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As the elder replayed Su Wen's "omnipresence" in his mind, he felt a chill run down his spine. There hadn't been a single trace of mental energy fluctuation. Instead, he realized there had been a different, far more subtle ripple.
Suddenly, a surge of power erupted from Su Wen. It washed over the elder—not with any intent to harm, but with enough clarity to make the old man's face drain of color.
"Spatial power!"
Su Wen's overt manipulation of space allowed the elder to finally identify that familiar yet elusive vibration. It really is spatial power! His control has reached such a height?
Hiss—
In that case, setting aside absolute combat strength and focusing purely on survivability, Su Wen truly did possess the qualifications for a serious negotiation.
Seeing the elder's expression, Su Wen nodded in satisfaction. The elder, meanwhile, felt a metaphorical toothache. He realized Su Wen wasn't just posturing. He had overlooked a critical detail from the very beginning: the nature of this illusion.
Sensing with his mental strength again, he realized this wasn't just an "environment" where he couldn't find a weak point due to spatial distortion. This was a Phantom Space—a virtual world carved out by the fusion of spatial power and illusion!
To one's consciousness, this world was real. This meant that if Su Wen desired, he could trap their mental essence within this realm indefinitely. Unless they were willing to permanently lose that portion of their spirit—effectively crippling their mental foundation to force their consciousness back to their bodies—they were stuck.
The faces of the three Imperial representatives shifted from wariness to genuine alarm. They had thought Su Wen was surrounded in their territory; now it appeared the three of them were the ones surrounded by Su Wen. As for the defenses outside the building? To someone as proficient in space as Su Wen, they were little more than decorations.
"There is no need for alarm," Su Wen noted, sensing their agitation. "Since I have come to your door, I am naturally seeking cooperation. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered coming to the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Treasures."
If he wanted a fight, he would have bypassed the shop and gone straight for the palace. With his spatial mastery, assassinating the Crown Prince would be trivial. Assassinating the Emperor? Also feasible.
The elder took a deep breath, looking at Su Wen and re-evaluating the young man. He was brimming with vitality—more so than even the Crown Prince. The elder froze, realizing Su Wen's aura wasn't that of a middle-aged man or even a young adult. It was the vibrant, burgeoning energy of a youth!
A teenage aura! This... impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Su Wen ignored the elder's spiraling thoughts. "Senior, I have come for two things: a partnership, and a partnership."
He cut straight to the chase. "I intend to establish a new Sacred Land here on the Sun Moon Continent."
"This, naturally, requires the Imperial Family's consent. Please convey my intent to His Majesty. I believe he will consider it carefully."
"As for the second partnership: the revolution of Soul Tools. Once my Sacred Land is established, I will gather the world's engineers to research a new system. If the Imperial Family wishes to join, we have a basis for cooperation."
The elder's brow was knit so tightly it looked like a knot. He could no longer fathom Su Wen's intent. On the eve of a continent-wide war between the Throne and the Cult, this man walks in and says he wants to build another Sacred Land? Was he joking?
Looking at Su Wen's face, the elder saw no trace of a jest.
"A Sacred Land... do you have any idea how difficult that is to establish? Do you know what a Sacred Land represents to an Empire? To a Royal Family?"
Previously, the Imperial Family might have tolerated such a thing. But now, with the Cult pushing them to the brink, the Throne had realized the poison that a Sacred Land could be to a centralized power. They were currently trying to tear down one Sacred Land; why would they allow another to be built?
Su Wen wasn't surprised by the reaction. In fact, he found the elder's lack of an outright, screaming rejection to be a sign of great rationality.
"You will agree," Su Wen said with a faint smile.
With a wave of his hand, he pulled the three Title Douluos into the Academic Realm. And he didn't stop there—he pulled every single soul master within the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Treasures in with them.
"Foreigners?"
Lin Dong looked at the elder and his companions, offering a calm smile. Since Su Wen had gone abroad, soul masters from outside the main continent entering the Academic Realm had become a regular occurrence.
As direct disciples of the Academy, the students had organized a "Newcomer Reception Project" with Su Wen's permission. By the time Su Wen reached the Sun Moon Continent, the project was quite polished. Every time Su Wen "invited" a large group, he dropped them into this specific zone where students would act as guides, introducing the wonders of the Academic Realm to the "newcomers."
Today, it was Lin Dong's turn to play host. It had been over three years since Su Wen brought him into the Academy. Lin Dong was now ten years old, and his cultivation had finally begun to catch up.
At the same age, Ye Luochen had become a Soul Master at six. At eight, Lin Dong had just reached Rank 10, while Ye Luochen was already approaching his second ring. Lin Dong had stayed at Rank 10 for nearly a year before finally absorbing his first ring—a Thousand-Year first ring!
The moment he broke through, his soul power surged straight to Rank 14, and his martial soul, the Five Elements Spear, leaped from the ranks of "trash souls" to the threshold of a high-level martial soul. According to the Theory of Martial Soul Growth, the weaker the origin and the earlier the stage, the greater the potential for evolutionary transformation.
With his soul quality improved, Lin Dong's cultivation speed skyrocketed. Previously, he had relied on sheer willpower and a grueling regimen of internal and external arts to bridge the gap in talent. Now that his talent matched his effort, his progress was meteoric.
After breaking through to become a Soul Master, Lin Dong reached Rank 20 in just over a year and began accumulating "Source Soul Power." At this point, Ye Luochen was only at Rank 25.
Rank 25 at age ten was already a record-breaking pace for the Douluo Continent, especially since Su Wen's own explosive growth didn't start until after eleven. Yet, Ye Luochen was on the verge of being overtaken by Lin Dong.
Ye Luochen was perhaps the person most acutely aware of the pressure Lin Dong exerted. Lin Dong—the head of the Academy's Disciplinary Department students!
"Foreigners?"
The elder murmured the word, surprised by Lin Dong's choice of address. Foreigners...
Even in the Academic Realm, they possessed phantom bodies and could use their mental strength. The elder's perception swept over Lin Dong, instantly gauging his rank.
Rank 20! And looking at his age, he was only ten!
Hiss—
Where on earth are we?
(End of Chapter)