Having witnessed Chen Mo's extraordinary talent,
Jing Hongchen momentarily forgot that he was currently disguised as Golden Toad.
He also forgot the bet he had previously made with Chen Mo.
All he could think about now was taking Chen Mo as his student as soon as possible.
He dared say that
the moment Chen Mo stepped out of this room,
news that he had broken the academy's record and become the fastest person in history to qualify as a Level 1 Soul Engineer would spread like wildfire.
When that happened, plenty of people would set their sights on him.
Especially those old fellows in the Illustrious Virtue Hall—they would throw away every shred of dignity to take a genius as their student.
If he hesitated any longer, he might really lose his chance.
After all, the language of genius flowers was: hesitate, and they were gone.
Hearing Jing Hongchen suddenly offer to take him as his student,
Chen Mo was overjoyed.
The mission that had dragged on for three months could finally be completed.
Just as he was about to accept,
something suddenly came to mind, and an almost imperceptible, wicked smile curled his lips.
He shook his head and spread his hands, feigning helplessness. "Sorry, Teacher Golden Toad. You're too late."
Upon hearing this,
Jing Hongchen, who had been full of anticipation, felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.
What did he mean? Too late?
Had someone beaten him to taking Chen Mo as their student?
Just as Jing Hongchen was about to have a bout of Tang Syndrome,
Chen Mo continued, "When I enrolled, I made a bet with Headmaster Jing Hongchen. If I became a Level 2 Soul Engineer within a year, he would take me as his student. If I study under you, what am I supposed to say if I fulfill the bet later and the headmaster comes knocking?"
Jing Hongchen froze.
He did seem to have said that.
After a moment's thought,
he added, "Actually, the headmaster and I teach pretty much the same things. Just study under me."
"Huh? What do you mean, you're pretty much the same as the headmaster? Are you two close?" Chen Mo feigned confusion.
Jing Hongchen hurriedly said, "More than close! Jing Hongchen and I are fellow disciples of the same master. Rest assured and study under me. I'll handle the headmaster."
With that, Chen Mo stopped wasting words.
He still wanted the system's reward, after all.
He immediately said, "Then it's settled. Chen Mo greets his teacher."
Seeing Chen Mo change his tune so quickly,
one second he had looked troubled, and the next he was acknowledging his teacher at the speed of light.
"Very good, Little Mo. From today onward, focus on studying under me. I guarantee your soul tool technology will be unrivaled among your peers!" Jing Hongchen put on a fake salesman's smile.
In truth, however, he was thinking,
Well played, Chen Mo. Just you wait.
Once you learn my real identity, let's see how you explain yourself.
Chen Mo nodded. "Rest assured, Teacher. With my talent, I certainly won't disappoint you."
Likewise, his thoughts told an entirely different story.
Well, damn. Your acting is pretty good.
Fine! I'll play along to the end. Let's see how long you can keep this up.
The more fun you have acting now, the more embarrassed you'll be when your identity is exposed.
Then Chen Mo held out his hand and asked, "By the way, Teacher, did you prepare a gift for accepting me as your student?"
"A gift?" Jing Hongchen paused.
"Yes. Back where I'm from, teachers give their students a gift when accepting them. Surely you haven't forgotten to prepare one?" Chen Mo narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at Jing Hongchen.
Jing Hongchen felt somewhat awkward.
Taking Chen Mo as his student had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Naturally, he had not prepared any gift in advance.
But to avoid losing face, he rummaged through his Storage Soul Tool.
A Level 9 Soul Cannon? No, I only have a few of those myself.
A Level 8 Flying Soul Tool? No, that requires a Soul Douluo's cultivation to operate.
Finally, he decided what to give Chen Mo.
Jing Hongchen handed him a round metal disc, thin as paper and radiating a golden glow.
"Here, take this."
"This is a Level 9 Soul Tool personally made by this old man...'s senior fellow disciple, Jing Hongchen—Red Dust Protection!"
"I originally only borrowed it for a couple of days, but now it's yours."
Holy shit!
What a generous gift!
Looking at the Red Dust Protection in his hand,
Chen Mo could hardly believe his eyes.
Jing Hongchen... no, Teacher really does have money to burn.
He had casually handed over a Level 9 Soul Tool.
Knowing the original story, Chen Mo was all too familiar with this soul tool.
It was a top-tier Level 9 defensive soul tool.
Not only were its requirements for use extremely low, its defensive power was fucking incredible.
Even a One-Ring Soul Master could use it.
If he remembered correctly,
Jing Hongchen had eventually lost a bet against Huo Yuhao,
and forfeited this soul tool to him.
Now that this treasure was in Chen Mo's hands, Huo Yuhao would never get it.
After putting away the Red Dust Protection,
and with Jing Hongchen urging him along the entire way,
Chen Mo soon obtained his own Level 1 Soul Engineer badge.
Immediately afterward,
the system's cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[Mission: Enrollment. Completed!] [Requirement: Become a first-year student at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy! Completed!] [Condition: Become the student of any teacher at the academy (teacher—Jing Hongchen, position: headmaster)! Completed!] [Additionally, the host has been detected seizing a future opportunity belonging to the Child of Destiny, Huo Yuhao. Awarded the "Best Opportunity Snatcher!" bonus!] [Calculating mission rewards...] [Distributing rewards...] [Congratulations! The host has received: spiritual power, physical strength, and stamina +25%.] [Congratulations! The host has received the special item: Unique King Ball!] [Congratulations! The host has received the high-grade earth-rank cultivation art—Soul-Nurturing Art!] [Congratulations! The host has received one ten-minute Enlightenment Card for the Jade-Eyed Three-Flower Pupils!]
"A cultivation art dropped!"
Back in his dorm room, Chen Mo eagerly took out the cultivation art.
A pale blue-white jade cylinder appeared out of thin air.
Chen Mo caught it securely.
Cultivation arts were exceedingly rare on the Douluo Continent.
The only one currently known was the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Skill.
The Mysterious Heaven Skill was merely a low-rank cultivation art, yet its effects were outrageously heaven-defying.
Who knew how many tiers above it this high-grade earth-rank cultivation art—the Soul-Nurturing Art—stood?
Chen Mo eagerly opened the Jade Slip, only to find it empty.
"System, you didn't give me a fake, did you?" Looking at the utterly empty Jade Slip, Chen Mo could not help growing suspicious.
Unwilling to accept it, he examined it carefully.
Soon, he discovered Tadpole Script engraved inside the jade cylinder. Presumably, this was the cultivation formula for the Soul-Nurturing Art.
But there was another problem: he could not read Tadpole Script.
"Soul-Nurturing Art... soul-nurturing... soul, soul power?"
Something seemed to occur to Chen Mo.
To test his guess,
he poured soul power into the Jade Slip.
Sure enough,
after he infused it with soul power, the Tadpole Script inside the Jade Slip seemed to come alive.
It transformed into words he could understand and floated in the air.
"How amazing. Now, let's see just how powerful this cultivation art is."
Chen Mo brought the Jade Slip close to his brow, channeling spiritual power as he infused it with soul power.
He drew all those golden characters into his Sea of Consciousness.
Within his Sea of Consciousness,
as the golden characters drifted in, Electrolux, who had remained silent and asleep all this time, stirred faintly.
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