Sun Martial Soul

The three teachers hurried in. Leading them was a somewhat short, plump middle-aged man with a kindly face.

"Hello, students. I am the academy's dean of instruction, Lin Jiayi."

As soon as he entered, he keenly sensed the tense, hostile atmosphere in the lounge. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Today is enrollment day. I hope everyone will exercise restraint and not come to blows here, harming the harmony between us."

Seeing the dean of instruction arrive, Wang Shaojie could only withdraw his soul power. Yet he still pointed accusingly at Ye Chenxing and Qian Renxue. "Director Lin, these two have unknown origins. I've never seen them in Ming Capital. They sneaked into the noble passageway and may very well be spies sent by another country!"

Hearing this, Lin Jiayi frowned slightly and turned to look at Ye Chenxing and Qian Renxue. When he clearly saw their appearances and bearing, he was stunned as well.

If such otherworldly young people truly belonged to Ming Capital's upper circles, there was no way he, the dean of instruction, would not recognize them.

Yet Lin Jiayi had clearly not risen to this position at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy by being foolish. Before learning their backgrounds, he would never casually offend figures who so obviously seemed to have powerful backing.

He ignored Wang Shaojie's clamor and politely asked Ye Chenxing, "You two are indeed unfamiliar faces. May I ask who you are...?"

Ye Chenxing looked at the dean of instruction, who had been rather tactful in the original story, and smiled amiably. His tone was calm. "Director Lin, there is no need to be nervous. As for our identities... you will naturally find out during the test shortly."

A flicker of uncertainty passed through Lin Jiayi's eyes. But seeing how composed the other party was, he knew they had come prepared. He smiled and nodded. "Very well. In that case, we shall wait and see."

Since even Lin Jiayi did not intend to pursue the matter, Wang Shaojie could only silently pull Wang Yuan back to his side. No matter how aggrieved he felt, he could only give up resentfully. This was the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, after all, and he still had to show the dean of instruction some respect.

"But once we leave this door, hmph..." Wang Shaojie returned to his place, his gaze greedily sweeping across Qian Renxue's peerlessly beautiful face as he viciously made up his mind.

He truly could not afford to provoke the Hongchen siblings, but he had countless ways to make these two unknown brats regret their arrogance today!

After handling this minor incident, Lin Jiayi smiled and greeted the Hongchen siblings. Only after receiving their polite response did he clap his hands to signal for everyone to quiet down.

"Alright. Since everyone is here, students, please follow me to the testing area."

After passing through a broad corridor, everyone followed Lin Jiayi to a large door. An exquisite instrument stood outside it.

"Alright, students. For the sake of fairness, we must still go through the enrollment process. Line up and place your hands on it one at a time to test your soul power. Afterward, we will go inside for the other tests." Lin Jiayi stood beside the instrument with a roster in hand, smiling pleasantly.

"Eleven years old, soul power level twenty."

"Twelve years old, soul power level twenty-one."

Looking at the data flashing across the instrument, Lin Jiayi nodded slightly.

To reach the threshold of a Great Spirit Master before the age of twelve, the talents of these noble children could be considered above average even at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

Soon, it was Wang Yuan's turn. Having suffered a setback earlier, he swaggered forward and pressed his hand against the crystal ball. "Twelve years old, soul power level fifteen." Lin Jiayi marked the roster. "Mm, barely qualified. Next."

Wang Yuan withdrew his hand and deliberately turned his head, glaring fiercely and provocatively at Ye Chenxing as if to say, See that? This is this young master's strength!

Yet Ye Chenxing did not even spare him a glance. He was lowering his head and studying the instrument's structure with Qian Renxue beside him. It left Wang Yuan feeling as if he had punched cotton.

Then came the main event. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen leisurely stepped forward.

"Meng Hongchen, eleven years old, soul power... level thirty-five!"

"Xiao Hongchen, eleven years old, soul power... level thirty-six!"

When those two dazzling results appeared, the previously quiet testing hall instantly erupted. Soul Elders under the age of twelve! To most people their age in the Sun Moon Empire, that was simply an overwhelming gap.

Such talent was exceedingly rare even in the entire history of the Sun Moon Empire!

Lin Jiayi's plump face broke into a broad grin as he repeatedly praised them. "Good! Good! As expected of the hall master's descendants!"

