All Those Terms Were Made Up by You

That small gesture thoroughly enraged Meng Hongchen, who was already sulking over failing to get a seat.

She abruptly raised her hand and shouted, "Teacher! I don't think he's entirely right!"

Lin Jiayi's eyes lit up. "Meng Hongchen, tell us what you think."

Meng Hongchen stood, her voice clear as she spoke at length. "Soul Guide Devices are far more than weapons used for killing. They are even more closely connected to every aspect of our lives. Developing weapons is certainly for protecting our homes and nation, but the ultimate purpose of advancing Soul Guide Devices is to better safeguard our lives. They can be tools that assist soul masters in cultivation, or everyday items that improve a soul master's food, clothing, housing, and travel. Limiting Soul Guide Devices to the word 'weapons' is far too narrow-minded."

Lin Jiayi nodded approvingly, thinking that she truly was the Illustrious Virtue Hall Master's biological granddaughter—her vision and perspective were indeed extraordinary. "Meng Hongchen's view is very forward-looking. It is also the core philosophy of one of the Empire's major schools of Soul Guide research: placing equal importance on civilian and military use."

As Meng Hongchen sat down, she shot Wang Jiahao a fierce glare without the slightest courtesy. Wang Jiahao merely clicked his tongue and curled his lip, clearly dismissive of such arguments.

"Then..." Lin Jiayi's gaze passed over the front rows and landed precisely on the window seat in the back. "Ye Chenxing, do you have any unique thoughts on this matter?"

This was a special task Jing Hongchen had privately assigned him. Although Jing Hongchen did not expect Ye Chenxing, a prodigy whose Martial Soul talent had already reached the pinnacle, to possess equally astonishing talent in Soul Guide Devices, he hoped the boy could at least develop an interest in them, understand some basic knowledge, and use them proficiently.

At the very least, he could not be allowed to become like those rigid traditional soul masters from the Three Douluo Kingdoms, blindly confident in their own Martial Souls and therefore resistant to, even rejecting, Soul Guide technology.

Under the entire class's gaze, Ye Chenxing slowly rose from his seat.

His expression was composed and his tone calm, but the moment he spoke, he dropped a bombshell. "Teacher, I believe the two students before me both approached this from the perspective of soul engineers. But in my view, although Soul Guide Devices contain the word 'soul,' they do not necessarily have to be used by soul engineers—or rather... they do not necessarily have to be used by soul masters."

The classroom fell silent for a second.

"Pfft—" Wang Jiahao could not hold back and laughed outright. "Have you started spouting nonsense just to be different? Ordinary people do not even have soul power. How could they activate a core formation? You're pretending to understand when you clearly don't."

Xiao Hongchen, who had been sitting beside him with little interest and had no interest at all in this dispute over basic theory, turned his head and stared at Ye Chenxing with curiosity.

Lin Jiayi was also shaken, his face full of astonishment. "Ye Chenxing, why would you have such an idea?"

Ignoring Wang Jiahao's mockery, Ye Chenxing looked beyond the window. "I think Soul Guide Devices truly represent the future—unlimited possibilities. Think back. In the earliest days, Soul Guide Devices had to be infused with soul power in real time by soul masters before they could operate. But later, our predecessors invented Soul Guide Devices like Milk Bottles, which could store soul power."

"Now, let us make a bold assumption—what if one day, Milk Bottle Technology overcame the technical bottleneck of soul power leakage and could preserve soul power perfectly for a long time? Or even if we found some stable source of energy that already existed in nature, capable of replacing soul power as the driving core... what would happen then?"

"It would mean that the threshold for using Soul Guide Devices would be completely shattered. They would truly reach the hands of countless commoners without soul power."

Lin Jiayi was genuinely stunned this time. This was absolutely not nonsense! Sealed Milk Bottle Technology and the search for alternative energy sources were precisely among the Illustrious Virtue Hall's highest-level core research projects!

Although no soul engineer had yet produced a definite answer, that did not change the fact that what Ye Chenxing had said was indeed one major direction for the future development of Soul Guide Devices. Ye Chenxing was clearly a pure soul master who had grown up in the Heaven Soul Empire and knew nothing whatsoever about Soul Guide Devices, yet he had arrived at the same conclusion as the Illustrious Virtue Hall's most cutting-edge researchers. With only a few words, he had pinpointed the future direction of Soul Guide technology!

Yet before Lin Jiayi could recover from his shock, Ye Chenxing continued. His ideas went far beyond that. At this moment, his words carried a persuasive charm, like that of a politician skilled at stirring hearts as he fully unfurled a vision of the future:

"But this is far from the end. The future represented by Soul Guide Devices surpasses the imagination of everyone present! One day, they will evolve into precise machines that operate fully automatically without human intervention. They may even develop self-awareness and independently research more advanced Soul Guide Devices! Humanity may achieve another form of immortality through mechanical ascension and memory uploading! Soul masters will no longer need to hunt soul beasts in the wilderness, because Soul Guide Devices will be able to create the most perfect Artificial Soul Rings out of thin air! We may even construct interstellar warships as vast as mountains, break free from this continent's gravity, cross the boundless sea of stars, and conquer other worlds! Or even... master space and laws, cross the river of time itself! Transcend the barriers between planes!"

The entire classroom sank into complete silence.

Every student in the class was dumbfounded. Even these Sun Moon Empire geniuses living at the forefront of civilization could not process Ye Chenxing's ideas. They could only look at him as though he were a monster. Lin Jiayi, too, stood frozen behind the lectern, his mind blank.

Self-awareness, mechanical immortality, Artificial Soul Rings, interstellar warships... such wildly imaginative, nearly insane ideas were simply a dimensionality-reducing blow against the existing Soul Guide system!

But... why? Why, even as he found it absurd, did an uncontrollable voice deep in his heart scream madly: He's right! This truly is the far shore Soul Guide Devices may one day reach!

Wang Jiahao's expression shifted from green to white. After holding it in for a long time, he finally stammered out a line with false bravado:

"You... those terms, they were all, all made up by you!"

Ye Chenxing laughed softly. He did not argue. His calm gaze swept over Wang Jiahao, over the stunned Lin Jiayi, and over every student in the class before he slowly said:

"You may deny me, but please do not deny the future of Soul Guide Devices."

The entire class could not help holding their breath. At that moment, every gaze was fixed firmly on the white-haired boy.