Ximen Qing likes other people's tools; Xiao Hongchen: worldview under reconstruction, testing the émigrés' allegiance (4K)

"Bang-"

The Soul Cannon shattered into dust that filled the air, Lone Bamboo was sliced into eight pieces by icy sword light, and Tang Gang plunged headfirst, his skull launching a merciless elbow strike at the ground.

A large hand firmly caught Tang Gang by the back of his neck.

The referee hovered in midair, a Flying Soul Tool spread behind him. With a look of disgust, he dropped the disappointing student, then turned toward the dazzling golden figure soaring through the air, an unmistakable glimmer of admiration flashing in his eyes.

"The battle is over. Ye Guyi wins. The Soul Tool made for the advanced assessment belongs to the new student. You may take it with you," the referee announced on the spot. "Gang, go to the academic affairs office to get reimbursed for your damaged Soul Tools."

"Thank you, sir..."

Back on the ground, Tang Gang's legs went weak, and he plopped onto his backside, secretly swearing that never again in this lifetime would he play the senior opponent in an assessment for a few pounds of rare metal.

Ten meters away, Ye Guyi descended slowly. Her swan wings folded, their pure white feathers shimmering with gentle light before dissolving into tiny white motes.

The Hongchen siblings stood beside Lin Jiayi, craning their heads on either side as they watched the academic director their grandfather trusted most wield his pen and compose Ye Guyi's new-student report.

Ye Guyi, female, age fifteen, Bright Swan martial soul, rank forty-five Battle Soul Ancestor, Level 4 Soul Engineer.

Immigrant from the Douluo Continent; apparently without any backing.

Stable cultivation, with no signs of medicinal assistance. A typical Douluo Soul Master's cultivation method, with deep, substantial soul power exceeding that of ninety-nine percent of the academy's students.

Her Soul Tool crafting skills were somewhat less impressive. Considering the backward Soul Tool environment of the three great empires, however, achieving such proficiency was no easy feat. The education offered by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy should help her progress further along the path of soul engineering.

Special note: this girl excelled at aerial combat. The aerial fighting skills displayed during her advanced assessment were worthy of a standing ovation.

Overall assessment: had the potential to become both a Titled Douluo and a Level 9 Soul Engineer; worthy of focused cultivation by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.

The lengthy new-student report comprehensively analyzed the strengths and weaknesses Ye Guyi had revealed in her battle.

This was Lin Jiayi's regular duty: helping the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy select one-in-ten-thousand prospects. The reports went to Dean Jing Hongchen for personal review, allowing him to decide whether to allocate substantial resources to their development.

"Continue the assessment."

Finished writing, Lin Jiayi signaled to the referee in the distance. The latter nodded in acknowledgment and called out Lin Qing's opponent for the new-student assessment.

The young man walked with unhurried composure. He looked fourteen or fifteen, with handsome features, an elegant, tranquil bearing, and impeccably combed short, dark-blue hair.

"Director Lin, you called Lan Xiu over?"

The Hongchen siblings both turned to look at Lin Jiayi. Lan Xiu was a Level 4 Soul Engineer like Lone Bamboo Tang Gang, but they were on entirely different levels.

Among the soul engineering students under fifteen, Lan Xiu's talent was second only to the Hongchen siblings'. He was a core disciple personally selected by Jing Hongchen, the primary control Soul Engineer for the next generation's Soul Master Tournament team.

Hearing this, Lin Jiayi merely smiled.

Since Xiao Hongchen had refused to enter the arena rashly, Director Lin needed to find a whetstone of just the right hardness.

Only a handful of young students at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy were qualified to exchange blows with ultimate metal. Meng Hongchen had originally been an excellent choice.

However, the girl with a head full of pink bubbles probably would not be able to strike hard. After considerable thought, Lin Jiayi had finally made a last-minute choice: Lan Xiu, who was calm and skilled at advancing steadily, securing his position at every step.

"Fifth-year student, Lan Xiu."

"Lin Qing."

