pertwk Chapter 20: We can't exactly steal Shrek Academy, can we?
Chapter 20: We can't exactly steal Shrek Academy, can we?
After saying that, Kong Deming gently pressed a button on the metal disc beneath his seat.
With a soft mechanical whirring, the heavy alloy door slowly opened, and a tall servant walked in respectfully.
"Get the place I arranged ready, take Chenxing and the others to familiarize themselves with it, and help them tidy up," Kong Deming instructed.
"Yes, Master Kong." The attendant bowed and replied.
Ye Chenxing thanked him, bowed to Kong Deming again, and left with his attendant.
As the gate closed again, it completely shut out the outside world.
Kong Deming, who had just been beaming with joy, suddenly slumped his shoulders and let out a long sigh.
Seeing this, Jing Hongchen was somewhat taken aback: "Teacher, today is a joyous day for you to gain an unparalleled disciple, and for our Sun Moon Empire to welcome two extraordinary geniuses. Why are you suddenly sighing?"
Kong Deming rubbed his temples: "It's certainly a cause for great joy, but the mortal world... In the end, our Sun Moon Empire is only good at Soul Masters, and we are far behind in terms of the foundation of Martial Souls."
"This child's dual extreme martial soul talent is a once-in-a-millennium occurrence. Although I have reached the pinnacle of the world in soul tools, I am truly afraid that my mastery of martial soul cultivation will hinder his talent. Unlike Shrek Academy, we do not have experience in cultivating soul masters with extreme attributes."
Hearing this, Jing Hongchen didn't seem to care much. Instead, he stepped forward to comfort her, saying, "Don't panic, Elder Kong. Back when Shrek Academy was cultivating their first genius with ultimate attributes, weren't they also completely clueless and figuring things out as they went along? Our Sun Moon Empire's theories and research methods are far more advanced than theirs. There's no reason why they can do it and we can't. At worst..."
Jing Hongchen lowered his voice, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "This disciple will find a way to infiltrate the Sea God Pavilion and steal that thing for you!"
"No!"
Kong Deming's expression hardened, and he interrupted him without hesitation, his tone becoming serious: "Stop with your dangerous thoughts! What kind of place is the Sea God Pavilion? Its foundations are unfathomable. Even I, in my own presence, wouldn't be confident of a safe return. Shrek Academy likely harbors a true Limit Douluo. For the future of Morning Star, we must plan carefully and absolutely cannot take such a risk!"
Reprimanded so sternly by his master, Jing Hongchen quickly lowered his head and humbly replied, "Yes, Master is right. I was presumptuous."
Seeing Jing Hongchen admit his mistake, Kong Deming sighed and continued, "Unfortunately, our empire's soul master ranks can't find many decent soul master experts to teach him."
Upon hearing the words "Soul Master expert," Jing Hongchen's expression hardened. He stepped forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Teacher, are you aware of the rampant problem of evil Soul Masters in the Empire that has existed for over a decade?..."
Kong Deming's face darkened: "I have indeed heard some rumors."
"The situation is probably far more serious than you've heard. They have now integrated into a tightly knit organization, and the top-tier strength hidden within far exceeds our imagination. Among them are terrifyingly powerful Super Douluo, and even Limit Douluo, and..." He paused slightly, his tone growing increasingly heavy, "...I'm afraid that some high-ranking officials in the Empire have already been infiltrated by them."
"Oh? Is that so?"
He lived a secluded life for many years, devoting all his energy to the research of cutting-edge soul tools, ignoring all major changes that did not concern the survival of the empire. However, he never expected that those rats who could not see the light of day had already extended their tentacles so far in the dark.
"In that case, the existence of Morning Star is even more crucial." Kong Deming clenched his withered fingers tightly and said in a deep voice, "He possesses the Ultimate Light, making him a natural enemy of those guys. If they learn that the Ultimate Light has appeared, they will definitely stop at nothing to eliminate him. Listen to me carefully, you must protect Morning Star at all costs! At this critical juncture, he absolutely cannot suffer any mishap!"
"Don't worry, teacher, I understand the importance of this!" Jing Hongchen nodded very seriously, then looked troubled. "But... since we lack sufficient foundation in ultimate martial soul cultivation, who should guide his martial soul cultivation next?"
