Please support the novel with your power stones, it motivates me. Thank you! Every 10 power stones = an extra chapter!! Join my Patreon for more chapters and to support me.
https://patreon.com/Absolute_Winter
The system of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy was quite different from Shrek Academy, but when it came to holidays, both were the same—
once a year, lasting one month.
A few days before the holiday arrived, Ning Tian successfully broke through to Rank 19. She had also reached the point where she could receive heavenly treasures to help her breakthrough. Once she returned to the Heaven Dou Empire, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would have a way to help her advance to Rank 20.
When Meng Hongchen heard that Bai Chen and Ning Tian would be leaving the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy during the holiday, she immediately rushed to their laboratory and tearfully tried to stop them.
"You really don't have to leave. If you need any heavenly treasures, I can provide them. If you need to hunt soul beasts, I can have my grandfather send powerful experts to accompany you. Anything you need, I can solve it for you—so just stay!"
It had to be said that when these words came from Meng Hongchen's mouth, they were extremely persuasive.
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was indeed a top sect famous for its wealth.
But compared with Mingde Hall, they were still far behind.
As the largest soul tool workshop in the Sun Moon Empire, Mingde Hall was truly wealthy beyond imagination. The massive profits from soul tools meant that no soul master organization in the world dared claim to be richer than them.
And as the most beloved granddaughter of the Hall Master of Mingde Hall, Meng Hongchen's influence within the Sun Moon Empire was astonishing.
For her, Bai Chen's needs were probably something that could be solved with just a single sentence.
However, Bai Chen still refused.
"Sorry, Senior Meng. Thank you for your kindness, but my young lady has already been away from home for a year. It's time for her to return and see her parents. You can't stop a child from going home to see her family."
"Then she can go. Can you stay?"
Meng Hongchen replied without hesitation.
"…."
This reason clearly wasn't very convincing to her, since the only person she cared about was Bai Chen. She didn't really care about Ning Tian.
Meng Hongchen was a very special person. She wasn't just a beauty—she was also the rare type of obsessive beauty. Once she set her eyes on someone, even if that person rejected her repeatedly, she would still cling to them relentlessly.
In the original story, even after Wang Dong'er revealed her true identity, Meng Hongchen still couldn't let go and couldn't escape Wang Dong's shadow.
Seeing that persuasion was useless, Ning Tian finally couldn't hold back. She grabbed Bai Chen's hand and said:
"If I go back to the Heaven Dou Empire, Bai Chen will naturally go with me. Senior Meng, could you please stop pestering him?"
Meng Hongchen immediately refused.
"I already said it—whatever he wants, I can give him. Why must he leave with you?"
"Because my father and I have already discussed it. During this holiday, we'll finalize our engagement."
"…."
"…."
For a moment, Bai Chen and Meng Hongchen both fell silent.
"Uh…"
After blurting out those words, Ning Tian herself seemed to feel slightly embarrassed.
Meng Hongchen glared at Bai Chen with a flushed face and asked somewhat awkwardly:
"What? You're not willing?"
Bai Chen gently shook his head.
"It's not that I'm unwilling. But if something like this happens again in the future, could you tell me beforehand?"
"I… I just wanted to go back and surprise you…"
Hearing that Bai Chen didn't mind, Ning Tian visibly relaxed.
In truth, Meng Hongchen had been placing enormous pressure on her. Ning Tian knew that Meng Hongchen's family background was even stronger than hers, so she had genuinely been worried that Bai Chen might be taken away.
Because of this, she had written to Ning Fengzhi to explain the situation.
When Ning Fengzhi heard about it, he was greatly shocked.
The reason he hadn't immediately arranged their engagement before was because he felt they were still too young. He wanted them to spend at least two more years together before discussing marriage.
But who could have expected that someone like Meng Hongchen, such an extremely wealthy young lady, would actually set her sights on Bai Chen?
Ning Tian had somewhat exaggerated the seriousness of the situation in her letter. According to her, if they didn't confirm the engagement soon, Bai Chen might really be snatched away.
How could Ning Fengzhi remain calm after hearing this?
He immediately convened a family meeting. After discussion, they decided to finalize the engagement during this holiday.
"Waaah… waaah…"
Meng Hongchen clenched her teeth angrily, stomped her feet, and pointed at Ning Tian.
"Just wait! I won't give up!"
After saying that, she stormed out of the laboratory without looking back.
"…."
Bai Chen silently watched her leaving figure.
"This kind of 'I'll definitely come back' line feels oddly familiar, Miss Meng."
"Hehehe…"
Unlike Meng Hongchen, Ning Tian looked extremely happy.
She took Bai Chen's hand and said softly:
"Let's hurry. Don't delay any longer."
"Alright."
Bai Chen nodded with a smile.
They packed their luggage, said goodbye to Xuan Ziwen, and left the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
At the gate of Mingde Hall, they found Ning Fengzhi and Hua Tianyu, who had come to pick them up. The four of them left the Sun Moon Empire together.
On the way, seeing Ning Tian's happy smile that carried a hint of shyness, Ning Fengzhi seemed to understand something.
He asked Bai Chen gently:
"Has she already told you?"
"Yes. Just this morning."
"I see." Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly and said seriously,
"Bai Chen, from now on my daughter will be entrusted to you. She still has many shortcomings compared to you, so I hope you won't dislike her."
"Of course not, Sect Master."
Bai Chen shook his head.
Compared to other children her age, Ning Tian was already very mature.
Compared with Bai Chen himself, however, people of the same age would naturally appear immature. But that was unavoidable, and Bai Chen would never use himself as the standard to judge others.
Hua Tianyu laughed and said:
"Haha, you'll soon be a father-in-law. By the way, Bai Chen—can you really withstand a ten-thousand-year soul ring?"
It was already unbelievable that Bai Chen's first soul ring was a thousand-year ring. If his second soul ring became a ten-thousand-year ring, that would be truly heaven-defying.
Soul rings changed color with age, and each change multiplied their power—but the pressure on the soul master also increased.
A ten-thousand-year soul ring was fundamentally different from a thousand-year one. It required not only tremendous physical strength but also strong mental power.
Bai Chen smiled confidently.
"It's fine, teacher. Just trust me."
If asked in which era he was the strongest, he would answer Era One.
But if asked in which era his physical body was strongest, it would definitely be this era.
The enhancement brought by the Golden Lion martial spirit to his body was simply too great.