On the testing area's battlefield, the two exchanged names before walking to opposite ends of the arena.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and a hundred battles will bring no peril. Before the battle of the century between a divine beast bloodline and an ultimate martial soul, I'll observe Lin Qing's fighting style first."

Foolish little sister. How could a Soul Engineer's caution be called cowardice? Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Xiao Hongchen persuaded himself with flawless ease, his mismatched eyes fixed unblinkingly on the battlefield, afraid of missing a single detail.

Once they were a hundred meters apart, Lan Xiu noticed Lin Qing's empty hands. Unable to see any Soul Tool on him, he frowned slightly, his voice carrying across the distance:

"Why haven't you taken out your Soul Tool?"

"And where is your Soul Tool?"

"In my hands, of course," Lan Xiu replied gravely.

"Then mine is in your hands too."

As his words fell, four soul rings surged fiercely upward from beneath Lin Qing's feet, bursting with magnificent, majestic radiance.

Yellow, purple, purple, black!

"Whoom-"

The surroundings suddenly erupted. Sun Moon Soul Engineers were unlike Douluo Soul Masters. The difference in martial soul quality, coupled with years of taking drugs to force growth like tugging seedlings upward, left their bodies as frail as slender willows swaying in the breeze. A Soul Engineer whose soul rings exceeded the optimal configuration was a once-in-a-millennium sight!

The testing area exploded into an uproar. Meng Hongchen cupped both hands around her mouth like a little megaphone, shrieking encouragement for Lin Qing.

Sweat poured from Xiao Hongchen's palms. He resolved to return to training the moment this battle ended. For the first time, Xiao, who had proclaimed himself invincible among his peers, felt the crushing pressure of Mount Tai bearing down on him!

Lin Jiayi raised both arms, celebrating in advance the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's acquisition of a cornerstone for the next century. Ye Guyi surveyed the surrounding Sun Moon students, whose understanding of the world had been shattered, and a graceful smile of shared pride touched her rosy lips.

Aside from the referee, who had a duty to perform, apparently no one cared whether a certain student surnamed Lan lived or died.

Lan Xiu was utterly stunned. The errand runner Lin Jiayi had sent had only said this would be a formality, never mentioning that an ultimate monster stood opposite him. Four great soul rings rose and fell continuously, and those silver-gray eyes resembled unfathomable dark abysses, filling anyone who looked at them with dread.

Pressure capable of toppling mountains and swallowing seas came thundering toward him. Lan Xiu knew he had to seize the initiative and create an opening.

The next second, nine clusters of silver light shot into the sky, their passage through the air producing piercing whistles as they released dazzling brilliance against the azure heavens.

Nine metal spheres, each the size of a human head, were covered in densely engraved soul guidance patterns. They hovered in a specific formation, faint lines of light connecting them into a precise offensive array.

The Level 4 Soul Tool, Nine Radiances.

The appearance of Nine Radiances drew repeated gasps from the many students who had heard of Lan Xiu.

Lan Xiu was a rare spiritual-type Soul Master with pure, powerful spiritual strength, but he lacked a medium such as Spirit Eyes or a brain-type martial soul through which to project it.

This left him in an awkward position. Without Soul Tools, Lan Xiu could not even fight.

Precisely because of this, he had decided on his cultivation path as a child: specializing in controlling Nine Radiances, controlling his enemies, and controlling the battlefield.

Nine Radiances was Lan Xiu's only Soul Tool. He had begun learning to use it as soon as he first encountered Soul Tools in his youth.

Originally, Nine Radiances had been a set of Level 2 Soul Tools. Relying on his spiritual talent, Lan Xiu had explored its use bit by bit, gradually upgrading it as his own Soul Engineer level rose.

The boy who had once had only a single path available had now grown into one of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's most sought-after prodigies. No matter whom he faced, Lan Xiu would never cast aside his pieces and concede!

The silver spheres moved rapidly. Nine Radiances spread into a perfect circle, surrounding Lin Qing at its center. All nine spheres locked onto the middle, and Lan Xiu's gaze hardened as he pressed all ten fingers downward!

