Chapter 42: A Lavish Mystery Gift Package

Xu Zhao noticed that the person was Long Chen, so he nudged Xu Yucheng, who had already completed his assessment, and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

"Him?" Xu Yucheng glanced at Long Chen and leaned in to whisper into Xu Zhao’s ear. "He encountered Dream Hongchen of the Hongchen family among the ancient soul spirits in the Spirit Hall. Her martial soul is the Vermilion Bright Ice Toad. Not only did Long Chen fail to recognize her martial soul, but because she was a girl, he let his guard down, fell victim to the Vermilion Bright Ice Toad’s ice-fire poison, and ended up failing the primary assessment. Long Chen has always been arrogant, but after failing to even pass the primary stage, he ended up like this."

"He encountered the Vermilion Bright Ice Toad? That is quite miserable," Xu Zhao said with a sympathetic nod.

If a soul master is unfamiliar with the Vermilion Bright Ice Toad, it is very easy to fall prey to its ice-fire poison. Under normal circumstances, only an Ultimate Ice martial soul can be completely immune to this alternating cold and heat toxicity. Since Long Chen neither possessed an Ultimate Ice martial soul nor had any unconventional means to counter the toad's potent venom, even if he had recognized Dream Hongchen’s martial soul, his odds of winning against such a legendary opponent were slim.

"Never mind him. What about you guys?" Xu Zhao turned to Xu Yucheng, Weng Daimin, and Xue Liushuang, who had just returned to the room. "How did your assessments go?"

"Me?" Xu Yucheng answered first. "The soul spirit I encountered had a martial soul that happened to counter my Dark Demon Scythe, so I only passed the primary and intermediate levels and fell at the advanced stage."

Weng Daimin then took over: "As for me, I was a bit luckier. The spirit I encountered had a martial soul that I countered slightly, so I passed the primary and intermediate levels, but still fell at the advanced stage."

She then looked at Xue Liushuang. Seeing her dark expression, she asked with concern, "Sister Liushuang, what about you?"

"I only passed the primary level!" Xue Liushuang said through gritted teeth.

"Primary? Did you encounter an ancient soul spirit too?" The three were startled.

"I can't be sure, but it must be," Xue Liushuang said, her face grim. "During the fight, the man said his name was Ji Juechen, and his innate soul power was only level three! Only level three! Damn him! Without a single soul ring, he managed to match my Spectral Sword technique with nothing but a broken sword."

"After a grueling battle, I finally managed to defeat him, but in the next intermediate assessment, he took me out in a single stroke!"

Hearing this, the corner of Xu Zhao's eye twitched. Ji Juechen was indeed a legendary figure ten thousand years ago, rising from a mere level three innate soul power to become a Titled Douluo. However, that was the grown-up Ji Juechen. At six years old, he shouldn't have possessed such strength to break Xue Liushuang’s defenses. It could only be said that due to his "grassroots hero" narrative, Ji Juechen had been overly mythologized in history. Conversely, Xiao Hongchen was always praised in books for his Three-Legged Golden Toad martial soul and its compatibility with soul tools, but his actual combat record was far inferior to that of his sister, Dream Hongchen.

*The more legendary a figure is in history, the stronger their soul spirit is within the Spirit Hall,* Xu Zhao mused. *If I had been the one to encounter Ji Juechen, I wonder if I could have passed the top-level assessment?* He doubted it. If intermediate-level Ji Juechen could take down Xue Liushuang in one strike, the top-level version would likely have done the same to him. If they had actually met, Xu Zhao would have truly understood the sense of powerlessness the Silver Dragon King felt when encountering a nine-year-old Huo Yuhao.

*It’s fortunate I encountered Xiao Hongchen instead of Ji Juechen; otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten my mysterious gift package. Since no one has passed the top-level assessment in ten thousand years, this gift must be incredibly generous!*

...

At the same time, in the office of the Dean of the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, a silver-haired old man sat behind his desk with a deep frown. He had just received an encrypted message from the artificial intelligence of the Spirit Hall. It stated that Xu Zhao, monitor of the first-year Sun Class, had passed the top-level assessment. This should have been a joyful occasion, but the academy had never designed the Spirit Hall with the expectation that any student would actually pass the top-level assessment. The electronic voice congratulating the student had been an afterthought, and no rewards had been prepared. A certificate of honor was easy to make, but the "mysterious gift package"...

*Xu Zhao, a member of the Xu family and descendant of a Divine Craftsman—what should I give him?* The silver-haired old man tugged at his beard in thought. Ignoring his soul master talent, his potential in the field of forging alone made him the next generation's Divine Craftsman. For this reason alone, he had to bind Xu Zhao firmly to the academy.

*Should I give him that soul tool from the family collection?* The old man hesitated. His surname was Kong, and his full name was Kong Yunhua. The Kong family had deep ties to the Xu family. Their ancestor from ten thousand years ago, the Silver Moon Douluo Kong Deming, possessed the bloodline of the Xu family, and their inherited martial soul was the Moon, one of the three great heritages of the Xu family. The soul tool Kong Yunhua was considering giving away was none other than the legendary tenth-level soul tool that made Kong Deming famous: the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield!

The Silver Moon Divine Light Shield had been a legendary tenth-level soul tool for ten millennia. Before his passing, Kong Deming had left the shield and all its blueprints to the Kong family. Over the ages, as soul technology progressed, the family had continuously upgraded it, keeping it at the tenth-level grade. However, the manufacturing process was impossible to replicate. They could only modify the existing artifact; they lacked the ability to craft a new one from scratch. If he gave it away, the family heirloom would be gone.

"So be it!" Kong Yunhua finally sighed. "If you don't risk the child, you won't catch the wolf. If I am unwilling to part with the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield, how can I firmly bind the future Divine Craftsman to the academy?"

As he spoke, a bright moon emerged behind him—his Moon martial soul. A strand of silvery-white radiance drifted from the moon and landed in his hand, coalescing into a brilliant pearl the size of a fist. Its light shifted constantly, mirroring the waxing and waning of the moon.