Seeing this, Wang Shaojie immediately seized the chance to make a spectacle of himself. With a fawning expression, he loudly flattered them, "You two are truly the proud geniuses of our Sun Moon Empire! Unlike certain people of unknown origin who only know how to bluff. I'm afraid they cannot even reach the academy's admission threshold, can they?"

As he spoke, he shot Ye Chenxing a pointed sidelong glance.

Though Xiao Hongchen did not join in, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked sideways at this peer who had made his sister swoon, his eyes carrying a trace of interest.

What Ye Chenxing exuded was the confidence that only a genius like himself could possess.

"It's your turn." Lin Jiayi looked at Ye Chenxing and Qian Renxue. Without changing her expression, Qian Renxue stepped forward and gently placed her slender, fair hand against the testing device.

Buzz—A faint glow flashed, and a number appeared on the screen. "Soul power, level twenty." Lin Jiayi froze for a moment before announcing the result.

Immediately afterward, Ye Chenxing also stepped forward casually and pressed down with one hand.

"Soul power, level twenty."

When those two numbers appeared on the large screen, the air in the hall seemed to freeze for a moment.

That was it? Seeing the results that sat right at the passing line for Great Spirit Masters, Xiao Hongchen's gaze instantly turned to deep disappointment. He shook his head slightly and withdrew his eyes.

Meng Hongchen, meanwhile, blinked her wine-red eyes and quietly muttered to herself, Oh dear, only level twenty... It's fine, it's fine! Even if his talent isn't outstanding, he's handsome! This young lady is a Soul Elder. At worst, I'll protect him at the academy from now on!

But in the eyes of the Wang brothers, these mediocre results were a tremendous joke.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Wang Shaojie clutched his stomach and laughed exaggeratedly, his laughter full of gloating and contempt. "So after all that, you're just trash who has barely reached level twenty! I thought you had some real skill. With such trifling ability, you dare act so arrogantly before the Sun Moon Imperial House?!"

Although Ye Chenxing's level was higher than his own, Wang Yuan joined in from the side. "Exactly! What use is being good-looking? At this academy, the biggest fist speaks the loudest!"

Watching the two noisy fools, Lin Jiayi's brows knitted tightly together. He looked at Ye Chenxing and sighed inwardly. It seemed he had truly misjudged them this time. Aside from their extraordinary bearing, their talents could only be considered above average.

At this brutal soul engineering academy, without sufficient strength or background, being too conspicuous in appearance was instead a disaster.

After laughing enough, Wang Shaojie stepped forward. He stared coldly at Ye Chenxing and barked aggressively, "Boy, you can't keep pretending now, can you? Since you're merely a level-twenty commoner, honestly explain who you are! If you cannot give a proper answer, I'll immediately hand you over to the city guards on charges of espionage!"

Faced with Wang Shaojie's relentless pressure, Ye Chenxing acted as though nothing had happened. He asked casually, "Oh? Do you really want to know my identity?" A teasing glint then flashed through his eyes.

"Of course. But I hope that later, you will still be standing when you hear it."

He slowly raised his right hand and lightly clenched his palm. A terrifying, suffocatingly scorching aura suddenly erupted throughout the hall!

Boom—!

Accompanied by blinding golden-red light, the temperature in the entire testing hall soared wildly in an instant. Even the air twisted beneath the extreme heat.

Under everyone's disbelieving gazes, a miniature sun radiating majestic heavenly might slowly rose behind Ye Chenxing, floating in midair! Its ultimate radiance and scorching heat illuminated the entire hall as brightly as day, making Ye Chenxing's handsome face seem as though a god had descended!

Silence.

Deathly silence. Even Xiao Hongchen stared fixedly at that miniature sun as though he had seen a ghost, his mind completely blank.

The other nobles who had come for testing were utterly dumbfounded, unable to utter a word.

Wang Shaojie, who had been so arrogant moments earlier, now seemed as if every bone in his body had been drained away. He staggered several steps backward.

With a heavy thud, he fell to the floor. He did not even have the courage to struggle back to his feet. His teeth chattered madly, his face white as paper, and only endless terror and despair remained in his gaze toward Ye Chenxing.

"Impossible! This is impossible... How could you be? How could you?!"

Drip... drip... The faint sound of dripping water broke the silence.

Wang Yuan's face was filled with terror. His legs shook uncontrollably as a stream of yellow liquid ran down his pant legs and spread across the floor.

