Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

Chapter 230 The Epoch-Making Zhuge Crossbow? A pipe dream!

"An apology?" Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow, a playful expression on his face. In all his years at Mingde Hall, no student had ever dared to request an audience in this manner. He truly hadn't expected that Huo Yuhao would come to apologize to him.

However, having experienced the previous theft incident, Jing Hongchen was well aware that the seemingly honest young man in front of her was actually full of cunning schemes.

In fact, if it weren't for Kong Tianxu's comprehensive suggestions for reforming the Mingde Hall's defense system before he left, Huo Yuhao might have actually succeeded last time.

Upon thinking of this, Jing Hongchen immediately became extremely vigilant.

He weighed the black metal box in his hand, his mental energy subtly probing inside, and looked at Huo Yuhao with a half-smile, saying:

"I've experienced Shrek's spirit and methods more than once or twice. I'm afraid your apology won't be so easy to accept."

They've taken the bait!

Huo Yuhao was secretly delighted, almost wanting to applaud his ingenious plan. His soul tool had a name that had once shaken the continent ten thousand years ago—the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

Its creator was none other than Tang San, the great ancestor of the Tang Clan and the Sea God. Of course, the one in his hand was not the original version, but rather a micro-innovation he made after spending a whole year combining the ancient mechanism principle of the classic Zhuge Crossbow of the Tang Clan with contemporary soul tool technology.

Even with the complete blueprints passed down from his ancestors, this groundbreaking combination still required immense effort from him. Even his mentor, Fan Yu, was unaware of the true essence of this soul tool.

Because this is the first soul tool he personally crafted for the revival of the Tang Sect!

While the current Zhuge Divine Crossbow isn't particularly powerful, its versatility and ease of use by ordinary people are exceptional. It's something the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has been striving for.

In this respect, the technology of this soul tool has been officially certified by Xuan Ziwen, and it was even something he had previously exchanged with Xuan Ziwen.

At the same time, he also asked the other party to keep it strictly confidential, so Jing Hongchen naturally had no idea about this.

Huo Yuhao was confident that once his soul tool was revealed, Jing Hongchen would be willing to pay a huge price to obtain it.

This is a win-win situation! Two birds with one stone, I, Huo Yuhao, have won twice, I'm exhausted from winning!

The camouflage skills honed through the Extreme Individual Soldier Program were now on full display. No matter how overjoyed he was inside, Huo Yuhao's face suddenly hardened, perfectly conveying his annoyance at being misunderstood:

"Last time, I was too obsessed with researching soul tools and lost my mind, but it had nothing to do with Shrek Academy. This apology is just on my personal behalf. It's a soul tool model that I made myself. I'm leaving it to you as a souvenir. I've already installed the mechanisms. If you need to use it, that's all..."

As he spoke, he stepped forward and skillfully demonstrated several operating steps.

Jing Hongchen took the metal box and examined it. This soul tool was indeed crudely made and of poor quality.

He slightly activated his soul power to sense it and found that there was only a simple level one energy gathering core array inside.

But the more this was the case, the more uneasy he became. Since the core magic array was fine, then what about the inner and outer shells…?

"Yes, it is a great virtue to admit one's mistakes and correct them."

Despite the growing doubts in her heart, Jing Hongchen remained expressionless and even nodded approvingly.

Huo Yuhao bowed respectfully and said, "If the Hall Master has no further instructions, I will take my leave now."

After saying that, he turned and left without any hesitation.

After closing the door, Huo Yuhao didn't walk fast. He even had the leisure to extend his right hand, retracting his fingers one by one, as if playing the prelude to a victory.

"five……"

"Four……"

"three……"

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A series of sharp, rapid whooshing sounds suddenly burst forth from the tightly closed door behind us!

"Jing Hongchen used it!" Huo Yuhao's eyes flashed with a sharp light.

Plans are in place!

"Huo Yuhao!"

Immediately following, a loud shout echoed far down the corridor from behind the door.

Although the trigger time was slightly earlier than expected, the result... seems to be a foregone conclusion.

