With that, Kong Deming lightly pressed a button on the metal disc beneath him.
Amid a faint whir of machinery, the heavy alloy doors slowly opened, and a tall attendant walked in respectfully.
"Prepare the residence I arranged earlier. Take Chenxing and the others to familiarize themselves with it, and help them settle in," Kong Deming instructed.
"Yes, Elder Kong." The attendant lowered his head in acknowledgment.
Ye Chenxing thanked him, bowed to Kong Deming once more, and followed the attendant out.
As the doors closed again, they completely shut out everything beyond them.
Kong Deming, who had been beaming with joy just moments ago, suddenly slumped slightly and let out a long sigh.
Jing Hongchen was taken aback. "Teacher, today is the joyous day when you have gained an unparalleled disciple, and our Sun Moon Empire has welcomed a Dual Ultimate prodigy. Why are you suddenly sighing?"
Kong Deming rubbed his brow. "It is indeed a great joy, but Hongchen... our Sun Moon Empire ultimately excels in Soul Engineers. When it comes to our foundation in Martial Souls, we fall far short."
"This child's talent with his Dual-Ultimate Martial Soul is something seen perhaps once in ten thousand years. Though this old man has reached the pinnacle of Soul Tools in this age, I fear that my accomplishments in Martial Soul cultivation may hold back his gifts. Unlike Shrek Academy, we have no experience nurturing soul masters with ultimate attributes."
Jing Hongchen, however, did not seem overly concerned. Instead, he stepped forward to reassure him. "Elder Kong, there is no need to worry. When Shrek Academy first raised their first ultimate-attribute genius, weren't they equally clueless, feeling their way across the river? The Sun Moon Empire's theories and research methods are more advanced than theirs. There is no reason they can do it while we cannot. And if worst comes to worst..."
Jing Hongchen lowered his voice, a vicious glint flashing through his eyes. "I'll find a way to infiltrate the Sea God Pavilion and steal that thing for you!"
"No!"
Kong Deming's expression sharpened as he cut him off without mercy, his tone turning stern. "Put away that dangerous thought! What sort of place is the Sea God Pavilion? Its foundation is unfathomable. Even if I went there personally, I would not be certain of returning unscathed. Shrek Academy likely has a true Limit Douluo hidden within it. For Chenxing's future, we must make long-term plans. We absolutely cannot take such a risk!"
After being so severely reprimanded by his teacher, Jing Hongchen quickly lowered his head and humbly accepted the rebuke. "Yes, Teacher. Your lesson is correct. I was rash."
Seeing Jing Hongchen admit his mistake, Kong Deming sighed and continued, "Unfortunately, among our Empire's soul masters, there are hardly any worthy experts capable of teaching him..."
At the words "soul master experts," Jing Hongchen's expression turned grave. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Teacher, are you aware of the problem of Evil Soul Masters running rampant in the Empire over the past decade or so?"
Kong Deming's face darkened. "I have heard a little."
"The situation is likely far more serious than what you have heard. They have now consolidated into a tightly organized group, and the top-tier strength hidden among them far exceeds our imagination. There is no lack of Super Douluo among them, perhaps even Limit Douluo, and..." He paused slightly, his tone growing heavier. "I fear that even some of the Empire's upper ranks already bear signs of their infiltration."
"Oh? Such a thing has happened?"
He had lived in seclusion for years, pouring all his energy into researching the most cutting-edge Soul Tools. Unless it concerned a catastrophe threatening the Empire's survival, he ignored it entirely. He had never expected those rats hiding in the shadows to have stretched their claws so far.
"Then Chenxing's existence must not be compromised." Kong Deming suddenly clenched his withered fingers and said in a deep voice, "He possesses Ultimate Light. By nature, he is the sworn enemy of those people. If they learn that Ultimate Light has appeared, they will surely stop at nothing to snuff it out. Listen carefully: you must protect Chenxing at all costs! At this critical juncture, nothing can happen to him!"
"Rest assured, Teacher. I understand the stakes!" Jing Hongchen nodded with utmost seriousness, then revealed a troubled expression. "But... since we lack a foundation in Ultimate Martial Souls, who should guide his Martial Soul cultivation from here on?"
