đź’– If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon! I'm offering advanced chapters there as a thank-you to readers.
--------------------
Check out advanced chapters on : patreon.com/Veni_V
---------------
Inside Kong Mingan's private room, which was located at the main headquarters of the Mingmeng Chamber of Commerce, Ju Zi stood quietly to the side. She had just finished giving her report about the recent work between the Chamber of Commerce and the Tianhun Empire.
They were working together to help people use the new soul points system and were also starting a small test program for artificial spirit rings. Her eyes stayed on Kong Mingan with a soft and gentle look.
Kong Mingan was leaning against the side of a large wooden desk. He kept his eyes down while he slowly read the report she had given him. Because this was a rare time for them to be alone, Ju Zi could not help but watch him more closely than usual. She knew the young man very well, so she quickly noticed that something was a little bit different about him today.
The usual kind and calm look in his eyes was still there, but she felt a small change in his energy. There was a new kind of steady feeling about him, like he had gained more experience after something big happened.
She even thought he had the aura of a married man. Ju Zi narrowed her eyes as she tried to understand this very small change. Her female intuition told her that something must have happened while he was away.
She started thinking about who might be responsible for this change. Could it be Miss Meng or that young Princess? She shook her head because she knew the President cared a lot about age. Those two girls were still a year or two away from being adults, so it probably was not them. Then she thought about Miss Xue.
That was very possible, but Miss Xue had not been around lately. If something had really happened between them, she would not have left so quickly. Also, Miss Bing was always around, and it was unlikely both of them were involved at the same time.
Finally, she thought about Miss Bing. She decided this was very unlikely too. Miss Bing had a very specific personality and she definitely did not have the time for romance right now. Ju Zi looked over at the corner of the room. A very large ice cocoon stood there. It was taller than a person and it gave off a very strong cold air.
This cold air made the temperature in the whole room drop. If a person looked very closely at the ice, they could see a small shape that looked like a person inside. Ju Zi stopped thinking about Miss Bing after seeing that. She wondered who else it could be as she stayed lost in her thoughts.
Right next to her, Kong Mingan finished reading the pages. He closed the report slowly and said, "We will follow this plan for now. The Tianhun Empire will be the first place where we sell the artificial spirit rings and the new Soul Skill Modules. In other places, we will focus on teaching people about the soul points system first. We also need to finish building the network that collects spirit power."
Ju Zi snapped out of her thoughts and stood up straight. She nodded her head with a lot of respect and said, "I understand, President. We will start right away."
Kong Mingan nodded back at her. He then asked, "How are things going with Shrek Academy? Have they been talking to us?"
Ju Zi answered quickly, "The contact is going well. Shrek Academy told everyone that Zhang Lexuan will be the next Master of the Sea God Pavilion. She started taking control of things at Shrek immediately.
Because of this, Shrek is not fighting against the Chamber of Commerce as much as they used to. About two weeks ago, we even made a deal with them. We are going to help them build more dorms for new students and fix their soul tool buildings."
She stopped talking for a second. Her eyes moved quickly because she noticed something about the name she just said. Zhang Lexuan? She remembered that the President had asked for information about her before. On paper, she was also the President's sister from the same clan. Ju Zi narrowed her eyes again, thinking about this connection.
Kong Mingan did not see the look on Ju Zi's face. He just nodded and said, "That is good to hear. If you have any problems later, you can talk to Zhang Lexuan directly. She is like our partner on the inside. The Chamber of Commerce should give her support when she needs it. Also, if we need something, you can ask her to make Shrek help us."
"Yes, sir," Ju Zi said as she lowered her head. A very small smile appeared on her face, but she kept her voice calm. "I understand. I will make sure to have a very long talk with her when we meet."
Kong Mingan looked at Ju Zi because her voice sounded a little strange to him. He wondered why she sounded that way, but he did not ask. A moment later, Ju Zi bowed to him and walked out of the room.
Once she was gone, Kong Mingan walked over to the giant ice cocoon. He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed. He was acting as a Protector for the Ice Emperor while she was changing her form. He did not want anything to disturb her.
However, he did not just sit there doing nothing. He checked the date in his head and then sent a small part of his mind to check on Tang San. He used the Destruction God Trial that was on Tang San to see what was happening.
In the vision, he saw Tang San lying on a street corner. He looked like a dirty, dead dog. He was very messy and looked miserable. Kong Mingan moved his eyebrow up a little bit. He then checked how the god test was going. "He is doing okay. He has already reached the Fourth Test," Kong Mingan thought to himself.
He was a little surprised that Tang San was moving so fast. He shook his head. He was not sure if this version of Tang San knew the truth about the rewards from the god test. Kong Mingan had already figured out what was really happening. The Tang San from the God Realm was using a connection between them.
There was a Divine Thought from the God Realm Tang San on this version of Tang San. By using the Sea Gods Divine Test, the God Realm Tang San was slowly taking away the power from the Asura God seat. This power usually affects the mind, so he was moving it onto this younger Tang San.
Right now, the amount of Asura God power being put into the younger Tang San was very small. But Kong Mingan knew this was only the start. As they got to the later parts of the test, the God Realm Tang San would put more and more Asura God power into the boy. Eventually, the younger Tang San would just be a tool used to hold all that power.
It was also likely that the older Tang San had other ways to control the boy, like using the god test as a rope to pull him. Kong Mingan thought that this was exactly the kind of thing Tang San would do.
This was actually good news for Kong Mingan. A version of Tang San that carried the Sea God's power and the Asura God's power was a very valuable thing to find. He could use this version of Tang San to make the real Sea God and Asura God weaker.
Even just having a sample of the Asura God power was worth a lot. He could use it to help his own project, the "star ring: Ascending Divine Steps," by seeing how spirit power changes at that level.
After thinking for a while, Kong Mingan spoke in a very quiet voice. "It is a shame I cannot change the Sea Gods Divine Test myself. There is not much I can do to interfere. If I could get some of the Sea God power or a piece of Tang San's Divine Thought, I could really cause trouble for the Tang San in the God Realm."
He was talking to himself, but he was also talking to any hidden powers that might be listening. He had stated what he wanted, and now he would wait to see if anything happened. He closed his eyes and started working on the computer code for his "lingshu protocol."
He had only been working for a short time when he heard a sharp sound. It came from the giant ice cocoon next to him. Kong Mingan stopped what he was doing and looked up. He saw a crack appear on the ice.
The crack started to grow very fast across the whole surface. Very pure ice energy and a strong feeling of new life came out from the cracks. Suddenly, the ice cocoon broke into many pieces. A small person jumped out from the middle.
Kong Mingan reached out his arms to catch her, but the small girl jumped right into his arms on her own. He felt her cold skin against him as he held her. He looked down into her eyes. They were golden and looked even brighter than they did before.
The Ice Emperor looked at him very closely. She moved her lips and said, "Hey, look at me. I am a human now."