Please Join My Team, Chenxing—Your Reputation Is Well Deserved!

Looking at the mad old man in front of him, who had nearly shaken him apart, Ye Chenxing could not help but feel both amused and helpless. He gently freed himself from the elder's hands and politely asked:

"Senior, may I ask who you are...?"

Hearing this, the elder finally snapped out of it and realized that, as a dignified Rank Nine Soul Engineer, he had actually lost his composure so badly in public.

His old face reddened. He quickly withdrew his hands, lightly coughed twice into his fist, and forcibly put on the bearing of an elder.

Though he had barely calmed down on the surface, the fervor in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest. "Child, I am a Rank Nine Soul Engineer, Ye..."

"Old Ye, stop putting your hands all over Elder Kong's disciple."

A deep voice came from above, directly cutting off the elder's introduction. Everyone looked up to see Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi leaping down from the second-floor viewing platform and landing steadily on the arena.

The moment Lin Jiayi landed, he immediately shot a look at the referee standing nearby in a daze.

The referee jolted awake and hurriedly announced, "Ye Chenxing wins this entrance examination!" Then, with quick reflexes, he hauled up Wang Jiahao, who was still shaken and weak in the knees, and hurriedly slipped off the stage.

Meanwhile, Ye Yulin's attention had been completely drawn to a few words in Jing Hongchen's statement.

"What?! Elder Kong's disciple?" Ye Yulin abruptly turned around and looked the handsome young man up and down in astonishment. "Child, you're Ye Chenxing?!"

"That's right." Ye Chenxing nodded slightly.

"But I heard that Elder Kong's newly accepted disciple was exceptional in terms of his Martial Soul. Could it be that..."

Jing Hongchen shook his head with a bitter smile. "Old Ye, to be honest, today was also the first day his talent with Soul Guide Devices had been revealed. Before this, we had not even let him touch a Soul Guide Device, so we were naturally not deliberately hiding anything."

"What?!"

Ye Yulin was so agitated that his voice cracked.

"His first time touching a Soul Guide Device?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Ye Yulin shook his head like a rattle drum, losing control of his emotions again. "Do you have any idea how complicated the internal formations of my Sun God Needle are? If others don't, you, Jing Hongchen, certainly do! Even if I taught a Rank Nine Soul Engineer hand in hand, taking it apart and explaining every detail, he still might not be able to replicate it perfectly! Let alone a Great Spirit Master-level child who had never even touched an engraving knife! No matter how gifted he is, it's impossible!"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became. Even the finger he pointed at Ye Chenxing was trembling. "And not only that, he improved it! Do you know that, Old Kong? He forcibly upgraded my Sun God Needle into a fifth-rank Soul Guide Device! This was a dead-end problem I had studied for more than a decade before finally giving up in helplessness! How could the material strength of fifth-rank metal possibly support the core formation required by my Sun God Needle?!"

Ye Yulin panted heavily, his eyes fixed on Ye Chenxing. "Honestly, even if you told me this brat had been holding an engraving knife and studying Soul Guide Devices since he was in his mother's womb, I still wouldn't believe he had this ability! Before this, he had not even seen what my Sun God Needle looked like in person! This, this, this is absurd!"

By the end, Ye Yulin seemed to have suddenly found a reasonable explanation. He grabbed Ye Chenxing's shoulders. "Child, tell me the truth. Did Elder Kong give this thing to you? Well, well, that old fellow Elder Kong secretly solved the problem behind my back and did not even bother to tell me!"

Seeing Ye Yulin's nearly crazed, pitiful appearance as he tried to piece together the truth with logic, Ye Chenxing could not help feeling a trace of sympathy.

Was I being a little too cruel to these old seniors who had spent their whole lives doing research?

It was like an old scientist who had devoted his entire life to a subject, only to step outside one day and find an elementary school student who had never even learned addition or subtraction casually writing the final answer to that subject with a pencil on scrap paper.

Who could take that?

"Um... Elder Ye, I really made this myself."

Sympathy aside, Ye Chenxing still decided to tell the truth.

"..."

The wind swept across the arena, carrying with it a stretch of silence.

Ye Yulin stood frozen in place as if he had been turned to stone.

Seeing Ye Yulin's soul-leaving-his-body expression, Jing Hongchen stepped forward and heavily patted him on the shoulder. He desperately suppressed the upward curve of his lips, feeling utterly delighted inside.

Hahahaha! Finally, someone else has been terrified by this little monster's absurd talent just like I was!

Of course, Jing Hongchen's shock was not the slightest bit less than Ye Yulin's, because he knew more of the inside story: Ye Chenxing had never even entered the laboratories of Illustrious Virtue Hall. The only place where he could access Soul Guide Devices was the basement of the villa Elder Kong had given him!

