The Glory of the Sun and Moon in the Peerless Tang Sect

He was also quite affected by Ju Zi's departure. He still felt defeated in front of Yu Tianhuang, but he no longer felt the same awkwardness as before.

Compared to Wang Shaojie, Zi Mu is indeed more mature.

"It seems you're ready to study at Mingde Hall. Come with me." Xuan Ziwen always had this decisive and efficient style of doing things, and he even offered a kind reminder.

“Mingdetang is not as casual as this place. Your every word and action is likely to be monitored. Listen more, learn more, do more, think more, and talk less.”

"Yes," Xu Zihuang replied, following behind Xuan Ziwen.

Watching Xu Zihuang and Xuan Ziwen leave, Zi Mu appeared much more composed. He was actually qualified to apply to Mingde Hall long ago, but it was all because of Ju Zi. Now that Ju Zi had dropped out and her whereabouts were unknown, he certainly wouldn't jeopardize his future any further.

As Keke gradually came to her senses, the desolation in her eyes slowly turned into determination.

"Sister Orange dropped out of school, and this brat has also entered Mingde Hall to study. No way, I also have to study hard and prepare to apply to Mingde Hall."

Xu Zihuang's entry into Mingde Hall went smoothly.

Xuan Ziwen led him through several checkpoints and finally arrived at a spacious hall beneath Mingde Hall. As far as the eye could see, countless experimental tables were neatly arranged, stretching into the distance.

"Keep this card safe. You'll need it to enter here every time." Xuan Ziwen handed Xu Zihuang the metal card containing his identity information.

"This lab table is yours. I've explained the rules here to you on the way. If there are no problems, I'll be going now. I have my own experiments to do. If you have any questions and want to find me, you can use your ID card to go to Secret Experiment Zone Number One and have the guard call me."

Seeing Xu Zihuang nod in understanding, Xuan Ziwen turned and left. A moment later, his figure disappeared into the darkness.

Xu Zihuang sat silently at the lab table. There were over fifty buttons on it. Each button press would release a corresponding rare metal. Of course, the quota for these rare metals was limited. Once used up in a month, they had to be replenished the following month.

Compared to the lab tables in the sixth-grade teaching building's laboratory, the lab tables in Mingde Hall are undoubtedly more comprehensive in their functions. As long as there are enough materials, it is entirely possible to make a level seven soul tool, and even making a level eight soul tool is not impossible.

Starting today, Xu Zihuang officially began his studies at Mingde Hall.

Although Jing Hongchen said earlier that he could enter Mingde Hall at any time, there was a deeper meaning behind his deliberate arrangement of Xuan Ziwen as his mentor.

Xuan Ziwen's research work at Mingde Hall was usually very demanding, leaving him little time to teach him. In most cases, he had to rely on self-study. Fortunately, he could observe examples of soul tools made by others, especially melee soul tools.

Those who can enter the Mingde Hall and create their own soul tools must be at least level six soul masters.

He had no shortage of examples of soul tools, and with the occasional special and advanced concepts provided by Xuan Ziwen, his abilities at the level of a soul master were steadily improving.

Later, he also happened to meet He Caitou at Mingde Hall. He Caitou was studying under another seventh-level soul master at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Unlike Xu Zihuang, He Caitou's mentor explained many examples, but did not allow him to touch the experimental table or conduct experiments himself.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy clearly needs to be much more wary of He Caitou.

However, no matter how careful they were, they could not completely stop Xu Zihuang and his companion from gradually learning and absorbing the advanced soul tool knowledge within Mingde Hall.

Half a year has passed quietly, and of the ten members of the Shrek Academy team, including Xu Zihuang and He Caitou, six have already been able to study at Mingde Hall. The other four have also earned the qualification to study at Mingde Hall for three days every seven days.

Fan Yu's situation is similar to Xu Zihuang's. However, because he possesses the abilities of an eighth-level Soul Master, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy imposes even more restrictions on him.

Xu Zihuang also spent his fifteenth birthday at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

In the past six months, not only has his soul power cultivation level increased by another level, breaking through to level fifty-six, but his abilities at the level of a soul master have also greatly improved. According to his estimation, with his current level, he has a certain success rate in creating ordinary level seven soul tools.

However, he couldn't reveal any of these things. He only attempted to create the invincible shield defensive soul tool, which was the most difficult and risky to make among the level 5 soul tools.

