"Eh? Xiao, the bone age tester says he's not even eleven yet, and he's already at rank 35. He's not far behind where you were at that age."
"That... doesn't mean much. It just means he might catch up to me one day. Don't forget, I also dual-train in soul tools. I'm the youngest Rank 4 Soul Engineer in the empire's history!"
"Really? I seem to recall that last year during the theory exam, someone nearly failed. Who was it again, desperately begging me for notes and holing up in the library two weeks straight?"
"Dream… that was an accident..."
"Heehee, you sure have a lot of accidents. Like the other day when you insisted on testing a Rank 6 soul tool during training, failed to control your martial soul properly, and nearly blew yourself up."
"Dream, why's your memory so annoyingly good..."
Inside the well-lit top-tier tent, Xu Tianxi—who'd passed out after downing three crying-pills—woke up to find the white-haired sibling pair from earlier scanning him with a soul tool detector.
Though they seemed more interested in bickering with each other than in him.
Visibly distressed from being teased was the older brother—undoubtedly the talented Three-Legged Golden Toad martial soul master from the original story: Xiao Hongchen.
Not gonna lie, watching this guy turn blue and white in the face from being roasted was more entertaining than New Year skits in his past life.
Still, the Hongchen siblings were both Soul Ancestors with four rings, and soon noticed that their little drama had been overheard by an unexpected audience.
Xiao Hongchen approached Xu Tianxi with a tragic look, putting on a fierce expression and lowering his voice with a quiver, "You… heard what we were talking about just now?"
Xu Tianxi nodded honestly. "Caught a bit, don't worry—just a few lines."
Xiao/Dream Hongchen: We didn't say much to begin with! That means he basically heard it all!?
"Aaah… my image!"
Xiao Hongchen looked absolutely devastated. He stared at Xu Tianxi with despair and said, "Name your price. Just promise me you'll never speak of this to anyone, okay?"
Xu Tianxi stared wordlessly at the walking definition of "easy mark" standing before him, deadpan:
"…Honestly, if you didn't make such a big deal of it, I probably would've forgotten by now."
"Besides, even though I'm on the run, I still have some money on me. I should be fine living in Mingdu for a few years. I can also make soul tools."
Now that got a reaction.
Desperate to reclaim some dignity, Xiao Hongchen perked up, straightened his outfit, and confidently crossed his arms:
"Xu Tianxi, was it? You've got no idea. Not only am I unrivaled among my peers in combat, but when it comes to wealth, I'm among the elite. Besides the imperial family, there's no one in the Sun Moon Empire who dares to outbid me at an auction!"
As expected, Xu Tianxi's face showed surprise. "You're Xiao Hongchen? The heir of the illustrious Hongchen Clan? Grandson of Dean Jing Hongchen?"
"That's me! The greatest genius in the history of the Sun Moon Empire! Youngest Rank 4 Soul Engineer and four-ring Soul Ancestor! Xiao Hongchen!"
"Then this is for your grandfather. A letter of recommendation from my granduncle. He said Dean Jing Hongchen has done quite a bit of business with him in recent years."
Xu Tianxi pulled out the letter given to him by Xiao Changfeng and waved it before Xiao Hongchen's face, expression unreadable.
"You said… this is a recommendation letter for my grandpa?"
That statement was a perfect verbal interruption—Xiao Hongchen's self-praise got jammed in his throat. Dream Hongchen didn't hesitate to snatch the letter and examine it closely, her look of surprise deepening by the second.
Xu Tianxi looked a little awkward. "Well, unless the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy has a second Dean Jing Hongchen, this should be for him."
He only learned when he got the letter that the one his granduncle was secretly doing business with, selling soul tools behind academy lines, wasn't some corrupt prince—nope—it was the Dean of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy himself: Jing Hongchen.
He had no idea what kind of offer his master and granduncle had made to rope in someone like that.
"Wait, you said Grandpa's been doing business with your granduncle? What kind of business?"
Xiao Hongchen leaned in curiously. Dream Hongchen's lips curved up as she looked equally eager.
Learning a family secret just from a random visit? This was definitely worth the trip.
"Oh, just soul tool deals. From Rank 1 to Rank 5. My granduncle even bought two Rank 7 tools—one a Light Condensing Cannon, the other an Astrolabe. Not sure if those came from your grandpa, though."
