In truth, Jing Hongchen had always harbored the desire to initiate exchange programs with Shrek Academy. He hoped to learn from Shrek Academy's advanced soul master teaching philosophies and cultivation methods to elevate the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's standard of soul master education.
After all, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's soul master cultivation was indeed inferior. They excelled only at training soul engineers, while Shrek Academy specialized in cultivating soul masters.
Unfortunately, Shrek Academy had consistently rejected his proposals, never agreeing to them.
Now, however, circumstances had changed.
St. Freya Academy had won two consecutive Soul Master Tournaments, and its strength and teaching quality were evident to all.
In Jing Hongchen's view, St. Freya Academy's educational standards clearly possessed unique aspects worth studying and emulating.
Initially, he hadn't considered sending Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen to St. Freya Academy for study.
But after careful consideration, he felt it was time for a change.
Sending Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen to St. Freya Academy for exchange and study, even if they couldn't learn the most core knowledge and skills, they would still gain something. Not to mention, it would allow Meng Hongchen to get closer to Lu Jingming, who was the absolute core of Abyss City.
With good luck, they might even have the honor of meeting the legendary Lady Herta and that mysterious Stigmata developer.
Therefore, Jing Hongchen believed that initiating exchange and study programs with St. Freya Academy was imperative.
Moreover, by sending Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen under the guise of an exchange program, he wouldn't have to worry about them encountering accidents in Abyss City.
After all, for St. Freya Academy to develop, its reputation was crucial. To maintain the academy's prestige, they would undoubtedly do their utmost to protect Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen's safety.
"Grandfather, you mean sending my brother and me to St. Freya Academy for exchange and study!" Meng Hongchen's eyes instantly lit up upon hearing this news, her face betraying uncontrollable excitement.
She had initially thought she would have to wait until the next Soul Master Tournament to see Lu Jingming again. She never expected her grandfather to give her such an unexpected surprise.
"Grandfather, is it necessary? St. Freya Academy is indeed strong, but when it comes to teaching students, I don't think they're necessarily better than our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy," Xiao Hongchen said, frowning slightly, a look of defiance on his face.
"Foolish!" Jing Hongchen usually doted on Meng Hongchen, but he was extremely strict with Xiao Hongchen.
Upon hearing Xiao Hongchen's shallow remarks, he immediately frowned, scolding him sternly.
"Losing a match itself isn't terrible. What's terrible is when you can't even see the difference between yourselves. Do you truly not understand how vast the gap is between you and those students from St. Freya Academy?"
Even without personally attending the matches, simply watching the match recordings via soul-recording tools, Jing Hongchen could clearly perceive that the students from St. Freya Academy were incredibly strong, almost completely overwhelming other soul masters of the same age in every aspect.
Even the deeply established Shrek Academy appeared somewhat inadequate and slightly inferior when facing St. Freya Academy's students.
Where did Xiao Hongchen get the confidence to believe that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy could compare to St. Freya Academy in terms of soul master cultivation?
"I!" Xiao Hongchen's face flushed, and he was speechless for a moment.
In truth, he was well aware of the gap between himself and the students from St. Freya Academy.
Even besides Lu Jingming, he honestly wasn't entirely confident he could defeat the other students from St. Freya Academy.
Of course, the support-type soul master Robin was an exception; Xiao Hongchen disdained comparing himself to a support-type soul master.
"It's settled then. I will immediately dispatch someone to St. Freya Academy to discuss the specifics of the exchange and study program."
Jing Hongchen made the decision decisively and promptly.
Between Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, due to various unresolved historical issues, proposals for exchange and cooperation had been consistently rejected for many years.
However, the situation with St. Freya Academy was entirely different. In Jing Hongchen's view, they had no reason to refuse an exchange and study program.
Although Abyss City had demonstrated astonishing advancements in soul tool technology, the roots of its technology largely depended on the mysterious Lady Herta.
Given Lady Herta's usual conduct, she clearly wouldn't devote extensive time to personally instructing the academy's students.
In fact, this was true; although Herta was nominally employed at St. Freya Academy, she had never actually stepped onto a podium to teach students even a single class.
After all, geniuses are always busy with their own research fields; how could they have leisure to engage in teaching?
Moreover, in the eyes of geniuses, spending time teaching a group of mediocre individuals offered no substantial help to their own research.
On the other side, when Lu Jingming learned that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy intended to send people for exchange and study, he was quite pleased.
"Exchange and study? Approved!"
Upon receiving the official request for exchange and study from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, Lu Jingming unhesitatingly waved his hand and immediately gave an affirmative reply.
Although St. Freya Academy had been established for a short time, its teaching standards were not weak. Jing Liu brought the Cloud Knight Army training methods, Changli brought the Night Returning Army training methods, and Keqing brought the Millelith Army training methods.
These training methods, after localization adjustments, had all demonstrated extraordinary results.
At the very least, the training models for Abyss City's Golden Guards and City Guards were derived by extracting the essence from these excellent training methods and refining the most suitable approaches for them.
In Lu Jingming's view, the support of resources was the crucial foundation for cultivating an excellent soul master.
Secondly, the age of the absorbed soul rings and appropriate soul skill combinations were important.
Finally, the accumulation of practical combat experience was equally indispensable; only through continuous tempering in battle could a soul master's strength truly improve.
St. Freya Academy possessed unique advantages in all these aspects.