"Boom-"

Nine silver beams fired simultaneously, converging on Lin Qing from every direction. The light emitted by Nine Radiances was called the Rebound Ray. It applied enormous repulsive force to any impact, turning an opponent's own methods back against them.

Lan Xiu linked himself to Nine Radiances through his spiritual power, controlling the firing direction of every Rebound Ray. The rays collided, rebounded, and refracted against one another, forming bizarre trajectories that made them nearly impossible to guard against.

The ninefold Rebound Rays vibrated continuously. Anyone unfortunate enough to be struck would have their soul power rapidly dispersed by the repeated rebounds. Nine Radiances' exquisite coordination brought that repulsive force to its fullest potential, stacking it layer upon layer in an unending stream!

A purple soul ring blazed brilliantly. His second soul skill, Machinery Growth, caused machine elements to divide frantically, gathering and growing around Lin Qing. A metal fortress rose from the ground, shielding him completely.

"Boom, boom, boom-"

Nine Rebound Rays bombarded the machine elements, their tremendous humming reverberating through the sky.

Let the winds blow from east, west, north, or south; he remained immovable.

Nine Radiances bombarded it continuously with all its strength, yet could not shake the metal barrier in the slightest. Ultimate metal was both an all-piercing spear and a shield wall as impregnable as a fortress.

Lan Xiu's lack of direct offensive power was laid bare in the very first exchange.

Rebound Rays had countless ingenious uses. Deflecting attacks and disrupting soul power were both excellent combat methods, but without sufficient concentrated piercing power, they simply could not penetrate a steel shield forged from ultimate metal!

Lin Qing stood behind the machine elements, his handsome, cool features utterly unperturbed.

Countless machine elements soared upward against the Rebound Rays. Following Lin Qing's will, they formed a gigantic silver hand that grasped through the air, reached straight into Nine Radiances' encirclement, and closed its five fingers, forcibly dragging down three silver-white spheres!

"No!"

Lan Xiu's expression changed drastically. He tried to reclaim Nine Radiances through his spiritual power, but the gigantic silver hand possessed astonishing strength. Three spheres of Nine Radiances were clutched tightly in its palm, unable to move.

Powerless to stop what he saw, Lan Xiu's eyes turned bloodshot. Nine Radiances, which he had cherished as carefully as a lover, fell into another man's hands, where the spheres were toyed with and caressed before their metal shells were stripped away, exposing their milky-white cores.

The delicate, vulnerable soul guidance arrays lay open as the machine elements drove straight into them...

"Nine Radiances! My Nine Radiances!!!"

The hoarse, anguished cry brought sorrow to all who heard it. At that moment, Lan Xiu was more heartbroken than if his wife had run away. Nine Radiances had been with him since he was six-a full eight years!

Wait, Nine Radiances seemed to be enjoying it...

At that thought, Lan Xiu suddenly froze.

His spiritual power was closely linked to Nine Radiances, allowing him to perceive its changes clearly. It was like a pampered young lady draped in a white bath towel, receiving a relaxing massage from the ace therapist, machine elements, every inch of skin soothed from head to toe.

Just as their opening exchange had suggested, Lin Qing's Soul Tools were in Lan Xiu's hands. The machine elements were sublimating Nine Radiances' metallic essence and refining its core arrays.

Lan Xiu's lips trembled, but not a word came out. He could only stare blankly at the three spheres of Nine Radiances as their silver glow grew ever stronger. Infused with the machine-element foaming agent, they had evolved, reaching heights their original versions could never attain.

The machine elements opened their palm, and the three spheres of Nine Radiances broke free. They did not return to Lan Xiu's side. Like loyal servants who had surrendered both body and soul, they hovered in midair, their silver-white light blazing ever more dazzlingly-three true stars descended to the mortal world.

"Go."

Nine Radiances moved at his command. The Rebound Rays turned their muzzles around, and silver-white pillars of light several times thicker than before blasted straight toward their former master.

Lan Xiu blanched in horror and hurriedly activated his remaining six spheres of Nine Radiances to intercept them.

