manynovel Chapter 46 Please, you absolutely must join my team, Morning Star, you truly live up to your reputat
Chapter 46 Please, you absolutely must join my team, Morning Star, you truly live up to your reputat
Looking at the seemingly deranged old man who was practically shaking him to pieces, Ye Chenxing couldn't help but chuckle. He gently pulled his hands away from the old man's and politely asked:
"Senior, may I ask who you are...?"
Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly realized that he, a dignified ninth-level Soul Master, had lost his composure in front of so many people.
His face flushed red, and he quickly withdrew his hand, coughed lightly twice with his fist near his mouth, and forced himself to adopt the demeanor of an elder.
Although he managed to regain his composure on the surface, the fervor in his eyes remained undiminished: "Child, I am a level nine Soul Master, Ye..."
"Old Ye, you shouldn't lay a hand on Master Kong's disciple."
A deep voice came from mid-air, interrupting the old man's self-introduction. Everyone looked up and saw Jing Hongchen and Lin Jiayi leaping down from the second-floor viewing platform and landing steadily on the arena.
As soon as Lin Jiayi landed, he immediately gave the referee, who was still in a daze, a look.
The referee shuddered and quickly announced loudly, "Ye Chenxing wins this entrance exam!" Then, he swiftly helped up Wang Jiahao, who was still shaken and whose legs were trembling, and hurriedly slipped off the stage.
At this moment, Ye Yulin's attention was completely drawn to a few words in Jing Hongchen's sentence.
"What?! Master Kong's disciple?" Ye Yulin turned her head sharply, looking the handsome young man up and down with astonishment. "Child, you're Ye Chenxing?!"
"That's right." Ye Chenxing nodded slightly.
"But I heard that Master Kong's newly accepted disciple has exceptional abilities in martial spirit. Could it be that...?"
Jing Hongchen shook his head with a wry smile: "Old Ye, to be honest, his talent in soul tools is only being revealed today. Before this, we didn't even let him touch a soul tool, so it's not that we were deliberately hiding it."
"What?!"
Ye Yulin was so excited that her voice cracked.
"First time touching a soul tool?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Ye Yulin shook her head violently, her emotions spiraling out of control again. "Doesn't everyone else know how complex the internal array of my Sun God Needle is?! Even if I personally taught a level nine soul tool master step by step, breaking it down and dissecting it, they might not be able to perfectly replicate it, let alone a high-level soul master who has never even touched a carving knife before! No matter how exceptionally talented they are, it's absolutely impossible!"
He became more and more agitated as he spoke, his finger trembling as he pointed at Ye Chenxing: "Not only that, he also improved it! Do you know, Old Kong, he forcibly improved my Sun God Needle into a Level 5 Soul Tool!! This is a dead-end project that I've been researching for over ten years, only to give up in the end! How could the strength of Level 5 metal possibly support the core magic array required by my Sun God Needle?!"
Ye Yulin gasped for breath, her eyes fixed on Ye Chenxing: "To be honest, even if you told me right now that this kid had been researching soul tools with a carving knife since he was born, I still wouldn't believe he had such ability! He hadn't even seen what my Sun God Needle actually looked like before! This, this, this is too absurd!"
Finally, as if suddenly finding a reasonable explanation, Ye Yulin grabbed Ye Chenxing's shoulders: "Child, tell me the truth, did Old Kong give you this? Well, that old fellow Old Kong is really something, secretly developing the research behind my back without even saying a word!"
Seeing Ye Yulin's pitiful state of near-madness, trying to piece together the truth with logic, Ye Chenxing couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.
"Am I being too unfriendly to these senior researchers who have dedicated their lives to scientific research?"
This is like an old scientist who has devoted his whole life to researching a topic, only to find one day that a primary school student who has never even been exposed to addition and subtraction has casually written down the final solution to the topic on a piece of scrap paper with a pencil.
Who could stand this?
"Um... Elder Ye, I really made this myself."
Despite her sympathy, Ye Chenxing decided to tell the truth.
"..."
The wind blew across the arena, stirring up a moment of silence.
Ye Yulin was frozen in place, as if petrified.
Seeing Ye Yulin's dazed expression, Jing Hongchen stepped forward, patted him heavily on the shoulder, and suppressed a wildly upturned smile on his lips, feeling extremely pleased.
Hahaha! Finally, someone else is just as shocked as I am by this little monster's insane talent!
Of course, Jing Hongchen was no less shocked than Ye Yulin, because he knew more inside information: Ye Chenxing had never entered the Mingde Hall laboratory. The only place he could access the soul tool was the basement of the villa that Elder Kong had given him!
