"Hahaha." Jing Hongchen suddenly burst into loud laughter upon hearing this. "It's fine, I already said it, you're still young."
After saying this, Jing Hongchen did not continue on that topic. Instead, he handed over the soul tool in his hand.
Lin Xiao reached out to receive it. A sense of familiarity instantly washed over him. Although it was clearly his first time touching it, he felt no strangeness toward it at all.
"To help you adapt to this soul tool better, I added the star soul alloy that you are most familiar with inside it. This will also improve its controllability."
"Of course, this soul tool has not yet reached its complete state." Jing Hongchen looked at Lin Xiao meaningfully. "The creation of this soul tool was entirely based on my understanding of your abilities."
"Although I am a soul engineer, I also know that no soul master will reveal all of their abilities to outsiders. Therefore, it certainly cannot be a one hundred percent match with you."
"As for how to improve it later, that will have to be done by you yourself. I believe the person who understands your abilities the best is you, and likewise, I am confident that you will soon possess such capability."
Although a set of ninth-grade soul tools was originally part of the deal with Jing Hongchen, this set of ninth-grade humanoid soul tools, which had consumed so much effort, had obviously far exceeded the original transaction terms.
"You don't need to overthink it. Most of the materials for this soul tool are various alloys. Although I crafted it, the most basic contributions were also made by you. Without you, this soul tool could not have come into existence. Just accept it."
Lin Xiao felt the touch in his hands. Though it appeared soft, it carried considerable weight. With his discerning eye, he could tell that it even incorporated spatial storage-type formations. Its true appearance was probably far more impressive than what could be seen on the surface.
After putting it away into his storage soul tool, Lin Xiao cupped his hands again. "Many thanks, Hall Master."
Jing Hongchen waved his hand. "Go back and rest. The Soul Duels Grand Competition is about to begin. The capital city… is probably going to become very lively."
As Jing Hongchen spoke, he let out a long sigh. Lin Xiao naturally understood the deeper meaning behind his words. This Soul Duels Grand Competition was definitely not going to be just an ordinary competition.
"By the way, I heard from Teacher Ma that you contributed quite a lot during the last Soul Duels Grand Competition. Now that you are already a teacher at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, do you want to go up on stage again?"
"Hall Master, I'm afraid I won't have time for that."
Jing Hongchen paused for a moment, then suddenly let out a soft laugh. "I almost forgot. Nowadays, it's already the Elite Competition. Not long ago, your Holy Spirit Cult was officially designated as the state religion. Naturally, you will want to use this competition to prove your strength."
"Forget it then. Let me see what is so special about this Holy Spirit Cult of yours. Go back early."
"Yes."
Seeing this, Lin Xiao did not linger any longer and turned to walk toward the door.
When the door opened, Lin Xiao was slightly surprised to find Meng Hongchen still waiting outside. He nodded at her and quickly left.
"Come in, Meng."
Jing Hongchen called out and beckoned Meng Hongchen, who was standing outside the door, to come in.
"I saw you were just talking with him earlier. How was it?"
"Grandfather, how was what?" Meng Hongchen turned her head to look at Jing Hongchen, but upon seeing his half-smiling, half-teasing expression, she quickly lowered her head again.
"What's there to be shy about? It's not like this is your first time meeting him." Jing Hongchen looked toward the already closed door. "Do you know? From a first-rank soul engineer to an eighth-rank soul engineer now, he only took a short ten years."
"And even more terrifying is that the speed of his soul power increase is also far beyond that of ordinary people. Some people say he is the second Xuan Ziwen. I, on the other hand, feel that his talent surpasses even Xuan Ziwen."
"He is someone who could surpass the realm I have reached today." Jing Hongchen let out a long sigh. "If possible, I hope that after me, he will be the one to lead the entire Illustrious Virtue Hall."
"Isn't there still an older brother?" Meng Hongchen seemed to have momentarily forgotten her earlier embarrassment and slightly raised her head.
"Are you joking?" Jing Hongchen withdrew his gaze and looked at Meng Hongchen, then shook his head. "Although I hate to admit it, even Xiao Xiao's talent is slightly inferior when compared to his."
On the other side, Lin Xiao had no idea what kind of evaluation Jing Hongchen had just given him. After leaving Illustrious Virtue Hall, he quickly left the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy and headed toward the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold.
Not long after entering the stronghold, before anyone could be seen, a faint fragrance had already reached his nose.
Inside the room, the Dark Lightning Douluo seemed to have sensed Lin Xiao's presence and laughed loudly, "Sect Master Shangguan, look, speak of the devil, the Eighth Elder has arrived."
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Wei'er also looked toward the doorway, and then she saw Lin Xiao pushing the door open and entering.
He lifted the cloak covering his head, revealing a metallic mask. But when Shangguan Wei'er saw this mask, she was slightly stunned.
For some high-level soul masters or soul engineers, this mask actually didn't serve much purpose, but Lin Xiao had already grown somewhat accustomed to this new face.
"So the extremely mysterious Eighth Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult is actually this little honored guest."
As soon as Shangguan Wei'er opened her mouth, her voice seemed to melt a person's bones completely.
The Dark Lightning Douluo, leaning back in his chair, gave the two of them an interested glance. "So, Sect Master Shangguan and the Eighth Elder already knew each other?"
"How could we not know each other?" Shangguan Wei'er's tone seemed to carry a trace of grievance. "This little honored guest used to be a regular guest at our Qiwu Courtyard, but later he rarely came. Truly made this humble one feel aggrieved for quite a long time."
Shangguan Wei'er slightly emphasized the words "regular guest."
"So now that he's become the Eighth Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, he no longer looks upon our little Qiwu Courtyard."
The Dark Lightning Douluo seemed not to catch the other implications in Shangguan Wei'er's words. "This actually saves a lot of trouble. Sect Master Shangguan, since the Eighth Elder is already an old acquaintance of yours, naturally, you can feel at ease."
"We also do not wish to see the disciples of the sect shed blood in vain. If it can be resolved with such a simple method, that would be for the best."
Shangguan Wei'er gently rolled her eyes at the Dark Lightning Douluo, yet the gesture was not annoying; on the contrary, it only added a few more traces of charm.
"Third Elder, why are you so impatient? This humble one naturally also wants it to be simple."
"But in this world, the heaviest thing is a person's words, and the lightest thing is also a person's words." Saying this, Shangguan Wei'er cast another somewhat resentful glance toward Lin Xiao at the side.
Lin Xiao pretended not to see it and simply sat down beside the Dark Lightning Douluo without speaking.
"Words without proof make it difficult for this humble one to explain to my sisters in the alliance."
The Dark Lightning Douluo furrowed his brows slightly, thought for a moment, and then said, "How about this? Our Cult has some dealings with Illustrious Virtue Hall. When the time comes, we can invite people from Illustrious Virtue Hall to serve as witnesses."
"With Illustrious Virtue Hall's authority in the field of soul tools, Sect Master Shangguan should have no doubts, right?"
Shangguan Wei'er laughed lightly in her heart. How could she not know about the connection between Illustrious Virtue Hall and the Holy Spirit Cult?
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