Chapter 276: Tradition and Reform Advance Hand in Hand

The voyage at sea was fairly smooth; while maritime trade carries the risk of encountering Sea Soul Beasts, they encountered almost no powerful Sea Soul Beasts along this route.

Fortunately, the Soul Beasts along the way were not strong, and their own strength was sufficient to fend them off. After a simple inspection, they arrived at Haiyue City, a city on the southern coast of the Sun Moon Empire.

Haiyue City is in the southern sea of the Sun Moon Empire and can be considered a large city. It possesses the Sun and Moon Port, the largest port in the Sun Moon Empire.

Although sea vessels cannot venture deep into the ocean, with the development of Soul Guidance Devices, navigation safety is guaranteed in areas closer to the ground. After all, sea transport is much easier than land transport and has lower requirements for manpower and material resources. It is just that the initial investment is higher; as long as one does not encounter overly powerful Sea Soul Beasts, nothing is troublesome.

The group changed into the Sun Moon Empire attire they had prepared in advance before heading toward Haiyue City. Their previous clothes identified them as merchants from the Star Luo Empire, and now that they had arrived in the Sun Moon Empire, they naturally could not be too conspicuous.

Haiyue City cannot be compared to Mingdu, nor can it compare to Shrek City. Looking at the urban layout of the entire continent, it counts as medium-sized. Inspections in such a city are not that strict, so the risk was much lower.

Perhaps because it is located in a remote area of the southern sea and is not considered a vital military location, the entry inspection at Haiyue City was very relaxed. Huo Yu Hao and his group easily crossed the city gate and entered the city. However, due to Wang Dong'er's noble temperament, the guards at the gate mistook her for a young master from some great family in the Sun Moon Empire and were very respectful toward her.

This point was something Huo Yu Hao had not expected. It was precisely because the guards over-imagined things that everything went smoothly for them, and even the items they brought were given the green light all the way through.

The architecture of Haiyue City is clearly different from the interior of the Sun Moon Empire. It lacks the high-rise buildings of Mingdu but has more of the characteristics of a seaside fishing port. The houses are all built very sturdily to prevent storms from the sea. The entire Haiyue City is built on higher ground, while the Sun and Moon Port is located diagonally below it.

After entering the city, the group settled down in an inn.

"Can any of you imitate the accent of the Sun Moon Empire?" Huo Yu Hao asked, looking at the group.

"I stayed in the Sun Moon Empire for over two years; I can try," He Caitou said, slowly raising his hand.

He Caitou hadn't just stayed in the Sun Moon Empire for two years; he was purely a person of the Sun Moon Empire. Having stayed at Shrek for over a decade, others could not even tell that He Caitou had an accent issue.

"That's good. Tomorrow, Brother Cai Tou will go out with me. You all can walk around the city, but remember not to stir up trouble."

Speaking of this, Huo Yu Hao looked at He Caitou with some curiosity. With his dark skin and this appearance, he really did look a bit like a person from the Sun Moon Empire.

The next day.

He Caitou and Huo Yu Hao walked down the street one after the other. He Caitou strolled about like a young master, while Huo Yu Hao followed behind like a servant. He Caitou's Sun Moon Empire accent was crisp and clear, and Huo Yu Hao was secretly very impressed that He Caitou could learn it so convincingly.

After strolling the streets for half the morning, they arrived in front of a cutting-edge building.

Sun and Moon Port Marine Transport Department.

After half a morning of observation, He Caitou was already familiar with the routine. He walked through the main gate and arrived in front of the counter.

"I want to do sea transport business. I don't know how much it costs to rent a cargo ship. The cargo ship needs to be a bit larger; I need to load a lot of goods, and it must have space to accommodate at least twenty people." He Caitou was big and tall, and combined with his authentic Sun Moon Empire accent and his haughty attitude, the middle-aged man behind the counter immediately stood up respectfully.

The middle-aged man said, "I wonder where this lord wishes to go? Our ship rentals are calculated based on the distance and cargo volume, so the lord's destination must also be disclosed to us."

"Don't waste my time. Tianma Port, how much?" He Caitou replied impatiently.

"Honored guest, according to your requirements, it will cost about 1,500 Gold Soul Coins. As for the cargo ship, if you need a safer one, we have other options, though the price will naturally be higher," the middle-aged man said with a fawning smile.

He Caitou's appearance was that of a perfectly authentic Sun Moon Empire native, and with his accent and demeanor, there were truly no flaws.

He Caitou waved his hand, indicating that money was no object, and then, to save unnecessary trouble, he finalized the contract immediately.

However, the cost this time was 500 Gold Soul Coins less than in the original account, costing only 4,000 Gold Soul Coins. The manager of the Transport Department thought He Caitou was a noble from Mingdu, so he proactively provided many conveniences.

This was something Huo Yu Hao had not anticipated.

Putting away the receipt, He Caitou walked out of the Transport Department. This time, there were no short-sighted pirates; He Caitou's attire and appearance clearly marked him as a big shot with connections, and no matter how bold these pirates were, they dared not strike at a big shot.

