148: Chapter 148 You are the master, I am the servant

When the door to the conference room on the third floor of the administration building opened, Lu Cheng was stunned for a moment.

Inside sat a muscular man, his dark blue suit stretched so tight that the fabric at his shoulders was pulling apart.

His two arms rested on the conference table, sleeves rolled up to the forearms, revealing forearms as thick as an ordinary person's thighs, with veins crawling all the way from his wrists to his elbows.

The hell, this guy is from the Education Bureau?

Lu Cheng would believe it if someone said he was a heavyweight boxing champion from an underground fighting ring.

Mei Wushuang sat on the other side of the conference table, holding a cup of tea, her expression unchanged.

Seeing Lu Cheng push the door open and enter, she lifted her chin to signal him to sit down.

"Lu Cheng, this is Director Wang, sent by the Education Bureau."

That tower of muscle stood up from the chair and extended a hand.

Lu Cheng shook hands with him, his palm completely enveloped by the other's, and his finger bones made a cracking sound.

"Wang Heng."

The muscle tower's voice was actually quite gentle, completely mismatched with his physique that could punch a person into a wall. "I'm from the Outreach Department of the Education Bureau."

"Lu Cheng."

Lu Cheng withdrew his hand and pulled out a chair next to Mei Wushuang to sit down.

Wang Heng pulled a stack of documents from his briefcase and pushed them in front of Lu Cheng.

"This is the contract for the guest commentator for the National High School Competition." Wang Heng flipped to the first page, his finger pointing at a line of bold text. "The time is set for May 10th, and the venue is the Imperial Capital Stadium. The competition lasts for five days, and you need to be present for the entire duration. The daily commentary time will be about three to four hours."

Lu Cheng lowered his head and scanned the contract. There were no issues. After all, it was just a national league for high school students. The ones held in the Imperial Capital were already the top 64 after selections, and most of them were students in the Source Gathering Realm.

The compensation column at the end of the contract read 20,000 Federation Credits.

The Education Bureau was poor and basically couldn't come up with much money. Of course, at this stage, Lu Cheng had basically no need for money.

Having already communicated with Dean Mei, he simply signed it directly.

As soon as the ink dried, a smile immediately spread across Wang Heng's face.

He took out a guest pass from his briefcase—a dark blue lanyard with a card featuring gold-stamped lettering, printed with Lu Cheng's name and a string of numbers.

"Welcome to this year's commentary team for the National High School Competition." Wang Heng handed over the guest pass. "Staff will contact you in early May for pre-competition preparation. Just arrive in the Imperial Capital one day early."

Lu Cheng took the guest pass and casually tucked it into his pocket.

Wang Heng packed his things and stood up. The chair was finally relieved, emitting a light creak.

He nodded at Mei Wushuang, smiled at Lu Cheng, and pushed the door open to leave.

The conference room was quiet for two seconds.

Mei Wushuang set down her teacup and retrieved a dark red wooden box from the file cabinet beside her.

The box was palm-sized, its surface covered in dense inscriptions, every stroke emitting a faint black light.

Inside the box lay a dark black jade slip, with visible black mist flowing across its surface.

"This Source Power technique is called Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression." Mei Wushuang pushed the box toward Lu Cheng. "It is a soul-type Source Power technique, an S-rank unique edition."

Lu Cheng stared at the jade slip, feeling his internal Source Power being pulled by something.

"At the introductory stage, you can release ten soul bodies simultaneously to suppress your opponent from multiple angles."

Mei Wushuang withdrew her fingers and crossed them on the desktop. "This type of Source Power technique has no physical form and acts purely on the opponent's consciousness and mental level. Countering it is extremely difficult because ordinary defensive methods cannot block soul-type attacks."

She paused. "It can summon ten thousand souls to suppress an entire area."

"Even an entire city."

Lu Cheng lifted his gaze from the jade slip and looked at Mei Wushuang.

"An entire city?"

"An entire city." Mei Wushuang nodded. "The complete form of Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression incorporates all enemies within the range of an entire city into a soul-suppression field. Within the field, the enemies' consciousness, judgment, and reactions are all suppressed. At the very least, their movements will be sluggish; at worst, they will directly lose the ability to act."

Lu Cheng looked at the jade slip again.

"Take it." Mei Wushuang closed the box and pushed it to his hand. "This is one of the rewards for joining this operation. The remaining benefits will be fulfilled slowly after you truly stand on the front stage."

Lu Cheng reached out and took the box. "Many thanks, Aunt Mei."

Mei Wushuang waved her hand, picked up her teacup, and took a sip. "Go cultivate quickly."

Lu Cheng left the office and walked toward the advanced energy room.

The Navigator Academy's advanced energy room was located in the deepest part of the teaching area, specifically for students at the Meridian Opening Realm and above.

The concentration of Source Power inside was fifteen times that of the outside world, consuming 50 credits per hour, which was a drop in the bucket for Lu Cheng.

Now he had two things to digest: Shen Guhong's martial arts inheritance and the scroll for Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression.

The energy room's access control system identified his terminal with a beep, and the heavy alloy door slowly opened.

Lu Cheng walked in and chose the quiet room at the very back.

After the door closed, all external sounds were cut off, leaving only the low-frequency hum of the energy room in operation.

The air was filled with dense Source Power, and with every breath, he could feel tiny energy particles entering his body through his nasal passages.

