Second Soul Clone, Another Breakthrough

Thinking of this, Li Qingming glanced at the bracelet in his hand again and thanked Meng Hongchen.

"Thank you for helping me during this time, Meng. If I can enter the third year, I'll definitely choose Class One, Third Year. We'll meet again in class then.

"I won't be coming here for the rest of this period. Since I can become a second-level Soul Engineer, I need to prepare for the Soul Engineer assessment."

Li Qingming looked at Meng Hongchen, speaking with complete sincerity.

Whether she had helped him because of his looks or not, she had genuinely spent those devices and resources on him.

Li Qingming understood that, so he remained very polite.

Hearing Li Qingming's words, Meng Hongchen merely waved her hand. Those resources meant nothing to her.

After bidding Meng Hongchen farewell, Li Qingming headed straight to the research institute of Crown Prince Xu Tianran.

Xu Tianran was somewhat surprised by his arrival.

He had not forgotten Li Qingming and had been preparing money and supplies for him all along, though those supplies needed to be allocated.

More importantly, they had never been able to find Li Qingming, which was what puzzled Xu Tianran the most.

They could not find Li Qingming in the dormitories, while the research institute Li Qingming had been using was registered under Meng Hongchen's name.

Thus, even Crown Prince Xu Tianran had been unable to locate Li Qingming over the past few days.

When he heard that Li Qingming had come on his own, Xu Tianran gestured to the young man in black.

As the two approached, Xu Tianran turned his gaze toward Li Qingming.

Only twenty days had passed, yet the boy before him was already dressed in the academy uniform. The shadow that had once hung over him was gone, replaced by a gentle and cheerful air.

Xu Tianran looked at the boy for only a second before raising his hand. A ring appeared in his palm.

He tossed the ring directly to Li Qingming.

Li Qingming froze for a moment at the sight of the ring. After receiving it and opening it, he found a row of Soul Tool storage credit cards inside, also known as Soul Tool crystal cards.

Each card was worth one hundred Gold Soul Coins. There were roughly forty or fifty of them.

There were also quite a few Gold Soul Coins, as well as some rather important Soul Tool metal resources.

The quantity of those resources was considerable. Even Li Qingming was somewhat astonished.

Seeing Li Qingming's surprised gaze, Xu Tianran remained calm.

"I previously had Black Seven look for you, but we could never find where you were."

"Since you've come this time, take these."

Xu Tianran said nothing else and did not ask where Li Qingming had gone. He simply handed over the resources casually, because he knew Li Qingming would explain.

Sure enough, meeting Xu Tianran's gaze, Li Qingming was surprised but quickly recovered. He then looked at Xu Tianran apologetically.

"My apologies, Your Highness. I've been cultivating at the workbench recently. I met a fellow student there. She's a second-level Soul Engineer and was willing to teach me, so I've been learning from her."

As Li Qingming spoke, he raised his hand. In it was the Paralysis Ring he had just designed.

Xu Tianran accepted the ring as it was handed over.

Looking at the second-level Soul Tool, surprise filled his eyes.

The Soul Tool ring was still warm. It was obvious that it had only been forged not long ago.

Xu Tianran looked at the freshly made Soul Tool, then at Li Qingming in confusion.

"This is a Soul Tool ring I just forged. I'd like to give it to Your Highness as a gift, to thank you for recognizing me and giving me the opportunity to come here and study."

Li Qingming's voice was soft, and his manner remained polite.

Naturally, this was not some precious gift. To Xu Tianran, a second-level Soul Tool was not even worthy of being worn on his person.

But it represented Li Qingming's gratitude and willingness to repay kindness.

Sure enough, Xu Tianran's expression visibly softened as he looked at the ring.

"You became a second-level Soul Engineer in just twenty days?"

Xu Tianran's tone carried doubt. Li Qingming nodded casually.

A trace of bewilderment appeared on his face as he looked at the crown prince in feigned confusion, as if asking whether this was not perfectly normal.

Seeing Li Qingming's expression, Xu Tianran fell silent for a moment before ultimately saying nothing.

Instead, he continued asking Li Qingming a few questions.

Naturally, the two exchanged contact information this time.

Moreover, right in front of Li Qingming, Xu Tianran instructed the young man in black.

If Li Qingming needed anything in the future, he could relay it to him through Black Seven. This was effectively a formal acknowledgment.

Li Qingming was quite satisfied with this.

Within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, with Crown Prince Xu Tianran backing him, as long as he did not commit any serious offense or expose his true identity, his position here would be absolutely secure.

Naturally, there was no issue with his identity. After all, it had been fabricated from the start, and Xu Tianran could not uncover anything.

Since Xu Tianran could not investigate it successfully and could not determine whether Li Qingming was a Soul Engineer or someone from the Holy Spirit Cult, he would certainly keep an eye on him, but he would also cultivate him.

That was already enough for Li Qingming.

His identity might have been fake, but he was not a real Soul Engineer, nor was he a member of the Holy Spirit Cult.

With Xu Tianran's acknowledgment, this backup plan was now officially established.

Over the final few days, Li Qingming formally applied for the assessment and took the second-level Soul Engineer examination. It went very smoothly.

After the assessment, he would be able to enter Class One, Third Year directly once school began. He told Meng Hongchen the news.

Meng Hongchen was also thrilled. To celebrate his becoming a second-level Soul Engineer, she even gave him a batch of materials.

In such an environment, the final ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and Shrek Academy began on the same day, so both academies had now reached the start of term.

Meanwhile, within the Extreme Northern Snowfield.

Li Qingming's original body slowly opened his eyes. Deep exhaustion filled the boy's golden pupils.

As his eyes opened, a young man with the exact same appearance as Li Qingming sat before him.

However, the young man's skin was not normal human skin. His entire body was crystal-like, or rather, the color of jade-green crystal.

Within that jade-green skin lay an immensely explosive power.

This body, forged from the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's body, was truly the terrifying body of a Soul Beast nearing four hundred thousand years of cultivation.

Based on its constitution, the Ice Empress helped Li Qingming directly master the Heavenly Snow Woman martial soul.

Moreover, this body possessed the same Soul Power Level as Li Qingming. It had also reached level forty.

After a month of cultivation, Li Qingming had risen from level thirty-nine Soul Power to level forty. He had truly become a four-ring Soul Ancestor.

Furthermore, because of the Radiant Dragon Fruit, his cultivation speed would only become faster.

His fourth soul ring would still be bestowed by the remnant soul of Qian Renxue, the Angel God.

Now that he had awakened, it was time for him to return to Shrek Academy.