The Emperor of Yankang Kingdom!

But now, Sword Douluo Chen Xin had merely heard two pointers from that Yankang Imperial Preceptor, and he had broken through that heavenly chasm on the spot!

"Good! Good! Good!"

Beside him, Bone Douluo Gu Rong also shouted "good" three times in a row. He slapped a palm onto the load-bearing pillar next to him, shaking dust from the roof of the great hall in a rustling fall.

"That old bastard has finally run into a true god this time! That Imperial Preceptor barely even moved a finger, yet he could break that old bastard's ninth soul skill."

"With that kind of strength, who on our Douluo Continent could do it?"

Gu Rong grinned wide, laughing with incomparable satisfaction.

"The most important thing is that the Imperial Preceptor is willing to give him guidance!"

"Once that old bastard learns that miraculous sword art with mathematics in it, who will our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still have to fear?"

At the same time, in Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Bibi Dong sat upright on the high throne, her peerlessly beautiful face so dark it looked ready to drip water.

The purple-gold scepter in her hand creaked under her grip, and a vast wave of soul power surged through the hall, pressing down on the few red-robed cardinals below until they could barely breathe.

"Rank ninety-seven..."

Bibi Dong gritted her silver teeth, her voice filled with undisguised killing intent and jealousy.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had always been a thorn in Spirit Hall's side.

Now, not only had Chen Xin's strength greatly increased, even more terrifyingly, he had come into contact with the cultivation core of that so-called "higher-dimensional world"!

The spatial changes, the movement of the stars, and even the theory of combining sword art with mathematics that Yankang Imperial Preceptor had mentioned.

This was unheard of on Douluo Continent.

"Pass down my order."

Bibi Dong coldly swept her gaze over the people below the steps.

"Immediately summon every theoretical master in Spirit Hall. Record every single sentence, every single word that Imperial Preceptor said on the Sky Screen for me, without missing a single one!"

"Go study that mathematics or whatever it is! I want to see exactly what kind of path it is to integrate mathematics into soul skills!"

On the other side, at Shrek Academy.

The sunlight over the training field was still bright and warm, but the Shrek Seven Devils and the teachers all felt a chill run through their bodies.

Tang San stood among the crowd, his brows knitted into a tight knot.

In his mind, he kept replaying the single finger Yankang Imperial Preceptor had used to break Chen Xin's ninth soul skill.

It had been too easy.

As simple as pinching an ant to death.

"Teacher, did you understand it?" Tang San turned his head and looked at Yu Xiaogang beside him.

Yu Xiaogang was holding a notebook in his hand, but the tip of his pen rested on the paper, unable to write even a single word.

He sighed, then shook his head bitterly.

"I didn't understand."

Yu Xiaogang's tone was filled with a deep sense of helplessness.

"Imperial Preceptor said Senior Chen Xin's sword was too rigid, that he only knew how to chop and slash in straight lines."

"But isn't that exactly how the soul skills on our Douluo Continent are released?"

"Lock onto the target, output soul power, release the skill. It has been this way for tens of thousands of years."

Yu Xiaogang raised his head and looked at the Imperial Preceptor in flowing green robes within the light screen.

"But that Imperial Preceptor added formations and spatial calculations into his sword art."

"He could see the weak nodes within a skill at a glance, then destroy it at the smallest cost."

"This has already surpassed the category of strength. This is an absolute crushing from a higher realm."

Hearing Grandmaster's analysis, the surrounding students all fell silent.

The soul skills they took such pride in were, in the eyes of others, nothing more than brute force that did not require any thought.

At the same time, within the scene on the Sky Screen.

A gentle breeze swept across the square of the Imperial Academy, carrying with it a touch of early autumn chill.

Chen Xin straightened up.

He looked at the smiling, gentle Yankang Imperial Preceptor before him. The shock in his heart gradually settled, replaced by an intense longing for an unknown Great Dao.

"Lord Imperial Preceptor."

Chen Xin changed his form of address, his tone extremely respectful.

"You said just now that mathematics should be integrated into swordsmanship."

"This old man has practiced the sword his whole life, but on the Douluo Continent, I have never heard such a thing."

"Might I ask whether the Imperial Preceptor could explain it in more detail?"

Chen Xin asked with complete sincerity. He was like a child who had just entered school, humbly seeking instruction from his teacher.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor gave a slight nod when he heard this.

He led Chen Xin down from the lecture platform, and the two walked side by side along the broad bluestone road of the Imperial Academy.

The students around them all stepped aside to clear a path, their eyes filled with reverence.

"There is something you may not know, fellow Daoist."

As the Imperial Preceptor walked, he explained patiently.

"In Yankang, our reform first values investigating things to extend knowledge."

"The sword in our hands may be forged of iron, but when it moves, it cuts through the air, is hindered by wind resistance, and follows the laws of mechanics between heaven and earth."

The Imperial Preceptor casually plucked a flexible willow twig from a nearby willow tree.

With the willow twig, he slowly drew a circle in midair.

