Xiao Hongchen went numb.
He regretted putting on airs for no reason.
In the entire academy,
the two people he least wanted to run into were Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan.
It wasn't that he was afraid of them.
He simply found them troublesome.
If you won, those two would camp outside your door every day to challenge you until they beat you.
But if you lost, it would disgrace his reputation as the greatest genius in the Sun Moon Empire's history.
So, to avoid unnecessary trouble,
in his day-to-day life,
whenever he encountered those two, he took as wide a detour as he could.
Chen Mo looked at Xiao Hongchen and asked, "Brother Xiao, why aren't you saying anything? Could it be that you're afraid of Senior Ji and Senior Jing?"
"What a joke!"
"I, Xiao Hongchen, am unrivaled among my peers. Why would I fear those two?"
Of all the parts of Xiao Hongchen's body, his mouth was the most stubborn.
If he admitted he was afraid of Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan,
how could he show his face around the academy once word got out?
Meng Hongchen suddenly remembered something.
She looked at Xiao Hongchen and said, "Oh, right, Brother. You haven't forgotten our bet, have you?"
"Bet? What bet?"
Xiao Hongchen looked utterly bewildered. He had completely forgotten about it.
Meng Hongchen put both hands on her hips, a sly, triumphant look on her pretty face.
"We bet on whether Chen Mo could break your record for becoming a Level 2 Soul Engineer. The result is obvious now. I won, so pay up!"
That unpleasant memory instantly came flooding back to Xiao Hongchen.
But to protect his wallet,
his brain raced.
"Wrong! We bet on whether Chen Mo could break my record for becoming a Level 2 Soul Engineer, but this time he broke my Level 3 Soul Engineer record! Going strictly by the terms of our bet, I haven't lost at all!"
→_→
Hearing her brother's sophistry,
Meng Hongchen fixed him with a stare. "Brother, are you trying to welch on our bet? Believe it or not, I'll tell Grandpa you're bullying me."
"Go ahead. You don't have any evidence that I made a bet with you anyway." Xiao Hongchen looked smug.
Meng Hongchen slowly took out a Soul Tool resembling a recording pen.
"Are you sure? Don't forget, I recorded everything you said back then. That includes you saying you'd eat the table. Want me to play it back?"
"No, no, no! I'll pay, all right?"
Xiao Hongchen felt utterly miserable.
Why did his own little padded jacket keep letting in drafts?
As luck would have it,
Jing Hongchen happened to walk into the cafeteria.
To stop his sister from tattling to their grandfather, Xiao Hongchen hurriedly took out his wallet and handed Meng Hongchen a month's allowance, his heart aching as though it were being sliced by a knife.
"Xiao, weren't you in seclusion, working toward becoming a Level 5 Soul Engineer? What are you doing here?"
Seeing his grandson in the cafeteria,
Jing Hongchen was clearly rather surprised.
"Grandpa, I came out yesterday, and I passed the Level Five Soul Tool Assessment."
Already miserable, Xiao Hongchen felt even more wounded now.
Before he went into seclusion, he had been the greatest genius in the Sun Moon Empire's history, unrivaled among his peers.
Who could have imagined that a single stint in seclusion would leave his record broken and his title as a genius snatched away, while his sister piled on the misery and his grandfather forgot about him?
What was the point of living anymore?
But Jing Hongchen clearly paid no attention to Xiao Hongchen's self-pity.
His gaze swept over Chen Mo, and he asked sternly, "You brat, you haven't come looking for trouble with Xiao Mo, have you?"
"Of course not, Grandpa. You know me. I've never been the sort to bully the weak and fear the strong."
"Xiao Mo is my dearest loved one, my brother in arms. Just look at how close we are."
Xiao Hongchen draped an arm around Chen Mo and flashed his trademark fake business smile.
He couldn't help wondering,
What exactly was so charming about Chen Mo?
Why did Grandpa value him so highly, and my sister favor him so much?
I was the Hongchen Family's eldest grandson!
"That's right, Teacher. Brother Xiao and I hit it off at first sight. In fact, he just said he'd treat me to meals for an entire year. Didn't you?" Chen Mo seized the opening, looking at Xiao Hongchen with a wicked grin.
At that moment,
Xiao Hongchen bitterly regretted not going to class.
Why had he come here to check out Chen Mo just because he had nothing better to do?
"All right. I doubt you'd have the nerve anyway."
Jing Hongchen understood his own grandson well enough.
Although he was proud, conceited to the extreme, and fiercely competitive,
under his guidance, the boy's character had turned out reasonably well.
He never used his strength to bully the weak.