Abyss City did not lack resources, and Honkai energy was a top-tier resource. For practical combat, they had holographic strategy and the simulated universe. As for soul ring age and soul skills, with the Stigmata now available, they lacked nothing.
Shrek Academy had maintained its position as the top academy on the Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years largely because they had attracted most of the continent's genius students.
Those students referred to as "monsters" were not inherently cultivated by the academy through nurture, but rather possessed extraordinary talent and potential from birth.
What the academy could do was provide a broader platform for these geniuses, giving them a higher starting point so they could fully utilize their talents.
Therefore, the notion of "cultivating monsters" was essentially a false premise.
More accurately, it wasn't that the academy cultivated monsters, but that these exceptionally talented students were "monsters" themselves.
An academy's true teaching standard was not reflected in the cultivation of a few top students, but rather measured by the general level of its large number of ordinary students.
Among a massive student base, there would always be one or two exceptionally talented individuals, but the level achieved by a large number of ordinary students after being cultivated by the academy was the true embodiment of an academy's teaching quality.
Although St. Freya Academy possessed a vast amount of advanced soul tool technology theories and knowledge left behind by Herta, these theoretical concepts were abstruse and difficult for ordinary people to understand and apply.
By sending some students to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy for advanced study, they could gain exposure to more practical and systematic soul tool manufacturing processes, thereby cultivating a batch of low-to-mid-level soul engineers for Abyss City.
And when this batch of students possessed a solid foundation, combined with the theoretical knowledge left by Herta, cultivating high-level soul engineers would be just around the corner.
Based on all these considerations, St. Freya Academy indeed had no reason to refuse this opportunity for exchange and study with the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.
As for the specific details of the exchange and study program, Lu Jingming did not need to worry too much.
The academy would have dedicated personnel responsible for arranging all the details. He only needed to give his nod of approval to the decision, and then simply wait for good news.
Just as St. Freya Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy were busily discussing the exchange and study matters, other corners of the continent were not peaceful; an undercurrent was quietly stirring.
Within the Heavenly Soul Empire, at a place of natural chasm, stood the renowned Body Sect.
In a spacious discussion hall, a burly old man with short dark green hair suddenly slammed his wine cup onto the table with a "bang," the loud sound reverberating through the silent hall, creating an echo.
"Stigmata, heh, damn it, it really is a good thing!"
The old man's face was filled with unwillingness, his eyes gleaming with greed. Then, his tone shifted, and he sighed with a hint of regret, "Too bad, that Snow Moon Douluo isn't an easy character to deal with. With my meager abilities, I might not actually be able to defeat her!"
This old man was the Sect Master of the Body Sect, the Body Douluo, Du Busi, a Level 98 Super Douluo.
For a long time, the Body Sect's modus operandi had always been simple and crude: if they coveted something, their first instinct was to seize it by force.
Even when facing behemoths like Shrek Academy and Mingde Hall, they dared to steal.
However, this time, facing the Stigmata, the situation was completely different. The Ultimate Douluo combat power displayed by Snow Moon Douluo made them wary.
Moreover, Abyss City wasn't guarded by just one Titled Douluo; its defensive capabilities were not to be underestimated.
Not only that, but the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire were currently in an alliance, and a single move could affect the whole situation.
Having secretly joined the Heavenly Soul Empire as a Protector Sect, the Body Sect had to be cautious and couldn't easily stir up trouble.
Furthermore, Abyss City had already shared the benefits of the Stigmata with various forces, and the Heavenly Soul Empire also received a share.
In this situation, openly seizing the Stigmata by force would undoubtedly be asking for trouble and was truly not a wise move.
"The Stigmata is difficult for this old man to snatch, but this Huo Yuhao, this old man is determined to get him!" Du Busi suddenly bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Jin Peng, gather our people. Follow this old man on a trip to Shrek City. We'll meet that old geezer Xuan Zi. I heard he was wounded by Snow Moon Douluo's sword and hasn't fully recovered yet. I wonder if that news is true?"
As soon as his words fell, dozens of figures appeared before him like ghosts in an instant.
These individuals varied in form, tall or short, fat or thin, but each exuded a powerful yet restrained aura that commanded respect.
Upon closer inspection, it would be noticed that a certain part of each of their bodies showed distinct differences from ordinary people, showcasing their unique Body martial souls.
"Go, follow this old man. Let's bring back our Body Sect disciple." Du Busi waved his hand, issuing the command.
Then, he was the first to transform into a dark green streak of light, shooting up into the sky like an arrow released from a bowstring. The people behind him followed closely, rushing fiercely towards Shrek City.
In the Body Sect's view, Huo Yuhao possessed the extremely rare Body martial soul, the Spiritual Eye. Based on this alone, he rightfully belonged to the Body Sect.
Moreover, Huo Yuhao was a twin martial soul user, and his second martial soul was the incredibly powerful Ultimate Ice attribute.
How could such astonishing talent not move Du Busi's heart?
He had also heard that Xuan Zi of Shrek Academy had been severely wounded in a conflict with Snow Moon Douluo and had not yet fully recovered.
This news made Du Busi feel that there was an opportunity to exploit, and his confidence increased.
The other Titled Douluo elders of the Body Sect raised no objections to Du Busi's overbearing decision.
Their unified attitude clearly showed that they were in complete agreement with Du Busi on this matter.
In the Body Sect's ideology, anyone possessing a Body martial soul was inherently a disciple of the Body Sect. This belief was deeply ingrained in the heart of every elder.