worried that he would be overwhelmed by the previous conjecture, truly casting himself in the role of a "chosen one" and focusing all his energy on that from now on.

But Ye Luochen understood this logic well enough.

Not to mention that he didn't feel like he had been chosen by any god, nor had any god manifested a miracle.

Even if there were, the focus would still remain on himself.

Even if a god's trial truly existed, one would still have to be capable enough to pass it, right?

Seeing Ye Luochen quickly recover his composure from the earlier shock, Jing Hongchen nodded in satisfaction and then spoke:

"Alright, treat today's conversation as mere amusement. Focus on your cultivation, and if your martial soul shows any further anomalies, report to me immediately."

After the interlude, Ye Luochen returned to his dormitory.

Without the slightest delay, he immediately entered a state of cultivation.

Gods or no gods, it was all too ethereal—intangible and unreachable.

The evolution of his martial soul was also just a guessed reason; without further verification, he didn't know if there would be another chance, making it equally ethereal, intangible, and unreachable.

The only thing he could feel with certainty was his own diligent cultivation.

The increase in soul power could never be faked; it was something that acted tangibly upon him and could be clearly felt.

Since that was the case, he would cultivate with all his heart!

This cultivation session lasted for three days.

Since Xuan Ziwen had plunged back into his work on the assembly line and specifically warned him not to come to the research lab until a few backup lines were completed, Ye Luochen didn't head to Mingde Hall.

With no other arrangements, Ye Luochen spent almost all his time in these three days on cultivation, aside from going to the cafeteria for meals.

The innate soul power, which had increased by another level to reach six, certainly did not disappoint Ye Luochen.

In just three days, he felt that his soul power, which had only reached level forty a few days ago, was already showing faint signs of surging.

He feared it wouldn't be long before he had the chance to break through to level forty-one.

Although it couldn't compare to his previous experience of breaking through two levels in a single night, this speed was absolutely terrifying.

However, today, Ye Luochen chose not to continue his cultivation.

Instead, he walked out of the dormitory and headed toward the teaching building for the first time in a while.

Because today was the day Jing Hongchen had arranged for him to join the reserve team of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.

By the time Ye Luochen arrived at the designated location, quite a few people had already gathered.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were among them.

After a few days of rest, the Hongchen siblings no longer showed their previous weakness.

At least on the surface, they looked no different than they had in the past.

Xiao Hongchen remained indifferent to everything around him, his head lowered as he focused on fiddling with his white, jade-like hands.

Meng Hongchen, meanwhile, was constantly rubbing her palms together, staring at Xiao Hongchen, ready to strike him with a thunderous blow the moment her brother started acting pretentious.

"Here so early?"

Ye Luochen walked up and greeted the Hongchen siblings.

If there had been some distance and unfamiliarity between Ye Luochen and the Hongchen siblings before, despite their daily contact, that sense of distance had basically vanished after participating in the soul-hunting mission.

After all, they had forged a bond through life-and-death experiences.

Hearing Ye Luochen's voice, the Hongchen siblings finally looked up.

Jing Hongchen had already told them that Ye Luochen would be joining the reserve team with them.

Therefore, seeing Ye Luochen appear here, the two siblings were not surprised at all.

However, Xiao Hongchen's reaction left Ye Luochen feeling somewhat puzzled.

After lifting his head, he did not look directly at Ye Luochen, but instead cast a haughty, sweeping glance around the room before shaking his head.

Only then did he finally turn his gaze toward Ye Luochen, who had greeted him, and gave a slight nod in response.

Before Ye Luochen could figure out why Xiao Hongchen's behavior was so baffling and incomprehensible, he saw Meng Hongchen's eyes light up, as if she had discovered a treasure.

Without hesitation, she delivered a long-awaited slap, landing it squarely on the face of Xiao Hongchen, who had returned to fiddling with his hands.

Stunned by his sister's sudden strike, Xiao Hongchen froze for a moment before his face instantly flushed a deep red.

"Meng Hongchen, are you looking for a beating!"

However, Meng Hongchen ignored her brother, landed another slap, and said with a grin to Ye Luochen:

"You're finally here."

"Let me tell you, my brother is such a poser. Did you see his little routine just now? He thinks these other people aren't even qualified to join the reserve team with him. Only you have earned his approval."

Beside them, hearing Meng Hongchen's words, Xiao Hongchen wiped the slap from his face, veins bulging on his neck as he roared:

"I didn't say a single word, yet you're hitting me based on your own imagination?"

"Meng Hongchen, I think you've truly lost your mind!"

The only response Xiao Hongchen received was another heavy, forceful blow from his sister.

"You didn't say it, but everything you wanted to say was written all over your face. Was I wrong about anything I just said?"

Watching the scene unfold, Ye Luochen's mouth twitched slightly, and he ultimately chose to ignore it.

He was already accustomed to the way these siblings interacted.

In this situation, saying nothing and pretending not to see anything was the best choice.

Moving past the bickering Hongchen siblings, Ye Luochen cast his gaze toward the others present.

Aside from Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, there were four others wearing student uniforms.

The reserve team consisted of seven people in total, so these must be the remaining four members besides the three of them.

Not far away, a person dressed in a teacher's uniform was walking slowly toward them.

It looked like the instructor in charge of the reserve team.

When he saw the person clearly, Ye Luochen's eyebrows shot up.

He was very familiar with this man; it was Lin Yuan, the director of the academy's admissions office who had been in charge of his entrance examination.

Ye Luochen recognized him, and naturally, the other man saw Ye Luochen as well.

As he drew closer, Lin Yuan immediately smiled and said:

"Long time no see, Luochen."

"How about that? I bet you didn't expect that I would be the one leading the reserve team for this tournament."