Untouchable, Give Up!

Bang!

The office's heavy soundproof door was shoved open from outside with extreme force.

"Hall Master! S-something terrible has happened!" Dean of Studies Lin Jiayi rushed in, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. His plump face, usually adorned with a genial smile, was flushed red from his agitation and sprint, while the few strands of hair atop his head were plastered messily against his forehead.

Seeing his normally reliable right-hand man so flustered, Jing Hongchen immediately furrowed his brow.

"Jiayi, Jiayi. You've followed me for so many years. You've always been steady and composed, so why are you so unable to keep your cool today?"

Jing Hongchen unhurriedly set down his teacup and took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands. His tone carried a hint of stern reproach. "In front of the children, you're panicking and shouting. What kind of behavior is that? If word gets out, what will others think of our academy?"

"No, no, Hall Master, something really has happened! At the freshman assessment..." Lin Jiayi gasped for breath, anxiously slapping his thigh as he was about to report those astonishing results.

"Enough."

Jing Hongchen raised a hand and cut him off dismissively, his tone still calm and measured. "Today, you and Xiao are here, so what major trouble could there be? What, are you also here to tell me about that genius wasting his talent?"

In Jing Hongchen's eyes, the "genius" Xiao Hongchen and Lin Jiayi had encountered today was already nothing more than an insignificant medicine addict.

"W-wasting his talent?"

"A Spirit Master who surpassed Xiao before the age of twelve—if he wasn't using medicine that overdrew his potential, what else could it be?"

Lin Jiayi frantically slapped his thigh and shook his head. "Hall Master, you've got it wrong! His spirit power isn't exceptional—it's his spiritual power! That youth named Ye Chenxing is only a Level Twenty Great Spirit Master, yet his spiritual power tested at a staggering four thousand eight hundred points!!"

"How much? Four thousand eight hundred points?!"

Jing Hongchen was shocked at first and slapped the desk as he rose to his feet. Then he frowned deeply. "How is that possible? A Level Twenty Great Spirit Master having spiritual power at the level of a high-level Spirit Emperor? Jiayi, are you sure the machine wasn't broken?"

"I took him to the newest classified research lab for the test! The equipment absolutely wasn't faulty!" Lin Jiayi was so anxious he nearly jumped in place. He rushed to the desk and planted both hands on its surface. "That's not even the key point, Hall Master! His martial soul is that one! The inherited martial soul of the imperial direct line—the Sun!"

"The imperial direct line?" Jing Hongchen paused slightly, his brows immediately knitting together. Why had he not heard that any direct descendant of the imperial family was coming to enroll today? He rapidly reviewed every royal child of eligible age in his mind, but not a single one matched.

Lin Jiayi hurriedly explained, "Hall Master, this Young Master Ye claims to have come from the Heaven Soul Empire. He is a royal bloodline that had been stranded outside."

"A lost royal bloodline?" Jing Hongchen froze again. He instinctively turned to look at Meng Hongchen beside him, only to see his granddaughter wiggling her eyebrows at him and chuckling, her face practically saying, "See? I wasn't lying to you."

Only then did Jing Hongchen finally understand. So the person who had dealt Xiao such a crushing blow and made Meng's heart flutter today had been the same person all along!

Although the youth's heaven-defying spiritual power of four thousand eight hundred points had indeed piqued his intense interest, once the matter involved the "imperial direct line," its nature changed completely.

Jing Hongchen concealed the surprise in his eyes, his expression turning solemn once more as he warned, "Jiayi, you should understand that the imperial family is currently embroiled in open and covert struggles. The situation is extremely complicated. A so-called 'lost royal bloodline' like this is far too sensitive in the present Sun Moon Empire. Illustrious Virtue Hall absolutely cannot casually interfere or choose sides."

He sighed. Though he felt some regret over a genius with such extraordinary spiritual power, for the sake of self-preservation, he could only wave his hand helplessly. "Report the boy directly to His Majesty and let His Majesty decide personally. To us, he is an extremely dangerous hot potato. Untouchable—give up."

"Absolutely not, Hall Master! We absolutely cannot hand him over just like that!" Lin Jiayi was completely frantic now. Forgetting all about rank and propriety, he shouted the last half of the sentence he had been holding back, like pouring out a basket of beans:

"His Sun martial soul isn't an ordinary Sun! On the testing pillar, he simultaneously registered Ultimate Light and Ultimate Fire! It's a Mutated Sun with dual ultimate attributes!! He nearly melted the testing pillar!!"

"Even an ultimate martial soul won't do, the imperial family—"

"Clatter."

Halfway through his sentence, Jing Hongchen finally realized what he had just heard. The exquisitely valuable teapot he had just lifted slipped from his fingers without warning and smashed onto the hard floor, instantly shattering into pieces. Scalding tea splashed everywhere, soaking his trouser legs, yet he did not notice in the slightest.

This Rank Nine Soul Engineer, who controlled the Sun Moon Empire's most vital technological lifeline and could remain unfazed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, now seemed as though he had been struck in the back of the head by a massive hammer. He sat rigidly in his broad leather chair, utterly dumbfounded.

"Y-you... what did you say?" More than ten seconds passed before Jing Hongchen managed to move his throat. His voice trembled as though it did not belong to him. "Dual ultimate attributes? Ultimate Fire and Ultimate Light?"

"Absolutely true! The young master, Miss Meng, and I were all there. We saw it with our own eyes!" Lin Jiayi nodded heavily, sweat from his excitement dripping down his chin.

Only at this moment could Jing Hongchen no longer maintain his previous calm demeanor. He sprang up from his chair so violently that he nearly overturned the heavy solid-wood desk in front of him.

"Dual ultimate... Sun martial soul..." Jing Hongchen muttered, his eyes bloodshot with extreme excitement. More than anyone else, he understood what those words combined meant to the Sun Moon Empire and to Illustrious Virtue Hall!

The great war between the Sun Moon Empire and the original countries of Douluo Continent back then had been decided because an Ultimate Fire Spirit Master on the opposing side had single-handedly changed the tide of battle, making up for the technological gap between Douluo Continent and Sun Moon Continent.

From then on, Sun Moon Continent had been forced to change its name to Douluo Continent.

Thus, ultimate martial souls were the pain in the heart of every Sun Moon citizen, as well as their obsession.

At this moment, the news that Ye Chenxing had come to the Sun Moon Empire was like the unattainable girl of his student days suddenly throwing herself into his arms—and bringing along her twin sister.

Jing Hongchen shoved aside the desk. His fat body erupted with terrifying speed utterly at odds with his build as he grabbed Lin Jiayi by the collar. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, and his spittle sprayed all over Lin Jiayi's face.

"This is no joking matter. Is it truly an ultimate martial soul?!"

Seeing the terrifying expression on the dean's face, Lin Jiayi nodded like a woodpecker.

"Absolutely true! Not only did I sense it personally, but our most advanced testing equipment reached the same conclusion."

After struggling to calm his excitement, Jing Hongchen said in a trembling voice:

"Quick, quick, Director Lin, take me to see that child!"