"Take this most basic Round Sword Style, for instance. In your world, perhaps one merely uses brute force to draw the circle and sword qi to injure others."

"But in Yankang, when the students of the Imperial Academy learn this move, they must first calculate the circumference of this circle, its radius, and the points of force on the sword edge at every angle."

The willow twig in the Imperial Preceptor's hand suddenly accelerated.

"Buzz!"

A crisp whistling of air rang out.

That soft, limp willow twig had actually turned into an incomparably sharp ring of sword qi in the Imperial Preceptor's hand.

The sword qi held together without dispersing, spinning rapidly in midair, even cutting the surrounding air until ripples spread through it.

"When we calculate every node precisely..."

The Imperial Preceptor released his hand, and the ring of sword qi shot straight into the sky, silently slicing a white cloud overhead in two.

"With one part of strength, you can unleash ten parts, even a hundred parts, of power. This is what it means to put mathematics into the sword."

Chen Xin stopped walking.

He stared blankly at the cloud layer that had been cut open in the sky, his mind buzzing.

He thought back on his cultivation over most of his life.

He had swung his sword tens of thousands of times every day, practicing beneath waterfalls and on the edges of cliffs.

Only by relying on sweat and life-and-death battles had he touched the threshold of sword intent.

But the young people of Yankang sat in spacious, bright classrooms, took up brush and paper, did a few calculations, and could grasp sword principles even more profound than his!

This overturning of everything he knew left Chen Xin with a bitter taste in his mouth, yet at the same time, he trembled all over with excitement.

"Divine skill... truly divine skill!"

Chen Xin murmured to himself, his aged eyes fixed firmly on the Imperial Preceptor.

"Lord Imperial Preceptor, if this old man wishes to learn this mathematics and Yankang's sword techniques, what price would I have to pay?"

Chen Xin was a straightforward man.

He knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Core knowledge like this, pointing straight to the Great Dao, would not be passed on to outsiders on the Douluo Continent. Even direct disciples would only be taught with reservations.

Yankang Imperial Preceptor stopped and turned his head to look at Chen Xin.

In those deep eyes of his was a clarity that seemed to see through the ways of the world.

"You overstate it, fellow Daoist."

The Imperial Preceptor smiled, his tone very calm.

"As I said before, Yankang's reform embraces all rivers."

"This mathematics and these sword principles are all recorded in the Library Pavilion of the Imperial Academy. They are not some secret that must never be passed on."

"As long as one is a citizen of Yankang, and as long as one is willing to contribute to Yankang's reform, anyone may read and study them."

At this point, the Imperial Preceptor paused.

"I greatly admire your pure sword intent, fellow Daoist."

"Now that the seal on the Great Ruins has loosened, Yankang is in need of talent."

"If you are willing to stay and join Yankang, not only can I allow you to study at the Imperial Academy, I can also report to His Majesty and seek a position for you."

"What do you think, fellow Daoist?"

The Imperial Preceptor's invitation had been extended.

This time, not only Chen Xin, but even everyone from Douluo outside the screen held their breath.

Join Yankang?

That was the same as making the mighty Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's pillar of support go work for a country from another world!

Ning Fengzhi sat in the great hall, his palms slick with cold sweat.

He knew Chen Xin was obsessed with the sword, the sort who could throw even his life away for the sake of swordsmanship.

Faced with this kind of temptation, Chen Xin most likely could not refuse.

"Uncle Sword..." Ning Fengzhi murmured, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Inside the Sky Screen.

Chen Xin did not hesitate for even half a moment.

He cupped his hands abruptly, his voice ringing out like a great bell.

"Thank you for not looking down on me, Imperial Preceptor! This old man's life was something I picked back up to begin with."

"If I can learn true swordsmanship, this old man is willing to serve Yankang with the strength of a dog or horse!"

No affectation. No polite refusal.

Chen Xin agreed cleanly and decisively.

Seeing this, the smile on the Imperial Preceptor's face deepened, and he clapped his hands in praise.

"Good! Fellow Daoist speaks frankly and acts swiftly. That suits the temperament of people like us perfectly."

"Since you've already decided to stay, there's no time like the present. I'll take you into the palace now to pay respects to His Majesty."

"His Majesty cherishes talent. If he sees a swordsmanship expert come to serve, he will certainly be very pleased."

Enter the palace to meet the emperor?

When Chen Xin heard that, a trace of reverence immediately rose in his heart.

In his view, for a ruler and minister to work so well with a godlike figure such as the Yankang Imperial Preceptor, this Yankang Emperor was absolutely an unfathomable, supremely majestic overlord of the age.

On Douluo Continent, although Great Emperor Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou Empire was mediocre in strength, his imperial bearing still made others afraid to look straight at him.

Let alone the sovereign of this terrifying higher-dimensional world?

"This old man will be careful with every word and deed, and will absolutely not cause trouble for the Imperial Preceptor." Chen Xin nodded solemnly.

The Imperial Preceptor smiled and said nothing more.

He swept his long sleeve.

