A bunch of boring political matters.
"At six o'clock this afternoon, summon all Ninth-Level Soul Engineers of the Empire and Eight-Ring Soul Instructors who believe they have the potential to reach Level Nine to Mingde Hall for a meeting. This concerns your future achievements in spirit tools and the future of the Empire." After announcing the end of the court session, An Zhen suddenly spoke, his dark eyes looking down at the ministers who were showing puzzled expressions. "Remember to bring the things you usually use when researching spirit tools, such as rare metals and unfinished blueprints."
An Zhen felt that the Douluo Continent was a bit strange.
Why is technology developing so slowly?
Unlike cultivation worlds, where spirit tools existed on the Douluo Continent tens of thousands of years ago, and with the added element of fantasy, they were still playing on land even during the Dragon King Legend era. Even if they didn't prioritize technology, they shouldn't have been this slow.
Spirit tool.
At this stage, An Zhen felt that this thing wouldn't be of much help in becoming a god. But becoming a god is just a major goal, not the ultimate goal. Moreover, as someone who once lived in the technological age, An Zhen had some expectations for technology, and technology also had its own unique brilliance.
Of course, this was a casual move made without affecting his cultivation.
An Zhen doesn't reject technology and even likes it, but he understands that his own strength is the most important thing.
"Yes." A respectful voice rang out.
An Zhen left with the three women.
To mimic, to disguise one's appearance.
Visit Mingdu.
"Your Majesty, please lead the way." An Zhen gently pinched Xu Tianzhen's soft cheek.
Mingdu is very large. An Zhen rarely went out before and was only familiar with one area. This once very lively little princess probably knows more than he does.
The girl, who had been lost in thought, suddenly looked up with a shy blush. Her bright eyes held a hint of panic, and Xu Tianzhen instinctively took a few steps back.
"What's wrong?" An Zhen asked, puzzled. It wasn't the first time she had pinched him. At first, she would just glare at him fiercely, but later she would ignore him and not give him any reaction. Why was she suddenly reacting so strongly today?
An Zhen recalled Xu Tianzhen's absent-minded performance in court, "I've been a bit distracted this morning, what went wrong with my cultivation?"
Logically, this situation shouldn't occur.
With the most crucial Spirit essence advancement completed, the rest will proceed smoothly.
As he spoke, An Zhen reached out and grabbed Xu Tianzhen's wrist.
There was no dodge, or rather, there was no time to dodge.
A wisp mixed with An Zhen The mental force's spiritual power entered Xu Tianzhen's body.
"Hmm." A blush crept up Xu Tianzhen's fair neck. Recalling what happened this morning, when her gaze fell on An Zhen, she quickly looked away just as the other was about to look at her.
Something's not right.
' Xu Tianzhen, something's wrong with you!'
'You really can't have fallen for this jerk who ruined your house, can you?'
Xu Tianzhen felt he couldn't do it.
But last night, she actually fell asleep in this bad man's arms, even though she had planned to stay up all night!
And he slept exceptionally soundly that night.
Why?
Xu Tianzhen's little head was filled with big questions.
The tall, stunning blonde girl watched An Zhen and Xu Tianzhen's intimacy quietly from the side. An Qiuer's mouth puffed out, like a little hamster with its mouth stuffed full. Although she knew that this guy was just her uncle's toy, she still felt a little unhappy, as if someone had taken a share of what belonged to her.
The next moment, An Qiuer took two or three steps forward, her fair arms tightly embracing An Zhen's right arm, her long, radiant golden hair cascading over An Zhen's shoulders, and half of her body leaning against An Zhen.
An Qiuer: (*︾▽︾)
Feels so good~
"There's nothing wrong." An Zhen finished the examination and found nothing wrong; he was in good health. So where was the problem?
"It's all your fault!" Xu Tianzhen said sternly.
"It gave me nightmares all night."
Well, she didn't sleep soundly in this guy's arms at all.
"No way." An Zhen thought there shouldn't have been any problems last night. Xu Tianzhen's expression at the time was like she was having a wonderful dream.
He also subtly manipulated mental force, incorporating his own feelings of happiness and relaxation into the performance.
"Anyway, that's how it is." Xu Tianzhen's gaze unconsciously fell on An Qiuer, who was holding An Zhen's right arm, and then moved to the right, landing on An Zhen's left arm.
"Da da da".
The sound of shoes hitting the ground rang out.
A figure walked past Xu Tianzhen.
