"Father, Tianming, will this work?"
In the dimly lit, elegantly decorated hall of the Jialan King's mansion in Bright Capital, three people sat together. The speaker was a young man in his twenties. He was none other than Xu Mochen, a member of the Sun Moon Imperial Family and Wang Shaojie's cousin.
Seated before him were two others. One was the current Jialan King, a stern-faced middle-aged man who appeared to be in his fifties. He wasn't conventionally stout or imposing; in fact, he was rather thin and looked quite ordinary. But his eyes, sharp as a tiger's, could instill fear with a single glance.
Beside the Jialan King sat a young man. He had fair skin, a slender build, and a handsome face. His long, black hair cascaded down his back, and he wore a smile that made him seem like a graceful young master.
This was Xu Tianming, the second son of the Sun Moon Emperor and Xu Tianran's half-brother.
If outsiders were present, they would surely be astonished. The Jialan King and the Second Prince, who jointly managed the Imperial Clan Court, were known for their fierce rivalry in court, even engaging in intense power struggles. Logically, they should be political enemies, but here they were, sitting together like old friends, enjoying tea.
The Jialan King said in a low voice, "Of course it will work. That Shrek Academy Student's identity is too special. He is a disciple of Mingfeng Douluo Yan Shaozhe. The consequences of arbitrarily arresting him won't be easily resolved. If they get serious about it, we'll be in trouble."
"But similarly, the more troublesome it is, the more it's an opportunity for Tianming to gain favor with Shrek Academy and His Majesty. His Majesty isn't in the best of health, and what he needs most right now is stability. So, if Tianming can handle this before a major conflict erupts, it will be a huge boost in His Majesty's eyes. Therefore, a well-timed play requires you, young man, to perform."
Xu Mochen's eyes flickered. He'd mentioned Wang Shaojie's situation casually during dinner, but his father's reaction was quite strange, and it led to this.
The Second Prince, Xu Tianming, outwardly appeared to be his father's political enemy, but in reality, the Jialan King and the Second Prince had long been secretly cooperating. Their public displays were merely for show.
"So, what's the procedure I should follow?" Xu Mochen asked.
"It's simple," Xu Tianming said with a smile. "Say that Wang Shaojie is severely injured and near death. This will give you sufficient reason to act decisively. If Huo Yuhao resists arrest, you can take action directly. The Imperial Guard has the authority. However, you must subdue Huo Yuhao in a crowded area. Then, I will appear at the perfect moment to stop the arrest."
"The more people who witness it, the faster it will spread, and both His Majesty and the strong of Shrek Academy will know. At the same time, everyone will know that it was this prince who perfectly resolved the issue."
Xu Mochen's eyes brightened slightly. He was somewhat moved by his father and Xu Tianming's words. After all, the Second Prince's success would be the best thing for his family.
The Jialan King thought for a moment and said, "However, Tianming, you can't just happen to show up on the day of the arrest; that would be too coincidental and could easily arouse suspicion. I suggest you go to the Academy every day for the next few days to make your presence known."
"You're right. If I just happened to show up, it would be too abrupt. After all, everyone knows I rarely go to the Royal Academy." Xu Tianming frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed, and couldn't help but laugh, "Luckily, Fifth Uncle, you reminded me in time. If I want to make an impression, I have a way."
"I'll go to Mingde Hall to have a high-level Soul Engineer customize a Soul Tool. That way, I'll have a reason to go in and out. As for you, Mochen, you can go find that Huo Yuhao a few days later."
"No problem." Xu Mochen nodded. Suddenly, he thought of something and quickly said, "Right, I heard that Jing Hongchen, because of this provocation, specifically exempted the Shrek exchange students from the assessment to enter Mingde Hall. In other words, that Huo Yuhao is very likely to go to Mingde Hall to study. Second Prince, you can take this opportunity to get familiar with him in advance."
"Oh?" Xu Tianming's eyes lit up. "Is that so? It seems that even the heavens are helping me. If I take the initiative to get closer to Huo Yuhao, it will be more appropriate to ask for his help later."
The Jialan King was also slightly surprised. He didn't expect that Jing Hongchen had indirectly helped them, but he couldn't help but feel a little regretful, "It's a pity that Jing Hongchen is extremely difficult to win over. Otherwise, if we could get his support, your chances of winning the succession, Tianming, would be almost a sure thing."
