"This is just outdated. Way too outdated."
One of the official team members shook his head, sighing as he spoke to their supervising teacher. "What era are we even in, and they still use ancient city walls and gates for defense? Getting in and out is such a hassle."
"Exactly! Did you guys see the soul tool defenses on top of their gate towers? They're using the most basic models—stuff we eliminated in the Sun Moon Empire ages ago! It's honestly hilarious!" another team member laughed loudly, showing zero restraint in mocking Star Luo Empire's outdated soul tool tech.
Star Luo City, the grandest metropolis in all of the Star Luo Empire, gave off an overwhelmingly old-fashioned and backward vibe. Everything from its gates and defenses to the streets and architecture reeked of the past.
Thanks to Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong's influence, the Sun Moon Empire had long since entered a rapid period of development for civilian-use soul tools.
Though there was fierce resistance in the beginning—many nobles argued that commoners shouldn't have access to such tech, fearing it would give them a peek into soul tool secrets—those objections were nothing compared to the influence of Kong Deming, the Empire's top expert.
With his backing, civilian soul tool usage exploded. The Mingde Hall and new-generation noble families who made massive profits off them would never allow the old nobility to ban such a lucrative trade again.
Money only flows if it circulates.
Now that the Sun Moon Empire had gotten a taste of soul tool-driven prosperity, there was no turning back. Even people from the original Three Nations of the Douluo Continent, who might criticize it openly, still secretly enjoyed the conveniences Sun Moon tech brought.
But they'd never publicly admit to owning soul tools imported from the Sun Moon Empire. That denial had kept the technology from visibly changing life on the Douluo side—at least on the surface. Soul tool advancement hadn't made it into their everyday lives.
As for imitation? The Sun Moon Empire's soul tool tech was a thousand years ahead. The original Douluo Continent's nations weren't even in the same league. They didn't have the resources to reverse-engineer and mass-produce so many tools.
And if they tried to divert resources toward copying civilian soul tools, they'd end up with less to invest in military defense. That was something the Three Nations couldn't afford—military pressure from the Sun Moon Empire demanded high defense spending.
The people? Well, they'd just have to keep suffering.
After listening to all this, the teacher nodded and said, "Exactly. This—what you see here—is the capital of the strongest of the Three Nations. Star Luo City. Old, backward. It's what you get when a country neglects soul tool advancement."
The students fell quiet, listening attentively.
Teachers were still teachers—even if the students were more powerful individually, there were things only mentors could convey.
"You all saw it on the way in, didn't you?" the teacher added. "That contempt from the local staff toward us Sun Moon folks? That's what it means to be a frog in a well."
"But I'm not saying this to make you resent them. My point is this—don't ever forget: no matter how talented you are as soul masters, you must value soul tool development. It is because of soul tools that our Sun Moon Empire has become so powerful. In the future, soul tool technology will be the dominant force in the world. Everything will depend on it."
"We understand!" the group responded, nodding in agreement.
They truly believed it. They'd already seen what soul tool tech could do—and they knew its future dominance was inevitable.
People in the Three Nations probably didn't believe it—or even if they did, most wouldn't be willing to give up their entrenched power to embrace it. The first to oppose it would surely be the ancient soul master clans. Their superiority relied on crushing others with their martial souls.
But once ordinary citizens could use soul tools to bridge that gap, how could those "noble" soul masters keep their lofty status? When a commoner could blast a soul master to death with a soul cannon, the so-called "masters" wouldn't be "masters" anymore.
With the short meeting done, the students were free to explore. The tournament wouldn't begin until the next day. Today was only for registration and group assignment—the kind of errands their teacher would handle alone.
At the hotel, Huo Yuhao stood by the window, silently gazing out over Star Luo City.
Meng Hongchen walked up and patted his shoulder. "What are you looking at?"
"N-Nothing," Yuhao replied, shaking his head. But anyone could tell he had something on his mind. Most of the main team members didn't know him well, so they'd nudged Meng—the social butterfly—to go ask.
Meng smiled. "Yuhao, keeping things bottled up only makes them worse. You're from Star Luo, right? This place must be stirring up some memories."
Yuhao remained quiet for a moment, then finally gave a small nod.
Meng gently squeezed his arm. "Alright, I won't push. But just remember—you're one of us now. Everyone here is family."
Hearing this, Yuhao turned and saw the main team members waving at him. Tang Ya and Nana from the reserve squad smiled warmly as well.
Seeing everyone's support, Yuhao nodded firmly. "Yeah."
Then he glanced around. "Where's Cousin and Senior Hongchen?"
Meng turned, looking around too. "No idea. As soon as the teacher dismissed us, they disappeared. Probably out exploring. They're a Soul Ancestor and a Soul King—they'll be fine."
Yuhao chuckled at that.
Out in the streets of Star Luo City, Jiang Shengyu and Xiao Hongchen wandered toward the city gates. Things had quieted down since Shrek Academy's team entered. While other academy teams continued to arrive, none of them caused a stir—they were just small fry with no shot at the finals.
Everyone knew Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had the top two spots locked in. The rest were fighting for third place—and those minor academies didn't stand a chance against the big names.
Shengyu and Hongchen skirted around a few of those lesser teams and kept walking.
Shengyu eventually frowned and asked, "Where exactly are we going?"
Hongchen looked over his shoulder, grinning. "To stir up some trouble!"
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