Early morning.
As the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room, they landed on Zhang Lexuan's delicate side profile, stirring the beauty from her deep slumber despite her awkward sleeping posture. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly before her clear blue eyes slowly opened. When she caught sight of the familiar figure beside her, and the familiar scent reached her nose, her heart finally settled.
As long as he was there, it felt like home.
Zhang Lexuan stretched lazily, but suddenly, the sound of clanging metal rang out.
Her eyes shrank in surprise. She looked to her right hand and saw a pale, jade-like wrist bound by a pitch-black handcuff, the other end locked to the headboard. Any slight movement produced the clinking sound of metal links.
In an instant, her flawless face turned crimson. With a soft, annoyed groan, she glared at the still-sleeping Xu Cheng and gave him a shove.
"Look at the mess you've made~"
"Mmm… huh…" Xu Cheng stretched, instinctively rolled over, and wrapped his arm around the beauty's slender waist, letting out a long yawn.
His hand wandered across her porcelain-like skin, finally resting on her stomach, where he gave a satisfied squeeze of soft flesh.
"Hurry and unlock it!" Zhang Lexuan pouted, frowning slightly as she reached her other hand out to lightly slap Xu Cheng's back.
"Isn't this your favorite scenario?" Xu Cheng turned his head and smirked at her.
"What do you mean, my favorite?!" Zhang Lexuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"You know—imprisoned in a secret room, forced into a situation you can't escape, captured by evil forces. Even under torture, you remain unyielding… that kind of story." Xu Cheng chuckled.
As he spoke, he glanced around the floor.
Scattered all over were messy tools and torn clothing.
"Want me to help you relive last night's story?" Xu Cheng rolled over and pressed on top of her.
Zhang Lexuan's face turned scarlet in an instant. "What are you doing! The sun's already up… mmph…"
"Hehehe, time to show that indomitable spirit of yours. These handcuffs are still in place, after all. And you woke me up, didn't you? Don't tell me someone as strong as you can't break a little iron cuff?" Xu Cheng teased, grinning wickedly.
Soon, faint whimpers once again echoed through the room.
A blend of pain and pleasure.
"Damn… Vibranium legs, huh?"
Xu Cheng's eyes narrowed in admiration.
Inside the training field, Jiang Nannan moved like a streak of orange lightning, dashing between various testing equipment.
"Hips up!"
With a sharp call, the girl clamped her long legs around a training dummy's neck, performed a swift suplex with a full 360-degree rotation, her upper body flipping over first, followed by her incredibly flexible waist winding up like slow motion, then whipping her lower body forward.
A yellow soul ring and a booming sound erupted at once.
The sturdy dummy—designed to withstand full-force blows from an average Soul Ancestor—cracked into fragments the moment it hit the ground, scattering shards of metal in all directions, only to be stopped by the soul barrier surrounding the field.
What impressed Xu Cheng the most, though, were her feet—her shoes replaced by a long, blade-like attachment that extended from toe to heel, gleaming with a deadly cold light.
Unlike fully mechanical systems like Vibranium Shadow, Jiang Nannan's gear was more of an external enhancement worn over her legs, making her already slender limbs appear even longer. Combined with her wrist soul shields and lightweight armored waistgear, the girl looked like a completely different person.
Xu Cheng could clearly tell that although the suplex didn't appear to use the gear, in reality, it had amplified a mere hundred-year soul skill into something on the level of a thousand-year technique.
Grade 5 soul tool?
No—it was an adaptive soul tool, with an upper limit of Grade 9, able to scale with the user's strength.
This type of tool was rare.
After all, crafting a Grade 9 soul tool with adaptive functions was costly and inefficient—only worth the effort as a deeply meaningful gift from an elder to a junior.
"Ehehe, Grandpa made it for her~ Among currently functioning adaptive soul tools, Grandpa's are still the best. Even Elder Kong can't compare in this area," Meng Hongchen giggled beside him.
"But come to think of it, you're the one who repaired that short dagger back in the day, right, Cheng-ge?"
"Yeah, everyone has their own specialty. Soul tools aren't just one kind—they come in many forms. Every researcher has their own field. In the future, we should create more departments to further specialize soul tool development." Xu Cheng gazed at the rabbit-like beauty darting across the field and sighed softly.
