The Second Prince said, "Elder Wang, that's enough. Let's leave it at that. If we can win Jing Hongchen over, and have his support behind me, then the throne will practically be mine."
As he finished speaking, excitement flickered in Xu Tianyu's eyes.
Seeing the Second Prince so elated, Wang Yan didn't pour cold water on him.
Although he knew very well that with Jing Hongchen's strength, status, and influence, there was absolutely no way he would place his bets at such a time...
Still—since the Second Prince was happy, he would let him be. After all, he had already taken sides.
Naturally, he wouldn't ruin the Second Prince's mood over something trivial and risk upsetting him.
After all, in the future, he was counting on the Second Prince ascending to the throne and granting him resources to break through to the Titled Douluo rank. If he angered the prince now and received fewer resources later, that would truly be disastrous.
Wang Yan understood this all too well. He knew the Xu family members were narrow-minded and petty by nature.
So, he merely nodded in agreement.
Seeing Wang Yan agree, the Second Prince felt delighted and immediately ordered his servants to prepare a banquet to dine with Elder Wang.
Although Xu Tianran had been trying to find faults and evidence against him these past few days, compared to the gains he was making, it was insignificant.
Among all the princes, his backing was already the strongest. Now, with the Wang family's support, his power would rise to an even higher level.
The Second Prince felt that the supreme throne was already within reach. Very soon, he would defeat Xu Tianran and the other princes, becoming the Crown Prince of the Sun Moon Empire.
And once his father, the Emperor, passed away, he would naturally ascend the throne and become the new ruler of the Sun Moon Empire.
Second Prince: (｀ー) Once I become Emperor, Xu Tianran, the first thing I'll do is cripple you! I'll let you know the price of opposing me! Hahahahahahahaha!
Time flew by, and soon it was the next morning.
At the Wang family residence—
Wang Chen was sitting cross-legged in meditation, cultivating quietly.
Yesterday, after using the Ring-Tempering Secret Art, he had felt faint signs of a breakthrough in his soul power.
So, after releasing all the soul power triggered by the technique, he immediately began cultivating again, aiming for level twenty-nine.
A quarter of an hour later, Wang Chen slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed within them.
At the same time, his aura suddenly grew stronger, and his soul power became even denser than before.
He murmured softly, "Another breakthrough. Level twenty-nine already. Just one step away from becoming a Soul Elder."
Then, he took out a pill from his soul tool and placed it into his mouth.
That pill was called a Vital Energy Pill (Yuan Qi Dan). It strengthened the foundation and reinforced vitality—most importantly, its medicinal nature was extremely gentle, making it ideal for young, low-ranked soul masters.
In the Wang family, any young clan member born with an innate soul power above level seven would receive one such pill every three months to stabilize their breakthroughs.
After swallowing the Vital Energy Pill, Wang Chen felt his freshly advanced level twenty-nine soul power stabilize under its effects.
A portion of the medicinal energy even spread through his limbs and bones, solidifying his foundation.
It could be said that a single Vital Energy Pill saved Wang Chen at least three days of arduous cultivation.
This was precisely why, despite being born with level nine innate soul power, he was able to reach level twenty-nine by the age of eleven.
And that was without using any pills that might cause unstable soul power or harm future potential—otherwise, his soul power would be even higher.
Of course, a pill with such effects was far from cheap. On the market, a single Vital Energy Pill was worth five thousand gold soul coins.
Without the backing of a major power, ordinary soul engineers simply couldn't afford them.
In truth, even the Wang family couldn't be considered a truly top-tier clan. Families like the Hongchen family or the imperial bloodline had access to even better pills, and their cultivation speed was terrifyingly fast.
For instance, the Hongchen siblings, Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, had both reached the Soul King level before the age of fifteen in the original story—without sacrificing their potential. Their speed was truly shocking.
Even Shrek Academy, which always looked down on the Sun Moon Empire's pill-aided cultivation, wasn't above using their own pills—like the Profound Water Pill and Spirit Ascension Pill.
After all, any medicine that could strengthen one's foundation and speed up cultivation—who wouldn't take it?
After consuming the Vital Energy Pill and finishing his cultivation, Wang Chen stood up, stretching his slightly numb legs and waist.
Then, he retrieved from his sapphire soul tool ring a fist-sized, jade-like piece of rare metal and a finely crafted carving knife.
He began his daily essential practice—core array inscription.
In soul engineer evaluations, the most important test was precisely the inscription of a core array.
A soul engineer's level was determined by the highest-grade core array they could inscribe, provided their cultivation met the requirement.
Wang Chen's fingers moved with dexterity and confidence.
The carving knife made a faint shhh-shhh sound as it met the rare metal.
Each line was engraved with perfect precision.
His wrist turned lightly, and the knife in his hand seemed almost alive.
As graceful strokes appeared one after another on the rare metal, they resembled the first rays of dawn breaking through darkness.
With fine metal shavings falling like dust, the metal began to seem alive. Within its once-chaotic interior, a microcosmic universe slowly took form, its intricate patterns emerging under the touch of the blade.
With one clean final turn, all the lines connected—the core array was complete.
Wang Chen placed the carved metal in his right palm and gently infused soul power into it.
Immediately, the rare metal emitted a dazzling golden glow. A crimson halo rose into the air, forming a three-foot column of light.
Clearly, the core array inscription was a complete success. The soul power flowed smoothly through it, and it had successfully transformed the nature of Wang Chen's soul energy.
All that remained was to embed this core array into a suitable soul tool shell, and it would become a fully functional soul tool.
Wang Chen glanced at the finished Level 3 Core Array in his hand, then casually stored it—along with the carving knife—back into his sapphire soul tool ring.
He planned to sell them all at Treasure Pavilion (Baibaolou) once he had accumulated enough, to earn some extra money.
On his path as a soul engineer, thanks to the Black Book—his golden cheat—Wang Chen's progress was astonishingly fast.
As long as he observed another soul engineer crafting a soul tool, he could record that tool's construction process into the Black Book.
All of that engineer's carving methods and techniques used during creation would also be recorded.
Then, through the Black Book, Wang Chen could quickly master them himself.
All that remained was hands-on practice—to build muscle memory.