"As members of the Spirit Pagoda, you must keep in mind: never become lovesick fools. We must remember why Spirit Hall fell. Spirit Hall was destroyed not for a lack of strength, but because its ranks produced a shocking number of ridiculous lovesick fools.
"If any future junior becomes lovesick and falls madly in love with someone from another faction, and their elders prove unable to cure them, it is recommended that they be handed over to the Soul Beasts for physical therapy! Furthermore, such individuals are strictly forbidden from attaining high rank in the Spirit Pagoda!"
Hua Yichen stood at the podium. After reciting the text word for word, he set down the copy of *Admonitions of the First Pagoda Master* in his hand and looked toward Huo Yuhao, who was seated below.
"Yuhao, do you understand? In just a few days, you'll be entering the academy. If you take a liking to a girl, you must stay rational. Don't go pouring out your heart and soul for her. Or better yet, you can pull her directly into the Spirit Pagoda. Otherwise, no matter how gifted you are, you'll never have the chance to rise through the ranks.
"You might not understand, but the Soul Beasts value the Spirit Pagoda far more than most people do, terrified that we might follow in the footsteps of Spirit Hall. They truly will rely on physical therapy to beat clarity and reason back into our juniors. Some might harbor grievances against them for it, but so long as no permanent harm is done, the vast majority still support it."
At this point, Hua Yichen switched to a sound transmission:
"One of our current Deputy Pagoda Masters, the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, and her younger sister both fancied the Skyreaching Douluo in their youth. Her sister nearly fell and became an Evil Soul Master over it.
"Fortunately, thanks to the admonitions of the first Pagoda Master, the Spirit Pagoda has always paid close attention to such matters. The head of the Leng Clan caught wind of the warning signs in time, detained the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo's sister on the spot, and in a fit of rage handed her over to the Snow Empress to spend ten years in the Extreme North. What happened during that time, nobody knows.
"When she finally emerged, she and the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo embraced and wept bitterly. She seemed to have returned to normal, and never again spoke of being in love with the Skyreaching Douluo. Even so, she was permanently disqualified from becoming part of the Spirit Pagoda's upper echelon. The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo wasn't quite that unhinged, so she became a Deputy Pagoda Master."
Huo Yuhao was speechless.
*If the original storyline still held, they probably only wept because a misunderstanding had been resolved.*
*And are you sure the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo really returned to normal? She was the lovesick fool who talked about wanting to be the Skyreaching Douluo's secret mistress—maybe she only curbed herself under this high-pressure policy...*
Huo Yuhao's thoughts drifted for a moment before snapping back to the most critical point.
Then again, while he understood the principles behind it all, could someone please tell him what was going on with the title of that book? *His* admonitions?
He had never left behind any book like that, let alone told anyone to hand people over to Soul Beasts for punishment...
"Tianmeng, Ice Empress, I didn't leave any admonitions, did I?"
The Ice Empress replied, "Yuhao, have you forgotten? This is an adapted—or rather upgraded—version of what you taught Su Tong back then. The part about the fall of Spirit Hall was your exact words."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
*Pardon me, now I remember.*
Worried that the Spirit Pagoda might collapse in its second generation, he had held Su Tong to quite high standards, thoroughly lecturing and correcting her mindset. After all, looking across the major factions in the original Douluo story, how many of their leaders *weren't* lovesick fools? This was Romance Continent, after all...
He just hadn't expected Su Tong to compile what he had said into formal admonitions, let alone that they would be handed down through the generations and end up being taught right back to him.
Was this... the wheel of karma turning, sparing no one?
Utterly absurd.
Tianmeng piped up, sounding somewhat uncertain: "As for handing people over to the Soul Beasts... that was probably something later Spirit Pagoda elders cooked up to scare the kids, right? When would the Snow Empress or Di Tian ever have the time to babysit a bunch of juniors? It must just be that the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo's sister was too unhinged and walked right into the crosshairs."
With ancestral teachings already in place, she had fallen in love to the point of almost turning into an Evil Soul Master. If it were him, he would have tossed her to the Soul Beasts for a harsh drilling too!
Though feeling thoroughly strange inside, Huo Yuhao showed none of it on his face. He simply looked at Hua Yichen. "Teacher Hua, could I take a look at that book?"
"It was prepared for you anyway. Only core disciples of the Spirit Pagoda are permitted to read this, as ordinary people would find some of the ideas inside rather unorthodox."
Hua Yichen handed it over. Huo Yuhao flipped through the pages and found that they truly were modified versions of his own words. Aside from being speechless, he felt a twinge of nostalgia.
*That girl Su Tong... if there's ever a chance, I'll have to have a good talk with her.*
Having thoroughly impressed upon Huo Yuhao how terrible it was to become a lovesick fool, Hua Yichen planned to take him to the training grounds to instruct him in practical combat.
Over the past three years, he had come to realize that he never needed to worry about Huo Yuhao's cultivation or his absorption of knowledge; the boy learned remarkably fast.
Strictly speaking, he didn't need practical combat instruction either, but Hua Yichen felt that if he didn't show off a bit, he would lose face as a teacher.
Watching Huo Yuhao calmly shift and dodge beneath his suppressed-strength attacks, Hua Yichen marveled inwardly.