The activation of the Invincible Shield does not require the injection of soul power. Instead, it uses the golden crystal, a specialty of the Sun Moon Empire, as a medium. With the injection of the core magic array, the Invincible Shield can instantly unleash the energy within the golden crystal to generate powerful defense.

It is a luxurious, one-time defensive soul tool. However, within three seconds of activating the level 5 invincible shield, it can grant the user defensive power comparable to a Soul Master at the Soul Douluo level.

To Xuan Ziwen's surprise, Xu Zihuang successfully created the Level 5 Invincible Shield on his first attempt.

"Click-clack-click—" After meticulous assembly, Xu Zihuang pieced together all the small parts on the metal tabletop into a golden crystal bracelet.

This is the second level-five invincible shield he has successfully made; it was made by Keke after she begged him to help her.

Although Keke has been admitted to Mingde Hall in the past six months, she still does not have the ability to create a level 5 invincible shield.

All the materials were provided by Coco, and she would bear all the losses if the production failed.

Keke stood quietly behind Xu Zihuang, her figure still so petite. When Xu Zihuang successfully completed the project, she excitedly grabbed his arm and cheered.

"Thank goodness it was a success! At least all the savings I've accumulated over the years weren't wasted."

It was fortunate that they were in the laboratory of the sixth-grade teaching building and not in Mingde Hall, otherwise they would have been kicked out long ago for making such a fuss.

"Senior Keke, stop shaking it, it's a bit uncomfortable." Xu Zihuang casually handed the gold crystal bracelet to Keke, his expression somewhat helpless.

This is how the two of them usually get along after spending half a year together and becoming very familiar with each other.

It's unclear whether Keke completely disregards Xu Zihuang's masculinity or simply doesn't mind. She never seems to shy away from such intimate contact. Xu Zihuang always has to say something to get her to back down.

Keke took the crystal bracelet, and upon hearing Xu Zihuang's words, her pretty face flushed crimson. Her chest heaved violently, and once her breathing calmed down, she forced out a gritted-teeth smile.

"Hmph! Fine, considering you made this level five invincible shield for me, I won't stoop to your level!"

Keke then put the dazzling gold crystal bracelet on her wrist, playing with it with it as she asked Xu Zihuang, "By the way, the academy will be on holiday starting tomorrow. Are you planning to go back to Shrek Academy for this month-long break?"

Xu Zihuang stood up and responded.

"I probably won't go back. I plan to visit Mingdu during this time and buy some things while I'm there."

Keke's eyes lit up, and she said generously, "You want to go to Mingdu? Let's go together. I've emptied my savings trying to save on the materials needed to make this level 5 invincible shield. I also need to go to Mingdu to sell some of the soul tools I've made recently and earn some extra money."

Xu Zihuang certainly wouldn't refuse, or rather, he was waiting for Keke to say those words.

His visit to Mingdu this time was not as simple as it seemed on the surface; having Keke accompany him would prevent him from drawing too much attention.

Chapter 272 Awakening

After agreeing on a meeting time for the next morning, Xu Zihuang and Keke parted ways at the entrance of the sixth-grade second teaching building.

Keke was busy making a batch of soul tools, preparing to take them to Mingdu for sale tomorrow, so she left ahead of time for Mingde Hall.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy offers many preferential treatments to outstanding students. For example, students admitted to the Mingde Hall receive a monthly quota of rare metals, and the soul tools made from these rare metals belong entirely to the students.

If Coco hadn't recently exhausted all her savings trying to gather the precious materials needed to create a Level 5 Invincible Shield, she wouldn't even have enough money to cover her daily expenses. She actually didn't want to do it.

After all, rare metals are much more attractive to Soul Masters than money.

Some rare metals cannot be measured simply by their value.

Because rare metals are always a form of hard currency, but having money doesn't necessarily mean you can buy those particularly precious rare metals.

This also demonstrates the astonishing earning power of Soul Masters. A Level 5 Soul Master like Keke can easily make a considerable profit by crafting and selling a few Soul Tools.

However, these profits are somewhat insufficient to support the practice of crafting higher-level soul tools by purchasing rare metals.

Although Soul Masters are a wealthy group, their daily expenses are also enormous.

The cool, bright soul-guided streetlights adorned both sides of the school road as Xu Zihuang walked slowly towards the dormitory building. The number of sixth-year students at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was already small, and with the official holiday starting tomorrow, many students without much research to do had already left the academy.

So much so that he didn't encounter a single person along the way.