He set the Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression scroll aside and first took out the red-covered notebook from Shen Guhong from his bosom.

The notebook grew slightly warm in the energy field of the energy room.

He untied the black string on the cover and opened the first page...

A wave of overwhelming martial will smashed directly into him.

Lu Cheng's mind went boom.

He felt as if he had been pushed into a mountain of blades and a forest of swords.

Sharp killing intent surrounded him from all directions. Behind every strand of killing intent hid the starting move of a martial technique, the path of Source Power circulation, and the breakdown of force-generating nodes.

He gritted his teeth and held on for a few seconds, then felt the thing deep within his consciousness begin to become clear... Shen Guhong's sword.

That was Shen Guhong's martial arts core, the Sword Intent.

Lu Cheng took a deep breath and calmed his heart to comprehend it.

Half an hour later.

Hum...

A force of counter-shock bounced off the notebook, pushing his consciousness back into reality.

[Comprehension Failed]

[Experience Value + 2]

[2 / 200]

Lu Cheng stared at the panel that popped up in front of him, slightly stunned. What the hell?

[Patient Learning] was still in effect!

Lu Cheng stared at the [2 / 200] number for several seconds, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

Doesn't this mean that no matter how he practices, he will eventually be able to learn this thing? If he fails a few more times, can he grind it to full?

He reopened the red-covered notebook and closed his eyes to continue comprehending.

Hum...

[Comprehension Failed]

[Experience Value + 2]

[4 / 200]

Again.

Hum...

[Comprehension Failed]

[Experience Value + 2]

[6 / 200]

Lu Cheng's eyes lit up, continuing through the night...

A power sharp to the extreme burst forth from the depths of his consciousness. It was pure Sword Intent.

Although he used his fists, Lu Cheng could feel that there was an extra sword in his mental world... a blood-stained sword unsheathed!

Sword Intent.

It was done.

He stopped to rest for a while, drank some water, opened the Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression scroll, and turned his energy to the soul-type Source Power technique.

The moment the scroll was unfurled, ten streams of black mist surged out from it.

Those black mists condensed in the air into ten blurry humanoid outlines, without facial features or details, only approximate heads and limbs. Every soul body was emitting a low wailing sound; the sound was not loud, but it pierced directly into the depths of his consciousness.

Lu Cheng mobilized the Source Power in his body and began to circulate it according to the inscriptions on the scroll.

The cultivation method for soul-type Source Power techniques was completely different from ordinary martial arts. It did not rely on muscle memory or force-generating habits; it relied on the dual synchronization of mental power and Source Power.

The path of Source Power circulation and the fluctuations of mental power at the level of consciousness had to correspond perfectly; not even the slightest deviation was allowed.

Two days later.

At night.

In the quiet room of the energy room, Lu Cheng sat cross-legged on the floor...

Dozens of soul bodies surged out from his body, wandering around the quiet room. Their outlines were much clearer than before; they were no longer just blurry humanoid shapes. One could see the outline of armor and the shape of the weapons held in their hands.

Their movement speed was astonishingly fast, dragging out trails of black afterimages in the enclosed space.

[Ten Thousand Souls Prison Suppression: Proficiency (0 / 10000)]

[Can release one hundred souls, covering a radius of fifty meters]

Lu Cheng took a deep breath and recalled the ten soul bodies into his body... This thing was really hard to cultivate!

He had spent two days to reach proficiency...

If others heard Lu Cheng say this, they would be so angry they would faint. Not to mention that this was an S-rank Source Power technique, and the ability to temper the soul before reaching the War King realm, others might find it difficult to even reach the introductory stage in a month. He reached proficiency in two days and was still complaining??!!

Lu Cheng stood up from the floor and stretched his stiff shoulders.

The Source Power concentration in the advanced energy room was still dense, but sometimes cultivation still required a balance of work and rest.

Pushing open the alloy door of the energy room, it was already late at night outside.

On the other side.

In Su Wan's dormitory, Su Wan sat cross-legged on a cushion in her room, with a light screen made of ice-blue Source Power floating in front of her.

On the light screen was her system interface, with the text on it slowly jumping.

[Simulation Start]

[Combatants: Su Wan vs Lu Cheng]

[Analyzing...]

[Winner, Lu Cheng!]

Su Wan looked at the result, her expression unchanged. This failure was within her expectations. After all, that guy Lu Cheng could already defeat War Generals... And her own Soul Map had yet to be cultivated to the minor success stage...

"Come on, just tell me the punishment!" Su Wan said.

The system was silent for a moment, then new text popped up on the light screen.

[Punishment ~ You are the Master, I am the Servant: As a maid, you must satisfy all of the master's tasks~ You can choose the start time, duration seven days!]

[Highest Reward: soul-calming glazed lamp]

Su Wan: ???

This task... what is this situation?!! Why isn't there even a basic goal?? No, wait, then how am I supposed to handle this!!!

The usually calm Su Wan was a bit less than calm... At this moment, another system prompt popped up in front of Su Wan...

[Status - Trying to Catch Up: Increases cultivation speed by 30%, all attributes increased by 10%]

She frowned slightly. The soul-calming glazed lamp... could significantly improve her soul restoration... If she had this item, Su Wan could guarantee... she would cultivate the Ice Emperor Soul Map to the major success stage within a week! Since that was the case... then the task had to be done...!