With Wu Ling's shout, everyone in the Sun Moon Royal Soulcraft Academy who heard him froze in shock. Russell Sterling was not some ordinary man. He was the current master of Mingde Hall.
In this era, the Holy Spirit Church had not yet surfaced. The three great powers of the world were Shrek Academy, the Body Sect, and Mingde Hall. Russell Sterling was only a level 94 Titled Sage, but in terms of status, he stood on the same level as Shrek's Mu En and the Body Sect's Du Busi. Compared to those two, Russell was even more famous in public circles.
For Wu Ling to shout Russell Sterling's name from outside the academy was no different from standing outside Spirit Hall in Spirit City and shouting for Bibi Dong.
Deep inside Mingde Hall, Russell Sterling was performing a delicate operation when that shout cut across his concentration. He stared at the metal filament that had snapped in half between his fingers. After a brief pause, fury surged across his face.
He had failed before, of course. But after becoming the master of Mingde Hall, how many years had it been since someone else's interruption had caused him to fail?
"Who? Who was it?"
Russell roared. A light flared across his back. It was a ninth-grade soulcraft device he had made for himself. Combined with his own cultivation as a Titled Sage, it sent him out of the room at extreme speed toward the source of the voice.
At the same time, several teaching directors and instructors followed the sound and flew toward the academy gate.
When Russell arrived above the gate, more than a dozen instructors were already there, facing three people below.
Russell ignored the two children. His attention locked onto the figure that looked as if it were wearing armor. Shock flashed through his eyes as he muttered, "A Venerate-level presence."
Then that shock turned into anger.
"Hmph. So what if he is Venerate-level? He came to the capital of the Sun Moon Empire and caused trouble at Mingde Hall. Even if a Ruler came in person, he would still owe me an explanation."
Once Russell landed, the surrounding instructors acted as if they had found their backbone. The Sun Moon Royal Soulcraft Academy emphasized soulcraft devices, so aside from Russell and a few teaching directors, most instructors were Spirit Emperors or below. Even Russell himself was only a level 94 Titled Sage. The pressure they felt after sensing a Venerate-level presence had been enormous. Several of them wished they could go back a few minutes, slap themselves, and ask why they had not simply stayed quiet and continued making soulcraft devices instead of rushing out to play hero.
Russell stared at the Dragon Frame for several more seconds. A ridiculous idea surfaced in his mind, only for him to reject it a moment later. Not even he could create a humanoid soulcraft device. Yet after thinking it over again and again, he confirmed that he had never seen this person before.
He organized his words and asked, "Your Excellency seems unfamiliar. May I ask which senior has chosen to come out of seclusion? What business brings you to me in such a conspicuous fashion?"
"Heh. So you are Russell Sterling?"
Russell followed the voice and realized the speaker was not the Venerate-level figure. It was the young man standing in the leading position.
The young man was handsome and wore a black coat trimmed in gold. His face carried a proud expression, and every movement gave off a strange aura. One glance was enough to see that he was either born to high status or raised in extreme wealth.
"That is correct. May I ask who you are, young sir?"
Wu Ling gave Russell a casual glance and said arrogantly, "You are supposed to be the strongest soulcraft engineer on this continent? You cannot even tell who is master and who is servant. You do not seem that impressive."
As he spoke, Wu Ling patted the Dragon Frame on the chest.
When Russell heard Wu Ling's first words, surprise flashed across his face, but he remained half skeptical. From Wu Ling's phrasing, he seemed to come from another continent. To the native people of the Sun Moon Continent, which had already collided with Soul Land, it was not unbelievable that other continents existed across the endless sea. What was strange was that someone from one of them had suddenly appeared in front of him and come directly to him.
All those doubts vanished with the sound Wu Ling produced by patting the Dragon Frame's chest.
"A human-shaped soulcraft device!"
Even from sound alone, Russell dared to guarantee with the soulcraft knowledge he had spent his life learning that this Venerate-level being was absolutely a human-shaped soulcraft device.
He was not the only one. Almost every instructor and director present heard something from that sound. Yet the truth was so difficult to imagine that they instinctively avoided the correct answer. Only Russell trusted his own judgment without wavering.
"You can confirm that from sound alone. That confidence is not bad." Wu Ling glanced around. "So, are you planning to receive your guests here?"
Russell's face flushed with excitement. He immediately recovered, waved the instructors away, ordered a teaching director to prepare a room, and personally came to Wu Ling's side.
"Young sir, please come inside. I will introduce our academy to you myself."
Even as he spoke, Russell's eyes kept drifting toward the Dragon Frame.
Even after seeing only the surface of the Dragon Frame, Russell was certain this humanoid soulcraft device had been made using technology he had never heard of. Its technical foundation could not have been completed overnight. It had to be the result of long accumulated development. In other words, behind the Dragon Frame, or behind Wu Ling, there had to be a complete manufacturing system.
At this point, even if Wu Ling claimed he was from another world rather than another continent, Russell would not dare say it was completely impossible.
"Good. Let me see how far the school run by the continent's number one soulcraft engineer can go."
Russell was not offended by Wu Ling's arrogance. In his mind, he had already labeled Wu Ling as something like a prince from another continent. Add in the technology Wu Ling carried, technology that might let Russell take another step forward, and humility would have seemed more suspicious than arrogance.
Behind them, Clara Vale looked at Wu Ling with admiration. This was the new lesson Wu Ling had just taught her: "Three sentences to make a top continental powerhouse bow and scrape before me." Crossed out. The real lesson was "establishing a persona."
Wu Ling had taught Clara that when facing strangers, one had to learn how to protect oneself. A constructed persona could play an extremely important role in that process.
Building such a persona did not require rigidly piling up time and evidence. With a little guidance and a few polished details, outsiders would complete the image on their own through imagination.
For example, the persona Wu Ling had established right now was simple: a genius from another continent.