Chapter 172: The Price of Theft, The Value of a Dragon Pill
When the prototype soul guide mecha was found on Huo Yuhao, Jing Hongchen was consumed by rage. If not for the fact that his grandson was still an exchange student at Shrek Academy, he would have tortured every single one of these Shrek people to death, and handed over their souls to the Holy Spirit Church for eternal torment.
The soul guide mecha prototype was a collaborative creation made by several Level Nine soul engineers. If it were truly lost, even his title as a duke would be at stake. That, however, wasn't the worst of it—his standing in Mingde Hall would also collapse. Once Xiao Hongchen became the next head of Mingde Hall, he would face opposition and resistance. How could Jing Hongchen possibly tolerate such a threat?
"I'm an exchange student at Shrek Academy, you can't—ah!"
Huo Yuhao tried to use his status as a Shrek representative to protect himself, but no one was in the mood to listen. Nana stepped forward and silenced him with a swift kick, knocking out three more of his teeth. Blood filled Huo Yuhao's mouth as he collapsed, his face a mangled mess of pain.
But his suffering had only just begun.
When the soul guide prototype was revealed, those who understood its value were instantly enraged. Although the Soul Douluos and Title Douluos present didn't step in directly, Meng Hongchen walked up without hesitation and kicked Huo Yuhao in the leg, injecting a dose of Zhu Qing Ice Silkworm Poison directly into his calf.
At this time, Huo Yuhao was not yet an Ultimate Ice-type soul master. He had no natural resistance to such a deadly toxin. To make matters worse, Meng Hongchen intentionally left behind a condensed soul power ice crystal at the injection point. Even if Huo Yuhao somehow survived the events to come, he would live as a cripple for the rest of his life.
Xiao Qiang silently raised his eyebrows at Meng Hongchen's move.
In the original story, during the second All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, Shrek relied heavily on Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er's cheating. At that point, Meng Hongchen had reappeared, having already suffered serious injuries to her legs—injuries that had crippled her permanently.
Now, however, Huo Yuhao wouldn't even get the chance to cheat. Meng Hongchen had crippled him first.
The hidden power left by a Five-Ring Soul King on a Three-Ring Soul Elder wasn't something that could be shrugged off. For someone with luck as depleted as Huo Yuhao's, recovery was out of the question.
"Suppress them all immediately and contact Shrek. They must provide a full explanation and compensation!"
Only after Nana and Meng Hongchen had thoroughly beaten Huo Yuhao—until he couldn't even beg for mercy—did Jing Hongchen's fury begin to subside.
He privately instructed a Soul Douluo to continue tormenting Huo Yuhao in secret. Afterward, Huo Yuhao, along with Cai Tou and Fan Yu, were taken away and detained separately.
The rest of the Shrek group underwent further inspections.
With their team leader Fan Yu already subdued, the Shrek party presented a completely cooperative front. On one side stood the towering presence of Jing Hongchen and his experts. On the other, most of the Shrek delegation hadn't taken anything.
Seeing that Jing Hongchen had returned and that his own presence was no longer critical, Xiao Qiang took the opportunity to bid farewell, bringing Nana with him. After all, he had used both Ring Explosion and Susanoo in combat. Although the battles were short, the toll on Xiao Qiang's body had been enormous.
Especially the Ring Explosion—it had pushed him past his limits. Xiao Qiang could feel it. If it hadn't been for the exhaustion caused by that technique, when he tried to use the Great Wilderness Prisoner of Heaven Hand, Fan Yu (who had yet to enter his Martial Soul True Body state) would've been smashed into the ground. There would've been no opportunity for Fan Yu to activate even a partial Susanoo.
Sensing Xiao Qiang's pale face, Jing Hongchen agreed to his request and assigned an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo to escort him to a place of rest.
Just as Xiao Qiang was about to leave, Tian Meng's voice echoed in his mind.
"Hmm? Wait a second, that item…"
"What's wrong, Brother Tian Meng?"
"I'm not certain, but that golden gem—the one that man named Bei Bei just took out—feels oddly familiar, though not completely so."
Xiao Qiang discreetly activated a spiritual detection focused on the golden gem Bei Bei had retrieved from a soul guide. On the surface, it appeared to be a common luminous stone, but within it surged an incredibly powerful and radiant light energy.
"Is that… a dragon pill?"
The detection results and the energy inside instantly reminded Xiao Qiang of the Peerless Tang Sect storyline. He immediately recognized what it truly was.
What shocked him was that Elder Mu En had dared to entrust such a treasure to Bei Bei and have him bring it to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Was he not worried about it being discovered by any specialized detection methods?
Apparently not.
Xiao Qiang's spiritual detection confirmed that the dragon pill had passed through all of the academy's scanning devices, registering only as a regular luminous stone.
Xiao Qiang then recalled Elder Mu En's terrifying power in the early stages of the series. If Mu En had personally sealed the dragon pill, current soul guide technology might not be capable of detecting it at all.
Tian Meng had spent too long in fear of Di Tian and had been scarred deeply by the golden-eyed Black Dragon King who had drained his life force. As a result, he had developed heightened sensitivity toward other powerful dragons. Without that, even he might not have recognized the dragon pill through its disguise.
"I never imagined the dragon pill would show up here. Well, it works in my favor. Shrek tried to steal the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool prototype, and I want Shrek's dragon pill. Seems like a fair trade."
Confirming that Bei Bei's soul power had reached level 55, Xiao Qiang was now certain the item was authentic. That was enough for now. He had neither the time nor the strength to make a move just yet. The rest could wait.
Xiao Hongchen was still inside Shrek Academy, and Xiao Qiang himself was in a weakened state. There was no rush. Confirming the truth was sufficient for now.
Later, walking to the temporary lounge, Xiao Qiang turned to the Soul Douluo who had escorted him and bowed politely.
"Thank you, Elder Qin, for escorting me safely."
"There's no need for such formality, Little Friend Xiao. I invested a great deal into the soul guide mecha project—it's only thanks to you that it was saved."
After bidding farewell to the escort, Xiao Qiang entered the temporary lounge. Once he confirmed that only he and Nana were inside, he let down his guard.
The moment he relaxed, a mouthful of blood burst from his lips. His complexion turned ghostly pale, and then he collapsed into unconsciousness.
The soul ring explosion alone had been brutal. Adding Susanoo on top of that—and using a 100,000-year-level soul ring in the process—had pushed him far past his limits. This outcome had entirely exceeded Xiao Qiang's expectations.
If he hadn't worried about the competence of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's ordinary soul masters, he wouldn't have come out to supervise in the first place.
"Master!"
Nana's anxious voice was the last thing Xiao Qiang heard as everything faded to black.