The year passed faster than expected, and Lu Yuan's group of three settled down in Mingdu.
At first, they had only planned to look around before leaving, but their winning streak at the Soul Duel Arena brought in a considerable income. The Hongchen siblings also invited them to spar and exchange pointers from time to time, and before they knew it, staying had become the norm.
They rented a two-story house with a courtyard in the southern part of the city.
Most days, they meditated and cultivated their Soul Power. Occasionally, they went to the Soul Duel Arena for a couple of matches to stay sharp, or went sightseeing together outside Mingdu.
Their days were peaceful, but never dull.
Every few days, the Hongchen siblings would come over to get beaten up.
At first, they fought separately, but gradually, it turned into mutual instruction.
Lu Yuan's group taught them Soul Duel techniques.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, meanwhile, taught Lu Yuan's group the techniques of Soul Tools.
Whenever the three girls met, they often huddled together to discuss which restaurants in Mingdu had new dishes. They ate their way from the south of the city to the north, and the list of shops in their notebook grew longer and longer.
After more than a year, the atmosphere among the five of them had changed from strangers who had come to know one another through fighting into a familiar closeness built on tacit understanding.
No one deliberately tried to define whether they were friends or something else.
That day.
The Hongchen siblings once again invited Lu Yuan's group to spar.
The location was a stretch of wasteland in the western outskirts of Mingdu.
Young people exchanging pointers were quite civilized, stopping once a point had been made.
Before long, it was time for a break.
The group sat in a circle and chatted.
Meng Hongchen was beside them, poking at the ground with a branch as she drew. Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "By the way, Lu Yuan, have you three ever thought about joining an academy?"
Xiao Xiao had been drinking water. Hearing that, she froze for a moment, set down her water flask, and looked at Lu Yuan.
Gu Qiu'er turned her head as well.
Lu Yuan looked up at Meng Hongchen, then glanced at Xiao Hongchen.
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"We're from the Abyss Cult, so naturally we haven't joined any academy."
Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen exchanged a look and nodded meaningfully.
Meng Hongchen said, "The new Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament will be held soon. Though your Abyss Cult is a reclusive sect, you still have to interact with the outside world eventually, right?"
“The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament brings together the finest young Geniuses from across the continent. Lu Yuan, Qiu'er, Xiao Xiao, the three of you have talents that we've all witnessed firsthand.”
"How about joining our Royal Soul Engineer Academy and competing as specially recruited players?"
Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up. "The Soul Dueling Tournament?"
As a genuine native of the Douluo Continent, she was naturally no stranger to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
It was a stage that nearly every young Soul Master dreamed of, true proof of the strongest members of the younger generation across the continent.
For Xiao Xiao, it was undoubtedly an enormous temptation.
"Brother Lu Yuan!"
She tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve. "Should we go?"
Gu Qiu'er tilted her head. "The Soul Dueling Tournament? What do you fight?"
"It is a competition between academies."
Meng Hongchen explained, "Every advanced Soul Master Academy on the continent sends a representative team to participate. The team that ultimately wins will be recognized as the strongest on the continent for that generation."
Hearing that she could compete with young Geniuses from across the continent, Gu Qiu'er immediately thought it was an excellent chance to show off!
Gu Qiu'er rubbed her hands together and looked at Lu Yuan. "This tournament sounds pretty interesting. How about we take part too?"
Xiao Xiao also looked at Lu Yuan expectantly.
Lu Yuan asked Xiao Hongchen, "Is this your grandfather's idea, or that Regent's?"
Xiao Hongchen gave a bitter smile. "Both, I suppose. You three have become quite famous in Mingdu, so His Highness the Regent naturally knows about you."
"The Empire has always attached great importance to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. After all, displaying the strength of the Empire's younger generation before the eyes of the whole world is good for the Sun Moon Empire's reputation."
"My grandfather and His Highness the Regent both believe that if they can invite you to compete as specially recruited players of the Royal Soul Engineer Academy, our chances of winning this tournament will be much greater."
