When a madman met bandits
"Hehe, don't worry, I'm just a weak woman. I wouldn't compete with your sister for the position of the main wife. But there are plenty of heartless people in the sect who like that kind of person. Among the third-generation disciples, there's a prodigy who's only twenty-six years old and has already advanced to Super Douluo..."
Wei Ling'er sat leisurely to one side, her graceful figure concealed by a light blue cheongsam. Her long legs were particularly eye-catching, fair and slender, crossed together, and she smiled with her light blue eyes.
The beautiful woman lowered her head, knitting a sweater, her delicate hands deftly manipulating the skewer, no longer paying attention to Xiao Hongchen.
"..." Xiao Hongchen's face showed a slight embarrassment, as the other party had seen through his thoughts at a glance. However, he also became increasingly anxious. Lu Cheng was trapped in Mingdu. How could he get out of there? How could he bring his sister back safe and sound? And would his grandfather be implicated?
"Don't worry, they're on their way back," Vina said softly. "Your grandfather and your sister are among them, and they're unharmed."
As for you...
Vina smiled with pity, "I'm afraid you don't know yet, but an earthquake has struck within the Sun Moon Empire. Your grandfather lost his position as the Illustrious Virtue Hall and was imprisoned. The Sun Moon Emperor even plans to execute his entire family."
"Staying here has, in a way, saved your life. Otherwise, when you finished your exchange period with the Shrek Academy and returned to the Sun Moon Empire, death would have awaited you."
"..."
This news struck Xiao Hongchen. He stood frozen, speechless for a long time, before finally managing to stammer, "What did you say?! What did you say?!"
"If you don't believe me, wait for the sect leader and the others to return and ask your sister and grandfather yourself," Vina said calmly, her arm around Long Aotian's.
He opened his mouth to Xiao Hongchen, but no words came out.
She sat on the sofa, looking utterly lost and dejected.
There was no reason for them to lie to him, because his grandfather and sister would tell him the answer themselves. But what he found even more absurd was that the Sun Moon Empire, for which he had risked everything, even sacrificing his future by consuming elixirs during the competition to win the championship, had now completely betrayed them.
This feeling was unpleasant, especially since just a moment ago he was thinking about how to escape back to the Sun Moon Empire.
"Elder brother!!"
Just as Xiao Hongchen was scratching his head, feeling distressed and at a loss, a clear voice mixed with joy rang out.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
Xiao Hongchen's eyes reddened as he looked at the girl who also had red eyes, walking in from outside the main hall, and hesitated to speak...
Behind him stood a short, stout figure. The old man looked at Xiao Hongchen with a kind expression, nodding slightly, but his eyes conveyed a lot, which made Xiao Hongchen suddenly breathe a sigh of relief.
At least their family can still be reunited, right?
This is the best possible ending.
"Brother Xiao, it's been a long time!"
Behind the two, a tall and slender young man stepped out, a warm smile spreading across his handsome, even somewhat otherworldly, face.
"Haven't seen you for a long time."
Xiao Hongchen parted his lips slightly, but swallowed back all his complaints. His younger sister, this beautiful and lovely girl, had probably already been taken by this guy, but it was his sister who offered herself up, with his help.
I regret my actions now, but there's nothing I can do about it.
"Please, everyone, have a seat."
Lu Cheng sat leisurely to the side of the emperor, in the chief seat. Du Busi sat opposite him, and then they were arranged in order. The people present were all the elders of the Body Sect, as well as the most outstanding disciples of the third generation. However, Zhang Lexuan and others were not among them.
As Lu Cheng finished speaking, it was Jing Hongchen's family who were presented with the treatment expected of prisoners. However, to their surprise, Lu Cheng had left an empty seat for them, demonstrating the importance he placed on them.
Jing Hongchen sat expressionless in his seat, his chubby body visibly relaxed.
Even the Heavenly Soul Emperor, though nominally the leader, merely smiled and tactfully handed over the reins to Lu Cheng.
Meanwhile, the younger generation, including Vina Long Aotian, stood upright to the side with impeccable manners, demonstrating their absolute recognition and respect for Lu Cheng, the young sect leader.
After all, this banquet hall is filled with powerful individuals.
"A resounding success!"
Lu Cheng spoke softly.
"However, we have completely offended the Sun Moon Empire. If they launch a war at all costs, we must fight back. After all, the Ming Dou Mountain Range are just for show now. The so-called 100,000-strong army of the White Tiger Duke may not even be as powerful as the Heavenly Soul Empire Guard."
"Xiao Cheng, are those guys' Soul Tool really that powerful?" Du Busi frowned slightly. Having just advanced to the Limit Douluo, he led his people to the enemy's headquarters to show off, and he's become a bit arrogant now.
"You underestimate Soul Tool. We happen to have a Level 9 Soul Engineer here, the former Illustrious Virtue Hall. Why don't we ask him to give us a talk?" Lu Cheng said with a smile.
"If the Sun Moon Empire really gets serious, the Ming Dou Mountain Range won't be able to hold out for even a day," Jing Hongchen said with a smirk and a hint of arrogance.
"How is this possible!" An elder of the Body Sect dared not utter a word. "The White Tiger Duke has at least 100,000 troops, and his elite forces are extremely powerful. In less than a day? Hall Master Hongchen, if you were just boasting about Soul Tool, I could understand, but such confidence shows you haven't witnessed the power of traditional Martial Soul, have you?"
"Hmph, believe it or not, in my eyes, that so-called army of 100,000 is not even as good as a single Beast Soul Engineer Legion of the Sun Moon Empire." Jing Hongchen snorted lightly, speaking with disdain.
