It must be said that Jing Hongchen was truly very sincere.
As the dignified Dean of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, after staying up all night busy dealing with the anomaly in Bright Capital last night...
He did not choose to rest, but instead rushed over to meet with him at the first opportunity, and even lowered his status to actively apologize for his "lateness."
Liu Yuan believed that based solely on this attitude of respecting the virtuous and thirsting for talent, Jing Hongchen had already left Shrek and Xuan Zi behind by countless streets.
Just imagine, if it were Xuan Zi sitting here today, what would his attitude be?
Liu Yuan could almost picture the scene.
Xuan Zi would absolutely never apologize for being late.
He might not even have arrived yet.
Perhaps he would be at some tavern, holding a wine gourd in one hand and a plump chicken leg in the other, feasting away, only planning to stroll over slowly after he was wined and dined.
And he would likely put on an arrogant posture of "Me coming to see you is giving you a massive amount of Face."
Comparing the two, the difference was immediately clear.
This respect from Jing Hongchen appeared particularly rare and precious.
Of course, Liu Yuan was not the type to get arrogant from favor or put on airs.
His principle for conducting himself had always been simple: If someone respects me by a foot, I will respect them by ten feet.
At this moment, since Jing Hongchen had given him plenty of Face and respect, he naturally would not put on an act or strike a pose.
He quickly rose from the sofa, bowed slightly to Jing Hongchen, and said sincerely, "I dare not, I dare not, Dean, you are overstating it."
"I only waited for a little while; it is nothing worth mentioning."
"By comparison, Dean Jing, you worked all night and were still willing to come see me at the first opportunity; this great kindness truly makes me feel flattered."
Seeing that Liu Yuan responded appropriately, neither humble nor pushy, the look of appreciation in Jing Hongchen's eyes grew stronger.
He knew that this was a clever person who understood boundaries and knew how to handle things; dealing with such people was the most comfortable.
He waved his hand, signaling Liu Yuan to sit down, and his hearty laughter instantly shattered the last trace of estrangement between the two, and he even affectionately changed his address from "young man" directly to "Little Yuan."
"Hahaha, Little Yuan, you do not need to belittle yourself."
Jing Hongchen laughed loudly as he sat back down in the main seat, looking at him with burning eyes.
"I have already learned all about your abilities and talent through the retelling by Xiaoer and Meng'er."
"To be honest, after hearing it, I was even more shocked than the two of them! With your talent and ability, you are absolutely worth me treating you this way!"
Meng Hongchen, who was on the side, watched the two of them exchange words, the atmosphere becoming so good it was almost like "commercial mutual flattery," and could not help but pout and coquettishly say, "Oh my, Grandfather! Brother Liu Yuan! You two should stop being so polite to each other here, hurry up and talk about serious business!"
Hearing this, Jing Hongchen pretended to straighten his Face and glared at his granddaughter, "You girl, you have no sense of decorum; you've been spoiled by me, getting more and more unruly!"
But changing the subject, the dignity on his Face instantly turned into a doting smile, and he nodded, saying, "However, what Meng'er said is right; we can indeed get straight to the point."
He looked at Liu Yuan, his expression becoming incomparably solemn, and said in a deep voice, "Little Yuan, I have heard about that unpleasantness between you and Shrek."
"To tell you the truth, after hearing it, I am actually quite grateful to Shrek, especially that old fellow named Xuan Zi."
A look of undisguised mockery curled at the corners of Jing Hongchen's mouth.
"If it weren't for their arrogance and stupidity, how would our Sun Moon Royal Academy have the luck to encounter a peerless Genius like you?"
"And since we have encountered you now, we naturally will not repeat Shrek's foolish path."
"Rest assured, to welcome your joining, our Sun Moon Royal Academy will offer our highest sincerity!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Hongchen flipped his wrist, the light of a spirit tool flickered, and an exquisite card, pitch-black all over with a dark golden Sun Moon emblem embedded on the edge, appeared in his hand.
"This is a Black Soul Card; there is no password inside, and it can be used directly."
Jing Hongchen gently pushed the card in front of Liu Yuan.
"Its limit is ten million gold coins; consider it the scholarship for your first semester after enrolling."
"In the future, as long as you are a student of our academy, every semester, the academy will regularly deposit a scholarship of ten million gold coins into this card."
