Meng Hongchen's long legs, supple and flexible like serpents, wrapped tightly around Wang Chen's waist. Her soft lips parted slightly, moving skillfully as she kissed and teased.
Thanks to her Martial Soul's innate talent, Meng Hongchen's kissing skills had improved at an astonishing rate, and before long, the atmosphere between the two grew heated.
Meng Hongchen launched her "attack" everywhere, soon leaving marks all over Wang Chen's body—as though declaring her sovereignty.
After some time of intimacy, Meng Hongchen rested against Wang Chen's chest, gently stroking his well-defined muscles as she asked, seemingly without intention,
"Brother Wang Chen, how has Ye Guyi been recently?"
During these past three years, Wang Chen had maintained contact with Ye Guyi, occasionally meeting her for sparring and training sessions.
However, ever since Wang Chen's cultivation broke through to the Soul King level, Ye Guyi was no longer his match—and as time went on, the gap between them only grew wider.
Wang Chen's rate of improvement was simply too fast, far beyond Ye Guyi's.
If Wang Chen had ever fought her with his full strength, he could have easily "insta-killed" Ye Guyi within a single exchange.
Fortunately for Ye Guyi, Wang Chen never went all out against her; he treated their sparring matches as casual practice, always winning by a modest margin.
Even so, Ye Guyi lost every time.
As the inheritor of the Angel Martial Soul, Ye Guyi had always been proud and confident, believing that no one among her peers could surpass her.
Being defeated by a peer like Wang Chen was a huge blow to her self-esteem.
After each loss, Ye Guyi became even more determined to train harder, striving to take back her pride.
Each time she made progress, she would confidently seek Wang Chen out for another duel—only to return in defeat again, her angelic pride shattered into pieces.
After being beaten multiple times, Ye Guyi finally accepted Wang Chen's superiority.
Gradually, the way she looked at him began to change. Sometimes, she would even stare at him in a daze.
However, recently Wang Chen had been extremely busy. The last time he saw Ye Guyi was a month ago, when she had invited him out to enjoy the beauty of nature. On their way, they had also wiped out a group of vicious bandits who had been terrorizing the area.
As Meng Hongchen ran her fingers over Wang Chen's smooth, firm muscles, she thought secretly to herself,
Brother Wang Chen hasn't come to see me in such a long time… Could it be because he's been spending time with Ye Guyi?
If he can accurately tell me what Ye Guyi has been up to lately, that means he definitely went to see her!
Just imagining her beloved Wang Chen together with Ye Guyi made her feel a sharp pang of jealousy. Her little hand, resting on Wang Chen's chest, began to roam restlessly.
When Wang Chen heard Meng Hongchen's question about Ye Guyi, he was about to answer instinctively—but suddenly, he realized something was wrong.
Women had their sixth sense, but men had their beast-like intuition. Wang Chen keenly sensed that little Meng Hongchen wasn't in a good mood.
Thinking quickly, Wang Chen saw through the trap hidden in the question.
Although it seemed she was simply asking about Ye Guyi, in reality, she was testing whether he had met Ye Guyi recently.
If he answered, that meant he had seen Ye Guyi, and Meng Hongchen would definitely get jealous.
The correct response, therefore, was not to answer.
Wang Chen said calmly, "Ye Guyi? I haven't seen her recently, so I'm not really sure."
Looking into Wang Chen's handsome face, Meng Hongchen could tell he wasn't lying, and her mood instantly improved.
Still, she thought to herself,
Even though Ye Guyi and Brother Wang Chen are just friends, I always feel that she has feelings for him.
I must be vigilant and not give her any chance. Brother Wang Chen can only belong to me!
Lying in Wang Chen's arms, Meng Hongchen spoke softly,
"Brother Wang Chen, you haven't come to see me lately. Have you been very busy?"
Wang Chen gently stroked Meng Hongchen's back and nodded.
"These past few days have been too busy. I'm sorry, Meng'er."
Meng Hongchen's delicate white fingers drew circles on Wang Chen's chest as she continued,
"Then Brother Wang Chen, are you still busy right now?"
Wang Chen thought for a moment and shook his head.
He had already finished all his important tasks. Although he was now the Clan Leader of the Wang Family, he wasn't particularly busy.
He only needed to make decisions on major matters—and major matters were rare, perhaps only a few each year.
As for minor, everyday issues, those were all handled by the twelve elders. Wang Chen's main responsibility was simply to focus on cultivating and strengthening himself.
His current goal was to take advantage of the relatively stable period while the Second and Third Princes were busy expanding their own power and had no time to fight each other.
During this time, he planned to rapidly raise his strength to a level capable of rivaling—or even defeating—a Rank 9 Soul Engineer.