What did that mean? It meant that, without any instructor's guidance or the assistance of any precision instruments, this child had forcibly crafted a fifth-rank junior version of a Rank Nine Soul Guide Device in his own basement using nothing but a pile of written materials!

And how long had he lived there? A week? Half a month? He had even spent several days hunting soul beasts in the Jingyang Mountain Range...

Yet when something this outrageous happened to Ye Chenxing, Jing Hongchen realized that he had already become somewhat numb to it.

A full half minute passed before the petrified Ye Yulin finally caught his breath. The way he looked at Ye Chenxing was filled with complicated emotions.

From the time his Martial Soul awakened at age six until now, he had always been called a genius of Soul Guide Devices. But if this child's circumstances were true, if this fifth-rank Sun God Needle had truly come from his hands and he had never received any systematic education in Soul Guide Devices before...

Then compared to this child, Ye Yulin did not even qualify as mediocre.

"Child... may I call you Chenxing?" Ye Yulin swallowed.

"Of course. You're being too polite, Elder Ye."

"Good, good, good!" Ye Yulin said "good" three times in a row. Rare nervousness actually appeared on his usually ever-stern face.

He drew in a deep breath, as though organizing his words, before speaking after a long pause. "Chenxing, I am a consecrator of the Sun Moon Empire's Hall of Consecration, a Rank Nine Soul Engineer specializing in high-altitude Soul Guide Devices and long-range strike Soul Guide Devices. I have taught quite a few students in my life, but I have never seen anyone like you... like you..."

At this point, his voice suddenly lowered, and a trace of bitterness surfaced in his clouded old eyes.

"Child, you may not know this. Among the many branches of Soul Guide Devices, high-altitude Soul Guide Devices have always been an unpopular field chosen by the fewest people.

"The talent requirements in this field are far too harsh—you need to understand aerodynamics, high-altitude stability calculations, ultra-long-range targeting, energy attenuation compensation... Any one of those is enough for an ordinary Soul Engineer to study for a lifetime. But even if you painstakingly overcome all of them and create something that strikes from the sky, others will only think it is no different from mindless bombardment. They will not care in the least how much effort you poured into it."

Ye Yulin's beard trembled slightly, and a hint of desolation entered his voice. "In this vast Sun Moon Empire, there is more than one Rank Nine Soul Engineer. But among Rank Nine Soul Engineers who specialize in high-altitude Soul Guide Devices, there is only me. Only me!"

He suddenly raised his head. Moisture faintly glimmered in his old eyes, and his voice rose with it. "I have had three dreams in my life. The first is to reclaim the name of our Sun Moon Continent and wash away the humiliation that war left upon us people of the Sun Moon Empire!"

"The second is to create a tenth-rank high-altitude Soul Guide Device! A tenth-rank Soul Guide Device capable of bringing down divine punishment from the heavens!"

When he came to his third dream, Ye Yulin's voice suddenly softened.

"The third... is for someone to inherit my legacy. I am old, and I do not have many years left. Over the years, I have taught countless students, but not one could inherit my techniques. Those exceptionally talented geniuses all scorned high-altitude Soul Guide Devices. I had already prepared myself to take my life's work into the grave..."

Before he could finish, Ye Yulin suddenly stepped forward and tightly gripped Ye Chenxing's wrists with both hands. His reddened eyes stared fixedly at the youth before him, and his voice trembled with extreme excitement. "But today, I met you! How old are you? Eleven? Twelve? The first time you touched a Soul Guide Device, you accomplished what I could not achieve in my entire life!"

"I never believed in gods before, but today, I can only believe that, child, you must have been sent by heaven to inherit everything I have. I know you are Elder Kong's disciple. I ask for nothing else, only that you must join my team! My laboratory may not be as comprehensive as Illustrious Virtue Hall, but it lacks absolutely nothing! You may use seventh-rank and eighth-rank equipment as you please, and you can freely study ninth-rank core formations as well! So long as you are willing to come, all my life's insights, notes, and research results will be yours!"

"On you, I see the possibility of fulfilling all three wishes at once... I do not have much time left, cough cough... Child, you—"

Bang!

"Fuck you!"

Suddenly, Ye Yulin took a solid kick to the backside without warning. He cried out and stumbled two steps forward, nearly crashing headfirst into Ye Chenxing.

Clutching his backside, Ye Yulin turned around in shock and fury, only to see Jing Hongchen's chubby face darkened as he withdrew the leg he had just used to kick him.

"Jing Fatty! You dare kick me—"

"I kicked you because you deserved it! Who are you trying to fool with that lonely old man act? Go ask anyone in the entire Sun Moon Empire connected to Soul Guide Devices, and see who does not know that you, Ye Yulin, are the most arrogant! The people who want to become your disciples have been lining up from Ming Capital all the way to Shrek Academy."