"Difficult to win over also means that he is currently neutral. The support of the Mingde Hall Master is too important. I'd rather he not support anyone. This is more stable for me." Xu Tianming didn't feel much about whether Jing Hongchen would join them.
"That's true." The Jialan King nodded.
"Since the matter is decided, I won't disturb you any further. Fifth Uncle, you rest. I'll go back first." Xu Tianming stood up and prepared to leave.
The Jialan King and Xu Mochen stood up simultaneously, their gazes following Xu Tianming as he departed.
There was a secret passage within the dark hall, which was the guarantee that the Second Prince could come and go without revealing his identity.
A "swoosh" sound echoed as the wall suddenly split open, revealing a secret passage that emitted a soft glow.
Xu Tianming was just about to enter when the Jialan King spoke,
"Tianming, you must pay attention to the Crown Prince's movements, and you must ensure that there are strong individuals accompanying you when you go out. After all, several princes have died unexpectedly."
Xu Tianming paused, his eyes deepening, and then he stepped into the secret passage. As the wall closed, the Jialan King and Xu Mochen finally withdrew their gazes.
"Father, are you afraid that Xu Tianran will secretly act against the Second Prince?" Xu Mochen couldn't help but ask.
The Jialan King glanced at him and stood with his hands behind his back, saying, "Ever since Xu Tianran was seriously injured outside back then, his temperament has become extremely cold and vicious. Didn't he torture the old Sixth, Xu Tianyi, to death back then? Tianming and the Third Prince are now the only two who can pose a threat to him in the struggle for the throne. I'm afraid he won't be able to resist taking action directly."
"Let's not dwell on this. Get some rest. We'll follow Tianming's plan tomorrow."
"Yes," Xu Mochen replied.
The next morning.
After breakfast, Huo Yuhao went to the lab to wait for Xuan Ziwen.
Because of the relaxed teaching style, Orange and Keke hadn't arrived yet. The lab was quiet. Fortunately, Xuan Ziwen didn't make Huo Yuhao wait long; he arrived in less than ten minutes.
Seeing Huo Yuhao, Xuan Ziwen smiled faintly. "You're probably the most diligent student I've ever taught. Get ready; we're going to Mingde Hall."
"Okay," Huo Yuhao replied with a smile.
After a brief pause to get everything ready, Xuan Ziwen immediately led Huo Yuhao towards the location of Mingde Hall. There were many students coming and going within the academy at this time. Many of them recognized Huo Yuhao and began whispering amongst themselves.
"After one competition, you've become famous not only in the Royal Academy, but also in the Bright Capital Soul Engineer Academy," Xuan Ziwen teased.
"It's unavoidable. After all, our identities are too special," Huo Yuhao was very open about this. He was the same in Shrek Academy; everyone knew him.
"You know what? Looking at you, I don't know why, but I feel like the Hall Master letting you into Mingde Hall will be the worst decision he's ever made," Xuan Ziwen said as he walked.
Huo Yuhao's steps faltered, and his expression became strange.
Xuan Ziwen, oblivious, continued, "Mingde Hall is not as relaxed as the outside laboratories. Internal management is extremely strict, and there is surveillance almost everywhere, with few blind spots. After you go in, remember to listen more, learn more, observe more, think more, and speak less."
"Even inside, try to communicate less with your companions. Because you don't really belong to the true members of Mingde Hall, some people will think that you are whispering and plotting something bad, which will cause the Imperial Guard to come and cause trouble."
"Although Jing Hongchen is the Hall Master, there are also three Level 9 Soul Engineers inside, and their status is not much worse than Jing Hongchen's."
"Thank you for the reminder, I've memorized it all," Huo Yuhao listened carefully, responding respectfully.
Mingde Hall was located on a wide-open plain, almost the core of the entire academy. From the outside, it looked like an unremarkable building, only about five hundred square meters in area.
Walking inside, the rich fluctuations of soul power circulated, and what met the eye was also extraordinarily surprising.
Just like the Starlight Auction House back then, the real area of Mingde Hall was underground, and the building above ground was only used for inspection purposes.
