Friend

For some reason, Ye Luochen couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

He couldn't help but ask again:

"Yes, I understand that you couldn't stop your brother with words and chose to use force instead.

But why do you keep provoking him? Doesn't provoking him only serve to bring out his villainous persona even more?"

Meng Hongchen provided an answer to Ye Luochen's question almost immediately.

However, the answer was one that truly made it difficult for Ye Luochen to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, but don't you think it's fun?"

Hearing Meng Hongchen's words, the corner of Ye Luochen's mouth twitched, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to say anything else.

Good grief, so the "fun" she mentioned at the beginning wasn't a joke after all.

Thinking of this, Ye Luochen could only shift the topic and ask again:

"And your brother—although I generally understand why he acts this way now, I have to say, why do I get the feeling that he actually enjoys it?"

"Yeah, I noticed that too, and I asked him about it. He said he thinks it's pretty fun as well."

Meng Hongchen gave another answer that was hard to take seriously.

However, relying on his astonishing patience, Ye Luochen managed to hold it together.

He could see it now: neither of these siblings was a normal person.

The brother chose to present himself as a villain to protect his sister, but over time, he miraculously began to enjoy it, becoming a truly arrogant genius who perfectly embodied the role.

The sister, out of concern for her brother, chose to use force to stop him from suffering on her behalf, but over time, she also miraculously began to enjoy it, even going so far as to actively provoke him just to get an excuse to fight.

While it was clear that there was still deep affection between the siblings, it really was a case of "birds of a feather flock together."

These two were truly a perfect match.

"So, do you understand now why my brother and I are willing to hang out with you?"

Hearing Meng Hongchen's words, Ye Luochen was momentarily stunned.

He didn't quite understand what this had to do with what she had just said.

Seeing that Ye Luochen seemed confused, Meng Hongchen smiled:

"Because you're a genius too, and you're also a 'connected' person. We're all on the same path."

Upon hearing this, Ye Luochen's first instinct was to refute it.

He was a normal person; how could he possibly be the same as this pair of weirdos?

But as the words reached his lips, Ye Luochen realized with a sense of sorrow that he couldn't actually refute it.

Making rapid progress in the way of soul tools, going from zero to a Level 3 soul master in less than a month—calling him a genius was no exaggeration.

Entering Mingde Hall as soon as he enrolled and receiving the attention of the Hall Master along with a massive influx of resources—calling him a "connected" person was also perfectly accurate.

In the eyes of others, he and the Hongchen siblings were indeed the same kind of people.

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. The truth is, it's because you didn't look at us through colored glasses like everyone else."

Meng Hongchen's voice continued.

"You might not believe it, but you're the only peer my brother and I have met in all these years who is like this.

No alienation, no awe, no sycophancy—you treat us completely normally and as equals."

Ye Luochen didn't refute this.

Because that was indeed how he acted.

In his view, dwelling on those messy, complicated things was far less meaningful than spending two hours focused on cultivation.

"Alright, it's getting late. I should head back."

Meng Hongchen clapped her hands and stood up.

"I've told you so much, so from now on, we're friends, okay?"

Hearing this, Ye Luochen nodded with a smile.

He hadn't brought it up while listening to Meng Hongchen, but in truth, he hadn't had any real friends for many years.

The so-called friends of his past had revealed their true colors during the incident at Sea God Lake.

They were all driven by profit.

Once he lost his value, he would be cast aside.

Although this pair of siblings had bizarre thought processes, it was precisely because of that that they wouldn't befriend him for the sake of profit.

This kind of relationship was, in fact, much purer.

After parting ways, Ye Luochen returned to his dormitory and resumed his cultivation.

Seven days passed in this state of cultivation.

It was not until the morning of the eighth day that Ye Luochen finally exited his meditative state.

After sensing his own condition, Ye Luochen nodded with satisfaction.

His soul power had grown even more robust, and a breakthrough to level forty-three was just around the corner.

His spirit, energy, and essence were all at their absolute peak.

When he joined the team last time, Lin Yuan had mentioned that they would soon be departing for the competition.

Today was that day of departure.

This tournament was being held in the Star Luo Empire, thousands of miles away from the Sun Moon Empire.

Given such a daunting distance, even with the accompanying teachers, it was difficult to guarantee that no accidents would occur.

It was precisely for this reason that Ye Luochen had spared no effort over the past seven days to adjust his condition to its absolute peak.

Better safe than sorry.

Upon arriving at the designated location, many people were already waiting there.

Most of them were faces Ye Luochen had never seen before.

Seeing Ye Luochen appear, many cast their gazes toward him, but quickly looked away.

"These are the official team members for this tournament."

Meng Hongchen popped up from somewhere and explained to Ye Luochen.

"The one on the far left is Ma Rulong, a sixth-year student."

Hearing this, Ye Luochen raised his eyebrows slightly.

Being in the sixth year meant this person was already a level-six soul engineer, and by extension, his soul power level was above sixty.

The fact that he could compete meant he was under twenty years old.

A soul emperor under the age of twenty—it seemed he had underestimated the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy last time.

"Are all the official team members at the same cultivation level as him?"

Ye Luochen couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not."

Meng Hongchen shook her head.

"He is the captain and the only one in the sixth year who meets the entry requirements; the others are all in the fifth year."

Hearing this, Ye Luochen nodded slightly.

"So he is the captain."

He had just been about to say that if all the official team members were like this guy—a soul emperor and a level-six soul engineer—then there would be no need for their reserve team to go at all.

They could just sit back and wait for the championship to be handed to them.

As he spoke, Ye Luochen thought of another question:

"Then, who is the captain of our reserve team?"

Meng Hongchen said, "My brother, of course. How could he miss out on something that lets him show off?"

"Uh..."

Ye Luochen didn't know how to respond for a moment.

After their last interaction, he had no idea how to evaluate the peculiar way this pair of siblings got along.

He could only change the subject and ask:

"Then how are we traveling to the Star Luo Empire?"

"By using flight-type soul tools, of course," Meng Hongchen replied, looking a bit puzzled.

"Whenever the distance is long, we always use flight-type soul tools to travel. Isn't that common knowledge?"

As she spoke, Meng Hongchen suddenly realized something, glanced at the level-three soul engineer badge pinned to Ye Luochen's chest, and then had a sudden epiphany.

"You wouldn't happen to..."

"Not have a flight-type soul tool, would you?"