Meng Hongchen took over, looking seriously at Lu Yuan.
"The most important objective is to defeat Shrek Academy."
At the mention of Shrek Academy, Xiao Xiao and Gu Qiu'er turned to look at Lu Yuan at the same time.
Xiao Hongchen noticed.
He asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Could it be... you don't want Shrek Academy to lose?"
Of course, they were from the Douluo Continent, after all.
"Fight! Shrek Academy is exactly who we're going to fight!"
Lu Yuan grinned. "Fighting Shrek Academy is great. Shrek Academy deserves a beating!"
"Whenever someone wants to fight Shrek Academy, our Abyss Cult will lend them a hand."
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen exchanged looks, each seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.
There was clearly more than an ordinary disagreement between the Abyss Cult and Shrek Academy.
Suppressing his doubts, Xiao Hongchen said, "Then it's settled? I'll tell my grandfather and have your names added to the roster."
"Not so fast."
Lu Yuan raised a hand to interrupt him. "You can invite us to be outside help, but how are you calculating our appearance fee?"
Xiao Hongchen blanked. "Appearance fee?"
"Didn't you just say that whenever someone wanted to fight Shrek Academy, you'd help them out?"
"Why are you asking for an appearance fee now?"
Xiao Xiao planted her hands on her slender waist, lifted her chin, and said with a smile, "Those are two different matters! Helping out is our business, while the appearance fee is your academy's business. They don't conflict."
Gu Qiu'er added from the side, "What, do you want the horse to run without feeding it? You weren't planning to make us fight for free, were you?"
"Then we'll have to consider joining another academy. When the time comes, we'll beat up your Royal Soul Engineer Academy along with them."
Xiao Hongchen: "..."
Meng Hongchen covered her face and helplessly tried to smooth things over. "All right, all right, Brother, stop making trouble."
She looked at Lu Yuan's group, her tone becoming more serious. "Lu Yuan, don't worry. The academy will pay your appearance fees according to the standards for regular players. You definitely won't be treated unfairly."
"And if we really can defeat Shrek Academy, the academy will give you an additional generous reward."
Lu Yuan nodded. "That works. We'll take the job."
Gu Qiu'er thought it over and asked Meng Hongchen, "What exactly is the grudge between your academy and Shrek Academy? Why are you so determined to defeat them?"
Meng Hongchen sighed. "Besides the Empire's honor... our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy has been suppressed by Shrek Academy for nearly three thousand years."
"From the time we first began participating in the tournament until today, we haven't won a single match."
Gu Qiu'er's eyes widened in shock. "More than three thousand years? And not a single win?"
"Not once."
Meng Hongchen nodded with a bitter smile.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
Gu Qiu'er immediately burst into loud laughter and turned to Xiao Hongchen. "Hey, then you really are hopeless. You focused entirely on developing Soul Tools and became amateurs at Soul Duels, huh?"
Xiao Hongchen's face darkened. "Hmph! That's because I wasn't around before! With Meng Hongchen and me competing in this tournament, we'll definitely defeat Shrek Academy!"
"Oh, please. You can't even beat me, yet you want to challenge Shrek Academy?"
Gu Qiu'er crossed her arms, a smile hanging on her lips.
Xiao Hongchen's face reddened. "Gu Qiu'er! Stop looking down on people! Do you think everyone is a monster like you?"
Not everyone's Soul Rings began at ten thousand years!
As a Genius of the Hongchen Family, Xiao Hongchen still knew some things.
During the year Lu Yuan's group had been swaggering around Mingdu, it was not as though no factions had investigated them. Some had even secretly made a move, hoping to use force to obtain the secret behind the enhancement of their Soul Rings.
Yet without exception, every attempt came to nothing. None of those who went ever returned, and no one knew whether they were dead or alive.
But people guessed that they were probably dead.
Those three dared to openly display Soul Rings beyond their proper age limits in Mingdu. There had to be someone backing them!
That was why fewer and fewer people dared to test them afterward.
Before you continue