With Huo Yuhao's perception, he clearly sensed that within this building, there were at least a hundred Soul Engineers with cultivation at or above Level 5. They were watching the checkpoints from different angles, and if anything went wrong, they would immediately gather.
Some places even had Soul Tools hanging that emitted a cold light. It wasn't hard to see that they were at least Level 7 Soul Tools.
Under Xuan Ziwen's lead, they passed all the checkpoints smoothly.
After entering, twenty arc-shaped Soul Elevators appeared in front of them. Xuan Ziwen led Huo Yuhao into one. He took out his identity card and scanned it on the Soul Light Screen. After obtaining the information, a square grid suddenly popped out from the side of the elevator.
Xuan Ziwen placed his hand on it, and the soul power within his body visibly flowed into it. The next moment, the elevator's surroundings lit up, and it began to operate automatically after the energy supply was complete.
"Teacher Xuan, I feel a very concentrated soul power fluctuation inside this building. What is that?" Huo Yuhao turned and asked.
Xuan Ziwen said frankly, "That's something called a Soul Gathering Soul Tool. It can continuously absorb the wandering soul power from heaven and earth. Currently, the entire academy's energy source comes from it. Of course, not all places rely on Soul Gathering Soul Tools to transport soul power."
"For example, this elevator is like that. It needs manual injection of soul power to drive it, which also avoids the elevator not being able to run and trapping people underground if the Soul Gathering Soul Tool breaks down."
"Soul Gathering Soul Tool?" Huo Yuhao's expression was surprised. Logically speaking, the Sun Moon Empire hadn't even invented sealed baby bottles yet, and energy would be scarce. At most, it would rely on manual injection of soul power, like Shrek City.
Xuan Ziwen seemed to have guessed what Huo Yuhao was thinking and explained, "This Soul Gathering Soul Tool cannot store soul power; it only absorbs soul power into it and then guides it manually into various areas. Therefore, this also leads to the short lifespan of the Soul Gathering Soul Tool, no more than a year or so before it must be scrapped because it needs to be in a constant state of operation, and the damage to the core magic array is very high."
"Before the Soul Gathering Soul Tool was successfully developed, the academy relied on thousands of Soul Masters with Soul Venerable and Soul Sect cultivation to provide energy and keep the equipment usable. Later, after a certain master developed the Soul Gathering Soul Tool, these energy supply groups were officially abolished and moved to other places to shine."
"Of course, don't look at how convenient it is. In fact, this thing isn't permanent and will be abolished in the future because the cost is too expensive. The unit price of each Soul Gathering Soul Tool exceeds ten million gold soul coins."
"Of course, using soul power energy requires residents to provide soul power fees. These fees are almost all used to manufacture Soul Gathering Soul Tools."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao suddenly remembered the strange fluctuations he had sensed when he first entered Bright Capital, around the city. It seemed that those were Soul Gathering Soul Tools.
No wonder Bright Capital could provide such a vast amount of energy for the vast majority of people to use. The so-called "lights of ten thousand homes" required an extremely astonishing amount of resources behind them.
A single Mingde Hall could certainly withstand an annual loss of ten million, but how many would be needed for such a massive place as Bright Capital? No wonder those diligent functional teams still existed; Bright Capital was so vast that even Soul Gathering Soul Tools couldn't cover everything.
The elevator ran slowly, and Xuan Ziwen stopped speaking, everything fell silent.
Finally, the running sound stopped. Huo Yuhao looked ahead. As the elevator door slid open, a straight tunnel appeared before him. The walls were silver-white, emitting a metallic luster.
Xuan Ziwen walked out first, with Huo Yuhao following closely behind.
When they emerged from the tunnel, the scene before them suddenly opened up. An extremely spacious hall appeared, with an arc-shaped dome towering twenty meters above the ground, emitting a silver-white glow. Looking around, the ground was densely packed with the experimental tables found in laboratories, and the air was filled with a metallic scent.
A giant soul tool screen hung in the air, displaying: Mingde Hall Soul Tool Manufacturing Base.
Even though it was still early, many soul engineers were already conducting experiments inside. Some soul engineers were also communicating, but no sound could be heard because a light film extended from the side of the experimental tables. Each light film enclosed an area, which prevented disturbances from noise.