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but curl his lips into a victorious smile. He stopped and calmly turned around, preparing to face Jing Hongchen's shocked and even fanatical questions—

"Report your numbers!" came from inside the door, but it was Jing Hongchen's voice, full of mockery and amusement.

As if electrocuted, Huo Yuhao's body trembled violently. Then, driven by a deep-seated conditioned reflex, his body automatically entered a perfectly standard process:

Using the right heel as a pivot, and coordinating with the front of the left foot, the body twists 180 degrees to the right with a "whoosh," legs straight as if clamped together, weight firmly on the right foot. After a slight pause, the left foot snaps close to the right foot along the simplest path.

A textbook example of military posture at attention is instantly achieved!

His whole body was tense, his toes were spread apart at a precise sixty degrees, his fingers were together and naturally slightly curved, his thumb was pressed against the second joint of his index finger, and his middle finger was pressed firmly against the seam of his trousers.

He mastered every technique perfectly, clearly having been rigorously disciplined.

"Huo Yuhao, No. 5438, reports to his superior: I will definitely reform myself and become a new person!"

His imposing self-introduction created a wave of sound, and the door to Jing Hongchen's room was swung open again, revealing a fat face grinning broadly.

Jing Hongchen appeared to remain silent, but Huo Yuhao clearly heard a disdainful chuckle.

More than a dozen office doors on this floor had quietly opened at some point. A barrage of gazes—curious, mocking, and surprised—were focused like searchlights on Huo Yuhao, who stood in the middle of the corridor, maintaining a comical military posture.

boom--!

Huo Yuhao felt all the blood rush to his head and then instantly drain away. It felt like being stripped naked and displayed in front of everyone.

The extreme shame and utter embarrassment left his mind blank.

The sleepless imprisonment for more than ten days, and the bizarre labor reform of the Sun Moon Empire, truly left indelible marks on his body.

No! This is completely different from the script he had envisioned!

Shouldn't Jing Hongchen be amazed by the ingenuity of the triggering device of his soul tool, imagine how powerful the Sun Moon Empire would be after equipping it with such a device, then pretend to be stupid, raise the price on the spot, squeeze this foolish and rich Hongchen Hall Master out of a lot of money, and leave behind a deliberately disguised fake blueprint to infuriate the other party?

Why is this happening?! Why are we standing at attention?! Why are we counting off?! Why am I making a fool of myself in front of so many people?!

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Huo Yuhao's entire face turned bright red at an alarming speed, the angry red spreading from behind his ears all the way down his neck.

Humiliation, this is the ultimate, naked humiliation!

"Master of the Red Dust Hall!"

Huo Yuhao barely managed to catch his breath, enduring countless stares, and forced himself to move back to his room. He gritted his teeth, squeezing out the address word by word.

No, I must stay calm! Jing Hongchen's actions must have a deeper meaning.

He called me back, definitely for the soul-guided triggering device on the Zhuge Crossbow! Yes, he's using this humiliating method to break my composure and make me lose my temper, so it'll be easier for him to lower the price!

What a cunning fellow Jing Hongchen! The teacher said he was stubborn and self-willed, but it seems he underestimated his treachery!

"Hehe," Jing Hongchen finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was so satisfying to see the Shrek Academy members suffer a setback. "Little Huo, don't be angry. It seems that the reform of our Mingde Hall's supervisory department has been very effective."

He paused, as if that wasn't enough, and slowly added, "Um, number 5438."

Huo Yuhao's annoyance was almost tangible:

"The Red Dust Hall Master summoned me back specifically just to inspect the 'remarkable' results of your hall's transformation? As a high-ranking figure in the Sun Moon Empire, second only to the emperor, you seem to be far too leisurely!"

"Yeah, I'm just concerned about the mental health of you exchange students," Jing Hongchen said, shaking her head with an expression that said, "What can you do to me?"

"Hey, Xiao Huo, why are you back in my office again? Alright, it's getting late, hurry up and go back."

