Looking at Ju Zi's peerlessly beautiful face so close to his own, Feng Piaoling smiled faintly and said, "You've become even more beautiful."
Ju Zi's face instantly flushed crimson. "Alright, how dare you tease your big sister..."
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she mimicked Feng Piaoling's previous tone and said, "But speaking of which, haven't you changed a lot as well?"
"What, do you think I've become more handsome?" Feng Piaoling remarked narcissistically.
"You really have become more handsome, that's true, but I was talking about other aspects. Back at the Crown Prince's manor, you were unwilling to get close to me, or rather, you didn't dare to."
At this point, Ju Zi suddenly lowered her voice and leaned in close to Feng Piaoling's ear. "Little brother Piaoling, your mask has slipped, you know."
Feng Piaoling looked at her in surprise. Ju Zi smiled radiantly and winked at him.
The corner of Feng Piaoling's mouth curled upward. Standing right where he was, he said with unhurried composure, "Aren't you also walking on thin ice in front of that person? He has never truly trusted anyone in a meaningful sense. We are both in the same boat."
At this moment, their faces were extremely close, practically eye to eye, making the atmosphere appear somewhat ambiguous.
"Ahem..." Xuan Ziwen happened to glance over and catch sight of this scene. He couldn't help but cough twice, saying, "It seems you two already know each other. Although you are both passionate young people, you are still quite young. Especially here in the laboratory, you still need to pay some attention to your behavior, more or less."
Ju Zi glared at Xuan Ziwen. "Teacher, what nonsense are you talking about?" Her somewhat soft voice carried a peculiar quality that made one's heart itch.
Feng Piaoling, however, bypassed the previous topic. "Teacher Xuan, let's begin our lesson now."
"Uh, alright." Xuan Ziwen also realized that he had misunderstood the two of them—perhaps they had known each other for a long time—so he rubbed his nose in a bout of awkwardness.
Two months later, inside the laboratory.
Ju Zi looked at Feng Piaoling with an expression as if she were looking at a monster.
"What is it, is there a problem?" Feng Piaoling looked toward her.
"What do you think? Twelve years old, a Class 6 Soul Tool Engineer. For others, improving their skills as a Soul Tool Engineer is incredibly difficult, and it is usually rare enough if their Soul Tool Engineer class can keep pace with their own Soul Power rank. You, on the other hand, went from a Class 4 Soul Tool Engineer to Class 6 within two months. Soul Tool engineering skills that leap past three ranks—I really don't know how you managed it."
Ju Zi rolled her eyes intensely as she spoke.
Feng Piaoling smiled. "I was only barely able to manufacture Class 6 Soul Tools after breaking through Rank 39. To truly manufacture Class 6 Soul Tools at will, I still have to wait until after I advance to Soul Ancestor."
While they were speaking, Xuan Ziwen walked inside. The two greeted him simultaneously, "Teacher Xuan."
Xuan Ziwen nodded and looked toward Feng Piaoling, saying, "I came over to find you today mainly for two matters."
"The first matter is that the Soul Tool you independently developed, the 'Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword,' has already been completely manufactured. Although it is a Class 5 Soul Tool, as a rare set-type Soul Tool, its true might is still undetermined. We need to go into the wilderness for testing to judge its actual power."
The Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword was a set of Soul Tools that Feng Piaoling had manufactured based on Han Li's magic treasure from his past life's animation, A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.
There were seventy-two blades in total.
It required injecting one's own Soul Power into the Soul Tools and then relying on spiritual power to control them.
It placed immense demands on the strength of one's own spiritual power and control over Soul Power.
Originally, Feng Piaoling had intended to manufacture them as Class 6 Soul Tools, but even if he manufactured them, he wouldn't be able to control them. Furthermore, manufacturing them with his current Soul Tool Engineer techniques would require far too much time, which simply wasn't worth the loss.
Xuan Ziwen continued, "It just so happens that Ju Zi has already broken through Rank 50. This time, you and Piaoling will go together. You can hunt for a Soul Ring along the way."
"You've already broken through Rank 50?" Feng Piaoling looked toward Ju Zi. Although it was a question, he didn't feel the slightest bit of happiness for her in his heart.
Because this was raised through reliance on medicine, the side effects were extremely obvious. Her Soul Power was unstable, and her control over her own Soul Power was far inferior to Soul Masters of the same rank.
The consequence of doing this was equivalent to obliterating one's own potential.
"Perhaps this is the reason why it is difficult for the Sun Moon Empire to produce Hyper Douluos. But then again, it is an undeniable fact that the Martial Souls of the Sun Moon Empire are weak compared to those of the three empires of the Douluo Continent. If they didn't consume medicine, they probably wouldn't be able to give birth to so many Class 9 Soul Tool Engineers either."
Feng Piaoling thought secretly to himself.
"What, is there a problem? Don't tell me you think you're the only genius?"
Almost all Soul Masters of the Sun Moon Empire were raised through reliance on medicine, and Ju Zi subconsciously assumed that Feng Piaoling was the same, speaking with a bit of pride.
"No, it's nothing. It just so happens that quite a few of my brothers and sisters have reached a Soul Power bottleneck. I plan to take them to hunt for Soul Rings tomorrow anyway."
Feng Piaoling shook his head. Although he really wanted to help Ju Zi and draw her into his own camp, now was not yet the time.
Ju Zi was involved far too deeply with Xu Tianran.
In the original story, if Xu Tianran hadn't forced her to bear a child for him and used her child as a tool, she wouldn't have turned against Xu Tianran to become deadly enemies.
Xuan Ziwen said with a solemn expression:
"This is also the second matter I wanted to talk to you about. There are still two months before the Soul Master Tournament begins. The Director of Instruction just found me and said the academy has decided to make the ten of you brothers and sisters members of the preparatory team for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy's battle team, representing the academy in the competition."
"Participating in the competition—now this is interesting." Feng Piaoling's eyes narrowed slightly. Originally, he had planned to go by himself.
He hadn't expected that old man Jing Hongchen to actually arrange for all of them to participate in the competition.
Was this an attempt to completely cut their ties with Shrek Academy, and even the three empires of the Douluo Continent?
Ju Zi also realized this point and warned, "Piaoling, it would be best if you don't bring them to participate in the competition, and it would even be best if you don't participate yourself."
"I know about this, but since our Lord Hall Master has spoken, then we ten siblings naturally have to make the trip."
Feng Piaoling spoke with a superficial smile, while adding in his heart: He hadn't expected that he would have to use the first of the three matters Kong Deming had promised to handle for him so soon.
This was fine too; after all, protecting himself alone was protection, and protecting ten people was also protection.
With him around, there was no need to worry about that Rank 98 Supreme Elder of the Holy Ghost Cult, who couldn't even catch a Soul King, using his greater power to bully the weak.
At the very least, in a situation where that old fox Kong Deming didn't fight with his life on the line, having him confront Xuan Zi it shouldn't be a problem.
Along the way, it was also time to let them test the results of their cultivation.
However, when the time came, it would still be unavoidable to ask Jing Hongchen for a few things.
...
Feng Piaoling's dormitory was on the first floor.
This was something Feng Piaoling had requested from the academy; if he encountered an unexpected situation, he could use Earth Escape to flee at any time.
Night fell.
Having ended a day of cultivation, Feng Piaoling dragged his exhausted body back to his dormitory.
Before he even entered the door, Electrolux's voice rang out within his mind, "There is someone in the room, and it looks like they come with ill intent. You had best use Earth Escape to leave right now."
"What rank?" Feng Piaoling only asked this single question.
"Rank 98," Electrolux answered.
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