Jing Hongchen gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and said, "I actually wish it had been developed by Mingde Hall."
Ma Zhong was stunned upon hearing this. Such a breathtaking masterpiece, capable of rewriting the upper limit of power for a third-grade Spirit Tool, was actually not Mingde Hall's latest product?
He thought for a moment, his eyes suddenly lighting up, and asked again, "Could it be that Elder Kong has come out of seclusion?"
Jing Hongchen shook his head again. "With Elder Kong's status, how could he possibly waste time making a third-grade Spirit Tool?"
He immediately stopped playing coy. "Look at the mark on the gun; that is the symbol of the Spirit Transmission Hall."
Ma Zhong frowned, brought the gun body closer to examine it carefully, and indeed discovered an extremely small mark on the side of the barrel.
He looked up and asked, "Spirit Transmission Hall? When did a Spirit Transmission Hall pop up in the Empire? Why have I never heard of it?"
Jing Hongchen sighed again. "It is not from the Sun Moon Empire. This Spirit Transmission Hall is in Star Luo City."
Ma Zhong's already large eyes instantly widened into saucers, almost popping out of their sockets.
His rugged face was filled with incredulous shock, and his voice cracked, sounding like a thunderclap in the quiet office. "How is that possible?! How could a Soul Engineer from the Star Luo Empire create such a Spirit Tool?!"
Jing Hongchen waited until he had finished shouting before speaking slowly. "This is exactly why I want you to go. I have studied this gun repeatedly for several nights, and the more I study it, the more alarmed I become."
A flash of inspiration struck Ma Zhong's mind, and he slapped his thigh, suddenly realizing. "Spirit Transmission Hall, Spirit Pagoda... these two names are so similar, it cannot be a coincidence. There must be some connection between them."
Jing Hongchen nodded with a grave expression. "Correct, that is my assessment as well."
"The Spirit Tools from the Spirit Transmission Hall have only been trickling out of Star Luo City in the last few months, and currently, the only ones available on the market are low-grade Spirit Tools."
"But even if they are just low-grade Spirit Tools, one has to admit that their exquisite craftsmanship and formidable power have already completely crushed our Mingde Hall."
"The decomposition ray gun in your hand has a design philosophy for its core Formation and energy circuits that is completely different from the mainstream direction of our Mingde Hall, yet every single circuit is precise to the extreme, and the energy loss at every node has been suppressed to the minimum."
"This is not the whim of one or two Genius Soul Engineers, but an entire system of Spirit Tool manufacturing that is more advanced and mature than ours."
Spirit Tools are the foundation of the Sun Moon Empire's nation-building; they are the lifeline that keeps them ahead of the three great Empires.
Now, to be crushed by the Star Luo Empire in the area of Spirit Tool technology—their greatest source of pride—is an unimaginable threat to the Sun Moon Empire.
Ma Zhong stood up abruptly from his chair. The previous look of disdain and dismissiveness on his rugged face was gone, replaced by a sense of solemnity and determination.
"Rest assured, Dean. On this trip to Star Luo, I will definitely get to the bottom of this Spirit Transmission Hall."
After confirming this matter, Ma Zhong stood up from his chair in a flurry and strode toward the door.
He pulled open the heavy wooden door of the office, only to find two figures standing at the doorway—it was the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
Ma Zhong looked at the two and said, "Looking for the Dean? Go on in."
The siblings walked into the office with light steps. Jing Hongchen looked at his precious grandson and granddaughter, his previously furrowed brows unconsciously relaxing, and a gentle smile appeared on his face. "Why have you two come over?"
The siblings looked at each other, exchanged a knowing glance, and then Xiao Hongchen spoke first. "Grandfather, we also want to go to Star Luo."
The smile on Jing Hongchen's face tightened slightly, and his expression became a bit more serious. "You heard everything outside?"
Meng Hongchen stuck out her tongue and replied, "Grandfather, we didn't intentionally eavesdrop; we just happened to come to see you."