Everything became smooth because of He Caitou. Little did they know that while Huo Yu Hao thought it was a pleasant surprise, the guesses of those Sun Moon Empire people were actually true!

Because He Caitou was originally a member of the royal family.

Mingde Hall.

"That is all for today's lesson. If you have any questions, you can come to my office to find me at any time. Additionally, as your teacher, if you forge Spirit Metal, I can purchase it at the price set by Mingde Hall. If anyone makes a breakthrough, I can allocate an extra scholarship to them and recommend them to His Majesty."

Empty promises will eventually become outdated, but Luo Yu has the backing of Mingde Hall and Xu Tianran, so he provided direct material rewards.

"Senior, ah no, Teacher, can forging really create more powerful metal?" a student asked timidly.

Luo Yu replied with a smile: "Let me correct you first. In class, I am your teacher; only after class am I your senior. Through the verification of Mingde Hall, although Spirit Metal has not yet been opened to the public, its value has far exceeded our current Soul Guidance Technology; it can even be said to be the cornerstone of a new era. Do you know the Sun Moon Battle God?"

"I know! My father participated in the Defense of Mingdu! It was you, Senior, who piloted the Sun Moon Battle God to repel the Peak Douluo of Shrek!" A look of worship appeared in a student's eyes.

"I know it too. That is our Sun Moon Empire's secret weapon. That night during the Defense of Mingdu, I also saw the Sun Moon Battle God!"

"I know it too..."

Everyone chimed in at once. At this moment, Luo Yu said: "Since everyone knows, I will tell you a new piece of news here. If Spirit Metal is produced in large quantities, I think you all can each possess your own Sun Moon Battle God. Because the effect of Spirit Metal is much more powerful than that of ordinary Rare Metal, if the Sun Moon Battle Gods were all made with Spirit Metal, it would greatly reduce material waste."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted!

The attendance rate and enrollment numbers for the forging course were originally not high, but ever since Luo Yu became the teacher, a large group of teenagers following in the footsteps of their idol frantically joined Luo Yu's course.

Jing Hongchen had to sigh; sometimes, Luo Yu really was more attractive than anything else. If Luo Yu hadn't refused, he would have wanted to auction off Luo Yu's lunch; those noble ladies of the capital would certainly not be stingy with their money.

However, this proposal was rejected by Ju Zi. Luo Yu didn't say much about it, but when this suggestion was made, Xu Tianran's expression was quite colorful; if Luo Yu hadn't been present, Xu Tianran almost wouldn't have been able to hold back his laughter...

However, there was also a mysterious woman who spent 5 million Gold Soul Coins to sponsor Mingde Hall and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy, in exchange for a chance to have dinner with Luo Yu.

These 5 million Gold Soul Coins happened to become the scholarships established by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy, as well as the scholarships for Mingde Hall.

The scholarship was originally intended to be named after Luo Yu, but it was rejected by him; however, everyone still called it the Luo Yu Scholarship...

That mysterious woman was actually a member of the royal family, barely counting as a cousin to Xu Tianran. At Xu Tianran's request, Luo Yu gave the other party enough face, and that dinner party was very pleasant and the conversation was very smooth.

After this incident, bidding for Luo Yu's dinner appeared again...

Luo Yu had a splitting headache over this. The first time was out of politeness, but who knew such a thing could happen? Since then, Luo Yu's dinner auction plan didn't succeed, but instead, the dinner was confusedly and officially put on the auction schedule by Xu Tianran.

5 million Gold Soul Coins for one dinner party.

All proceeds in Gold Soul Coins were used for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy and Mingde Hall. This was Luo Yu's original instruction; if they could not do it, or if there was any corruption, Luo Yu would directly cancel the activity.

Having obtained Xu Tianran's approval, the plan for a monthly dinner party was logically finalized.

Judging from the current situation, the financial problems of Mingde Hall were somewhat alleviated, and the research on Spirit Metal was also somewhat eased. It's just that Luo Yu never thought that the terrible idea the Hall Master came up with would actually turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy...

There were many times he wanted to give the Hall Master a punch; how did he come up with such a damaging idea?

After that dinner party, Xu Tianran had privately asked his cousin how she felt about Luo Yu.

Luo Yu's answer was: poised and generous, noble and elegant, refined and unconventional.

He had seen that cousin a few times later at Xu Tianran's dinner parties, but Luo Yu didn't have much interaction with her. He knew what Xu Tianran meant.

After finishing this forging class, Luo Yu also packed up his things and returned to his office.

"Lord Luo Yu, His Majesty requests your presence; there are important matters to discuss today."

"Understood, I will go immediately."

Looking at the banquet invitation in his hand, Luo Yu knew he was about to be pressured into marriage by Xu Tianran again...

Back in his early years on Blue Star, he was pressured into marriage by his elders, and now he truly never expected that he would actually be pressured into marriage by Xu Tianran!

As expected, tradition and reform go hand in hand!

…………