"This matter can be discussed in detail." Kong Deming pondered for a moment. "Before level 30, guiding a child to lay the foundation is more than enough. If it really doesn't work, we can always make a deal with Shrek Academy when he reaches a higher level."
"trade?"
"What, haven't they always coveted our Mingde Hall's advanced soul tool technology?" Kong Deming revealed a shrewd expression.
"Those self-important fellows have no idea how far our Sun Moon Empire's soul guidance technology has progressed. Just look at those few filler soul guidance masters in Shrek Academy's department, those so-called level eight and a half masters. Give them some outdated achievements from previous generations, and they'll be able to study them for ten or eight years." He paused, a sly glint in his eyes. "We need to be careful how we do it. Don't give them the complete system; only give them the later theoretical results, stripping away all the initial derivations. Let them use the answers to work backwards from the formulas and figure it out themselves."
Jing Hongchen's eyes lit up, but then he frowned again: "But teacher, if we offer to exchange extreme cultivation methods, won't that alert them? What if they guess that our Sun and Moon Sect has produced a genius who needs extreme experience, wouldn't that be..."
"It's alright."
"The more critical the moment, the more we need to make a big show of it. Not only should we change things, but we should also ask for an exorbitant amount, changing several different things. List their basic cultivation methods, martial spirit theories, and all sorts of other miscellaneous things. That way, they won't suspect anything."
He took a sip of tea and continued, "Based on my understanding of the Shrek Academy group, they'll definitely try to outsmart us. They'll just throw together some normal cultivation methods, maybe even some physical training like running as a 'Shrek family secret technique.' As for the extreme cultivation method—in their eyes, that's useless anyway. Given Shrek's arrogance, they'll most likely think that since they don't have an ultimate Soul Master, they can't possibly have a Sun Moon Soul Master either, so they won't be too wary, which is exactly what we want."
"The teacher is wise!"
Kong Deming rubbed his temples, then couldn't help but smile wryly, "Chenxing's extraordinary spiritual power would be a waste if he didn't study soul tools with me. But he also has such outstanding dual-attribute martial soul talents... If he learns this, I'm afraid it will delay that."
Jing Hongchen shared the same sentiment. Looking across the entire Sun Moon Empire, it was probably only this ancestor who could understand this most luxurious "happy trouble" on the entire continent.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
"Smack."
Ye Chenxing casually stuffed the thick "Encyclopedia of Soul Beasts" back onto the bookshelf.
"Truly worthy of peak Spirit Sea Realm spiritual power, reading is like a human body scanner..." He stretched his neck and couldn't help but sigh.
In his first life, as a seasoned online novel enthusiast, he had already mastered the skill of "reading ten lines at a glance." But this was the first time he had ever experienced something like this: a hundred thousand words of obscure theory could be read at a glance and then be automatically summarized in his mind.
"It's no wonder it's a fantasy world; even such insignificant everyday details show such a difference."
"Let me see, this should be the last one."
He glanced at the bookshelf, which was densely packed with numerous books:
The Spirit Hall 10,000 Years Ago
Introduction and Basics of Soul Master
The Hidden Secrets of the Star Dou Great Forest
Summary of the Far North: The Three Overlords
Evil Soul Master and Soul
The History of Shrek: The Lord of the House
"Dimensional Theory and Possible Invasion of Other Dimensions"...
Counting the days, it will soon be a week since he moved into this small villa. These past few days, he has almost stayed indoors, spending his time either cultivating his soul power or reading.
For no other reason than that, within the original Douluo Continent world, the phenomenon of "retconning" is rampant. Not only does every book and every section contain contradictions, but even within the same chapter, there are inconsistencies. These include, but are not limited to: Tang Hao appearing without a 100,000-year spirit ring, Di Tian appearing with blond hair, the city lord of Shrek Academy's Schrödinger, and at least four versions of the crucial Dragon God story...
Previously, as a reader, he would have simply laughed it off. But now, in the real Douluo Continent, he had to re-verify the current situation. As a transmigrator, relying too much on the flawed information from the original work in his memory could easily backfire and get him killed.