Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

It was soft and limp, with no elasticity, and filled with low-quality, hardened cotton. If you got close, it even had an unpleasant stale smell.

The muscles in his face instantly stiffened, and the smile that had been on his face vanished in an instant.

This is a damn old pillow that's been used for who knows how many years and should be thrown in the trash!

Mirror! Red! Dust!

The drastic fall from the clouds to the cesspool made Huo Yuhao feel a surge of intense blood rush to the top of his head, making his vision blur. The veins on his forehead throbbed wildly, and a metallic taste filled his throat; he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. The soul power within his body began to surge chaotically due to this extreme anger and humiliation.

His face was dark blue with a hint of purple, and he was on the verge of exploding.

Patience! Patience! Patience! There's a knife above the word "patience," but a hundred acts of forbearance can bring gold!

Forcibly suppressing his anger, he panted heavily and said:

"Master Hongchen, this is clearly just a pillow that's been used for who knows how many years. Tell me, how does it compare to a level nine soul tool? Mine is just a level one soul tool..."

"Do you even know that what you have is just a level one soul tool?" Jing Hongchen said coldly. The terrifying pressure of a titled Douluo descended like an iceberg, instantly sobering Huo Yuhao up.

"Moreover, although this pillow of mine is made of ordinary materials, it was a favorite item I used before I awakened my martial soul and entered school. Back then, I could fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, which is perfect for someone like you who likes to daydream."

"I'm giving this to you. I hope you can be down-to-earth and have fewer unrealistic dreams."

"Alright then, if we don't need a level nine soul tool, rare metals will do. Look at the silver dragon scales mentioned in the school history..."

Seeing that Jing Hongchen was truly angry, and that the result from his spiritual perception was absolutely true, Huo Yuhao immediately felt guilty, his aura plummeted, and he hurriedly lowered his own status.

Jing Hongchen didn't speak, but lazily tapped the tattered pillow on the table again with her knuckles.

Huo Yuhao's face turned from pale to red again, even showing a hint of humiliation and indignation, his eyes flashing with cold light. If he weren't burdened with a heavy responsibility, he would have turned and left without looking back.

"At the very least, we need 1,000 kilograms of purple-gold copper and 1,000 kilograms of heavenly spirit silver..."

After several rounds of fruitless negotiation and emotional turmoil, Huo Yuhao finally abandoned his original idea and directly announced his bottom line.

Jing Hongchen listened expressionlessly for half a minute before interrupting again: "Trying to take advantage of me? Your thing is only fit for a pillow. Take it and get out. Or, you can stay here and show off more of your 'brilliant ideas'."

The last hope shattered completely, like a bubble.

Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the tattered pillow, then looked up at Jing Hongchen's cold and mocking face. He finally understood that from beginning to end, he had been like a clown jumping around, and all his performances and expectations were nothing more than a clumsy farce in the other person's eyes.

After extreme anger comes a chilling sense of humiliation and emptiness.

"This is impossible!" Huo Yuhao finally couldn't hold back any longer and stood up abruptly.

Jing Hongchen said nothing more. With a wave of his hand, he threw the Zhuge Divine Crossbow back, and at the same time, an irresistible force sent Huo Yuhao outside the door.

"Bang—" The door slammed shut, as if shutting down all his dignity.

Huo Yuhao stood outside the door, his face extremely pale. The corridor remained silent. But Huo Yuhao knew that the ears and eyes behind those doors had heard or seen the whole thing.

He angrily wanted to bang on the door, but after looking at the black box in his hand, he finally put it on the ground.

After calming his breathing, Huo Yuhao's face revealed only a cold glint, and only one thought roared wildly in his mind:

Although it's unclear what possessed Jing Hongchen, in the future, the Tang Clan's mass-produced Zhuge Divine Crossbow will blast open the gates of the Sun Moon Empire and awaken this foolish old man.

Let him understand what a huge mistake he made today!

A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. He will make the other party repay today's insult a hundredfold in due time.

It's a pity that time is running out and Kong Tianxu is dead. Otherwise, he would have been thinking of using the legendary silver dragon scales to cast some curse-type necromancy.

As Huo Yuhao stepped out of Jing Hongchen's office building, he looked around the academy where he had spent more than two years. The restlessness he felt after the injection surged up again, and even his spiritual eyes became somewhat blurry.