"We can consider that matter over time." Kong Deming pondered for a moment. "Before rank thirty, guiding a child in laying a foundation will be more than manageable. If it truly comes to it, once he reaches the higher ranks, we can simply make a deal with Shrek."
"A deal?"
"What? Haven't they always coveted the high-level Soul Tool technology of our Illustrious Virtue Hall?" Kong Deming revealed a shrewd expression.
"Those self-important fools have no idea just how far the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology has advanced. Those few Soul Engineers in Shrek's Soul Tool Department, who are only there to make up the numbers and call themselves rank-eight-and-a-half Soul Engineers—if we casually throw them a few obsolete results from previous generations, it will be enough to keep them busy for eight or ten years." He paused, a crafty gleam appearing in his eyes. "But pay attention to the method. Do not give them a complete system. Only give them the later theoretical results, while removing all the derivation processes that came before. Let them hold the answers and work backward through the formulas. They can slowly puzzle it out themselves."
Jing Hongchen's eyes lit up, but he soon frowned again. "But Teacher, if we take the initiative to request an exchange for methods of ultimate cultivation, would that alert them? What if they guess that the Sun Moon Empire has produced a genius who needs experience with ultimate attributes..."
"It does not matter."
"At a time like this, we should make as much noise as possible. Not only should we trade, we should ask for an outrageous amount and exchange for several more things. Put their basic cultivation methods, Martial Soul theories, and all sorts of other nonsense on the list. That way, they will be less likely to grow suspicious."
He took a sip of tea and continued, "Based on what I know of those people at Shrek, they will definitely try to play tricks on us as well. For ordinary cultivation methods, they will casually muddle through and might even package physical training such as running as some 'ancestral secret art of Shrek.' As for methods of ultimate cultivation—they would consider such things useless to begin with. With Shrek's arrogance, they will most likely think that since they have no ultimate-attribute soul masters, the Sun Moon Empire cannot possibly have any either. So they will not guard against us too carefully, which is exactly what we want."
"Teacher, you are wise!"
Kong Deming rubbed his brow, but could not help smiling bitterly. "Chenxing's extraordinary spiritual power would be an utter waste if he did not study Soul Tools under me. Yet he also possesses such exceptional Dual-Ultimate Martial Soul talent... If he learns one, I fear delaying the other."
Jing Hongchen felt the same. Looking across the entire Sun Moon Empire, perhaps only this old ancestor could understand such an extravagant "happy problem," the most luxurious sort in the whole continent.
Smack.
Ye Chenxing casually shoved the thick Encyclopedia of Soul Beasts in his hand back onto the shelf.
"As expected of spiritual power at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm. Reading is practically like having a human body scanner..." He rolled his neck and could not help sighing.
In his first life, as an experienced webnovel enthusiast, he had already developed the skill of skimming through text at a glance. But this experience—where hundreds of thousands of words of obscure theory could be imprinted in his mind with a single scan, even automatically sorted and summarized—was truly a first.
"All I can say is, this really is a fantasy world. Even in such inconspicuous everyday details, the difference is this great."
"Let's see, this should be the last one."
He glanced over the bookshelf, where countless books were densely arranged:
Spirit Hall from Ten Thousand Years Ago
Introduction and Fundamentals of Soul Engineers
The Hidden Secrets of the Star Dou Great Forest
Overview of the Far North: The Three Great Rulers
Evil Soul Masters and Souls
The History of Shrek: The Sea God Pavilion Masters
Plane Theory and the Possibility of Invasions from Other Planes...
It had been nearly a week since he moved into this small villa. Over the past few days, he had hardly stepped outside. Other than cultivating Soul Power, he had been reading.
There was no other reason. In the original world setting of Douluo Continent, inconsistencies were everywhere. Not only did every installment contradict itself, even different sections—and sometimes the same chapter—could contain conflicting information. This included, but was not limited to: Tang Hao having no Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring when he first appeared, Di Tian being blond when he first appeared, Shrek's Schrödinger-like city lord, and the crucial story of the Dragon God having at least four versions...
Back when he had been a reader, he merely laughed at such things and moved on. But now that he was in the real Douluo Continent, he had to verify the current situation all over again. As a transmigrator, if he placed too much faith in the flawed original information from his memories, he might only get himself killed.
Before you continue