Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

First place in the freshman assessment: Kong Tianxu, number of completed tasks: six, accuracy: 100%, time: one minute

Zhao Gou lay down completely.

Chapter 43 Laughing at the Obsession of the Mortal World

The entrance to the third Soul Guidance Laboratory in the second teaching building for sixth grade.

"Sister Keke, is Teacher Xuan in a bad mood today?"

A tall, dark-skinned young man handed a royal-recipe pastry to a petite girl in front of him, asking with a fawning expression.

"It seems to be because of a freshman named Ye Nongfeng? He's spouting that old rhetoric about how the more powerful a soul tool should be, the better. Teacher Xuan will definitely be unhappy about that."

The girl took the snack box from the young man, opened it with a smile, picked out a few pieces and popped them into her mouth, a look of satisfaction immediately appearing on her face. But then, ignoring her bulging mouth, she mumbled:

"Wang Shaojie, you haven't given up yet? Didn't Teacher Xuan say that even if you get a Level 5 Soul Master badge because of your royal status, you won't be accepted by him if you don't meet his requirements? The mentor selection is about to end, aren't you going to find a new teacher? Just trying to please me won't work."

The dark-skinned youth named Wang Shaojie chuckled and said, "Sister Keke, you don't understand. Being able to help the teacher is also part of the ability. Teacher Xuan's assessment is too strict. Not everyone can be pre-selected like you and Sister Juzi."

"You're not up to any bad ideas, are you?" Keke stuffed another pastry into her mouth and looked at him suspiciously.

"Don't worry, there won't be any trouble..."

His eyes flickered, but his tone was meaningful.

……

The afternoon and the following morning classes were all practical soul guidance courses, which were optional. Kong Tianxu looked into them and found that the courses were mainly for students with weak soul guidance foundations to improve their practical skills. They were not suitable for him, so he did not attend and instead stayed in his dormitory to consolidate his soul power after his breakthrough.

Time always flies when you're meditating, and when he reappeared in the sight of the students, it was already noon the next day.

Perhaps the deterrent effect of yesterday was too good, because when he walked into the dining area of ​​Class 1, the originally noisy area fell silent for a moment.

Even Xu Tianzhen looked up, glanced at him with a complicated expression, and then quickly lowered her gaze again.

It's unclear who started it, but they broke the silence first:

"Hello, class monitor!"

"Hello, class monitor."

"Good morning, squad leader!"...

Greetings rang out one after another, drawing the attention of students from other classes nearby. In the world of Soul Masters, strength has always been paramount, and the power Kong Tianxu displayed yesterday was enough to earn everyone's respect.

Kong Tianxu nodded in response, quickly walked to the opposite side of Cain, and sat down hastily. This kind of atmosphere might be quite appealing to some middle-aged people, but for a boy whose biological age was only twelve, it was still a bit too much of a public execution.

"Hello, squad leader." Cain looked up and smiled at him.

Today, she tied her blonde hair back into a high bun, looking neat and elegant. A few strands of hair fell naturally on both sides of her face, adding a touch of liveliness to her soft beauty.

"Don't joke about your master." Kong Tianxu pinched her pert nose and said with a hint of helplessness.

A murmur of suppressed laughter and whispers immediately filled the air. People in the Douluo Continent are known for their early maturity, especially Soul Masters. For these young men and women experiencing their first stirrings of love, this was undoubtedly the hottest gossip of the day.

Not far away, Xu Tianzhen suddenly became a little louder as she ate her rice.

Kong Tianxu seemed not to hear, and opened the dishes for today's meal. Jing Hongchen's private chef's skills were as good as ever. The braised thousand-year-old dragon tendons, which are good for nourishing tendons and bones, were cooked until tender and mushy. To cook the main tendons of a truly top-tier soul beast like a dragon to this extent, it must have taken at least three days of cooking time, and it couldn't be done with ordinary heat.

Another dish, stir-fried bluebird marrow, is slightly less valuable, but it's still a great tonic for human bones. Bluebirds possess a trace of phoenix blood, though almost nonexistent, which lends its marrow a touch of mystery.

In ancient times, there was even a legend that humans grew wings after eating the marrow of a bluebird.

With the nourishing and invigorating crystal white corn in hand, Kong Tianxu devoured it in no time. His current cultivation level wasn't high enough to abstain from grains, but even when he reached that level, he probably wouldn't give up delicious food. That pure, vibrant desire and sense of satisfaction was also a major driving force in his cultivation.