"Besides, we are also very curious about this Spirit Transmission Hall and Spirit Pagoda. If it can make you and Grandfather Ma take it so seriously, it must not be simple."
"This time, the other party took the initiative to send invitations to various forces to observe the ceremony, so there shouldn't be any danger, right?"
Jing Hongchen was silent for a moment upon hearing this. During the last All-Continent High-Rank Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament held in Star Luo City, the two siblings had returned in defeat, and they had been bottling up a drive to succeed for the past few years.
Watching how hard they worked to cultivation, he, as their grandfather, had always felt a secret heartache.
Letting them go out for a trip this time to change their mood might actually be a good thing.
Thinking of this, he could no longer maintain his serious expression, and a smile spread to the corners of his eyes again. "Since you want to go, then go."
...
Heavenly Soul Empire, Sky Rift Great Canyon.
Regarding place names, many in the world are merely far-fetched, elegant-sounding inventions, but the name "Sky Rift Great Canyon" is as realistic as it gets.
It is as if, on some day in the ancient past, a deity held a giant sword capable of splitting the heavens and slashed down from the firmament, forcibly cleaving the entire land into two.
A bottomless, endless great canyon thus lies across the map of the Douluo Continent. Viewed from high above, it resembles a hideous scar, extending from one end of the horizon to the other, stretching beyond the reach of sight.
The sides of the canyon are near-vertical cliffs, with the highest peaks piercing the clouds, shrouded year-round in lingering mist.
Yet, on these cliffs, where humans rarely tread and birds struggle to fly, dozens of simple thatched cottages are scattered in an orderly fashion.
However, those capable of surviving in such a perilous place could naturally not be ordinary people.
I fear no one would ever imagine that the Body Sect, famous across the continent, has its headquarters hidden on the cliffs of this secluded canyon.
Inside the largest thatched cottage among the group, Long Aotian stood in the center, a look of disbelief on his sharp-featured face.
He had just rushed back without stopping, bringing the gold-stamped invitation directly back to the Sect from the Heavenly Soul royal family, but he had not expected that his Master had no intention of going at all.
He couldn't help but raise his voice and ask, "Master, are you really not going?"
Opposite Long Aotian, a burly old man was sitting cross-legged on a mat woven from rushes.
He had a very striking head of short, dark green hair, and a pair of equally dark green eyes that shimmered with a cold, eerie luster in the slightly dim cottage. Even just sitting there casually, the aura radiating from his body was like that of a dormant, primordial beast.
This was the current Sect Master of the Body Sect, Du Busi.
A flash of undisguised indifference flickered in Du Busi's dark green eyes. He curled his lip and said disdainfully, "What kind of bullshit Spirit Soul? I've never even heard of it."
"The Disciples of our Body Sect have always relied solely on their own tempered bodies throughout the generations; we never rely on external objects."
Long Aotian felt that his Master was great in every way, except that his temper was too stubborn; once he made up his mind, not even nine oxen could pull him back.
However, after Du Busi finished huffing, his dark green eyes suddenly rolled. He looked up and down at his most prized Disciple, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Although I am not going, you, kid, must go."
"Just follow that group from the Heavenly Soul royal family and take Vina on a trip."
...
Forces across the continent had all received the invitations sent out by the Spirit Pagoda.
Regarding this matter, the reactions of the various forces were completely different.
Some took it seriously; that eight-story tower next to the Star Luo Imperial Palace rose from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye. To build this tower, even the Prince's residence was demolished, so they naturally felt it could not be a small, trivial matter.
But there were also those who were dismissive, feeling that the Spirit Master system had been passed down for Ten Thousand Years—how could it be changed just like that?
Regardless, before verifying it with their own eyes, they naturally would not believe it.
As the date specified on the invitation drew closer day by day, many unfamiliar faces gradually poured into Star Luo City.
Representatives sent by various forces to observe the ceremony gathered from all directions, and discussions about the Spirit Pagoda and Spirit Soul could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys.
According to Gongyang Mo's statistics, those who were supposed to come should have all arrived.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.