His teacher specialized in mechas—especially large-scale mechas, which require comprehensive performance and balance. The early prototypes, Gen-1 and Gen-2, were both based on his teacher's concepts.
Ye Yulin focused on attack range—his soul tools were always long-ranged, firmly believing soul engineers should stay back like fragile glass-cannon mages. Many recent advancements in rune matrices for distance attacks were his designs.
Elder Jing, meanwhile, focused more on defense…
Only by letting these experts play to their strengths could the Mingde Hall truly thrive.
"Oh come on, must you be so serious all the time? Thinking about the empire's future again? Can't you just look at this soul tool exoskeleton I designed—doesn't it look cool?" Meng Hongchen pouted.
"It does look cool." Xu Cheng smiled.
The design was right up his alley—sleek curves, razor-sharp blades, each pass leaving a deep mark on the test targets.
It was like admiring a masterpiece up close.
"What about beautiful?" Meng Hongchen asked with a sly smile.
"Beautiful indeed. Never thought someone as delicate as Nannan would exude such a different kind of beauty with this gear on." Xu Cheng gave a small cough.
"Yeah… too bad me, Tang Ya, and Yuhao are all ranged attackers. Our battle styles rely on carrying heavy soul cannons and blasting targets from afar. We don't have this kind of stylish soul tool customization. Only Nana-jie can switch weapons on the fly—that's something special." Meng Hongchen sighed.
Watching the gallant, graceful Jiang Nannan, she couldn't help but feel a bit envious.
After all, this combat style was unique and far from the cookie-cutter long-range setups. Even ordinary soul masters could use cannons with a bit of training.
"Alright now, don't be jealous. Your ice element has great potential too," Xu Cheng said, gently ruffling her hair.
"Ice can be used in soul tools too?!" Meng Hongchen's eyes sparkled.
"Of course." Xu Cheng nodded.
The energy systems of Douluo Continent were completely different from those of pre-Douluo Earth.
On Earth, damage came only through structured, physics-based systems. But here, fire, ice, earth, and other elements were all powered by something called soul power. This meant soul power could be transformed into anything, as long as one found the proper channel—the runes at the core of soul tools.
"Just wait—Elder Jing's busy reinforcing the city walls right now, so don't go bothering him. Leave it to me." Xu Cheng said, watching the orange blur dart across the field, his eyes reflecting her figure, flickering with light as if pondering something.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot—Cheng-ge, your soul tool skills aren't any worse than any of Sun Moon's young talents…" Meng Hongchen playfully stuck out her tongue.
"Heh…" Xu Cheng chuckled softly.
He hadn't slacked off—he just didn't show off often.
After all, he understood one truth very well: In Douluo Continent, personal strength was the real foundation. Power and authority were fleeting. Only by reaching the level of a god could one become a true ruler.
That's why he still feared Tang San…
If they ever clashed, and Tang San went all out, crushing him would be as easy as flipping a hand.
But now that he'd inherited real power—having taken the reins from Xu Zhen—he finally understood just how tiring and troublesome it all was.
"What about the moon?" Zhang Lexuan suddenly interjected.
"Do we have a soul tool designed just for the moon? I want something unique."
"There is. Don't worry—everyone gets one," Xu Cheng replied, twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Truly… enjoying the blessings of multiple lovers isn't as easy as it sounds…
Holy Spirit Cult.
Headquarters.
Located deep underground in an unknown cavern.
Zhongli Wu sat at the head seat in a spacious grand hall, resting his chin in his hand with a furrowed brow, sighing repeatedly.
Not long ago, he had intended to use Yan Feng to suppress the growing influence of Xu Cheng. Unexpectedly, the plan backfired—he ended up suffering a humiliating defeat at Xu Cheng's hands. Worse still, Yan Feng, the one he had placed his greatest hopes in and had been secretly grooming to counter Xu Cheng, was effortlessly killed.
That nearly-thousand-meter-long bone dragon was something he could never forget.
"That brat clearly seems like a good person hiding among evil soul masters—how could he wield such a power? That pure and malevolent aura… Even as the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, I've never seen anything like it…"
Zhongli Wu frowned slightly, tapping the armrest with his finger.