"Mingde Hall is about half the size of the academy. What you see now is only a portion of it. There are many hidden areas, and about a third of the place is currently unused."
"Mingde Hall has four Level 9 Soul Engineers, and the hall master is the youngest. Most of the soul engineers in Mingde Hall are their disciples. I'm considered half a student."
"Be careful of those walls. Within the halls, every inch is equipped with surveillance devices. There are no blind spots here."
"Students and researchers work in groups..."
Xuan Ziwen guided Huo Yuhao as they walked, explaining some of the rules and situations inside.
Huo Yuhao looked around. As Xuan Ziwen said, many surveillance soul tools were on the walls, some hidden and some placed openly. The entire hall was truly like an iron wall, under high-density surveillance. Not even a tiny mosquito could escape detection.
Just as Huo Yuhao was looking at the metal floor beneath his feet, his expression became a bit strange. Even a seemingly solid place like this had fatal flaws. He wondered if the Body Sect would cause trouble again in this life.
If they did, how would he handle it then?
"Yuhao, you can also have an experimental table. I'll take you there," Xuan Ziwen said, leading Huo Yuhao for several minutes. They finally arrived at an experimental table in a quiet area with no one around.
Handing Huo Yuhao a manual, Xuan Ziwen said, "The experimental table has many functions. Usually, instructors don't explain its functions to the students. You have to figure everything out by reading the manual. This way, you can become more proficient faster. You use your identity card to activate the experimental table. I'll give you a research topic next, and you can explore it on your own. If you don't understand anything, you can go to the guards in the number one testing zone, and they'll notify me to come over."
"You also know that I have my own research topics, and I'm very busy on weekdays. I don't have much time to take care of students. So, you only have one chance to ask me a question in a day."
"I understand," Huo Yuhao put away the manual. He knew that Xuan Ziwen was researching sealed milk bottles.
........................
You can get the fully completed English PDF of the fanfiction you're currently reading on my Patreon shop, along with many other books available there.
I've also listed adult-rated novels and pure smut fanfics. Feel free to check them out below and see if any match your taste. Your support means a lot!
Here are titles of uploaded Douluo adult fanfics on Patreon:
" BTTH: The Lewd Mission (18+) " Full NTR, Beastiality, Rape "
" BTTH: Xiao Lin's Lewdness of Many Women (18+) " Full Incest, Mother Son Sex "
" BTTH: The Aftermath of Corruption of Black Characters (18+) " Rape and NTR "
" BTTH: I, Yao Chen, Will Steal My Disciple's Wife (18+) Full of Rape and Xiao Yan NTR "
~ Douluo and BTTH Complete Collection (18+) "
~ Douluo: Tang Wulins Harem Journey (18+) ~
~ Douluo Hypnosis: Fall of Gu Yuena (18+) ~
~ Douluo: The Demon Passport (18+) ~
~ Douluo: Soul Control (18+) ~
~ Douluo: Dragon Soul Desires (18+) ~
" BTTH: Adult Continent (18+) "
" BTTH: Rampage of the Lust Sect (18+) "
" Green Light Douluo (18+) Completed Edition "
" Douluo: Twin Lustful Souls (18+)"
" Douluo: Lust Evoulution (18+) "
" Douluo: The Game (18+) "
" Douluo: Tsundere Empress Qian Renxue's Cultivation Plan (18+) "
" Douluo: Hypnotic Martial Soul (18+) "
" The Fall of Douluo's Beauties (18+) "
" Douluo Continent: Pure Flesh Cultivation (18+) "
" Douluo: Journey of Collecting Sex Slaves (18+) "
" Douluo: Chaotic Desire Evolution (18+) "
" Douluo 2: Silkworm Lust (18+) "
" Douluo: Reborn as Ye Lingling (18+) "
" Douluo: Punishment System, Xiao Wu is Addicted (18+) "
" Douluo: Lust God Inheritance (18+)"
" Douluo 4: Dragon God Lust (18+) "
" Douluo: Super Slave System (18+) "
" Douluo: I Made the Pope Bibi Dong Pregnant! (18+) "
" Douluo: Tang San Forbidden Harem (18+) "
many more up to 250+ are available.
Your support means a lot—thanks in advance, legends!
Patreon.com/UIGOD
(End of Chapter)