Nine silver stars clashed violently. Rebound Rays flew back and forth, neither side yielding, as dazzling silver fireworks exploded across the sky.

Three against six, yet the battle was visibly one-sided.

The machine elements had used the ultimate talent, Metal Sublimation, to transform the Soul Tools. The three spheres of Nine Radiances had transcended their previous level, their Rebound Rays leaving their counterparts far behind in strength. Their power had risen to an inconceivable level, every beam surging with overwhelming force and crushing the opposing six spheres like rotten wood.

"Clack!"

One sphere of Nine Radiances fell to the ground. Lan Xiu desperately squeezed out his spiritual power, hoping against hope to turn defeat into victory, but it was already too late.

The second, the third, the fourth... Nine Radiances retreated steadily under the traitors' ferocious bombardment. One after another, the spheres slipped from his control, resembling beads from a broken string as they clattered to the ground, bounced a few times, and rolled to Lan Xiu's feet.

At that instant, all his strength seemed to drain away. His legs weakened, his knees buckled, and he collapsed like limp noodles, looking up at the sky with tears in his eyes.

Three silver-white morning stars hovered silently, radiating beautiful, sacred light. In Lan Xiu's eyes, they were still beautiful, even more dazzling than before. They simply no longer belonged to him, having turned away to enter Lin Qing's embrace.

The supergenius nurtured by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had lost, utterly and completely.

He had not even touched the hem of Lin Qing's clothes. Instead, his opponent had defeated him using the very Soul Tools he was most proficient with.

The defection of three spheres of Nine Radiances in the midst of battle represented more than Lin Qing's overwhelming superiority in strength. It overturned his beliefs.

Lan Xiu had carefully treasured Nine Radiances as earthly jewels, their companionship unchanging year after year. Yet in Lin Qing's hands, they were merely lumps of metal to be kneaded round or flattened at will. The crucial point was that Nine Radiances had willingly gone along with it...

Lin Qing raised his right hand and opened his palm. The three spheres of Nine Radiances obediently descended, their docility bringing to mind well-trained, snow-white carrier pigeons.

"Your Nine Radiances is pretty good. Very handy."

Return what you borrow, and borrowing again will be easy.

He gently set Nine Radiances down in front of Lan Xiu, returning them to their rightful owner. Lan Xiu immediately hugged the metal spheres tightly, gritting his teeth as he looked at Lin Qing with complicated eyes. His expression lay somewhere between regarding an enemy who had stolen his wife and a benefactor who had enlightened him.

After one battle, a third of Nine Radiances had been directly sublimated. From that perspective, Lan Xiu really ought to thank Lin Qing.

"Uh..."

In the spectators' seats beside the arena, Xiao Hongchen's jaw dropped out of its socket.

Worldview under reconstruction...

Soul Tools were a Soul Engineer's lifelong companions, yet ultimate metal could corrode and control an enemy's Soul Tools, even enhance and modify them before turning them against their former master. It was nothing less than the nightmare of every Soul Engineer in the Sun Moon Empire!

Against Ximen Qing, who had a taste for other people's tools, they would have to keep their Soul Tools firmly in their grasp from now on, leaving him not the slightest opening!

Beside him, Lin Jiayi's pen flew as though divinely inspired.

"Lin Qing, age eleven, peak Level 4 Soul Engineer, machine element martial soul, mutated ultimate metal.

A monster in both soul mastery and soul engineering. No lengthy assessment necessary. However one looked at it, a single word sufficed: invincible.

Invincible beneath the heavens!"

Lin Jiayi rose and strode into the testing area. Had Lin Qing and Ye Guyi been registered citizens of the Sun Moon Empire, their advanced assessments would have ended here, and they could have skipped merrily into the academy.

Unfortunately, Qing and Guyi were émigrés from Douluo, and their talent was so obvious even a blind man could see it, making them irresistible. To prevent the farce of someone borrowing the academy's hen to lay their own eggs, Lin Jiayi decided to administer an additional assessment...

An allegiance test!