Chapter 21

"As Spirit Pagoda personnel, you must remember: absolutely no love-brains. We must remember the reason for the Spirit Hall's destruction. The Spirit Hall was destroyed not because of strength, but because many bizarre love-brains emerged within it."

"If junior disciples develop love-brains, loving people from other forces to death, and elders lack the ability to cure them, it is recommended to hand them over to the soul beast side for physical therapy! At the same time, such people are forbidden from becoming high-ranking officials of the Spirit Pagoda!"

Hua Yichen stood on the podium, reading the book's contents verbatim. After finishing, he set down the copy of First Generation Tower Master's Admonitions in his hand and looked toward Huo Yuhao, seated in the lower seat.

"Yuhao, did you understand? In a few days you will enter the academy. Even if you take a liking to a girl, you must keep a clear head and not give your whole heart. Or you can simply pull her into the Spirit Pagoda. Otherwise, no matter how high your talent, you will have no chance to rise straight to the clouds."

"You may not understand, but for the Spirit Pagoda, the soul beast side cares more than most. They truly fear we will follow in the Spirit Hall's footsteps. They really will rely on physical therapy to keep Spirit Pagoda juniors awake and rational. Some may resent them for it, but as long as the foundation isn't harmed, most still support it."

At this point, Hua Yichen switched to voice transmission:

"One of the current Vice Tower Masters, Douluo Feng Huang, and her younger sister both liked Erqing Douluo when they were young. Her sister nearly fell and became an Evil Soul Master because of it."

"Fortunately, because of the First Generation Tower Master's admonitions, the Spirit Pagoda has always paid great attention to this. The Cold Family Head detected the warning signs in time, directly detained Feng Huang Douluo's sister, and in a rage handed her over to the Snow Empress, making her stay in the Extreme North for ten years. No one knows what happened during that time."

"When she came out, she and Feng Huang Douluo embraced and wept bitterly. She seemed to have become normal again and never spoke of liking Erqing Douluo again. Even so, she still had no qualification to become a Spirit Pagoda high-ranking official. Feng Huang Douluo wasn't that outrageous; she became a Vice Tower Master."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

If it were still the original plot, it was probably just that the misunderstanding was resolved, so they wept bitterly, right?

And are you sure Feng Huang Douluo really became normal? That's a love-brain who said she wanted to be Erqing Douluo's secret lover; maybe she just restrained herself because of the high-pressure policy...

Huo Yuhao's thoughts scattered for an instant, shifting to the most important point.

Be that as it may, he understood all these principles, but who could tell him what was up with that book's title? Was this his admonition?

He had never left such a book, let alone said to hand people over to soul beasts for punishment...

"Tianmeng, Ice Empress, I shouldn't have made any admonitions, right?"

Ice Empress: "Yuhao, you forgot? This is the revised version, or upgraded version, of the words you taught Su Tong. The part about the Spirit Hall's destruction was your original words."

Huo Yuhao: "..."

Sorry, I remember now.

Because he worried the Spirit Pagoda would perish in the second generation, he had high demands for Su Tong, strictly educating and correcting some of her ideas. After all, looking across the major powers of the original Douluo, how many high-ranking officials weren't love-brains? This is the Love Continent...

He just didn't expect Su Tong to actually turn his words into admonitions, pass them down, and turn them into something he had to study.

This is... Heavenly Dao's reincarnation, heaven spares no one?

Truly outrageous.

Tianmeng said somewhat uncertainly: "As for handing them over to soul beasts... that was probably something later Spirit Pagoda elders came up with to scare people? Would Snow Empress and Di Tian have the leisure to manage a bunch of juniors? It's just that Feng Huang Douluo's sister was too heaven-defying and walked right into the muzzle?"

Even with ancestral precepts, she still loved someone to the point of nearly becoming an Evil Soul Master. If it were him, he'd also throw her to the soul beasts for a good drilling!

Huo Yuhao felt strange inside, but his face showed nothing. He merely looked at Hua Yichen. "Teacher Hua, may I take a look at that book?"

"That was the intention. This is for Spirit Pagoda core disciples only, because some of the ideas within seem heretical to ordinary people."

Hua Yichen handed it to Huo Yuhao. The latter flipped through it and found it was indeed all revised from his own words. He was speechless yet also somewhat nostalgic.

That guy Su Tong... if there's a chance, I'll have a good talk with her again.

After instilling in Huo Yuhao the terrors of becoming a love-brain, Hua Yichen planned to take him to the training ground to teach practical combat.

Over three years, he had also discovered that regarding cultivation and absorption of knowledge and experience, Huo Yuhao needed no worry from him; the other party learned very fast.

Strictly speaking, practical combat wasn't needed either, but if he didn't show something, Hua Yichen felt that as a teacher he would lose too much face.

Watching Huo Yuhao calmly shift and dodge under his suppressed-strength attacks, Hua Yichen secretly marveled.

Nine years old. After taking the Soul Ascension Pill, his soul power had already reached the peak of rank thirty-two, and his spiritual power had even reached the Spirit Sea Realm. This left him not knowing how to report it.