What does this mean? It means that this child, without any mentor guidance or sophisticated instruments, and relying solely on a pile of paper materials, painstakingly "handcrafted" a level 5 youth version of a level 9 soul tool in his own basement!
Moreover, how long has he been living here? A week? Half a month? He even spent a few days hunting souls in the Jingyang Mountains...
However, when such an absurd thing happened to Ye Chenxing, Jing Hongchen found herself somewhat numb.
It took a full half minute for the petrified Ye Yulin to finally catch his breath. His gaze towards Ye Chenxing was filled with complex emotions.
Since awakening his martial soul at the age of six, he has always been hailed as a genius in soul guidance. However, if this child's situation is true, and the Level 5 Sun God Needle was indeed made by him, and he had not undergone any systematic training in soul guidance devices beforehand...
Compared to this child, Ye Yulin isn't even mediocre.
"Child...may I call you Morning Star?" Ye Yulin swallowed.
"Of course, you're too kind, Mr. Ye."
"Good, good, good!" Ye Yulin said "good" three times in a row, and a rare look of tension appeared on her usually serious face.
He took a deep breath, as if organizing his thoughts, and after a long pause, he finally spoke: "Morning Star, I am a ninth-level Soul Master, a member of the Sun Moon Empire's Hall of Worship, specializing in the research of high-altitude and long-range attack Soul Tools. I have taught many students in my life, but I have never seen anyone like you... like you..."
At this point, his voice suddenly lowered, and a bitter look appeared in his cloudy old eyes:
"Child, you may not know this, but among the many branches of soul tools, high-altitude soul tools have always been the least popular and unpopular choice."
This field demands an incredibly high level of talent—you need to understand airflow dynamics, high-altitude stability calculations, ultra-long-range aiming, energy attenuation compensation… any one of these skills could take an ordinary Soul Master a lifetime to master. But even if you painstakingly overcome these challenges and create something that fires from the sky, others will only think you're no different from those mindless artillery bombardments, completely ignoring the immense effort you've put in behind the scenes.
Ye Yulin's beard trembled slightly, and his voice carried a hint of desolation: "In the vast Sun Moon Empire, there are more than one Level 9 Soul Master. But there is only one Level 9 Soul Master who specializes in researching high-altitude soul tools—me. Just this one!"
He suddenly raised his head, a hint of tears welling in his old eyes, and his voice rose a few decibels: "In my life, I have three dreams. The first is to reclaim the name of our Sun and Moon Continent and wash away the shame left to us Sun and Moon people by that war!"
"The second is to create a level ten high-altitude soul tool! A level ten soul tool capable of unleashing divine punishment from the heavens!"
When talking about her third dream, Ye Yulin's voice suddenly softened:
"The third... is that someone can inherit my mantle. I'm getting old and don't have many years left. Over the years, I've taught countless students, but none of them have been able to inherit my skills. Even those exceptionally talented geniuses look down on high-altitude soul tools. I'm prepared to take all my hard work to my grave..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ye Yulin suddenly stepped forward, gripping Ye Chenxing's wrists tightly with both hands. Her reddened eyes were fixed on the young man before her, and her voice trembled with extreme excitement: "But today, I've met you! How old are you? Eleven? Twelve? You've accomplished something I've never done in my entire life on my first time using a soul tool!"
"I didn't believe in God before, but today, I can only believe, child, that you are the one sent by Heaven to inherit everything I have. I know you are a disciple of Confucius. I ask for nothing else, only that you join my team! My laboratory may not be as comprehensive as Mingde Hall's, but it lacks nothing! You can use any level seven or eight equipment you want, and you can freely browse through the level nine core magic array! As long as you are willing to come, all my life's experience, notes, and research results will be yours!"
"In you, I see the possibility of fulfilling all three wishes at once... I don't have much time left, cough cough... Child, you—"
boom!
"Go to hell!"
Suddenly, Ye Yulin was caught off guard and received a solid kick in the buttocks. She cried out "Ouch!" and stumbled forward two steps, almost bumping into Ye Chenxing.
Ye Yulin, clutching her buttocks, turned around in shock and anger, only to see Jing Hongchen with a dark, chubby face, just retracting the leg that had kicked her.
"Fatty Mirror! How dare you kick this old man—"
"I'm kicking you! What are you pretending to be all alone for? Look across the entire Sun Moon Empire, ask around among everyone involved with soul tools, and you'll find that everyone knows you, Ye Yulin, have the biggest ego! People who want to be your disciple have been lining up from Mingdu all the way to Shrek Academy."
