Douluo Continent: Little Huo Niang Taken Away by Di Tian

Chapter 203 Becoming an Apprentice of Kong Mingde

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the forging area of ​​the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was already filled with the sounds of hammering and the roar of soul power.

The assessment for Shrek Academy exchange students was not held in the training ground, but in the testing hall attached to Mingde Hall.

There are no audience seats here, only cold instruments and rigorous data evaluation.

The test consists of three rounds: a theoretical written test, disassembly and practical assembly of the soul tool, and a test of the synchronization rate between soul power and mental power.

Huo Yutong sat in the corner, her fingertips flying across the screen of the Soul Guidance Pen. Many elite students from the Sun Moon Empire had gathered around her, but none of them could keep up with her train of thought.

While the examiner posed a difficult question about the "redundancy of heat dissipation in the core array of the fixed-mount soul-guided cannon," the Sun Moon students around her were still racking their brains, but she had already projected three improvement plans onto the light screen.

Meanwhile, in the practical workshop on the other side, He Caitou faced a pile of messy and broken level-four soul tool parts. Without even using his martial soul, he restored them to their original state within half an hour using only his hands and senses, and even optimized the conduction circuit.

……

After the test was completed, the results were immediately delivered to the office of the head of Mingdetang.

In front of the large desk, three elderly men, Kong Mingde, Jing Hongchen, and Ye Yulin, sat upright.

The silence in the room was pierced by the bright red data on the reports spread out on the table.

"Excellent! Truly a peerless genius!" Kong Mingde slammed his hand on the armrest, his excitement overflowing. "Huo Yutong, a perfect score in theory, possessing the theoretical qualities of a level seven Soul Master; her practical skills are at level six, and she demonstrates exceptional originality. I, Kong Mingde, am determined to take this disciple!"

Jing Hongchen stroked his beard and smiled, his gaze falling on another column of data. He exclaimed in astonishment, "What's even more terrifying is her soul power! Fourteen years old, level fifty-eight! This growth rate is simply astonishing. This child, at such a young age, is already at the same level as my Xiao and Meng."

"He Caitou is no less impressive," Ye Yulin chimed in, her eyes gleaming. "Theoretical level seven, practical level six. Although he's only 17, he already has level fifty-four soul power. Moreover, the stability of his cigar-shaped martial soul is extremely strong. He's an excellent prospect for a soul master. I want this kid."

The three elders quickly distributed the remaining exchange students, directly assigning these unpolished gems to their core soul masters.

As for Fan Yu, the teacher in charge of the Shrek Academy exchange students, she was naturally assigned to Jing Hongchen's school.

……

The Sun and Moon Royal Academy is extremely efficient, issuing appointments with swift and decisive action.

"Yutong, get ready, I'll take you into Mingde Hall." A clear voice rang out as Meng Hongchen knocked on the door of Huo Yutong's single dormitory.

The college provides exchange students with single dormitories in their own separate buildings, all fully equipped.

Huo Yutong tidied her clothes and went downstairs with Meng Hongchen. They met Xiao Hongchen and He Caitou, who were waiting in front of the dormitory building.

Xiao Hongchen was dressed in a brand new white robe with gold patterns, and had a cold and aloof demeanor. When he saw her, he simply nodded slightly as a greeting.

"It's still early, let's go get something to eat first. Our Sun and Moon Restaurant has a unique breakfast that incorporates medicinal cuisine that nourishes the soul." Meng Hongchen enthusiastically pulled her towards the cafeteria.

After the meal, walking along the central avenue leading to Mingde Hall, Meng Hongchen couldn't help but sigh, "Do you know? You are the only two exchange students in this batch who were allowed to enter the core area of ​​Mingde Hall as soon as they arrived. So many people would fight tooth and nail to get in."

Along the way, Meng Hongchen chattered on about the taboos and glory of Mingde Hall, while Huo Yutong and He Caitou followed silently behind.

After passing through layers of defensive barriers and metal corridors, the main building of Mingde Hall finally came into view.

It was a colossal object cast entirely from a mixture of metals.

The entire building has a cold, hard, dark silver color. There are no superfluous decorations on the surface, only countless intricate soul guidance circuits that crawl all over the exterior walls like blood vessels, reflecting a cold luster under the sunlight.

Above the main gate, the three large characters "Mingde Hall" are not carved, but are formed by countless tiny soul-guided lamps, radiating a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation.

"This is Mingdetang..." He Caitou's heart was filled with turmoil.

When he was a child, his father had taken him to visit this place. At that time, the Master of Jing Hongchen Hall personally explained it to them, which was a great honor. But now, he was stepping into this forbidden place again as an exchange student.

Huo Yutong looked up at the cold, imposing metal structure and felt an immense sense of oppression wash over her.

There's no natural agility like Shrek here, only the pure, technological brilliance of human ingenuity.

Pushing open the heavy metal door, the noise was instantly shut out.

The interior was eerily quiet. Only a faint hissing sound echoed—the sound of a carving knife engraving a soul-guiding array on rare metal.

The corridor is lined with fully transparent laboratories, where you can see the Soul Masters intently staring at the suspended parts, the air filled with the distinctive smell of quenched metal and burning soul power.

The siblings led the two through a long corridor, finally stopping in front of a door carved with intricate star trail patterns.

Xiao Hongchen raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Please come in."

Inside, three elderly men were already sitting and waiting.

"Master Kong, Master Ye, Grandpa, the person has been brought." The Hongchen siblings said in unison.

Huo Yutong and He Caitou stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "Greetings, Senior Kong Mingde, Senior Ye Yulin, Senior Jing Hongchen."

Kong Mingde stood up, his once stern face now filled with kindness: "Yutong, what I said inside the Golden Tree still stands. Would you be willing to become my disciple, my personal student?"

Huo Yutong took a deep breath and bowed deeply again without hesitation: "It is my greatest honor to be favored by Elder Kong!"

"I am Ye Yulin, the Starry Sky Douluo, a level nine Soul Master." Ye Yulin looked at He Caitou, his tone calm, "Kid, you'll be following me from now on."

"Disciple obeys!" He Caitou's voice was loud and clear, his eyes firm.

After exchanging pleasantries, Kong Mingde led Huo Yutong, while Ye Yulin led He Caitou, and the two groups parted ways at the crossroads.

Kong Mingde did not take Huo Yutong back to the top floor, but instead headed straight for a more secluded downward passage.

As the two ventured deeper, Huo Yutong keenly realized that the interior of Mingde Hall was more than ten times larger than it appeared from the ground.

The elevator-like soul-guided device descended one after another, and the surrounding walls were no longer made of ornate metal plates, but became rough rock walls forcibly carved out by powerful soul skills, covered with complex reinforcement arrays.

"Just how deep is it down here?" Huo Yutong was secretly shocked.

Mingde Hall is known as the number one soul tool holy land on the mainland not only because of its leading technology, but also because of its strategic layout of "hiding bones in the ground".

More than 70 percent of the core area is buried deep underground.

On the one hand, this is to utilize the rare mineral veins deep underground and the stable geomagnetic energy; on the other hand, it is to cover up the research and development of those "weapons of war" that must never be exposed to the light of day.