He had actually pissed himself from fright.

The reason was simple. Throughout the entire Sun Moon Empire, no citizen—not even a child—could possibly mistake this Martial Soul.

It not only symbolized the highest cultivation talent in the world of soul masters, but more importantly, it represented the supreme core of power within the Sun Moon Empire's imperial palace—

The inherited Martial Soul of the Sun Moon Empire's direct imperial bloodline: the Sun!

In the Sun Moon Empire—or rather, across the entire Douluo Continent—the difference in status between collateral branches and the direct line was as vast as heaven and earth.

Before a true direct imperial descendant who possessed the "Sun Martial Soul," so-called distant imperial relatives and collateral branches like Wang Shaojie were not even worth a dog.

Ye Chenxing did not even need to lift a finger. So long as he casually left behind a single word, Wang Shaojie and even the entire Wang Clan behind him would be stripped of their imperial status within half a day.

And the various factions eager to curry favor with direct members of the imperial house, along with the Wang Clan's longtime enemies, would ruthlessly devour their family whole!

Seeing Wang Shaojie kneeling on the ground and trembling like a sieve, unable to even complete a sentence, Ye Chenxing dismissed the miniature sun behind him. The temperature in the hall plummeted.

He looked down at Wang Shaojie. His tone returned to its initial mildness, yet it sent chills down everyone's spine.

"Now, do you still want to hand me over to the city guards on charges of espionage?"

The entire hall was silent as cicadas in winter. No one dared harbor even the slightest doubt about Ye Chenxing's identity.

On this Douluo Continent, Martial Souls were the most absolute proof of bloodline.

Even if you looked exactly like Old Wang next door, so long as you could reveal the correct Martial Soul, no one would dare question your parentage with a single word.

And Wang Shaojie, a mere member of a collateral branch, had actually publicly doubted and provoked a direct imperial descendant.

Such insubordination was the one thing the imperial house would never tolerate!

"Your... Your Highness!" Wang Shaojie had completely collapsed. He suddenly slammed his forehead into the floor, his voice distorted by extreme fear as he desperately begged with a thick sobbing tone, "Lard clouded my brain! I was blind and failed to recognize greatness, offending Your Highness! Please, Your Highness, be magnanimous and let me go as if I were a fart! I'll never dare again, please..."

Seeing his cousin like this, Wang Yuan finally snapped out of it. He hurriedly knelt beside him and crazily kowtowed to Ye Chenxing as well.

Seeing Wang Shaojie's miserable state, covered in tears and snot, the noble children who had been lining up with him all secretly let out long breaths of relief. They were glad they had merely watched coldly rather than following him to provoke such a terrifying figure.

"I cannot be bothered with you right now. Get out on your own!"

The two did not dare say another word. They actually curled into balls and rolled out in a disheveled heap.

Ye Chenxing had not spared them. He simply had no need to personally punish the two of them.

This had happened before so many noble families. Once they returned to the Wang Clan, the charge of insulting the imperial house would be pinned on them. Their fate was easy to imagine.

The air around them finally grew quiet.

However, among those still awed by the Sun Martial Soul, the truly perceptive Lin Jiayi and Xiao Hongchen keenly noticed an even more alarming detail.

Although the Sun Moon Empire's imperial bloodline had been greatly slaughtered during the brutal coup launched years ago by the current emperor—Xu Tianran's father—several legitimate inheritors of the Sun Martial Soul still remained.

As for Xiao Hongchen, his Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul already stood at the threshold of Extreme Metal. Thus, he had always paid particular attention to Martial Souls like the Sun, which likewise came extremely close to an ultimate attribute.

Although Ye Chenxing had revealed his Martial Soul for only a brief instant, Lin Jiayi and Xiao Hongchen both discovered the same thing—this mysterious prince's Martial Soul felt completely different from the "Sun" possessed by other imperial family members!

One had to know that the Sun Moon Empire currently had an imperial enshrined elder with a legitimate Sun Martial Soul: the Rank Nine Soul Engineer Xu Tianyuan.

Yet even when that Titled Douluo-level powerhouse released his Sun Martial Soul, it had never possessed the pure, terrifying heat Ye Chenxing had displayed just now!

Though their soul power levels were worlds apart, the difference between Ye Chenxing and Xu Tianyuan lay in something more fundamental...