"In my Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, which student didn't come running over with a mere wave of your hand? Have you ever given anyone a second glance?! Have you ever given anyone a proper look?! Today you think Li Si is dull-witted, tomorrow you complain that Wang Wu's mental strength is insufficient, the day after tomorrow you complain that Zhao Liu's spatial awareness is inadequate, and now you're telling me you have no one left to teach you? Didn't you bring this on yourself?"
Jing Hongchen shielded Ye Chenxing behind him like a wall, his chubby face full of vigilance: "Chenxing's martial soul talent is his foundation; soul tools can only serve as an aid. I've already arranged a complete training plan for him, so don't even think about trying to lure him into your dilapidated laboratory!"
"Martial Soul Talent?" Ye Yulin was so angry that his mustache stood on end. He pointed at Jing Hongchen's nose and roared, "Jing Hongchen, you're talking to me about Martial Soul Talent? What Martial Soul Talent could be more important than his talent in Soul Tools? Could he possibly have an Ultimate Martial Soul?!"
Ah, this...
Jing Hongchen opened his mouth, about to say something, but Ye Yulin waved her hand to interrupt him: "Even if it's an ultimate martial soul, I will fight for it today! Do you know how demanding the talent requirements are for high-altitude soul tools? In the entire Sun Moon Empire, out of tens of thousands of soul masters, only I have reached level nine in this field! Missing out on a genius like me in this field would be a loss for the entire empire!"
"You—" Jing Hongchen was choked and her face turned red, but she couldn't refute him.
He couldn't very well tell Ye Yulin directly that Ye Chenxing was not only at the pinnacle, but at the dual pinnacle, could he? Old Master Kong had given a gag order!
Thinking this, Jing Hongchen could only bite the bullet and say, "Chenxing is Master Kong's disciple, and Master Kong has the final say on where he goes! No matter how much you argue, it won't make a difference!"
"Even Elder Kong would definitely support me!" Ye Yulin said confidently, raising her chin without backing down. "Elder Kong personally witnessed the power of my high-altitude soul tool on the battlefield back then. He understands the value of this field better than anyone else!"
"Well...that's not necessarily true!" Jing Hongchen felt she was at a disadvantage and blurted out in desperation, "Perhaps this child has even more talent in other areas of soul tools!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire Soul Arena fell silent.
Ye Yulin slowly turned her head and stared at Jing Hongchen with an extremely disdainful look.
Under that gaze, Jing Hongchen's old face turned a deep shade of liver. He guiltily turned his face away, not daring to meet Ye Yulin's eyes. He knew in his heart that Ye Chenxing could casually pull out a modified version of the Sun God Needle, which meant that her talent in high-altitude soul tools could not be measured by ordinary standards.
How could he possibly be stronger than high-altitude soul tools in other soul tool fields? If that were true, then all the soul masters of his Sun Moon Empire would have lived in vain.
So what? Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth. He had to stand up for himself! As the head of the Mingde Hall, he was already annoyed by Ye Yulin's constant dominance. He might as well accept being outshone by Elder Kong, one of the three great Soul Masters of the Sun Moon Empire, but he was still unhappy about being suppressed by Ye Yulin every time. Now, if Chenxing, the rising star of the Sun Moon Empire, really joined Ye Yulin's team, wouldn't he have no chance of ever rising again?!
No! Absolutely not!
Seeing that Ye Yulin was about to retort, Jing Hongchen preemptively grabbed Ye Chenxing's wrist and pointed towards the Hall of Offerings with her other hand: "Then let's go to Elder Kong and settle this! Let's go!"
Ye Yulin, not to be outdone, grabbed Ye Chenxing's other wrist in return: "Fine, let's go! Do you think I'm afraid of you, you fatso!"
Before the words were even finished, the two level-nine soul masters, whose mere stomp could shake the entire empire, each grabbed one of Ye Chenxing's arms, their flying soul tools simultaneously unfolding behind them, and they headed straight for the Hall of Worship, trailing three streaks of light.
The students in the stands craned their necks, staring blankly at the three increasingly smaller points of light in the sky, and the silence of the entire Soul Fighting Zone was instantly broken.
Who has ever seen two of the top three big shots of the Sun Moon Empire snatching someone away in public?
"Are those two really the kind of important people we never even see in our daily lives?!"
"Didn't you see the hall master kick the honored guest?"
"They're fighting in public over a freshman... Am I dreaming or has the world gone mad?"
"Oh no, I got so engrossed in it! The cafeteria's already open! We're going to miss out on food!"
"What the heck! Why didn't you say so earlier?"