Only then could he and the Wang Family stand invincible amid the struggle for the throne.
In the Sun Moon Empire, the status of a Rank 9 Soul Engineer was extremely high.
Even if one made the wrong choice in supporting a candidate for the throne, the punishment would rarely be severe.
At most, when the new emperor ascended, a Rank 9 Soul Engineer who had supported the losing side might be pushed out of the power core or have their authority reduced.
After all, Rank 9 Soul Engineers were exceedingly rare in the Sun Moon Empire.
They included the military generals commanding the National Defense Soul Engineer Legion, the royal Palace Worship Hall enshrined experts, several members of the great noble clans and royal bloodline, and four top researchers within Mingde Hall.
All told, there were barely twenty of them in the entire empire. Each one held tremendous authority and prestige—perhaps "one beneath the emperor and above ten thousand" was a slight exaggeration, but it wasn't far off.
So long as a Rank 9 Soul Engineer didn't betray or rebel against the Empire, they would stand and fall together with it.
For example, Jing Hongchen—in the original story, when Huo Yuhao detonated the warehouse and triggered the explosion of the Rank 9 fixed-installed soul-guided shells stored beneath the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy,
the catastrophic Mingdu Explosion ensued. Mingde Hall and the Royal Soul Engineer Academy were obliterated in an instant, and countless researchers, teachers, and students perished.
As the Master of Mingde Hall and Dean of the Academy, Jing Hongchen bore great responsibility—after all, part of the reason the explosion was so disastrous was his failure to secure the shells properly.
Had the shells been stored safely, such a massive explosion would never have occurred.
Yet even so, Jing Hongchen was merely stripped of his positions and sent to serve as the Governor of Heaven Dou City, which was under Sun Moon Empire occupation.
He himself suffered no real punishment.
If such a crime had been committed by an eighth-rank Soul Engineer, even ten or eight of them dying wouldn't have been enough to atone.
That was the level of authority held by a Rank 9 Soul Engineer—the pinnacle of ministerial power.
Only Rank 9 Soul Engineers were considered the true upper echelon of the Sun Moon Empire—no longer pawns on the chessboard, but players.
However, though Wang Chen appeared close to that level, his power came mainly from his Ring Explosion Secret Technique.
While the technique was powerful, Wang Chen's foundation was still too shallow.
At most, it allowed him to exchange a few blows with a Rank 9 Soul Engineer.
Once the three "strikes" of the Ring Explosion Secret Technique were exhausted, Wang Chen would be no different from an ordinary Soul Douluo—easily suppressed.
The gap between Rank 9 and Rank 8 Soul Engineers was as vast as that between Soul Emperors and Soul Sages—nearly insurmountable.
Wang Chen estimated that, without any special opportunities, if he cultivated step by step, he would need to reach at least the Soul Sage realm to contend with or defeat a Rank 9 Soul Engineer.
After shaking his head slightly, Wang Chen patted Meng Hongchen's head and said gently,
"Meng'er, I'm not busy now."
Meng Hongchen's eyes brightened.
"Since Brother Wang Chen isn't busy now, can I make a small request?"
Hearing that, Wang Chen couldn't help but feel curious.
Meng Hongchen had never asked him for anything before—this was the first time.
"What small request?" he asked. "Let's hear it."
Blushing slightly, Meng Hongchen said,
"Tomorrow is the opening day of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Brother Wang Chen, could you come to the Academy too? That way, I could see you while I'm in class."
In her heart, she thought,
Classes are starting soon, and I won't be able to see Brother Wang Chen. What if Ye Guyi takes advantage of my absence to meet him and seduce him? What will I do then?
If it weren't for Grandpa forcing me to go to school, I'd already be spending every day with Brother Wang Chen!
No—I can't give Ye Guyi any opportunity. If Brother Wang Chen comes to the Academy with me, that would be perfect! I could see him every day.
*Besides, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy is my (Grandpa's) territory. If Ye Guyi tries to meet him, there's no way she can hide it from me.
Hehe, Meng Hongchen, you really are a genius to come up with such a perfect plan!*
Wang Chen couldn't help but chuckle.
During the past three years, in order to cultivate more efficiently, he had never enrolled at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Although the Academy provided abundant resources, its training could never match the Wang Family's focused investment in him alone.
So, three years ago, Wang Chen had simply chosen not to attend the Academy at all.
Given his current strength, going there now would be like a college graduate returning to primary school—it would just feel absurd.
Wang Chen said helplessly,
"Meng'er, the admission age for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy is twelve or younger. I'm already past the age limit—I can't attend anymore."
Meng Hongchen quickly replied,
"Don't worry, Brother Wang Chen. My grandfather is the Dean of the Academy. I'll ask the Head Instructor to make an exception and give you special approval to enroll!"