"Tianxu, weren't you a bit too harsh yesterday? I saw that Tianzhen's eyes were red when she woke up this morning, she must have been crying."

After hesitating for a moment, Cain still asked softly.

Whether it was a deliberate arrangement by Jing Hongchen or not, their dormitories were right next to each other, which is why Cain was able to learn some of Xu Tianzhen's relatively private information.

Huh? How come you're progressing faster than me? You're practically naive now.

Kong Tianxu felt a strange sensation in his heart, shook his head and said, "I have already held back."

Cain: "..."

It was lunchtime, and most of the students at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy were gathered in the dining hall, satisfying their hunger. However, in a secluded storage room in the Mingde Hall, one person had completely forgotten about hunger, his entire focus concentrated on the carving knife and metal in his hands.

"Tap, tap..." With the final countdown, his hands moved faster and faster, carving the metal block in his hands with almost frenzied skill, as if he had repeated the movements tens of thousands of times. The metal in his hands was rapidly changing color as the carving knife went in, as if it had lost some kind of essence, allowing lines to emerge.

"Beep—" The piercing alarm sounded. He froze, his muscles tensed, and he gripped the carving knife and metal tightly, as if he were trying to suppress something. In the end, he let go in despair, letting them fall to the ground.

Long, wine-red hair cascaded down her back as a pair of hands picked up a metal block from the ground. In the dim light, the owner of those hands could see over fifty evenly spaced, winding arcs on one side of the metal, but the last one was only halfway through carving, leaving only a shallow mark behind it.

Meng Hongchen clutched the metal block tightly in her hand, looking at the half-finished carvings scattered on the ground, and said with heartache:

"Brother, you haven't slept for the past two days and two nights. How can your body take this? Even if you want to surpass him, you can't risk your life."

Yes, sitting at the experimental table in the center of this storage room is none other than her brother, Xiao Hongchen, who is hailed as the number one genius of the Sun Moon Empire.

However, Xiao Hongchen's current appearance is truly unappealing. Her once meticulously styled hair is now a mess, and her slender hands have been stained with a metallic hue, making it impossible to recognize her former fair complexion. Her once bright blue eyes are now bloodshot, her body is hunched over, and even her delicate face has taken on a withered look.

Chapter 44: Ideas about Soul Cores

"Bang—" He slammed his fists down heavily on the makeshift metal lab table, sending metal shards flying. His voice was hoarse with anxiety and anger.

"why?"

Why can't I do it?

"I even stopped suppressing my soul power level and used a soul skill that controls metal! Why? Why am I still not even half as good as him? One minute, just one minute! How did he manage to carve all six sides?!"

"How can his hands be so fast and so steady? How can his mental power keep up? Why doesn't his soul power break down!"

He practically screamed the last sentence, covering his face with his hands and trembling with excitement.

"Brother..." Meng Hongchen was almost in tears, "I believe you can do it. Let's eat something and rest for a bit, okay?"

These words seemed to have an effect; Xiao Hongchen lowered his hand, his expression regaining some composure.

"Yes, sister, you're right. I am the greatest genius in the history of Sun and Moon. I can do it. Let me try again..."

He pulled out a brand new carving knife, ready to begin carving. A sudden shout abruptly stopped him in his tracks—

"enough!"

Jing Hongchen's short, stout figure appeared in the doorway, his long, reddish-brown hair swaying slightly with anger, his domineering aura inadvertently revealed. He looked just like a bloated toad.

"Grandpa, I still want to..."

"Stop talking! Your most important task right now is to eat and rest!"

Enraged, Jing Hongchen strode over to Xiao Hongchen and slammed his hand on the metal table in front of him, breaking it in two. He spoke with exasperation to his usually mild-mannered grandson, who rarely lost his temper.

"Laugh, look at yourself now! All you care about is momentary bravado. Are you out of your mind? Sculpting is just one part of being a Soul Master. Let him be strong, why are you getting so hung up on this?"

Jing Hongchen's words perfectly grasped the crux of Xiao Hongchen's dilemma. Upon hearing this, a light flashed in Xiao Hongchen's eyes, and he said:

"Grandpa, are you saying that although my carving skills are not as good as his, I can still surpass him in the overall creation of soul tools, right?"

Jing Hongchen remained silent for a while. He already knew about Kong Tianxu's astonishing soul ring ratio, so he didn't think that Xiao Hongchen, who was also a Soul Sect Master, had any advantage over him. However, looking at his grandson's hopeful eyes, he still couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Grandpa believes in you. Now, hurry up and fill your stomach, then tidy yourself up. Look at you, what a mess you are in."

