All the duties of receiving visitors were left to Di Tian, while Yun Ze and Gu Yue Na continued living their student lives.
The fifth level of the archive was not easy to access. Each time someone wished to enter, Principal Xu Lin and four other directors of the academy had to be present together.
The fifth level had no guards, only a massive reinforced metal gate. It was said that not even an Ultimate Douluo could break through it by force.
Not only the door, but the surrounding walls were made of specially forged metal, strong enough to withstand the strike of a ninth-level fixed soul-guided cannon shell.
Principal Xu Lin and the four directors each produced a key and inserted them into the five keyholes along the side of the gate. Only when they turned them simultaneously did the heavy doors slowly slide open.
This was already the tenth day Yun Ze had entered the fifth level, so there was no need for further explanation. The moment the gate opened, he stepped inside.
Once he passed through, Xu Lin and the others retrieved their keys, and the gate slowly sealed shut again.
The five of them were only authorized to open the gate together, nothing more. Without approval from the Academy Council, even they were forbidden from entering freely.
"Let's go." Xu Lin led the others away. They would return at one o'clock in the afternoon to reopen the gate for Yun Ze to come out.
The fifth level itself was vast and empty—no shelves, no books. Only a single metal table and one chair stood at the center.
On the table rested a tilted soul-guided display, about thirty units long and twenty wide. As soon as Yun Ze stepped in, the screen lit up automatically.
Nearly a thousand square meters of space, yet with so little furniture, its plain arrangement didn't resemble a library at all.
By now, Yun Ze was used to it. He sat down, placing his palm upon the dark green handprint on the screen.
A vertical beam of light scanned up and down. The handprint glowed, and when it fully lit, a mechanical voice rang out:
"Identity confirmed. Yun Ze, welcome to the Intelligent Archive."
The display shifted instantly, presenting five options: Soul Tools, Mechas, Soul Masters, Battle Armor, and Records.
Each was labeled within a red-bordered box against a clean white background—simple, nothing flashy.
For ten days now, Yun Ze had been choosing the same option: Soul Tools. Once selected, titles of books flashed onto the screen, listed in order.
There were fifty-eight in total—not many, but each was priceless, dealing with ninth-level soul tools.
Methods for crafting terrifying weapons such as ninth-level fixed soul-guided cannon shells, ninth-level array soul tools, and the infamous Eye of Terror were all detailed here.
Among them was even a manuscript involving tenth-level and twelfth-level soul tools.
Naturally, Yun Ze had chosen that one first. In less than a day—actually, in just five hours—he had finished it. He never stayed longer than that; after five hours of study, he would leave and return the next day.
The book was essentially a research journal rather than a step-by-step crafting guide.
From it, Yun Ze at least learned of the existence of three weapons hailed as "god-slaying" fixed soul-guided shells.
But their actual construction methods were almost entirely absent—likely kept within the Federation Research Institute instead.
Now, he tapped into the third book on the list. This system was intelligent enough to open precisely where he had left off yesterday—page 165.
He continued reading, tapping the lower-right corner of the display to turn each page.
This soul-guided screen itself was a marvel of technology, co-developed by Sun Moon Royal Academy and the Federation Research Institute.
It stored the Academy's most precious records using special methods to prevent data leaks to the fullest extent.
Yun Ze read straight through until one o'clock, when Xu Lin and the four directors returned to open the gate.
Descending the archive steps, he saw Gu Yue Na already waiting with a smile. She walked over lightly.
"I've reached rank forty-two! I want to celebrate—would you come with me to dine at the Sun Moon Hotel outside the Academy?"
Her hands clasped behind her back, her voice was bright and expectant, her eyes shining like a little girl seeking praise.
Thanks to her transformed body, her cultivation breakthroughs had no bottlenecks. During class that morning, her soul power simply flowed smoothly and advanced.
Yun Ze glanced up at her, then casually averted his gaze. He nodded. "Let's go."
Her face lit with delight. She skipped ahead happily, walking beside him toward the Academy gates.
"You don't seem surprised at all by my breakthrough?"
"Why should I be? Breakthroughs are normal, aren't they?"
"Uh…"
Time flew by, and before they knew it, five months had passed.
The storm caused by the great auction gradually subsided. It was no longer the hottest topic of gossip, though people still mentioned it from time to time.
The Dragon Phoenix Hall also saw its popularity decline slightly, though it remained incredibly prosperous. Each day, people from across the continent came to purchase pills.
The One-Year Longevity Pill, priced at five hundred million each, remained in constant short supply. Shops often sold out within minutes of opening.
Sales of the Foundation-Building Pills and Breakthrough Pills had fallen somewhat. The former saw only a slight dip—after all, no young soul master would refuse a pill that enhanced innate soul power. Most simply couldn't afford it.
The Hall's daily revenue, once close to sixty billion, had stabilized at around forty billion. Still staggering, but steady.
Reports about Dragon Phoenix Hall's earnings had flooded the press four months ago, astonishing many.
Even mighty powers such as Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, and the Spirit Transmission Tower turned envious. Dragon Phoenix Hall's money-making was outrageous.
Of course, many factions tried to crack the pill recipes, hoping to refine and sell their own.
But all failed. Not one succeeded in unraveling the formulas.
Frustrated, some attempted to poach alchemists from Dragon Phoenix Hall, infiltrate spies to steal techniques, or even worse—at night, daring individuals crept in to kidnap pill refiners.
Every attempt failed.
Why? Because all pill refinement in Dragon Phoenix Hall was carried out by transformed Emerald Swans—not a single human alchemist to be recruited or abducted.
Despite its immense wealth, the Hall neither expanded nor recruited, leaving no gap for spies to exploit.
As for the foolhardy intruders—they were stripped of their Title Douluo cultivation and martial spirits, then hung from the Hall's rooftop for three days.
It turned out that intruder was a Dark Soul Master. His origin was obvious enough. After three days of public shaming as a warning to others, he was handed over to the Federation Police—a gesture of goodwill.