There was also the matter of the Young Genius Ranking mentioned before; where should he place Huo Yuhao?

The other party was still young, and some Soul Masters had shown early cultivation progressing a thousand li a day, only to find every step difficult later. Although he was confident Huo Yuhao wouldn't encounter a similar situation, he also couldn't place him too high directly.

He'd just pick a spot within the top ten.

"Tower Master, President Li has come to visit!"

At this moment, a staff member's knocking and report sounded in succession.

"What's he here for?" Hua Yichen was first startled, then reacted, looking at Huo Yuhao.

Right. With two sub-occupations at rank three, it's no wonder Li Yucheng couldn't sit still.

The Spirit Pagoda's top-floor reception room was simple and comfortable. A dark brown wooden conference table sat in the center, flanked by off-white two-seater sofas. Li Yucheng sat on one of them.

"Tower Master Hua, where is Huo Yuhao's sub-occupation teacher?"

Seeing Hua Yichen enter the reception hall, Li Yucheng stood up and said somewhat anxiously: "I want to meet him. How did he teach Huo Yuhao? How could he..."

Huo Yuhao walked out from behind Hua Yichen, causing Li Yucheng's words to halt. His expression turned somewhat awkward, and his gaze began to wander.

Bad-mouthing his teacher in front of the person himself — afraid that would leave a bad first impression.

Hua Yichen smiled, dispelling the awkward atmosphere, and sat down opposite Li Yucheng with Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao is self-taught. He has no sub-occupation teacher... if you must put it that way, every Mecha Constructor and Mecha Designer in this Spirit Pagoda is his teacher."

Li Yucheng raised an eyebrow, with a feeling of "as expected."

He knew it. Who wouldn't hold a heaven-ordained genius in the palm of their hand? Let them waste their talent?

But putting it that way, it was Huo Yuhao's own decision...

Li Yucheng looked at Huo Yuhao with a complex gaze and said solemnly: "I am the President of the Eastsea City Mecha Master Association — Li Yucheng, Level 8 Mecha Constructor. I've seen your works many times. I must remind you: excess is as bad as deficiency. Focus on one point, and only then can you reach the pinnacle!"

"Thank you for your concern, but I am simply digging deep in the fields I excel at, not wasting my talent." Huo Yuhao shook his head.

He has always been very clear about what he excels at.

"You want to walk the path of Soul Masters from ten thousand years ago? But you must understand, today is already different from the past."

Hearing this, Li Yucheng sighed: "In the past, Soul Masters could still balance forging, design, construction, maintenance, and even combat. But now each system's knowledge is too vast. You want to walk this path... it's too hard."

Ten thousand years ago, Soul Masters, in the eyes of people today, were all a bunch of beasts — overachievers driven by involution to a terrifying degree.

One person doing so many things — didn't they get tired?

A bunch of overachievers. No wonder they could suppress the Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek...

"I just want to complete a Soul Tool that belongs to me."

Huo Yuhao spoke a name that startled Hua Yichen and the other person.

"Silver Moon Douluo, have you heard of him, President?"

……

"Unexpectedly, in the end it was actually Ling Bing Empress who came to see me. As the Spirit Pagoda Tower Master, not to mention managing myriad affairs daily, you don't have that much free time either, right? Why bother coming to see a person's dead end."

A hoarse voice carrying a few parts self-mockery came from that wide sickbed. The once high-spirited Silver Moon Douluo had now also reached his twilight years.

Huo Yuhao, standing in the wall corner's shadows, had a somewhat complex look in his eyes.

"Kong Lao, the Life-Bound Soul Tool, won't it be passed down?"

"My juniors don't have Ling Bing Empress's talent; they can't do it."

Kong Deming shook his head, his already somewhat cloudy eyes looking at Huo Yuhao.

If the other party put the time spent on martial soul cultivation into Soul Tools, perhaps he could walk even further than him.

But even if the other party wasted his energy on other aspects, through time's accumulation, he was still the only person in this world who could discuss the Dao of Soul Masters with him; if the other party had joined the Sun Moon Empire back then… truly, what a pity.

Kong Deming sighed, "Moreover, the war has ended, the Empire has won. After this, Soul Masters will have no enemies, and will only delve into the fields they like, indulging in research."

"In the end, the Soul Master profession will probably completely become a synonym for Researcher; everyone will have their own specialized field, but they won't be comprehensive like they are now."

"And for a Life-Bound Soul Tool to fit oneself, it can never be done by another's hand; at the very least, the design and manufacture must be done by oneself. I have already foreseen the day this kind of Soul Tool declines. On the contrary, the Battle Armor prototype you developed is more likely to flourish."

Huo Yuhao looked at Kong Deming and said in a low voice: "Then, how about me inheriting it?"

Kong Deming froze.

Huo Yuhao continued laughing: "In… the name of the Spirit Pagoda!"

Kong Deming was silent for a long while, then laughed heartily: "Good, I'll entrust it to you!"

(End of Chapter)