In the past, he could get along with Xu Cheng because he prided himself on having seen through the boy. No matter how much Xu Cheng stirred up trouble, he would always be within his grasp. But after the bone dragon appeared, the one most baffled—was him.
"The person I favored most in the Holy Spirit Cult died by his hands, and yet… this somehow elevated Xu Cheng's prestige within the cult to unprecedented heights…" he muttered, his expression darkening.
"No need to panic."
A cool, clear voice echoed in the vast hall.
Zhongli Wu froze, then his pupils contracted. He quickly stood up and respectfully said, "Mother!"
At the hall entrance, a figure cloaked entirely in a black robe slowly walked in. Her aura was unfathomable. As her feet stepped lightly across the ground, a trace of dark, sinister energy followed.
Zhongli Wu kept his head down, maintaining a bowed posture.
He didn't dare relax for even a second.
"Heh, we're mother and son—why be so distant?" Ye Xishui appeared in a flash, arriving right before Zhongli Wu. As if not seeing him, she slowly walked past and sat on the seat he had just vacated, crossing her legs in a relaxed manner.
"Respect must be observed. You are my elder, and proper rites must not be neglected," Zhongli Wu said. He turned, bowed again, then stood respectfully to the side.
"I know what you're worrying about…" Ye Xishui rested her cheek on one hand and spoke faintly.
"But you're overthinking it."
"What do you mean, Mother?" Zhongli Wu was stunned.
"Heh, you think Xu Cheng, who carries such pure evil intent, is truly a righteous person?" Ye Xishui sneered.
"This…" Zhongli Wu's eyes widened as he suddenly realized something. "You mean…"
"I was there that day as well. That utterly pure, evil power—it even shook me. It proves that boy is a born devil. He yearns for destruction and chaos, yet deliberately pretends to be good. Tell me, why do you think that is?" Ye Xishui said.
"Could it be… he has his own plot?" Zhongli Wu exclaimed in realization.
"Heh, harder to guard against than us evil soul masters are righteous ones. But hardest of all is a so-called righteous soul master hiding among the evil ones…" Ye Xishui extended her left hand, admiring her long, inky-black nails before lowering it gently and casting a meaningful glance at Zhongli Wu.
"Right now, the righteous factions see him as a unique, accepted member among the evil soul masters. Meanwhile, the evil soul masters fully embrace him as one of their own. So, if one day he reveals his truly evil side—who would even realize it in time?"
"Hah… Mother, your insight is unmatched. Your son is enlightened!" Zhongli Wu was deeply shaken.
This viewpoint was logically sound and made perfect sense.
Otherwise, if Xu Cheng were truly devoted to righteousness, why join the Holy Spirit Cult? And once within, why carry out acts of 'good,' struggling among evildoers?
It's all hypocrisy. Everything is for the final result…
"That result might mean dragging all of Mingdu down with him—or maybe even the entire continent. After all, he once said, in the third year of his reign, a full-scale continental war would break out. Xu Zhen is old, his time is running out. Which means…" Ye Xishui smiled faintly.
"Xu Cheng is orchestrating a grand scheme to deceive the world, and we, thinking ourselves as players, are just part of his game."
"I see now!" Zhongli Wu exclaimed excitedly.
"Then Mother, should we…"
"Go along with him. Since he's truly evil, the death toll won't be in the thousands or tens of thousands. With his methods, it'll be in the hundreds of millions. At that point, all we need to do is follow behind, absorb souls, and strengthen ourselves."
"No wonder! No wonder he kept brushing off my attempts to urge him forward—so that was his plan all along!" Zhongli Wu said joyfully.
"As long as you understand." Ye Xishui nodded slightly, playing with her nails as if admiring a freshly done manicure.
"But now that Yan Feng, Lu Genggeng, and other new talents of the Holy Spirit Cult are dead, our cult needs fresh blood. Go find more to cultivate."
"You mean…?" Zhongli Wu grinned widely.
"Where else? Now that Mu En has fallen and their ranks are depleted—it can only be… Shrek Academy."
Sun-Moon Empire Royal Academy.
Xu Cheng suddenly sneezed.
Looking around, he murmured to himself in confusion, "Who's talking about me?"
(End of chapter)