Whatever he lost, he would reclaim through his own abilities.
Chen Mo then asked Jing Hongchen, "Speaking of which, Teacher, what brings you to see me so early in the morning?"
"I came to deliver something." Jing Hongchen handed Chen Mo a ring-shaped Storage Soul Tool. "These are the medicinal ingredients and Soul Beast blood essence you asked me for."
"As expected of you, Teacher. You got everything ready so quickly."
Chen Mo happily picked up the ring as he spoke.
His grand undertaking in pill refinement could finally begin.
"It's nothing. If you run out of medicinal ingredients, just ask me for more. But you'll need to tell me in advance if you want Soul Beast blood essence."
Xiao Hongchen spoke with complete confidence.
Very few people on the Douluo Continent refined pills.
And even among those who did, their pill-refining techniques were extremely backward.
They used very few medicinal ingredients, with little variety.
As a result, medicinal ingredients on the continent were very cheap.
They were exceedingly easy to gather.
Hearing that Chen Mo wanted medicinal ingredients, Meng Hongchen immediately asked in confusion, "Xiao Mo, what do you need medicinal ingredients for?"
"To refine pills," Chen Mo answered.
"Refine pills?!" ×2
Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen spoke in unison.
Identical expressions of astonishment appeared on their faces.
"You know how to refine pills?" Xiao Hongchen asked incredulously.
There were currently two popular kinds of pills in the Soul Master World.
They were the Soul Ascension Pill and the Mystic Water Pill.
A Soul Master could take only one of the former in their lifetime.
Taken below the Four-Ring Soul Ancestor rank, it could reliably raise one's soul power by one level.
But beyond that rank, its effects diminished significantly.
The latter, meanwhile, was an exclusive secret medicine of the Mystic Underworld Sect.
Each pill cost ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, and even at that price, none were available for purchase.
It was refined through a special process using the blood essence of over a dozen water-attribute Soul Beasts and several dozen water-attribute plants.
Gentle and easily absorbed, it both cleansed the tendons and transformed the marrow while substantially increasing soul power.
He and Meng Hongchen had grown up taking these pills, which was how they had reached their current level.
And now you're telling me a nine-year-old child wants to refine pills like these?
How was that possible?
Meng Hongchen felt Chen Mo's forehead and said, "Strange, you don't have a fever. Xiao Mo, are you serious?"
"Senior Meng, don't worry."
"I guarantee the pills I refine will be even better than the Mystic Water Pill and the Soul Ascension Pill!"
Chen Mo patted his chest confidently.
How hard could refining a pill be?
After all, he had received an Eighth-Rank Alchemist's inheritance.
He even had the Black Demon Cauldron, ranked eighth on the Heavenly Cauldron Rankings.
But Chen Mo would soon learn that refining pills wasn't nearly so easy.
Jing Hongchen then said, "Oh, right. Since all three of you happen to be here, there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?"
Chen Mo put away the medicinal ingredients and asked.
Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen also exchanged a glance before looking at their grandfather in confusion.
Jing Hongchen stopped keeping them in suspense and said directly, "This year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament is about to begin. I intend to have the three of you take part as well, so you can broaden your horizons and prepare in advance for the next tournament."
"The Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament!"
"The three of us? Seriously?"
Meng Hongchen was thrilled.
Xiao Hongchen was equally excited. "Will we be competing as official team members?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself."
"The three of you will be reserve team members."
"However, whether you can make the reserve team will depend on your performance."
As Jing Hongchen spoke, his gaze couldn't help drifting toward Chen Mo.
He wanted to see how Chen Mo would react upon learning that he would be attending the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament.
Yet there was no reaction at all.
He was calm as could be.
Suddenly puzzled, Xiao Hongchen pointed at Chen Mo and asked, "Meng and I are both Soul Kings, so I can understand us competing as reserves. But Chen Mo is only a Soul Elder. Isn't it a little too early for him to enter the tournament?"
"Not at all! Not at all! The timing is just right."
"This boy's Soul Skill is perfectly suited to competitions with team events."
Jing Hongchen spoke with a smile.
Meng Hongchen immediately understood. "That's right! With Xiao Mo's Soul Skill boosting us, we'll be able to sweep through the competition!"
"Huh? What Soul Skill? What are you talking about?"
Xiao Hongchen looked completely bewildered.
Did I miss something just now?
Why couldn't I understand any of this?
Only then did Meng Hongchen remember that her brother had yet to experience the power of Chen Mo's Soul Skill.
She said mysteriously, "You'll find out in a moment. Come on, let's go to the Soul Fighting Arena right now!"
Before you continue