Douluo Dalu 2: You are an Evil Soul Master, but also a good person ?

"Now I understand, insulting the Empress..."

"This Xu Cheng is a prince, probably insulting his mother, this person is truly despicable."

"Too arrogant, he really thinks of himself as something."

"..."

The murmurs gradually grew louder.

The noisy voices filled the entire arena.

Especially among the crowd, there were always some well-informed individuals.

One spoke up, revealing the truth.

The struggle for the throne.

This Wang Shaojie is under the Fourth Prince, and publicly provoked Xu Cheng during the exam. His intentions were obvious.

Just a moment ago, the students who frowned and felt this matter had gone too far suddenly understood.

The fight for the throne has always been filled with danger, a place of constant crisis. Wang Shaojie, however, chose to serve as a pawn for the Fourth Prince, without understanding his own position.

Pitiful, regrettable.

But that's all it was.

As Wang Shaojie's body was taken away, it was as if nothing had happened. The students remained eagerly focused on the exam.

...

"Ah Cheng, are you alright?"

Xiao Hongchen saw Xu Cheng walking toward the rest area and approached him cautiously, offering comfort.

Meng Hongchen, and even Na Na who had arrived without anyone noticing, as well as Tang Ya, all gathered around. Many new classmates also came to offer their consolation…

Xu Cheng was stunned.

It was Wang Shaojie who died. Why are you all comforting me?

Xiao Hongchen spoke with righteousness.

"He lost only his life, but you were insulted with your family!"

"Yes, yes!" Meng Hongchen nodded repeatedly.

Xu Cheng nearly couldn't hold it in, this formula is so familiar.

But it was the first time he felt the purest concern from his classmates.

"Thank you, everyone…" Xu Cheng exhaled deeply and smiled.

Soon, the crowd gathered around him dispersed, as many classmates were about to take the exam and came to offer their consolation before the exam…

"Was that your soul technique?" Xiao Hongchen asked with curiosity, moving closer.

"Want to try?" Xu Cheng smiled, looking sideways.

"Forget it, forget it. But Ah Cheng, when you and I compete, you can't play like that," Xiao Hongchen said, his face serious.

He didn't want to be made a fool of, lost in his own world, drooling and laughing on stage.

"Don't worry..." Xu Cheng smiled.

"I'm not that cruel."

"Good brother!" Xiao Hongchen immediately beamed with joy.

Xu Cheng leaned against the railing, watching the match ahead.

In Area 7, Na Na stepped onto the stage.

She was tall, casually tying her dark red hair into a ponytail as she walked, with her wheat-colored skin and sharp eyes giving her the aura of a leopard.

As she entered, she even looked back playfully and made a hand gesture at Xu Cheng.

Only when she saw Xu Cheng's smile did she turn her head back.

Facing her opponent, her expression immediately turned cold.

"Second round of the exam… begins!"

...

Meng Hongchen glanced at Na Na below.

The two dark red short blades were wielded with ease, and with her Ghost Martial Soul, a sensitive attack-type soul master, her talent was one of the strongest in the entire first year, after herself, Xiao, and Xu Cheng.

But her relationship with Cheng...

It seemed far more intimate, almost like childhood sweethearts.

This sense of intimacy made her feel like an intruder, as if she were a third party.

Meng Hongchen lightly bit her lip, glancing at Xu Cheng, who was chatting and laughing with her brother not far away. The sense of urgency in her heart grew even stronger.

She silently thought to herself.

Who says destiny can't be defeated by childhood bonds?

I will rise above the latecomers!

...

The sunset at dusk.

The evening sun stretched the shadows of a few people long along the road.

Na Na was extremely strong and easily won her match.

Tang Ya was also not far behind. Although she was still somewhat reluctant toward soul-guided devices, her own strength was not weak. With level 21, she ranked among the top in her age group.

Everyone had won their first round, and to celebrate, Xiao Hongchen suggested going to the most luxurious restaurant in Mingdu, with him treating...

"Hey, Ah Cheng, does your mental power detection have a sharing ability?"

On the way, Xiao Hongchen asked curiously.

"..."

Xu Cheng shook his head.

"Maybe in four years."

"This thing can even be accurate to a specific year?"

"So I said, maybe."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Speaking of it, the team's arrangement was quite interesting.

Meng Hongchen and Tang Ya walked hand in hand in the front, Xiao Hongchen and Xu Cheng closely behind, and Na Na followed Xu Cheng.

Just as they passed the school gate.

Xu Cheng caught sight of a figure standing there. The person wasn't very tall, but stood as firm as a pine tree.

If it were an ordinary person, they might think of him as a kindly, average old man who taught history.

But Xu Cheng, Xiao Hongchen, and the others knew very well. Not to mention them, even the head of the Mingde Hall would have to show utmost respect when meeting him.

The Sweeping Monk…

Xu Cheng silently thought.

He hurried forward and greeted him.

"No need for excessive formalities. Are you going to gather?" Elder Cheng smiled warmly and asked.

"Yes, teacher." Xu Cheng nodded respectfully.

"Then it's unfortunate. Tonight, I have matters to attend to with Xu Cheng. He won't be able to join you for dinner…" Elder Cheng's voice was gentle.

...

Mingde Hall.

In a quiet office.

This was a place of importance, a confidential area, and even ordinary members of Mingde Hall were not qualified to enter.

But this ordinary old man led Xu Cheng into the great Mingde Hall.

The guards on both sides saluted them.

The room was quite spacious.

The walls were piled high with books, many of whose names Xu Cheng had never heard of. The pages were worn and yellowing, indicating the ancient history of the books.

But there were no parts of soul-guided devices in sight.

It was clear that this person, who held a high position in academia, kept his working space separate from his reading space.

"Did you repair the soul-guided device that Meng Hongchen gave you?"

Before Xu Cheng could speak, Elder Cheng eagerly asked.

"…Yes."

Xu Cheng nodded.

He silently thought, as expected...

"Your Highness, would you mind if this old man tested you a bit?" Elder Cheng continued.

"Please."

Xu Cheng responded without arrogance or servility.

After nearly a month of studying so many materials and working so hard, wasn't this the moment he had been preparing for?

"Good."

Elder Cheng glanced at Xu Cheng, who was full of confidence, and showed a satisfied smile.

"First question, the core of this soul-guided device... about the soul-guided sealing technique. When adjusting it, how many levels of core formation are required to drive the array?"

"Level five core formation. This is in addition to the original array core, with a double-array core. The principle is to engrave this array core into the original array core. The difficulty lies in the array's mutual exclusion. Its reference comes from the current level-nine close-combat soul-guided device, the 'Dragon Blood Sword,' and the reference books 'Detailed Investigation of Close-Combat Soul-Guided Sealing' and 'How to Avoid Mutual Exclusion of Double-Core Arrays'..."

As Xu Cheng answered, Elder Cheng's smile grew even broader.

Clearly, he highly approved of this answer.

"Not bad, very good..."

Elder Cheng smiled and said.

"So, would you like to become my disciple?"

(End of Chapter)