Her mysterious long purple hair was tied into a neat and tidy single ponytail. A shirt and black leather pants outlined a pair of slender yet agile beautiful legs, which were worn in a pair of long boots. A purple trench coat adorned with stars concealed her figure, which resembled a ripe peach.
"Master." Zi Ji hugged An Zhen's other arm.
He glanced at Xu Tianzhen with his deep purple eyes.
Murasaki saw everything clearly from the side.
That mere human girl, Master must have spent the night with her last night.
"Hmm!"
The little hand, which had been raised to a certain height, suddenly stopped in mid-air.
"That's just how it is," Xu Tianzhen said.
As if she had transformed back into the tomboyish Princess Tianzhen, Xu Tianzhen strode forward, a look of something that could be described as either resentment or impatience flashing across her adorable face. "Let's go, let's go. Didn't we say we were going to stroll around Mingdu?"
Shopping is physically demanding.
Not only physically, but also mentally.
However, for An Zhen at this moment, it was a very pleasant experience. Physical fatigue was not a problem for him at all, as for mental fatigue, his arms were held and linked by two stunningly beautiful girls and a great beauty. The intimate contact swept away his fatigue, and the occasional soft and rounded touch on his arms was like a continuous source of energy.
There was also a very pleasing petite figure in front of me.
"This one, this one, and that one too."
Shopping.
"The desserts at this shop are pretty good." An Zhen stuffed a scoop of creamy ice cream into An Qiuer's mouth, picked it up with mental force, his arm lost in the soft embrace, showing no intention of lifting it.
The other one is for Murasaki.
" Little Tianzhen, open your mouth," An Zhen said.
A spoon controlled by mental force is holding a scoop of chocolate-flavored ice cream.
"I'll get it for myself," Xu Tianzhen refused.
The girl's eyes looked at the three people leaning intimately against each other.
Hugging and kissing in public is utterly disrespectful. Isn't anyone going to do anything about these three?
Oh, really no one can.
"Alright then." An Zhen put down the spoon. Although she really wanted to stuff it into her mouth and feed the cute little empress, they were outside after all, and she had to give the child some face.
'I said I don't want you to feed me, so you just stop?' Xu Tianzhen thought to himself with a hint of resentment as he sat alone to the side.
'No, Xu Tianzhen, what are you thinking! If he doesn't feed me, I don't want to eat either. Isn't this better? '
Continue shopping.
Food, entertainment, drinks, and other things that An Qiuer and Zi Ji found novel.
An Qiuer had never released a Star Dou Great Forest before.
Murasaki had been to the human world before, but it had been a thousand years since then, and she had gone to the Three Kingdoms of the Original Douluo Continent. This place was very different from the ones she had seen before.
An Zhen also saw a building that resembled a church, which housed a statue of him and was very crowded.
Sun and Moon Plaza.
A hundred-meter-tall statue stands there, with an angel goddess embracing him from behind; it is the image of the angel displayed during that coronation ceremony.
'In an ordinary world, this would probably be seen as a waste of resources and manpower,' An Zhen suddenly thought. However, in this world, building a 100-meter-tall metal statue without any special functions is quite simple for an Empire.
Time passed second by second.
"It's time to go back," An Zhen said.
I need to hold a meeting with those Soul Guides later.
"Mmm." An Qiuer nuzzled An Zhen contentedly, like a large golden cat. Zi Ji released her arms from her embrace.
"Actually, you just want me to spend more time with you, right?" An Zhen smiled slightly and gently stroked An Qiuer's cheek.
An Qiuer lost interest in many things she encountered today after just a glance, and instead became increasingly drawn to them.
"It's because Uncle didn't hold Qiu'er while she slept last night." An Qiuer didn't dislike being in the bedroom, but she disliked having less contact with her uncle.
"Okay, it's my fault." An Zhen reached out and rubbed An Qiuer's head.
What could he possibly say to such a beautiful girl who only had eyes for him?
Back to Mingde Hall.
The three women returned to their bedroom.
"Xiao Zhen." Jing Hongchen beckoned to An Zhen, "Everyone you asked for has arrived."
A look of curiosity appeared on Jing Hongchen's face. "Xiao Zhen, what is it you want to talk about?"
Is it related to their achievements in spirit tools?
Jing Hongchen was very curious.
