Pope's Edict! Please Keep Reading! Please Vote!

"Is Brother Hong really not going to school with me?"

Moonlight filtered through the gauze window into the room, while the shadows of trees outside cast faint dark shapes across the wooden floorboards.

The violet-eyed girl, somewhat mentally exhausted, set down the yellow soul ring in her hands and quietly rested her head on the shoulder of the little boy beside her, murmuring softly.

Chen Hong broke off his meditation and lowered his head slightly to look at the little girl leaning against his small shoulder. A flicker of mixed emotion passed through his eyes, deep as the night.

How was his mother so incredible???

"I'm not going. I have more important things to do." Chen Hong refused expressionlessly.

Ye Lingling was returning to Heaven Dou City, far from Suotuo City. Silves Kingdom and Haagen-Dazs Kingdom lay between them, and she would have to pass through Jiajing Pass to finally reach Heaven Dou City.

Chen Hong had not even gone to Spirit City, which was much closer to Suotuo City. There was even less chance of him going to the unfamiliar Heaven Dou City.

"But if I get the chance, I might make a trip to Heaven Dou City. I'll come see you then."

Thinking of his plans ahead, Chen Hong explained this to Ye Lingling.

"Then let's make a pinky promise!" Ye Lingling held her little finger out before Chen Hong. In the darkness, an unusual gleam flashed through the girl's pale violet eyes.

"..." Chen Hong looked at the little finger before him and hesitated for a moment. He was not sure when he would reach Heaven Dou City, and he truly did not dare make a private promise with the girl.

"Fine, pinky promise." Chen Hong extended his little finger and hooked it with Ye Lingling's, smiling. "I'm planning to build more roads in this world. Once the road from Suotuo City reaches Heaven Dou City, I'll come see you. How about that?"

"Who knows when Brother Hong will ever come! If you don't come, I'll come find you after I graduate!" The girl with neat short hair and straight bangs rolled her eyes at the boy, then suddenly turned and gave him a gentle hug.

Chen Hong could feel the little girl pressed against his chest rapidly heating up. Her pale, tender earlobes seemed stained with a peony-red blush.

"Brother Hong, cultivate hard! I'm leaving!"

The girl gave Chen Hong a light hug, then ran off without looking back, her face flushed red. Chen Hong was left lying somewhat blankly beneath the covers, his dull, unfocused gaze fixed on the bright moon outside the window.

What was that supposed to mean?

Chen Hong slowly asked himself inwardly.

Buzz~

The yellow soul ring behind Chen Hong emitted a soft glow. Leaning by the window, Chen Hong silently watched the moonlit galaxy outside, where the moon shone bright and the stars were few.

From a rational perspective, this is a feudal, backward, ignorant behavior that ought to be resisted.

Reason returned to Chen Hong's mind. Looking at the moonlight outside, he thought that if this world had cigarettes, he should light one for himself. He would smoke half, the wind would smoke half, and Ning Lu would smoke him all night.

Let nature take its course. Still, I really need to spread the Sage's radiance across the land as soon as possible, so children in this world stop thinking about strange things and focus on studying hard and improving every day.

Chen Hong leaned against the window and watched outside until the moon sank, the stars faded, and the rising sun emerged. Only after a distant carriage slowly vanished into the orange-red dawn did he come back to himself, rising and heading for the Chen Family Ironworks.

Over the past few days, Chen Hong had been working on something: upgrading and restructuring his father's Blacksmith Shop, establishing the Technology Guild, and producing corresponding Soul-Powered Products using the Soul Engine as a prototype.

Blacksmithing? Cold weapons?

That sort of low-end manufacturing could be left to the Clear Sky Sect and Gengxin City. Their Technology Guild was going to enter high-tech industries.

There had already been progress at Baiyun Mining Area. Spirit Hall would take sixty percent of the profits, Heaven Dou Empire thirty percent, and the remaining ten percent would go to the Technology Guild.

Furthermore, in recognition of the Technology Guild, Spirit Hall had granted Chen Hong something he found rather unbelievable.

"What? I went to great lengths to get this for you. What, not satisfied?"

Inside the shop now renamed the Technology Guild, Hu Liena stood with a group of Spirit Hall Spirit Masters, smiling at the somewhat stunned boy before her. He held a token in his hand, bearing a Martial Soul Pattern composed of six images: a sword, a hammer, a crown, an incomplete human figure, a dragon, and a chrysanthemum.

Pope's Edict! Also known as the Six Emperors' Edict!

Anyone holding this token possessed the prestige and authority of a Spirit Hall Elder, as though the Pope himself had arrived!

"Uh..." Chen Hong looked at the Pope's Edict in his hand and felt as though it were burning hot.

"Isn't this a little too much? Saint... Hu Liena, isn't this thing too precious?" Chen Hong stared at the Pope's Edict in disbelief, his gaze constantly shifting between the token and Hu Liena.

"Hehe~" Seeing Chen Hong's expression, a trace of smugness flashed through Hu Liena's eyes. She chuckled softly. "Don't get the wrong idea! This is only being lent to your guild! If your guild fails to strive for progress in the future, then I will personally represent Spirit Hall in taking this token back!"

This Pope's Edict had not appeared out of nowhere, nor had Spirit Hall suddenly issued it. Hu Liena had persuaded her teacher and borrowed it from her.

To sell himself at a good price, Chen Hong had naturally explained to Hu Liena his subsequent plans for using the Soul Engine—building roads!

When Hu Liena returned to Spirit City and told the current Pope, Bibi Dong, all about Chen Hong's Soul Engine and the later plans of this genius young Soul Tool creator, her teacher had clearly been stunned for a moment. After considering it for a while, she highly praised the Technology Guild's development philosophy and, in accordance with Hu Liena's request, lent one of her Pope's Edicts to the Technology Guild.

"This really can put the Technology Guild in a better position. Thank you, Hu Liena." After thinking it over, Chen Hong felt that while the Technology Guild already had the implicit support of the Blacksmith Association, Spirit Hall, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, having a Pope's Edict was not a bad thing. Moreover, the Pope's Edict was granted to the Technology Guild as an organization rather than to an individual. In effect, Spirit Hall would be endorsing the Technology Guild's future actions, making certain measures easier to carry out.

"Don't thank me so soon. Spirit Hall has demands!" Hu Liena interrupted Chen Hong, a shrewd gleam flashing through her eyes. She said softly, "We want your Soul Engine Technical Schematics!"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone present—whether the newly recruited Technology Guild employees or the Spirit Masters from Suotuo City's Main Spirit Hall who had come to lend support—went blank for a moment. The scene instantly fell silent.

Hu Liena looked steadily at Chen Hong. Spirit Hall could not remain at another's mercy forever, and that was why they had treated the Technology Guild so well.

Because this was a transaction.

Thanks to Book Friend 6595, Li Zhushen, Book Friend 8264, Beef Sauce Noodles, Book Friend 4600, Northern Expedition · Xu Fengnian, and Book Friend 5552 for the monthly votes! Heart gesture!