After a series of playful jokes that sent Huo Yuhao's emotions on a rollercoaster, Jing Hongchen's expression returned to normal, as if everything that had just happened was truly just a prank on a whim.

Had he guessed wrong? Huo Yuhao's heart tightened, but he immediately dismissed the thought.

Impossible! He had absolute confidence in the Tang Clan's ingenious mechanisms and his own talent for soul tools.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao's heart couldn't help but clench. This old guy, he's really good at acting!

He took a deep breath and forced himself to adopt a negotiating stance.

"Alright, Master Hongchen, there's no need to pretend anymore. We're all smart people, so let's speak frankly. I believe you also discovered in your recent experiment that there's a trigger device that doesn't require soul power to activate, but can be used directly after soul power is injected. I know that Mingde Hall, or rather the Sun Moon Empire, currently needs my technology very much."

A perfectly timed look of confusion appeared on Jing Hongchen's face:

"Triggering device? What triggering device? Isn't this just an ordinary level one soul tool?"

Still pretending?! Huo Yuhao felt his patience was about to run out, and anger surged within him.

"Master of the Red Dust Hall!" He raised his voice, trying to regain the initiative. "I've already presented you with my research results. Is there any point in playing dumb like this? You're not thinking of sending me away so you can secretly disassemble and study them yourself, are you? If so, I advise you to give up that idea as soon as possible. In terms of the ingenuity and decisiveness of self-destruct devices, I think there is no sect on the entire continent that can compare to our Tang Sect!"

“Name your price. If I think it’s acceptable, I’ll show you the structural diagram of this soul tool triggering device.”

"Oh~~~~ I see." Jing Hongchen drawled out the words, looking as if he had just realized something. "For someone your age, it's quite impressive that you've managed to come up with such a decent triggering device."

He touched his rounded chin, as if he were really thinking seriously: "How about this, I'll personally fund a special item to reward you, as an encouragement for your innovative spirit."

"What is it?"

Huo Yuhao's eyes lit up. He had thought that Jing Hongchen was truly blind and couldn't see the value of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

But he quickly noticed the oddity in Jing Hongchen's choice of words and immediately emphasized:

"Let me preface this by saying that I had a lot of trouble researching this. If I were to sell it, it wouldn't be cheap! It would have to be at least a level nine soul tool."

Huo Yuhao looked arrogant and refused to bargain, but his bottom line was actually very low, since it was a business with no capital involved.

But since it wasn't his own stuff that was being ripped off, he naturally demanded exorbitant prices and then tried to haggle.

"Heh," to Huo Yuhao's surprise, Jing Hongchen showed no anger at all, but just chuckled and said, "Although it is not a level nine soul tool, it is extremely precious to me. It is not level nine, but it is better than level nine."

Not quite level nine, but even better than level nine?!

Huo Yuhao's heart skipped a beat. What could it be? A level eight fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell? Or perhaps some kind of strategically significant special soul-guided device? Shrek Academy doesn't have a level eight fixed-position soul-guided device yet...

"Then I'll have to take a good look at it. Master Hongchen, please bring it out first."

Huo Yuhao even took a half-step back, feigning composure, but his breathing involuntarily became heavy. His eyes were fixed on Jing Hongchen's hand as he reached for the storage soul guide ring, as if some priceless treasure was about to be pulled out.

Just as Huo Yuhao was lost in thought, almost holding his breath, Jing Hongchen finally took out— from his storage soul guide ring.

A... pillow?

To be precise, it was a pillow-shaped object. Huo Yuhao blinked hard, forcibly dispelling the initial impression that "it's just a pillow" from his mind.

Upon closer inspection, although the pillow-shaped item was relatively clean overall, it appeared to have some signs of wear and tear from years of use on both sides, with noticeable wear and tear on the edges. Huo Yuhao, who did not come from a particularly privileged background, knew very well that this must be because it had been washed repeatedly.

The most outrageous thing is that there is a rough patch with a mismatched color on the bottom right corner!

This pillow-shaped thing looks like a pillow, but it feels...

Huo Yuhao subconsciously reached out and squeezed it.