Meng Hongchen stood at the door, her large sapphire-like eyes scanning the room before quickly landing on Huo Yuhao.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity, and she couldn't resist sizing him up a bit more.
One had to understand that her brother, Xiao Hongchen, had always been arrogant. It was rare to see him crafting Spirit Tools with anyone else; after all, Xiao Hongchen considered himself a Genius and felt that no one in the younger generation could stand by his side.
But at this moment, Xiao Hongchen was not only sharing a room with this strange youth, but they also seemed to be chatting quite congenially.
He had even spread out those precious blueprints on the table for the other to see without any reservation.
This was truly too abnormal.
"Brother."
Meng Hongchen walked forward, her gaze shifting back and forth between Huo Yuhao and Xiao Hongchen.
"Who is this?"
Xiao Hongchen turned around and looked at his sister, a smile appearing on his face.
"Meng, you've come at just the right time."
He pointed at Huo Yuhao, his tone carrying a hint of pride.
"This is Huo Yuhao, a friend I just met. He is an incredible soul guidance Genius, with talent that even surpasses my own."
Meng Hongchen's pupils shrank slightly, and she was momentarily stunned.
It wasn't that she hadn't seen Xiao Hongchen praise people before, but with his personality, the highest evaluation he would usually give was 'just below me'.
She had never heard him directly state that someone's talent was superior to his own like today.
"Brother, have you gone crazy?"
Meng Hongchen's voice carried a hint of disbelief.
"You actually said someone else's talent is better than yours?"
Xiao Hongchen ignored her questioning and continued the introduction.
"Huo Yuhao is currently a 4th Class Soul Engineer."
He paused for a moment and added another sentence.
"He comes from Shrek Academy—the Shrek Academy in the sky that you mentioned before."
Meng Hongchen was slightly taken aback, a flash of surprise crossing her beautiful large blue eyes.
Since then, her curiosity about that academy had never faded.
It was just that she had never had the chance to come into close contact with anyone from that academy, nor any way to learn more.
Now, someone who had come out of that academy was standing right in front of her.
"Is your academy really built thousands of meters up in the sky?"
Meng Hongchen looked at Huo Yuhao, her eyes full of curiosity.
Huo Yuhao nodded.
"Yes."
"Then... how was it built up there?"
Meng Hongchen pressed on, her voice filled with wonder.
"How can such a large island float in the sky? Isn't there a danger of it falling down?"
Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I'm not entirely sure how it was built up there."
He thought for a bit and added.
"However, that island itself should be a massive Spirit Tool."
At this point, a light of longing flashed in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
He also wanted to create such a powerful Spirit Tool, but Yuhao also knew that relying solely on himself to create such a giant Spirit Tool island would be extremely difficult.
However, Yuhao believed that as long as he continued to improve, sooner or later, he would be able to do it too.
Meng Hongchen's interest in that academy grew even stronger.
"Then how big is your academy?"
She continued to ask.
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and shook his head.
"I'm not sure exactly how big it is. I've only been to the first-year classrooms, the dorms, the training grounds, the Spirit Tool labs... there are many places I haven't been to."
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt that after a while, the area of Shrek Academy would expand.
Meng Hongchen's mouth opened slightly, her eyes full of shock.
An island in the sky actually had so many places?
Just how big must it be? Meng Hongchen couldn't help but feel an impulse to go and see Shrek Academy for herself.
Huo Yuhao, who was standing nearby, suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Xiao Hongchen.
From his Storage Soul Tool, he took out that silver-white soul guidance car and gently placed it on the ground.
The soul guidance car floated quietly half a foot off the ground, its body surface engraved with dense Spirit Power circuits that glowed with a faint blue light under the lamps.
"Xiao Hongchen."
Huo Yuhao spoke up.
"I'll lend you this soul guidance car to study, as repayment for the Spirit Tool blueprints you just gave me."
Although the levels of the Spirit Tools recorded in the blueprints Xiao Hongchen had provided were somewhat low, Huo Yuhao had to admit he really hadn't seen some of them before—at least, he hadn't learned about them at school.
To obtain Spirit Tool blueprints at school, Huo Yuhao needed to provide Contribution Points; then, upon reaching the fifth Rank, he would need to develop new low-level Spirit Tool blueprints himself before he could study higher-tier Spirit Tools.
Huo Yuhao also quite approved of the school's arrangement, as it helped improve his creativity.
Xiao Hongchen was stunned.
"Are you serious? I lost, after all."
"Yes, I'm serious. After all, I'll be troubling you for a while; I might not leave that soon."
Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
"Weren't you always curious about it?"
Xiao Hongchen's eyes lit up instantly, but he still suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked with feigned composure.
"Fine, since you put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony! Don't worry, from now on, all your expenses at the Sun Moon Royal Academy will be on my tab!"
Xiao Hongchen laughed quite magnanimously. Could this be mutual appreciation between geniuses?
When Huo Yuhao arrived on the Douluo Continent, he had already asked his Spirit Tool teacher if he could exchange knowledge with other Soul Engineers, and the answer he received was yes.
"Huo Yuhao, I'm definitely making you my friend!"
Standing to the side, Meng Hongchen looked at the silver-white soul guidance car, her eyes also full of curiosity.
"This thing... can I try it?"
she asked tentatively.
Xiao Hongchen was about to speak up and stop her—this thing was given to him by Huo Yuhao, and he hadn't even had a chance to warm it up yet, so how could he let Meng Hongchen go first?
"Sure."
Huo Yuhao's voice had already rung out.
Xiao Hongchen's mouth hung open, unable to say a single word.
He turned his head to look at Huo Yuhao, his eyes full of helplessness; he had actually let Meng Hongchen have it.
"Meng, be careful, don't break it."
Xiao Hongchen said somewhat regretfully; he hadn't even researched it himself yet, and he was letting Meng Hongchen touch it first.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful."
Meng Hongchen nodded, her eyes also full of interest. She walked quickly to the soul guidance car, leaned down, and looked at the cockpit.
"This thing... how do you operate it?"
Huo Yuhao stepped forward and gave some simple guidance.
"Press this button and the soul guidance car will start, then use this lever to control the direction, and step here to accelerate..."
Meng Hongchen listened intently, nodding repeatedly.
"Understood."
She sat in the cockpit. The cockpit was a bit small, only able to accommodate one person, but fortunately, it wasn't too crowded. Meng Hongchen pressed the start button.
The soul guidance car vibrated slightly and slowly rose up.
Meng Hongchen pushed the control lever, and the soul guidance car moved slowly within the workshop, sometimes forward, sometimes backward, sometimes turning...
"Haha! This is fun!"
Meng Hongchen's laughter echoed in the workshop, crisp and pleasant.
Xiao Hongchen stood to the side, watching his sister having the time of her life, a mix of emotions in his heart.
...
Meanwhile.
Deans Office.
[Ding!]
[Detected that key character Meng Hongchen's recognition of 'Shrek Academy is a Monster Academy' has increased!]
[Congratulations Host on receiving reward: Special Student — Lan Fozi (Five-Ring Soul King, First-Year version; original appearance was as a Titled Douluo)!]
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A/N:
5 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
1 Review = 1 Bonus Chapter
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