"At our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, which student would not come running the instant you crooked a finger? When have you ever given anyone a second glance?! When have you ever looked anyone in the eye?! Today you think Li Si is too dull, tomorrow you complain that Wang Wu's spiritual power is substandard, and the day after that you say Zhao Liu's spatial awareness is inadequate. Now you are telling me no one wants to study under you? Isn't that your own doing?"

Jing Hongchen stood before Ye Chenxing like a wall, shielding him. His chubby face was full of vigilance. "Chenxing's Martial Soul talent is his foundation. Soul Guide Devices can only serve as support. I have already arranged a complete cultivation plan for him, so don't even think about luring him into your shabby laboratory!"

"Martial Soul talent?" Ye Yulin was so angry that his beard stood on end. Pointing at Jing Hongchen's nose, he snapped, "Jing Hongchen, you're talking to me about Martial Soul talent? What Martial Soul talent could possibly matter more than his talent in Soul Guide Devices? Could he possibly have an Ultimate Martial Soul?!"

Uh...

Jing Hongchen opened his mouth, just about to say something, when Ye Yulin waved a hand and cut him off. "Even if he has an Ultimate Martial Soul, I will fight for him today! Do you know how harsh the talent requirements for high-altitude Soul Guide Devices are? In the entire Sun Moon Empire, among tens of thousands of Soul Engineers, I am the only one who has reached Rank Nine in this field! Missing out on a genius in my field would be a loss for the entire empire!"

"You—" Jing Hongchen's face turned red from being choked speechless, yet he had no way to refute him.

He could not exactly tell Ye Yulin directly that Ye Chenxing was not only Ultimate, but Dual Ultimate as well, could he? Elder Kong had ordered them to keep it secret!

Thinking of that, Jing Hongchen could only stubbornly say, "Chenxing is Elder Kong's disciple. Elder Kong has the final say on where he goes! No matter how much you talk here, it is useless!"

"Even Elder Kong will definitely support me!" Ye Yulin refused to yield. He lifted his chin, utterly certain. "Elder Kong personally witnessed the power of my high-altitude Soul Guide Device on the battlefield back then. He understands the value of this field better than anyone!"

"Th-That may not be true!" Feeling himself fall behind, Jing Hongchen blurted out in his urgency, "Maybe this child is even more talented with other kinds of Soul Guide Devices!"

The entire Soul Duel Arena fell silent.

Ye Yulin slowly turned his head and stared at Jing Hongchen with an extremely contemptuous look.

Under that gaze, Jing Hongchen's old face immediately turned the color of pig liver. He guiltily looked away, not daring to meet Ye Yulin's eyes. Even he knew perfectly well that Ye Chenxing casually producing an improved Sun God Needle meant his talent in high-altitude Soul Guide Devices could no longer be measured by common sense.

How could he possibly be better in other fields of Soul Guide Devices than he was with high-altitude Soul Guide Devices? If that were true, then every Soul Engineer in the Sun Moon Empire had truly lived for nothing.

But so what? Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth fiercely. He had to stand firm! As the master of Illustrious Virtue Hall, he was already unhappy enough about being suppressed by Ye Yulin time and time again. Among the Sun Moon Empire's three great Soul Engineers, he accepted that he was inferior to Elder Kong, but being overshadowed by Ye Yulin every time was infuriating. If Chenxing, the future star of the Sun Moon Empire, truly joined Ye Yulin's team, would that not mean he would never have a chance to turn things around?!

No! Absolutely not!

Seeing Ye Yulin about to retort again, Jing Hongchen moved first. He grabbed Ye Chenxing's wrist with one hand and pointed toward the Hall of Consecration with the other. "Then let's go to Elder Kong and settle this! Move!"

Ye Yulin showed no weakness. He grabbed Ye Chenxing's other wrist as well. "Fine! Do you think I am afraid of you, you dead fatty?!"

Before the words had even faded, the two Rank Nine Soul Engineers, whose stomps could make the entire empire tremble three times, each seized one of Ye Chenxing's arms. The flying Soul Guide Devices on their backs unfolded at the same time, dragging three streaks of light toward the Hall of Consecration.

The students in the stands craned their necks, staring blankly at the three shrinking points of light in the sky. The silence throughout the Soul Duel District instantly shattered.

Who had ever seen two of the Sun Moon Empire's top three powerhouses publicly fighting over someone?

"Are those two really the kind of great figures we normally never even get to see?!"

"Didn't you see the hall master kick that consecrator?"

"They started fighting in public over a new student... Am I dreaming, or has the world gone mad?"

"Oh no, I got so absorbed watching that I forgot! The cafeteria has started serving food! We're going to miss it!"

"Damn! Why didn't you say so earlier?"