Chapter 9: The Hongchen Siblings. In the half year that followed, Xu Tianhao remained in the imperial palace to cultivate, and Kong Deming moved directly into Haoyu Palace to accompany his obedient disciple as he grew.
However, since Kong Deming had decided to come out of seclusion, he would not just stay by Xu Tianhao's side.
In addition to guiding Xu Tianhao's cultivation, Kong Deming had many other matters to attend to.
Besides the several spirit tools he was currently researching, he now also held important positions such as the Chief High Priest of Mingde Hall and Chief Research Consultant of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
His attainments in the field of spirit tools were such that even the current Hall Master of Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen, and the Dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Ye Yulin, had to respectfully call him teacher.
With him coming out of seclusion to oversee things, it undoubtedly put both bigwigs, Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin, more at ease.
They would visit Kong Deming whenever they had time, whether there was a matter or not, to ask for advice on questions regarding the field of spirit tools.
After several months of back and forth, Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin also became familiar with Xu Tianhao.
Besides his status as the Sixth Prince, Xu Tianhao was also a gifted Spirit Master and Soul Engineer!
Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin were basically focused solely on the development of the Empire and research in the field of spirit tools; they had never considered the issue of picking a side.
Now that they were close to the Sixth Prince, they were undoubtedly standing on the side of the Crown Prince, Xu Tianran.
Why the side of the Crown Prince, Xu Tianran? Because Xu Tianhao and Xu Tianran were born of the same mother, and the two brothers had been very close since childhood.
Within the Sun Moon Royal Family, there was basically an unwritten rule: siblings born of the same mother basically never experienced situations of mutual jealousy or infighting.
Now that the Crown Prince, Xu Tianran, had dealt with the most competitive second and third brothers, his position as Crown Prince was incomparably stable.
Therefore, even if Jing Hongchen and Ye Yulin were picking a side now, it actually didn't matter; after all, the factional struggle was basically over.
As long as they served the Crown Prince well, their future would basically be boundless.
It was precisely because they were in contact more often that Xu Tianhao began to consider his own future.
Even if he and his brother Xu Tianran were powerful, they were still just two people.
Apart from the forces of the Empire, a team of talented followers was naturally indispensable.
There were two geniuses of the same age as Xu Tianhao in the Hongchen family, both of whom were grandchildren of Jing Hongchen.
These two were also one of the most regrettable pairs of siblings in the original work: Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
Their talent could be said to be top-tier; even if placed in the three great Empires of the original Douluo Continent, they would still be absolute geniuses.
It was just a pity that in the original work, in order to highlight the protagonist, these two geniuses were forcibly turned into consumables.
Now that Xu Tianhao had come to this World and was the Sixth Prince of the Sun Moon Empire, he would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen again.
Therefore, relying on his teacher Kong Deming's connections, Xu Tianhao quickly pulled The Hongchen Siblings to his side.
Currently, both Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were nine years old; one was level 21, the other level 19. Their cultivation had just started, and everything was still in time.
Besides The Hongchen Siblings, his older sister Xu Tianzhen was also brought to his side by Xu Tianhao.
In the original work, Xu Tianzhen went to the Bright Capital Royal Soul Engineer Academy, but Xu Tianhao felt that there was no need for this.
He possessed the advantage of foresight and an understanding of this World far surpassing others, so having Xu Tianzhen follow him was definitely much better than her going out to wander alone.
If nurtured properly, Xu Tianzhen's talent would be completely on par with The Hongchen Siblings.
Actually, looking at it this way, their lineage's talent was truly impeccable.
The eldest brother Xu Tianran, the second sister Xu Tianzhen, and the third brother Xu Tianhao all possessed top-tier talent, far stronger than the lineages of the second and third princes.
Of course, this must be attributed to them having a good mother; after all, the father was the same, but their lineage was stronger, and the reason was obvious.
It was just that their mother passed away from a serious illness when Xu Tianhao was three years old, which was the greatest regret for the three siblings.