A gentle yet irresistible surge of vital energy instantly wrapped around both of their bodies.

The next second, the two of them turned into a streak of azure light, shot straight up from the ground, and flew through the air toward the palace of Yankang Capital City.

High in the sky.

Chen Xin followed beside the Imperial Preceptor, experiencing for the first time what it felt like to fly through the air purely by controlling the vital energy of heaven and earth, without relying on soul skills or wings.

It was too fast, and too stable.

The wild wind blowing toward them was silently split to both sides by the protective aura emanating from the Imperial Preceptor, and Chen Xin could not feel the slightest jolt.

He lowered his head and looked down over the vast Yankang Capital City.

With that one look, Chen Xin was once again deeply shaken.

There were no towering, heavy defensive walls. This city was completely open.

The broad, flat main roads were paved with stone slabs covered in runes.

Wooden vehicles that needed no horses were darting quickly through the faint glow of those runes.

In the distant workshop district, tall chimneys released wisps of pale white smoke.

He could vaguely see some cultivators sweating heavily as they controlled furnace flames, and the temperature of those flames made even Chen Xin, who was far away, feel his heart pound with alarm.

In the sky, apart from the two of them, several enormous tower ships a hundred zhang long were slowly moving along.

The tower ships were loaded with all kinds of goods, their surfaces flashing with the light of complex formations.

"This... this is Yankang?"

Chen Xin swallowed, feeling completely dazzled.

Compared with this place, Heaven Dou City and Star Luo City on Douluo Continent were simply like countryside villages thrown together from a few broken thatched huts.

"The daily needs of the common people are the Dao."

The Imperial Preceptor looked at the prosperous scene below, his tone carrying a hint of pride.

"We use formations to pull carts, divine fire to smelt iron, and flying swords to open mountains and build bridges."

"Only spells that can let the people live better lives are truly good spells."

Chen Xin listened with solemn respect.

This idea of thoroughly integrating the lofty power of cultivation into the lives of ordinary people made him, a Titled Douluo who had lived his whole life as a grand lord, feel incomparably ashamed.

The two of them flew for less than half an incense stick's time.

Ahead, a vast complex of buildings appeared.

Though it did not have the nouveau-riche extravagance of gold bricks and jade tiles, the buildings carried an ancient, grand solemnity.

This was the imperial palace of Yankang Kingdom.

The National Preceptor did not bring Chen Xin down to the main palace square.

He shifted direction slightly and descended straight toward a secluded garden deep within the palace grounds.

"Fellow Daoist, we're here."

The two landed steadily on the ground.

Chen Xin quickly straightened his clothes and hat, doing his best to put on a solemn, respectful expression as he prepared to face the scrutiny of that peerless emperor.

But when he raised his head and saw the scene before him clearly, he froze on the spot.

There were no resplendent palaces here, nor any fully armed imperial guards.

There was not even a single flat stone-paved path.

Before him lay a vast stretch of dark, watery farmland.

Half-man-tall, lush green rice grew in the paddies.

And in the middle of that muddy paddy field stood several people.

The man at their head was middle-aged and wore a bright yellow robe, but the hem had been hitched all the way up to the tops of his thighs, smeared with foul-smelling black mud.

The man had his sleeves rolled up and his bare feet planted in the muck.

He held a hoe in his hand and was loudly arguing about something with a white-bearded old man in official robes beside him.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"

The middle-aged man dug his hoe into the mud, sending a spray of muddy droplets splattering all over the old official's face.

"This Spirit Gathering Array Diagram drawn up by the Ministry of Works has absolutely no understanding of farming principles!"

"If the rice roots are to absorb spiritual energy, the nodes of the array core have to be buried in the soil layer beneath the irrigation channels."

"You drew them on the surface of the water. The spiritual energy will all be blown away by the wind. If these dozens of mu of Our experimental fields suffer a reduced yield, We will have your heads chopped off!"

The white-bearded old man was scolded bloody, wiping the mud from his face while bowing again and again.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Please calm your anger."

"This old minister will return at once and have the Ministry of Works redraw it..."

Seeing this, Chen Xin could not help widening his eyes, his jaw almost dropping into the mud.

Your Majesty?

That mud-legged fellow with his trouser legs rolled up, standing in muck and digging holes while cursing like an old farmer, was the supreme ruler of this terrifying nation?

That was Emperor Yanfeng, whose might overawed the world?

And it was not just Chen Xin.

Outside the light screen, everyone on Douluo Continent was dumbfounded.

Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Great Emperor Xue Ye was sitting upright on a dragon throne forged from pure gold, with over a dozen palace maids and eunuchs standing beside him in attendance.

Looking at his fellow emperor on the Sky Screen, covered head to toe in mud, Great Emperor Xue Ye felt his old face burning.

"This... what kind of propriety is this?"

Great Emperor Xue Ye coughed dryly twice, trying to salvage a little of an emperor's dignity.

"The sovereign of an entire nation, personally going down to the fields to do farm work. The rules of this Yankang Kingdom are far too trifling."