He quickly circulated his soul power, and the feeling lessened considerably, but it didn't completely disappear.

"Brother Tianmeng, does that drug really have no effect on my martial spirit?" Huo Yuhao asked in his spiritual sea.

"Don't worry," Tianmeng Bingcan's voice was still lazy. Kong Tianxu was dead, and he was much more relaxed. "I have already transferred those drugs from your brain to your kidneys. They should be broken down soon."

Huo Yuhao was relieved and cheered himself up before returning to his dormitory with longing and anticipation for the future.

On the way, he was somewhat surprised to find that all the doors and windows of Xuan Ziwen's laboratory seemed to be tightly closed.

……

Inside the office.

"Master, this thing... I feel like the trigger mechanism is actually quite sophisticated. Isn't that price a bit too much..."

Lin Jiayi picked up the Zhuge Crossbow that Huo Yuhao had left behind and cautiously asked Jing Hongchen a question.

Jing Hongchen glanced at him sideways and held out her hand. Lin Jiayi immediately fell silent and respectfully presented the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.

Jing Hongchen held it in her hand and casually fiddled with it a couple of times, her eyes calm and even showing a hint of boredom.

Finally, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed it casually into the pile of old, discarded soul tool remnants waiting to be cleared away by the wall, as if discarding some kind of trash.

Three years ago, even for something as basic as this, he would have bid high and low to understand its underlying principles.

However, ever since Kong Tianxu produced the Soul Guidance Gun, he no longer cared. The two weapons cost about the same, but their power differed by an immeasurable margin.

When Huo Yuhao was peddling his "groundbreaking innovation," he probably didn't realize that there was a secret production line deep beneath Mingde Hall, producing cheaper yet higher-quality soul-guided firearms day and night.

That was the true, overwhelming force capable of crushing all the ingenious tricks and gimmicks of the old era, a mighty torrent of steel rolling forward.

His thoughts drifted away, and Jing Hongchen's eyes gradually became deep and unfathomable. He gazed at the lights of Mingdu outside the window, and sighed softly, as if with regret, yet also with a sense of relief:

"Alas, Kong Tianxu, truly a genius beyond compare. It seems my Hongchen family is destined to be..."

Lin Jiayi stood to the side with his hands at his sides, looking down at his nose and his heart. Having followed Jing Hongchen for so many years, he knew that when the hall master made such a remark, the best choice was to be deaf and mute.

Suddenly, a tiny, dark gold soul tool, extremely well-hidden on Jing Hongchen's earlobe, flickered slightly.

Jing Hongchen seemed to be struck by an invisible electric current, and abruptly stood up from her seat. The color drained from her face instantly, and even her eyes were momentarily glazed over.

"Master, what's wrong?" Lin Jiayi was startled.

Soon, the look in Jing Hongchen's eyes changed dramatically, and all that remained was an indescribable brilliance.

Kong Tianxu is dead.

Lin Jiayi was struck dumb.

"What a pity, such a talented person died young."

The Mirror of Mortal World continues, but the voice is kept very low, only audible to oneself:

"But it's better that he's dead. Only when he's dead will my grandsons and granddaughters have a chance to rise up. Besides, without this monster that's completely uncontrollable, unpredictable, and might even cause the Hall of Worship and the Holy Spirit Cult to merge, His Highness the Crown Prince should be able to sleep more peacefully."

He sighed again:

"It's just a pity for Master Confucius..."

-----------------

"Confucius, Confucius, Confucius...Master Confucius?!"

Xuan Ziwen, who had just returned to his lab after getting his food, pushed open the door and saw an elderly silver-haired man with his back to him, flipping through several complex mechanical blueprints on the table. He shuddered and dropped the lunchbox on the floor with a clatter.

He felt as if his bones had been removed, trembling, and then he knelt down with a thud.

Chapter 231 Raising Bandits and Sharpening Knives When the Swallows Return

"Ziwen, why are you still so careless about eating on time?"

Kong Deming put down the detailed design drawings of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon in his hand, slowly turned his head, and said gently, "It's been a while. Why are you kneeling? Get up."

In order to extricate himself as soon as possible, and also to leave a good impression on Xuan Ziwen for the sake of future defection, the blueprints that Huo Yuhao gave to Xuan Ziwen were naturally genuine. The most original Tang Sect hidden weapon manufacturing data in it made Kong Deming's eyes light up, and he had many new ideas for improving the humanoid soul tool.