...
Under Xu Tianhao's arrangement, The Hongchen Siblings became reading companions for the brother and sister. Xiao Hongchen followed Xu Tianhao, and Meng Hongchen followed Xu Tianzhen.
The Hongchen Siblings were both geniuses and certainly had some arrogance; even when facing a prince and princess, they were not the least bit timid.
But whether it was Xu Tianhao or Xu Tianzhen, both conquered the siblings with their strength.
Although Xu Tianhao was only level 15, relying on the power of his first Spirit Ability and the boost from his Domain, handling Xiao Hongchen was easy.
Xu Tianzhen and Meng Hongchen were both level 19, and their strength was on par with each other.
Xu Tianzhen possessed the True Fire of the Sun, so at this stage, she really did not fear Meng Hongchen's deadly poison.
Although the True Fire of the Sun was not the Ultimate Fire, its level was infinitely close.
Facing Meng Hongchen at this stage, she could still manage not to fall behind.
Moreover, Xu Tianzhen was also a genius; once she got serious, she was no worse than Meng Hongchen.
Thus, the brother and sister directly conquered The Hongchen Siblings with their strength, and the small group was officially formed.
...
After the small group was formed, the four-person team progressed and grew together.
In the short span of half a year, the four-person team had already achieved complete tacit understanding.
Now, Xu Tianhao's spirit power level had reached level 17, and he was also a second-level Soul Engineer; his talent was so strong that even Kong Deming was amazed.
After all, from the time he awakened his Spirit until now, only a year had passed.
At only seven years old, Xu Tianhao's spirit power level had already reached level 17. At his rate of improvement, he would likely be able to break through the level 20 bottleneck by around age eight.
Xiao Hongchen was now level 24 and also a second-level Soul Engineer.
Improving by three levels of spirit power in half a year looked very exaggerated—after all, this was even more impressive than Xu Tianhao—but it was a fact.
Because his Spirit, the Three-Legged Golden Toad, was very special and could increase his strength by absorbing special metals.
This talent was definitely one of the strongest in the World; as long as he grasped the degree well and did not over-absorb and waste his potential, Xiao Hongchen would be top-tier no matter how he played it.
Moreover, the Three-Legged Golden Toad also brought Xiao Hongchen absolute metal control; it could be said that he was a natural-born Soul Engineer.
With such a top-tier Spirit and top-tier talent, it was hard to imagine that in the original work, he ruined himself.
After all, this was a ruthless person who directly absorbed a 30,000-year spirit ring as his fifth!
Of course, it was also possible that the author made The Hongchen Siblings too overpowered early on to highlight the protagonist's strength, and then later just nerfed them...
But no matter the reason, now under Xu Tianhao's guidance, he would absolutely not allow The Hongchen Siblings to repeat the mistakes of the original work.
He not only wanted to stand at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent himself, but he also wanted to take the regrets the original work had for The Hongchen Siblings and let them also stand at the pinnacle of the continent!
Besides Xu Tianhao and Xiao Hongchen, Xu Tianzhen and Meng Hongchen were both now two-ring Spirit Grandmasters, with a spirit power level of 22, and were also second-level Soul Engineers.
With the cooperation of the four-person group, even if they faced a Spirit Elder team of the same size, they would have the power to fight.
Not counting Xu Tianhao's abnormal Domain and terrifying thousand-year first Spirit Ability, The Hongchen Siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen also possessed a Spirit Fusion Skill.
The siblings' Spirit Fusion Skill had been cultivated since childhood; now that more than three years had passed, they had long since mastered the ability to use it.
Don't look at the fact that they were only in their twenties; once the Spirit Fusion Skill was released, even Xu Tianhao would have to give way.
It was enough to easily handle most Spirit Elders, which showed the power of the siblings' combined strength.
Although Xu Tianzhen didn't have any special abilities, the True Fire of the Sun was not to be underestimated either; a top-tier Spirit was no joke.