Nine years old. After consuming the Soul Ascension Pill, his soul power had reached the peak of rank thirty-two, and his spiritual power had even attained the Spirit Sea Realm. Hua Yichen barely knew how to report this to his superiors.
And as for the Junior Genius Ranking he had mentioned before, where should he place Huo Yuhao?
The boy was still young, and some Soul Masters progressed by leaps and bounds early on only to stall completely later. While Hua Yichen was confident Huo Yuhao wouldn't suffer such a fate, he still couldn't just place him too far near the top.
He would pick a spot somewhere in the top ten.
"Pagoda Master, President Li has come to visit!"
Just then, a staff member knocked on the door and reported.
"What is he doing here?" Hua Yichen was startled for a moment before realizing what it was about, glancing at Huo Yuhao.
Naturally. Rank three in two sub-professions—it was no surprise that Li Yucheng couldn't sit still.
...
The top-floor reception room of the Spirit Pagoda was simple yet comfortable. A dark brown wooden conference table sat in the center, flanked by off-white two-seater sofas. Li Yucheng was seated on one of them.
"Pagoda Master Hua, where is Huo Yuhao's sub-profession teacher?"
Seeing Hua Yichen enter the reception room, Li Yucheng stood up and asked with evident urgency, "I want to meet him. How on earth is he teaching Huo Yuhao? How could he..."
Huo Yuhao stepped out from behind Hua Yichen, cutting Li Yucheng's words short. The man's expression turned slightly awkward, his eyes darting away.
Badmouthing someone's teacher right in front of the student was likely to leave a poor first impression.
Hua Yichen smiled, diffusing the awkward tension, and sat down opposite Li Yucheng alongside Huo Yuhao.
"Yuhao is self-taught. He has no teacher for his sub-professions... If you must say so, every Mecha Crafter and Mecha Designer in this Spirit Pagoda is his teacher."
Li Yucheng raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of vindication.
He knew it. Who in their right mind wouldn't pamper a heaven-sent genius and let him squander his talent like that?
Yet that meant it was Huo Yuhao's own decision...
Li Yucheng looked at Huo Yuhao with mixed emotions, speaking with utter solemnity: "I am Li Yucheng, President of the East Sea City Mecha Master Association and an eighth-rank Mecha Crafter. Huo Yuhao, I have seen your work many times. I must give you a piece of advice: too much is as bad as too little. Only by focusing on a single point can you reach the pinnacle!"
"Thank you for your concern, but I am merely delving deeper into the areas I excel at. I am not wasting my talent," Huo Yuhao replied, shaking his head.
He had always known clearly what his strengths were.
"You wish to walk the path of the Soul Engineers from ten thousand years ago, don't you? But you must understand that the present is no longer like the past."
Hearing this, Li Yucheng sighed. "In the past, Soul Engineers could manage forging, design, crafting, maintenance, and even combat all at once. But today, the body of knowledge in each field has grown far too vast. If you try to walk that path... it is simply too difficult."
To people of the present day, the Soul Engineers of ten thousand years ago seemed like utter monsters—insanely competitive workaholics who ground themselves to the bone.
Doing so much all by oneself—didn't they get tired?
A pack of relentless overachievers. No wonder they had suppressed the Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek back then...
"I only wish to complete a Soul Tool that truly belongs to me."
Huo Yuhao spoke a name that took both Hua Yichen and Li Yucheng by surprise.
"Silver Moon Douluo—have you heard of him, President Li?"
...
"I never thought that in the end, it would be Your Eminence Lingbing who came to see me. As the Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda, even if you are not overwhelmed with ten thousand affairs a day, you hardly have much free time, do you? Why bother coming to witness an old man's end?"
An aged voice tinged with self-deprecation drifted from the wide sickbed. The Silver Moon Douluo, once full of vigor and pride, had now reached his twilight years.
Standing in the shadows of the corner, Huo Yuhao looked on with mixed feelings.
"Elder Kong, the Life Soul Tool... will you not pass it down?"
"My descendants don't possess Your Eminence Lingbing's talent; they cannot do it."
Kong Deming shook his head, his clouded eyes resting on Huo Yuhao.
Had this youth dedicated the time he spent on martial soul cultivation to Soul Tools instead, he might have gone even further than Kong Deming himself.
Yet even after dividing his focus among other pursuits, over time he had still become the only Soul Engineer in this world capable of discussing the Dao with him on equal footing. If only he had joined the Sun Moon Empire back then... what a true pity.
Kong Deming sighed. "Besides, the war is over, and the empire was victorious. Future Soul Engineers will have no enemies. They will only delve into whatever specific fields they fancy, obsessing over research.
"In the end, the title of Soul Engineer will likely become nothing more than a synonym for 'researcher.' Everyone will specialize in their own niche, but none will be as well-rounded as we are today.
"And for a Life Soul Tool to be truly attuned to its bearer, it cannot be made through the hands of another. At the very least, both design and crafting must be done by oneself. I can already foresee the day when such Soul Tools fade away. On the other hand, the prototype Battle Armor you've developed is far more likely to flourish."
Huo Yuhao looked at Kong Deming and said in a low voice, "Then how about I inherit it?"
Kong Deming froze.
Huo Yuhao then smiled. "In... the name of the Spirit Pagoda!"
Kong Deming fell silent for a long moment before bursting into hearty laughter. "Good! Then I leave it to you!"
Chapter 21