"Hiss——"
Even though Liu Yuan considered himself well-informed, he was startled by this astonishingly grand gesture from Jing Hongchen.
Ten million gold coins per semester? This was no longer a scholarship; this was simply raising a walking mountain of gold!
However, this was merely the beginning.
Jing Hongchen's magnanimity went far beyond this.
Before Liu Yuan could recover from his shock, the light on Jing Hongchen's hand flashed again, and three more items appeared on the table.
A skull bone flowing with a deep blue halo and emitting powerful mental fluctuations, along with two spirit tools that were exquisitely shaped and clearly extraordinary items at a glance.
"This is a thirty-thousand-year-old mental attribute skull bone; it is of great benefit to a Spirit Master's Cultivate."
"These two are five-level spirit tools that I crafted myself; one is a defensive'Shield of the Blazing Sun,' and the other is a flight-type 'Wing of Flowing Light'."
"Consider these three items as a personal welcoming gift from me to you."
"At the same time, I promise you on behalf of the academy that during your time at the academy in the future, you will enjoy the highest level of freedom."
"The academy will not be like Shrek; we will not force you to join any faction or execute any missions you are unwilling to do."
"Furthermore, for all the spirit rings you need to hunt Spirit Beast in the future, the academy will mobilize all its resources to help you find and resolve them!"
"If you have any other requirements in the future, whether it is in Cultivate resources, spirit tool research, or daily life, feel free to bring them up; the academy will definitely do its utmost to satisfy them!"
This set of smooth, rapid-fire moves, executed as fluidly as flowing water, left Liu Yuan completely stunned.
Even with his calm Heart-Nature, he had to admit at this moment that Jing Hongchen's boldness and grand gestures were simply shocking.
A ten-million gold coin semester scholarship, a thirty-thousand-year-old rare head soul bone, two five-level spirit tools, plus promises equivalent to "infinite resources" and "absolute freedom"...
To speak from the heart, if he hadn't had the Awakening of the System, facing these conditions offered by Jing Hongchen, Liu Yuan felt he might have bowed down on the spot and said, "If you do not abandon me, I am willing to acknowledge you as my foster father"...
This welfare, this treatment, was simply too good for anyone to refuse!
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen on the side also chimed in at the right time, their Faces filled with the excitement of shared pride.
Xiao Hongchen said enviously, "Brother Liu Yuan, you don't know, this is absolutely the most generous time Grandfather has ever been in history."
"Without exaggeration, in the entire Sun Moon Royal Academy, including Meng'er and me, there is no second person who can have your treatment!"
"To put it bluntly, after hearing these treatments Grandfather prepared for you, both of us siblings are a bit jealous; your pocket money is way more than ours!"
Liu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the waves in his heart.
He knew that now was not the time to be coy; excessive refusal would only appear hypocritical.
He stood up and once again solemnly bowed to Jing Hongchen, his attitude incomparably sincere:
"For the Dean's great kindness and regard, Liu Yuan is endlessly grateful. Since this is the case, I will not refuse. Please rest assured, Dean, from this day forth, I will definitely not fail the academy's expectations!"
"Good! Good! Good!" Jing Hongchen said "good" three times in a row, stood up with great satisfaction, and personally helped Liu Yuan up, "With these words from you, it is enough!"
With this, the matter of Liu Yuan joining the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy was officially settled.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were both extremely excited and were preparing to pull Liu Yuan to take him for a good tour of the academy to familiarize him with the future campus environment.
Unexpectedly, just at this moment, Jing Hongchen spoke again, "Right, Little Yuan, don't be in such a hurry to leave."
Liu Yuan looked at Jing Hongchen in confusion and asked, "Dean, is there anything else?"
A meaningful smile appeared on Jing Hongchen's Face, and in those eyes, slightly bloodshot from fatigue, there was now a childlike curiosity and anticipation flickering.
"Hehe, it is like this." He rubbed his hands and said with a smile:
"Although I have already heard Meng'er and Xiaoer describe your abilities, that is hearsay after all; I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet."
"Now that you have agreed to join our Sun Moon Royal Academy, we are on the same team."
"I wonder if you are willing to display your strength a little? It would also just happen to let this old bag of bones of mine have a good eye-opener!"
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