"Hmm!" Xiao Hongchen nodded. He had been holding on by sheer willpower, but now that willpower had dissipated, and a strong sense of hunger surged up. He felt like he could eat a whole cow.

Upon seeing this, Meng Hongchen quickly handed over the food box containing her own portion.

"Slow down, slow down." Jing Hongchen looked at her grandson's ravenous eating with affection, but sighed inwardly.

"Sigh, I don't know if it was right or wrong to make Kong Tianxu this child's imaginary enemy."

He knew that his teacher's only grandson was exceptionally talented. After his martial soul awakened, Master Kong and His Majesty had always kept it a secret, only revealing that he was born with full soul power.

He originally thought that, since they were both born with full soul power, Xiao Hongchen's aptitude should be about the same as his opponent's.

Now it seems that the child's martial spirit and talent are both ridiculously extraordinary...

The afternoon class went as Kong Tianxu expected. Although it wasn't a face he recognized, it was a genuine level nine soul master, and the martial soul should be elemental.

Even without using his X-ray vision, Kong Tianxu could clearly perceive the powerful elemental soul force surging and flowing around his soul core, thanks to his elemental affinity.

Even on his way home after class, he was still thinking about it. In the future, he would definitely complete the Yin-Yang dual soul core, or even a triple soul core, and deciding on the first soul core would be a difficult problem.

The Silver Dragon Martial Soul granted him a far greater number of attributes than ordinary people. Generally speaking, multi-attribute martial souls rarely possess more than seven attributes, let alone mastering just three. Moreover, the more diverse the attributes, the more dispersed the power.

The Silver Dragon Martial Soul, however, goes against the grain. It is born with extremely high-level attributes, and as it masters more attributes, Kong Tianxu can feel its essence constantly strengthening, as if it is constantly completing itself. This is unprecedented in the history of Martial Souls.

This greatly facilitated his soul core condensation. As long as he found a powerful source that matched the attributes he possessed, his success rate in condensing a silver dragon attribute soul core would greatly increase. For example, the ten-thousand-year-old Xuanbing Cave beneath the Earth Dragon Gate was one of the soul core nutrients he had planned to obtain.

However, he did not intend to condense the Silver Dragon Martial Soul Core as his first Soul Core. The higher his cultivation level, the greater the potential revealed by the Silver Dragon Martial Soul, and the clearer he realized how terrifying his Supreme Body Martial Soul, which could suppress the Silver Dragon, was.

If possible, he will use his original martial soul core as his first soul core, that is, his main soul core. In this way, his yin-yang complementarity will be more difficult, but the third soul core will be much smoother.

It's not impossible that they could even challenge the forbidden path that the Beast God Di Tian once walked.

After all, he had enough confidence in his physique, but he really didn't expect a Limit Douluo to transfer his power to him.

But where could he find so many high-level, attribute-free soul powers that were compatible with his own martial soul? He smiled bitterly to himself, shook his head, and suppressed these thoughts for the time being before walking onto a secluded path that few people frequented.

He planned to check out the auxiliary cultivation room. Cain had some urgent business to attend to and needed to return to her sect—the Mingyu Sect, which she belonged to in the original story. The Mingyu Sect had a close relationship with the Kong family; its sect leader, Kong Tangyu, was Kong Deming's cousin and also a titled Douluo.

Without the maid's company, Kong Tianxu was unusually alone this time. However, he remembered that Ye Nongfeng seemed to have taken the same path, so he might run into him at his destination. He was quite interested in this unconventional soul guide genius who could develop aging rays.

It was early autumn, and the streets were deserted, with only the occasional rustling of leaves in the wind, making the campus exceptionally peaceful and serene.

In the midst of this tranquility, Kong Tianxu's extraordinary hearing detected a discordant noise.

He stopped and his ears twitched.

Amidst the gentle breeze, several shouts and muffled thuds of flesh colliding were clearly audible:

"You little bastard, still so arrogant? Go apologize, go apologize!"

It seems this kind of thing happens everywhere. Some rusty memories surfaced in his mind. His gaze sharpened slightly, and he silently moved toward the source of the sound.

In a secluded grove behind the teaching building, a whip flashed, whistling through the air, as it lashed out at the back of Ye Nongfeng's head.

Chapter 45 Purple Jade Thunder Dragon

"Snap—" The moment the whip struck his head, Ye Nongfeng let out a muffled groan, his entire body instantly curling up, his hands tightly covering the back of his head. He trembled uncontrollably, letting out unconscious gasps.