Chapter 176: The Rising Storm and the Soul Palace
Yan Shaozhe didn't know the specifics of the Body Sect. All he was aware of was that they had a Titled Douluo, and that the current sect leader was someone named Du Busi. As for the name of the young sect master, not even Moon knew. So when Yan Shaozhe heard the name "Long Aotian," he dismissed it as a fabrication—just a made-up name used to deceive those who weren't familiar with the Body Sect's actual circumstances.
But while Yan Shaozhe didn't know the truth, Prince Xueyun did.
As a high-ranking noble of the Tianhun Empire who was involved in arranging a marriage alliance between Princess Vina and the young leader of the Body Sect, how could he possibly be unaware of the latter's real name?
The young master of the Body Sect was truly named Long Aotian.
And now, realizing that the Body Sect had secretly aligned itself with the Sun Moon Empire even while negotiating cooperation with the Tianhun Empire, Prince Xueyun felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
He even recalled the things he had previously said—that Long Aotian would protect Liu Bo to the death. If that was true, where would that leave Princess Vina, the pride of the Tianhun Empire?
"You sure you're okay? You really don't look well. Do you want me to get a soul master to check you over?" Yan Shaozhe asked with concern, noticing Prince Xueyun's increasingly pale complexion.
"No need. It's an old issue. I'll be fine in a bit. I'll take my leave now—I don't want to disturb Dean Yan's work."
With that, Prince Xueyun left hastily. He needed to immediately warn the emperor to be on guard against the Body Sect, who might already have pledged allegiance to the Sun Moon Empire.
After intense negotiations with Shrek Academy, Xiao Hongchen finally returned to the Sun Moon Empire and the Royal Soul Engineering Academy. At the same time, Beibei of Shrek Academy returned to Shrek after Xiao Qiang successfully stole the Dragon Pill.
As for the other students from both academies, they remained in their respective exchange programs, continuing their mutual study sessions. After more than two years, they would be given a choice: return to their original academy or remain where they were to continue their education.
This arrangement was proposed by Jing Hongchen and was approved by Moon.
Jing Hongchen's motive was clear—compared to Shrek, the Sun Moon Empire produced far fewer talented soul masters. Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Nana were rare exceptions. Xiao Qiang was beyond exceptional—his situation was unheard of in the Sun Moon Empire and couldn't be considered representative.
Excluding these four, no genius in the past ten years could even be compared to Ling Luochen from Shrek.
While Ma Rulong had reached the Six-Ring Soul Emperor level before turning 20, it was no secret—at least among those in the Sun Moon Empire—that he had relied on powerful medication to barely qualify for the All-Continental High-Level Soul Master Competition. Without those enhancements, he wouldn't have advanced that far.
Although he could likely advance to Soul Douluo, that was his probable limit. His martial soul, the Big-Headed Ape, would have been disqualified from even entering Shrek's Inner Court. As for becoming a Titled Douluo, he'd need even better medicine. As for Super Douluo—there was no chance. For over 95% of the Titled Douluo in the Sun Moon Empire, Level 92 was the ceiling.
The greatest beneficiaries of the Empire's medicinal advancements were low-tier soul masters who otherwise would have been stuck at the Great Soul Master stage. For those with higher talent, however, these enhancements were a double-edged sword—accelerating their early growth while suppressing their ultimate potential.
Xu Tianran, for instance, was a powerful figure with the Purple-Colored Exterminating Dragon, but even he was now stuck at Level 92, with no hope of advancing to Super Douluo.
While the Sun Moon Empire had many young Soul Kings under 20, their talent—though seemingly impressive—was no better than Lan Susu or Lan Luoluo without their martial soul fusion ability. In fact, they were even slightly worse. Yet, they were still considered the best of what the Sun Moon Empire had to offer.
The Sun Moon Empire was desperate for top-tier talent.
So when Shrek showed signs of weakness, Jing Hongchen proposed swapping Xiao Hongchen and Beibei back to their respective academies while allowing the remaining students to stay and continue the exchange program. From there, both sides could compete to retain the best students.
Shrek didn't resist much—despite having traded Beibei, Ling Luochen, and Xiao Xiao for Xiao Hongchen, the fact remained: they had lost the moral high ground. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy had every reason to demand more.
From that point on, both academies proceeded with the academic exchange, each with their own goals.
The Sun Moon Empire was hoping to absorb Shrek's talented soul masters.
Shrek, on the other hand, had adjusted its strategy. Now that their original plans had failed, they turned their focus to gaining real knowledge about soul tool technology from the Sun Moon side. Their eyes weren't just on the students—they wanted the instructor.
Yes, the students were impressive, but the real treasure was the Sun Moon instructor accompanying them.
Unlike Fan Yu, who was technically an Eighth-Tier Soul Tool Engineer in name only, this instructor was a genuine, independent Level 8 Soul Engineer—a true expert from the Sun Moon Empire. Though not as gifted as Xuan Ziwen, he still represented a major advantage. Even if he only revealed a fraction of his knowledge, it would be a game-changing, dimensionality-reducing strike against Shrek—assuming, of course, he was willing to cooperate.
Each side had what the other needed, and both had confidence in their respective faculty and students. So after Jing Hongchen made the proposal, Shrek offered a token refusal—before ultimately accepting.
"Senior Meng, how's your brother doing?" Xiao Qiang asked after Xiao Hongchen's return. He hadn't seen him yet, so he sought out Meng Hongchen for an update.
She sighed. "Sigh… ever since he got back and found out that his soul beast embryo was gone, he's been locking himself in his room. He paces, rolls on the ground, mutters that he's fine while crying his eyes out… Eventually, he ran out of tears and lost his voice. Then he looked up at the sky and screamed that—no matter what it takes—he's going to destroy everyone from the Haotian Sect."
Xiao Qiang: "…"
Meng Hongchen shrugged. "Anyway, let him rest for now. Is there something you wanted to talk to us about? If not, I need to get back and comfort my poor, heartbroken brother."
"Oh, right," Xiao Qiang said. "I'm planning to start a new force, and I want your help."
"Huh? A new force? What's it called?"
"Soul Palace."