After returning to his dormitory, Xu Zihuang did not rush to meditate and cultivate. Instead, he went to the balcony and looked down at the city lights coming on in the distance, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Given his current status, he cannot take any overt actions in Mingdu, but he can still secretly learn about the situation of the Sun Moon Empire.

For example, the sensitive issue of the current heir to the throne of the Sun Moon Empire.

Because of his existence, Jing Hongchen did not side with Xu Tianran as early as she remembered from her previous life.

The struggle for succession within the Jinyue Empire's royal family continues.

The most popular candidate is naturally the current Crown Prince Xu Tianran, but the Third Prince's power is not much weaker than Xu Tianran's, and there are also several other princes who are banding together for mutual support.

The struggle between the three major underground forces entrenched in the underworld of Mingdu is a microcosm of the royal succession struggle.

These three underground forces are: the Xishui Alliance, which is supported by the Holy Spirit Cult; the Pingfan Alliance, which is controlled by the top noble classes of the Sun and Moon Empire; and the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, which has a military background.

Wherever there are people, there will be an underworld. This is true in Tianhun, Douling, Xingluo, and even in the Sun and Moon Empire.

The reason these underground forces have been able to thrive for so long is precisely because of the support of the powerful figures behind them.

Xu Zihuang knew of at least two such cases. The Xi Shui Alliance's growth was due to Xu Tianran's help, and in turn, the Xi Shui Alliance, controlled by the Holy Spirit Sect, would certainly support Xu Tianran's rise to power. As for the Third Prince, he had deep connections within the Sun Moon Empire's military, and the Aodu Chamber of Commerce would undoubtedly side with him.

The interests involved within the Ordinary Alliance are even more complex.

Xu Zihuang's main purpose in visiting Mingdu this time was to learn about these aspects.

Just as his mind was racing, there was a knock on the dormitory door.

He understood perfectly and closed the crystal French windows and curtains along the edge of the balcony, then stepped to the door and opened it.

Standing at the door were Fan Yu and He Caitou.

Six months have passed, and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has gradually lowered its guard against them. Although Xu Zihuang and He Caitou have improved their abilities at the Soul Master level quite a bit, the rate of improvement is ultimately within their acceptable range.

When the three of them gathered in the dormitory to talk, Gao Ce of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy would not install special soul tools to monitor them.

Of course, even if they wanted to do that, Xu Zihuang would have discovered it beforehand.

"Teacher Fanyu, and Senior Brother He, please come in." Xu Zihuang invited the two into the room. He Caitou, who came in last, cautiously closed the door behind him.

Fan Yu asked Xu Zihuang with a serious expression, "How is Tianhuang?"

Xu Zihuang nodded, then took out a stack of drawn blueprints from his soul tool. These were designs he had copied while studying at Mingde Hall, using his Golden Eye Martial Soul to observe other soul masters making soul tools.

His powerful mental strength and the talent brought by his Golden Eye Martial Soul allowed him to easily memorize the production steps and details of those Soul Tools without any mistakes. It wouldn't take him much time to draw them out when he returned to his dormitory.

There are seven complete blueprints in total, and the soul tools recorded on them are mainly melee soul tools. This is also the research direction he focuses on at the soul master level.

"These are the complete design drawings that I have written down over the past six months. I think they should be of some use to the development of the academy's Soul Guidance Department."

Each of the seven blueprints details the method for creating a level-seven soul tool. These blueprints might save Shrek Academy decades of research on soul tools, but it's unrealistic to expect them to catch up with the most advanced soul tool technology at Mingde Hall.

He felt no guilt about handing these over to Shrek Academy. Having received so many benefits from Shrek Academy, he felt he had to give something back and show his appreciation for the academy.

Fan Yu almost couldn't wait to start flipping through the drawings, his eyes shining with increasing excitement.

"It's more than just having some use; this contains detailed manufacturing methods for seven different types of level-seven soul tools!"

These seven blueprints are even more valuable to the Soul Guidance Department of Shrek Academy than 100,000-year-old soul beasts.

While excited, He Caitou also touched his big bald head with a bit of embarrassment.

He didn't have Xu Zihuang's abilities. Although he had personally witnessed the production of a Level 7 fixed-position soul-guided cannon shell, it was absolutely impossible for him to replicate it.

Then Xu Zihuang took out another set of blueprints from his storage soul tool.

"Teacher Fanyu, when you return the blueprints to the academy, please also send a copy to Ning Tian."

"Okay." Fan Yu looked Xu Zihuang up and down for a moment with a smile, and readily agreed.

These drawings were all provided by Yu Tianhuang, so such a request is reasonable.