What a coincidence! Why would Master Kong suddenly come here? Huo Yuhao just discussed joining the Tang Sect with me not long ago. Could Master Kong be here to clean house?

Xuan Ziwen got up as instructed, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

He hadn't seen his elusive teacher for at least three years, but whether it was three years ago or three years later, he felt just as insignificant as when he first became Kong Deming's student, unable to muster any thought of resistance.

Especially when he was wavering between Mingdetang and Tangmen not long ago, and he himself was very guilty.

"I remember, your parents were from the Heavenly Soul Empire, right?" After a short silence, Kong Deming's voice came again, this time closer.

"Yes, yes. Back then, my father was persecuted by the nobles of the Heavenly Soul Empire for advocating the widespread application of soul tools. That's why he fled to the Sun Moon Empire. Fortunately, Master Kong took a liking to me and looked after me a lot, which is why I am who I am today."

Seeing that Kong Deming didn't seem to be there to interrogate him, Xuan Ziwen also harbored a bit of wishful thinking. As he spoke, his voice gradually calmed down, and he even dared to look up at his teacher.

Compared to a few years ago, the other person not only did not age, but seemed to have become younger. He was still as tall as ever, his grayish silver hair had regained its luster, and his light purple eyes were like the starry sky.

“Yes, it’s been so many years.” Kong Deming sighed softly, his gaze sweeping over the laboratory. “When you first entered Mingde Hall, I was still the head of the hall. It was in this room that you told me that you must have a laboratory that was entirely your own in the future. Later, when you became the chief researcher, the ownership of this laboratory was truly given to you.”

Researchers at Mingdetang usually only have the right to use the laboratory. It is extremely rare for a chief researcher like Xuan Ziwen to be granted ownership.

This honor and trust were once Xuan Ziwen's proudest assets.

Kong Deming's profound reminiscence was incredibly moving, and Xuan Ziwen could barely contain his emotion, his own words quickly taking on a strong emotional tone:

"Yes, it was just a childish joke when I was a student. I never expected that Master Confucius would remember it. I am deeply grateful."

"Then why are you leaving it now?" Kong Deming's eyes suddenly turned stern.

In an instant, Xuan Ziwen's mind went blank.

In the end, was it discovered? But why did Confucius himself come...?

With the matter now clear, a deeper silence fell between master and disciple. Kong Deming closed his eyes, as if weighing something.

An invisible pressure began to permeate the laboratory filled with blueprints and parts for soul tools, weighing heavily on Xuan Ziwen's heart.

Xuan Ziwen began to tremble uncontrollably. However, under this immense pressure, a desperate, rebellious emotion overcame his fear. He suddenly raised his head and roared with a do-or-die spirit:

"Master Kong!"

Kong Deming glanced sideways.

“Since you already know, then I will speak frankly!” Xuan Ziwen’s lips trembled violently as his long-suppressed emotions finally found an outlet. “It was you who taught us that Soul Guides should take the pursuit of truth as their highest goal, and everything else is external and can even be abandoned! Shrek City, there is the research environment and philosophy for Soul Guides that I yearn for.”

"You haven't appeared for a long time. The Sun Moon Empire has changed a lot in the past two years. Jing Hongchen has sided with the Crown Prince. This not only means that the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy will inevitably be involved in this struggle for the throne. Although the Crown Prince's side has always had the upper hand, the throne is the only goal for some people. They will not give up easily unless they succeed. The Mingde Hall, which has become a turbulent place, can no longer provide me with a quiet research environment."

"More importantly, the Crown Prince has always been a proponent of war. Once he inherits the throne, a large-scale war will be inevitable in the near future. I am just a soul tool researcher, and I do not want to get involved in war. My research needs stability. I also do not want to depend on anyone."

"Furthermore, I also hate applying research to war. As you know, my mother died in the war."

“I hate politics,” Xuan Ziwen’s eyes were already red. “I hate war even more.”

"Can you understand me, Master Kong?" His voice already carried a hint of pleading.

"People always think that distant places they've never been are more wonderful, but they're all the same. Do you think that if you go to Shrek, your research won't be subject to politics or applied to war?"