"If Soul Tool are truly as powerful as you boast, how did Illustrious Virtue Hall suffer such a complete defeat? And why are you here?" The elder laughed instead of getting angry.
"You!" Jing Hongchen's face flushed red, he glared and snorted, but still shook his head. "A bunch of frogs in a well. I admit defeat to this brat, but that doesn't mean I agree with you. The Sun Moon Empire has already developed Linked Defensive Soul Tool. With tens of thousands of troops pressing in, even you two Limit Douluo are helpless."
"..."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
At this point, it wouldn't be so bad for Jing Hongchen to lie again, unless the old man cooperated with the old emperor to stage a self-inflicted injury to deceive them all; otherwise, he wouldn't continue to be so stubborn.
"Soul Tool... are they really that powerful?" One of the elders was still somewhat skeptical.
"To put it this way, my Soul Power cultivation is only Level 94, but given enough distance, I can fight one-on-one, and even crush a Level 98 Super Douluo, all thanks to the Soul Tool I have," Jing Hongchen said proudly.
"If you don't believe me, go out and try it now."
"Alright!" The Fifth Elder, a burly, white-haired old man, stood up and pulled Jing Hongchen outside.
Before long, he returned looking dejected.
His expression was slightly blank, and he seemed somewhat aggrieved. His cultivation level was Level 97, and his Martial Soul was muscle. When the distance between them increased to a thousand meters, he couldn't even get close to the other person, and was being bombarded with Soul Tool until his Soul Power was exhausted...
"I... I give up." The Fifth Elder shook his head and looked at Lu Cheng, who was sitting at the head of the table. "Young Sect Master, although we are the Body Sect, we can still rely on the power of Soul Tool. If I also had a level nine melee Soul Tool, I could easily defeat the Hall Master Hongchen."
"..."
Lu Cheng remained seated, a smile playing on his lips, "I'm very pleased that the Fifth Elder has this level of awareness..."
"If the young sect leader points east, I, Old Heng, will certainly not go west! Anyway, you're in charge!" the Fifth Elder said with a simple smile.
"What the young sect leader says goes. We old folks who have lived in seclusion in our mountain sects for years will definitely follow your lead and will never slacken our efforts in the slightest," the Grand Elder said righteously.
This scene stirred a storm in Xiao Hongchen's heart, yet he remained composed. This guy's influence within the Body Sect was terrifying. What was most frightening was that when a powerful bandit possessed a super-intelligent brain, who knew what kind of waves he would stir up on the continent.
What's more, this kid is a madman who never considers the consequences of his actions and never cares about so-called rules, making him even more dangerous and unpredictable.
but...
Xiao Hongchen shook his head; it was none of his business.
His younger sister had just told him the whole story; their Hongchen Family owed the Sun Moon Empire nothing.
The real headaches are for the Shrek Academy, the Sun Moon Empire, and many other top powers across the continent.
"I plan to do my best to develop the Soul Tool Department. At the same time, I will continue the tradition of the Spirit Hall in the Heavenly Soul Empire, offering free Martial Soul Awakening..." Lu Cheng chuckled and looked around before slowly speaking.
"The Spirit Hall?"
Mentioning this taboo name caused everyone present to change their expressions.
Especially the Heavenly Soul Emperor, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated.
"If a war really breaks out, I pessimistically believe that at least two-thirds of the entire original continent will fall within six months, and that's with the help of our Body Sect..." Lu Cheng said calmly.
"Why am I so pessimistic? Because of the gap between the two continents. The Sun Moon Empire encourages the awakening of its common people and has absorbed a great many geniuses. Soul Tool have already smoothed out the talent gap between Soul Master to a great extent. If the number of Soul Engineer is further increased, this power will be absolutely terrifying."
"But what was the original continent doing? Nobles ran rampant, their power was deeply entrenched, and countless commoners could not awaken their Martial Soul. If they wanted to get ahead, they only had two paths... to sign a contract of servitude to the nobles and become slaves, or to go bankrupt and gamble on a chance to awaken their martial spirits and turn their lives around."
"On this continent, at least 80% of the young people do not Martial Soul Awakening and can only spend their entire lives rooted in the countryside, burying their talents."
"The Spirit Hall was indeed feared in the past, but..."
"We shouldn't abandon its advantages."
"But... we cannot disobey the ancestral command." The Heavenly Soul Emperor could no longer restrain himself and stepped forward to offer a tactful remonstrance.
"Our ancestors paid a heavy price to erase the Spirit Hall from history, yet we are to repeat their mistakes. Isn't that...?"
"..."
But after he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
No one echoed his sentiments, no one spoke.
Lu Cheng remained calm, gently picked up a bowl of tea, took a sip, exhaled a breath of stale air, and asked with a warm smile.
"Is Your Majesty afraid that we will become the next Spirit Hall?"
"This... I didn't mean that, my dear minister, please don't..."
"Good!"
Lu Cheng interrupted the Heavenly Soul Emperor with a resounding statement, "You guessed correctly. We are destined to become the next Spirit Hall."
"..."
The Heavenly Soul Emperor's smile froze.
The entire room fell silent.
Xiao Hongchen was even more dumbfounded, but a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes. The relationship between boys is actually very pure: if you are strong, I will respect you. And Lu Cheng, who is the same age as him, has already become the player while he is still a pawn and has no choice in his own life.
Even though this guy is unpredictable and hard to fathom.
but...
But he gradually came to accept it in his heart.