Although the Hongchen Family is now smaller, it has risen to the pinnacle of the Sun Moon Empire. He replaced some of the officials he disliked on the list of newly appointed officials that An Zhen had given him, and added intimidation as well. In terms of prestige, he is certainly not as great as Kong Deming, but even that guardian deity has now become a pawn.
The pursuit of power has been put aside.
Jing Hongchen's current focus, besides looking forward to her Empire and watching her three children grow up, is on researching spirit tools.
"It's related to my Spirit. Grandpa will find out soon." An Zhen and Jing Hongchen stepped into the Soul Guidance Elevator.
The soul-guided elevator descended all the way down.
Come out.
The two entered a room.
After passing through several gates requiring extremely high access levels, we continued downwards.
Another hundred meters underground.
Walk through a passageway.
A thick, pitch-black door, half a meter in diameter, opened with a thud.
"We've arrived," Jing Hongchen said.
"Grandpa chose this location?" It was a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to An Zhen.
Aside from Jing Hongchen's personal laboratory, this is arguably the most heavily guarded and heavily defended place in Mingde Hall. Mingde Hall's most advanced technological achievements are located here, as are the several level-nine fixed-position soul-guided cannon shells it possesses.
The enormous circular laboratory is over a hundred meters in diameter, thirty meters high, and covers tens of thousands of square meters. Upon entering, the first thing that catches the eye is a gigantic metal figure, a full fifteen meters tall, with thousands of core magic arrays engraved on it. The dormant energy within is even more terrifying than that of Titled Douluo. Its chest is open, revealing a chair inside, resembling a mecha from a science fiction novel, or rather, this is a mecha itself.
"After all, what you said earlier made it sound like we should gather together to study the spirit tool," Jing Hongchen said. This environment would be ideal for multiple people to study it, but it was a bit crowded for the current number. Besides the two of them, there were already nearly fifty Soul Guides in the room, only two or three of whom originally belonged to Mingde Hall.
However, Jing Hongchen didn't care much about these people appearing in his most confidential place, Mingde Hall, because without exception, they had all signed master-servant contracts.
The arrival of the two attracted the attention of the waiting crowd.
"Lie down on the ground. If you feel uncomfortable with the metal floor, you can put something soft under your feet." An Zhen said something that puzzled everyone as he stared at them.
To be honest, everyone was puzzled by His Highness's order today. It sounded like he wanted them to work together on their research, but everyone's research direction was different. Even Kong Deming's level 10 spirit tool required different combinations each time, and it could only be put together under the leadership of the father of spirit tools.
Everyone did as instructed.
"Do not resist now. I will take your consciousness to another world," An Zhen said.
Some people's lips twitched slightly.
That sounds a bit strange.
However, they continued to do as instructed, since if the other party wanted to take their lives, it was only a matter of a single thought.
The third Spirit Ability: All living beings.
"Open your eyes, you can stand up now," An Zhen said.
Everyone did as instructed.
The Ninth-Level Soul Engineers suddenly showed some strange expressions.
There's a strange feeling, as if the world has suddenly changed, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
"The space feels a bit small," An Zhen said, looking around at the walls.
Tens of thousands of square meters is a lot, but for a group of people who are at least Eight-Ring Soul Instructors, and are still elites among the level eight, it is too small to conduct experiments.
A thought arose.
The next moment.
To everyone's astonishment.
The surrounding walls disappeared, and the metal floor turned into gravel. Sunlight, ocean waves, stars, and the bright moon adorned the sky above; everything except the various instruments inside the room had changed.
"I'll make this short."
"This is a fictional world, yet it is real," An Zhen said.
With a flick of his finger, he randomly selected an Eight-Ring Soul Instructor. To everyone's astonishment, a person who looked exactly like him appeared.
The next moment.
Completely unexpected, without even a single attack, the Eight-Ring Soul Instructor's body was severed at the waist. The intense pain caused him to look down at his body, which had somehow been cut in half. Before the surprise and pain in his eyes could fully surface, with a "bang," the two halves of his corpse exploded. Flesh and blood splattered onto the Soul Guides who stood frozen in place, the pungent smell of blood filling their senses and reminding them that what they were witnessing was real.
"Ah!" A terrified voice rang out.
This came from the NPC puppet that looked exactly like the Eight-Ring Soul Instructor from before.
"I...I'm not dead?!" After a brief moment of panic, the Eight-Ring Soul Instructor, with his exceptional mental fortitude, suddenly sensed something was wrong. His body was intact, but the blood and flesh on his colleagues around him reminded him that what had just happened was true.