Xu Tianxi added candidly,
"Also, he said your grandpa always throws in bonus gifts—either pills or sea spirit beast supplements. Do you know anything about that?"
Xiao Hongchen's tone turned weird. "Know about it?"
Dream Hongchen chimed in, "We and Grandpa ate them all..."
Xu Tianxi: "…"
You guys sure are blunt.
A moment of awkward silence followed… then Xiao Hongchen suddenly shouted,
"So you're the genius from the Douluo Three Kingdoms who challenged Grandpa?!"
From outside the tent came Lin Jiayi's worried voice. "What's going on, Xiao Hongchen? Is something wrong?"
"Crap! We can't let them know Grandpa's been moonlighting!" The siblings were instantly in sync.
Xiao Hongchen bolted to the tent flap, threw it open, and flashed what he believed was a friendly smile to Lin Jiayi, Xu Sheng, and the surrounding soldiers.
"Nothing's wrong! We're all good. Just having a great chat with our new buddy Xu Tianxi. Really hit it off!"
Dream Hongchen poked her head out and nodded. "What Xiao said! Xu Tianxi has amazing potential. We're thinking of introducing him to Grandpa. Right, Xiao?"
"Yeah, yeah! Grandpa… had a dream! Right! He dreamt that a genius from the Three Kingdoms would brave countless trials to seek a teacher in the Sun Moon Empire. Now that I think about it, it must've been Xu Tianxi!"
Xu Sheng squinted suspiciously. "But just now I heard something about a... challenge?"
"Ah… about that..." The Hongchen siblings blanked.
"That was just youthful bravado, Senior. I'd heard Xiao Hongchen was a once-in-a-millennium genius and felt inspired. I wanted to follow in his footsteps."
Xu Tianxi peeked out from behind the flap, eyes shining with excitement. He even winked at Xiao Hongchen. "So how about it, Young Master Xiao? Will you honor me with a duel?"
Xiao Hongchen's twitching smile finally eased. He gave Xu Tianxi a mental thumbs-up and struck a thinking pose.
Dream Hongchen elbowed him hard. "You're still acting?"
"I'm just trying to be convincing! Ow, not so hard!"
Grimacing through the pain, Xiao Hongchen forced a smile and said, "Fine! I, Xiao Hongchen, accept your challenge!"
"Everyone, I feel a sudden bout of inspiration and need to meditate. Please don't disturb me—or I'll tell Grandpa."
With that, he fled.
Dream Hongchen and Xu Tianxi both offered the group a sheepish smile. "We'll go protect him—err, help him cultivate."
They both ducked back into the tent, leaving Xu Sheng and Lin Jiayi utterly bewildered.
"…Director Lin, what just happened?"
Xu Sheng's eye twitched. Three minutes—just three minutes, and they were this close?
Lin Jiayi sighed and threw up his hands. "This is out of our hands now. I'm contacting the Dean."
Sure, he and Xu Sheng were Rank 8 Soul Engineers, but the gap between them and Jing Hongchen was enormous. His job literally came from the man. And those siblings were destined to become Rank 9s someday—geniuses unparalleled even in history.
Now that Xu Tianxi had somehow become "Jing Hongchen's potential disciple," even if he were full of suspicious points… they'd have to assume he was clean.
Xu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at the tent.
"If he really becomes Lord Hongchen's personal disciple, then I have no worries left. The late Senior Kong would be at peace in the heavens."
Lin Jiayi agreed with a nod. Xu Tianxi dared to challenge Xiao Hongchen, and Xiao actually accepted. His talent must be extraordinary. But Xiao Hongchen's martial soul was a Three-Legged Golden Toad, a divine beast bloodline. Xu Tianxi's martial soul...
"…Wait, Xu Sheng. I think we forgot something important."
"What?"
"We still don't know what Xu Tianxi's martial soul is..." Lin Jiayi facepalmed in frustration.
The dignified Director of the Imperial Academy, and he'd missed the most basic question of all. If he went to report now, the Dean would tear him a new one.
"Er… yeah. That's a problem. Maybe later, you can message the Hongchen siblings and ask?"
"Good idea."