He Only Lost His Life, but He Insulted Your Family!

"So that was it. Insulting an imperial consort..."

"This Xu Cheng is a prince, so he was probably insulting his mother. What a hateful fellow."

"He was far too arrogant. He really thought he was somebody."

"..."

Murmurs gradually rose.

The noise filled the entire venue.

There were always well-informed people in a crowd, especially this one.

A single remark laid everything bare.

Nine Dragons Compete for the Throne.

Wang Shaojie served the Fourth Prince, yet he had openly provoked Xu Cheng during the assessment. His intentions were plain as day.

The students who had been frowning moments earlier, thinking things had gone too far, understood at once.

Throughout history, struggles for the throne had always been fraught with peril, danger lurking on every side. Yet Wang Shaojie had insisted on being the Fourth Prince's pawn, failing to understand his own place.

Pitiful. Tragic.

But that was all.

As Wang Shaojie's corpse was carried away, the students continued eagerly watching the assessment, as though nothing had happened.

"Cheng, are you all right?"

Seeing Xu Cheng approach the rest area, Xiao Hongchen stepped forward and cautiously offered him comfort.

Meng Hongchen, Nana, who had arrived at some point, and even Tang Ya gathered around him. Quite a few students from Class One came over to comfort him too...

Xu Cheng froze for a moment.

Wang Shaojie was the one who died. Why are you all comforting me?

Xiao Hongchen spoke with righteous conviction.

"He only lost his life, but he insulted your family!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

Meng Hongchen nodded repeatedly.

Xu Cheng nearly lost his composure. That formula sounded awfully familiar.

Still, for the first time, he felt the most sincere care from his classmates.

"Thank you, everyone..."

Xu Cheng exhaled a stale breath and smiled.

Soon, the dense crowd around him dispersed. After all, many of his classmates were about to take their assessments and had come to comfort Xu Cheng just before their turn...

"Was that a soul skill?" Xiao Hongchen leaned closer, brimming with curiosity.

"Want to try it?" Xu Cheng gave him a sidelong glance and smiled.

"No, no. But Cheng, you can't pull that when you spar with me," Xiao Hongchen said solemnly.

He certainly did not want to be trapped in his own little world like an idiot, drooling and grinning foolishly on the platform.

"Don't worry..."

Xu Cheng smiled.

"My tastes aren't that twisted."

"You're a true brother!" Xiao Hongchen's face immediately lit up.

Xu Cheng rested both arms on the railing and watched the matches ahead.

In Area Seven, Nana stepped into the arena.

Tall and slender, she casually gathered her dark red hair as she walked and tied it into a ponytail. With her wheat-colored skin and sharp gaze, she looked even more like a cheetah.

As she entered, she did not forget to glance back and playfully gesture at Xu Cheng.

Only after seeing Xu Cheng smile did she turn back.

Facing her opponent, her expression instantly turned cold.

"The second round of assessments... begins!"

Meng Hongchen glanced at Nana below.

She wielded her two dark red short blades with effortless skill. Coupled with her Ghost Martial Soul, she was an agility-type soul engineer whose talent ranked her among the strongest in the entire first year, apart from Meng Hongchen herself, Xiao Hongchen, and Xu Cheng.

But her relationship with Cheng...

She seemed far closer to him than Meng Hongchen was, with a familiarity more like childhood sweethearts.

That intimacy made Meng Hongchen feel like an intruding third party.

Meng Hongchen lightly pressed her red lips together and glanced at Xu Cheng, who was chatting and laughing with her brother nearby. The urgency in her heart grew stronger.

She silently told herself.

Who says a girl who drops into his life can't beat a childhood sweetheart?

I'll come from behind and take the lead!

Dusk fell as the sun sank.

The sunset spilled over the path, stretching their shadows long.

Nana was extremely strong and had won her match easily.

Tang Ya had done much the same. Although she still felt some aversion toward soul tools, her own strength was not weak. At rank twenty-one, she was among the best in her year.

Everyone had won their first match. To celebrate, Xiao Hongchen suggested dining at Mingdu's most luxurious restaurant, his treat...

"Hey, Cheng, does your spiritual detection have a sharing function?"

As they walked, Xiao Hongchen asked curiously.

"..."

Xu Cheng shook his head.

"Maybe it will in four years."

"You can pin this stuff down to a specific year?"

"That's why I said maybe."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Come to think of it, their formation was rather interesting.

Meng Hongchen and Tang Ya walked hand in hand at the front, with Xiao Hongchen and Xu Cheng right behind them, while Nana followed behind Xu Cheng.

Just as they passed the school gates.

Xu Cheng spotted a figure standing there. He was not particularly tall or imposing, yet he stood as steadfast as a pine or cypress.

An ordinary person might truly have mistaken him for a kindly old man who taught history.

But Xu Cheng, Xiao Hongchen, and the others knew better. Never mind them-even the head of Mingde Hall had to treat him with utmost respect.

A hidden master with a broom...

Xu Cheng thought to himself.

He hurried forward to greet him.

"No need for such formalities. Are you heading out for a gathering?" Elder Cheng asked with a warm smile.

"Yes, teacher," Xu Cheng replied, nodding respectfully.

"Then the timing is unfortunate. Xu Cheng and I have something to attend to tonight, so I'm afraid he won't be able to join you for dinner..." Elder Cheng said gently.

Mingde Hall.

Inside a quiet office.

This was a restricted, confidential area. Even ordinary members of Mingde Hall were not qualified to enter.

Yet this unassuming old man led Xu Cheng straight inside, openly and without hesitation.

The guards on either side all saluted.

The room was quite spacious.

Books of every kind lined the walls. Xu Cheng had never heard of many of their titles, but their worn covers and the glimpses of yellowed pages made their long histories all the more apparent.

There were no soul tool components, however.

Clearly, this elder, who held an exceptionally high position in academic circles, kept his workshop and reading room strictly separate.

"That soul tool Meng Hongchen gave you... did you repair it?"

Before Xu Cheng could speak, Elder Cheng asked eagerly.

"...Yes."

Xu Cheng nodded.

Just as I thought... he told himself.

"Your Highness, would you mind letting this old man test you?" Elder Cheng continued.

"Please go ahead..."

Xu Cheng replied, neither servile nor overbearing.

He had spent nearly a month poring over all those materials and working so hard. Hadn't it all been for this moment?

"Good."

Elder Cheng glanced at the confident Xu Cheng, satisfaction showing on his face.

"First question. Regarding the soul guidance seal in this soul tool's core, what class of core array is required to drive each adjustment?"

"A class-five core array. It creates a dual-core formation by adding another core formation alongside the original. The principle is to inscribe this core formation within the original core formation, and the difficulty lies in the arrays' mutual repulsion. Its design draws on the current class-nine melee soul guidance tool, the Dragon Blood Sword, with Detailed Study of Melee Soul Guidance Seals and How Dual-Core Formations Avoid Mutual Repulsion as reference texts..."

As Xu Cheng answered, Elder Cheng's smile grew wider.

Clearly, he found the answer highly satisfactory.

"Good. Very good..."

Elder Cheng said with a cheerful smile.

"So, would you be willing to become my disciple?"