NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14: Wonderful Use
As soon as Mingdu was mentioned, Wang Chen seemed to have opened a floodgate of conversation and eagerly began explaining.
For instance, why Sun Moon City is called Mingdu; how big Mingdu actually is; and why Mingdu has no city walls, among other things.
This middle-aged man, whose level of explanation could rival that of a professional, was the Soul Elder whom Su Luoheng's father had entrusted to take care of him. Throughout the journey, Su Luoheng was well taken care of by him.
Just like now, talking about Mingdu—whatever Wang Chen knew, he would share without reservation.
As Wang Chen continued his explanations along the way, the caravan finally entered the city of Mingdu after passing the security checks.
Not having city walls does not mean that Mingdu's defenses are weak.
There are numerous detection soul tools deployed around Mingdu, and high-energy compressed array soul tools are hidden at the four corners of the city! If any enemy underestimated Mingdu's strength and launched a reckless attack, they would pay a heavy price.
Like most cities, Mingdu is divided into an inner city and an outer city.
Using the Sun Moon Empire's imperial palace as the boundary, everything outside the palace, including the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, belongs to the outer city.
The inner city contains the imperial palace of the Sun Moon Empire, as well as the research institutes.
While sitting in the carriage, listening to Wang Chen's explanations about the city, Su Luoheng continuously observed the situation within the city.
Mingdu was truly prosperous.
The deeper they went into the city, the more amazed Su Luoheng became!
Although it was nighttime, the sense of awe was not diminished in the slightest.
The entire city of Mingdu was brightly lit, almost as bright as daylight. The lights of countless homes illuminated the seemingly endless city, so dazzling that they seemed to compete with the stars in the sky. People were coming and going, and the level of prosperity far exceeded Su Luoheng's expectations. Calling Mingdu a "city that never sleeps" was truly fitting.
Ahead of him lay large clusters of buildings.
In Maple Leaf City, Su Luoheng had only seen a few such structures; the contrast now was a strong visual shock.
However, looking around Mingdu, towering buildings rose and fell everywhere, so numerous that they couldn't be counted in a glance.
Between the buildings, wide stone-paved streets crisscrossed like a starry pattern, and the broad roads were filled with people coming and going...
For a moment, Su Luoheng felt as if he were in a modern city!
Indeed!
Coming from Maple Leaf City to Mingdu felt almost like stepping from an ancient society into a modern one. The influence of soul tools was quietly integrating into the daily lives of the citizens of the Sun Moon Empire, even if it wasn't very noticeable yet.
"No wonder it's called Mingdu..."
Thinking this, Su Luoheng couldn't help but sigh.
The three original Douluo kingdoms, content with their past glories, remained stagnant in their ways, while the Sun Moon Empire, shamed into progress, was constantly advancing.
Falling behind means being beaten.
The Sun Moon Empire's unification of the continent was the mandate of Heaven, while the downfall of the three Douluo kingdoms was their own doing.
Yet, that arrogant god had to jump in to make his presence known, causing, for his own selfish reasons, the unification of the continent to be disrupted once again and the war, which should have ended, to be rekindled.
Though he is unworthy of his position, he is, after all, still a god.
If only he could...
At this point, Su Luoheng shook his head to dispel these thoughts.
For now, joining the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy and becoming a Soul Engineer was his immediate goal.
His current ambition wasn't grand: he merely wanted to control his own future, free from bothersome trivialities and unrestrained by external forces, to live freely on the Douluo Continent.
That should not be too difficult to achieve, right?
...
...
A quarter of an hour later.
After the caravan escorted Su Luoheng past the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, they parted ways.
Before leaving, Wang Chen even booked a room for Su Luoheng at a nearby hotel. It was clear that his relationship with Su Luoheng's father was quite strong; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken such good care of him throughout the journey.
Judging by the hotel's exterior decor alone, a single night here must be quite expensive.
"Luoheng, the Sun Moon Royal Academy starts admissions tomorrow morning. Just go to the place we passed by earlier."
"Okay."
"And if you run into any problems, you can go to this address. The shop owner there has some connection with me. If it weren't for the tight deadline for this batch of goods, I would have stayed for a day and made sure to take you to the academy myself."
"Thank you, Uncle Wang. I'll remember that."
"..."
As Wang Chen spoke, he handed Su Luoheng a slip of paper with an address written on it.
"Alright, kid, get some rest early. I should be heading out now, too."
"Goodbye, Uncle Wang."
After giving a few more instructions, Wang Chen hurried away with the caravan. After unloading their cargo, they would be leaving Mingdu tomorrow, so they had no choice but to drop Luoheng off near the academy before departing.
After saying goodbye to Uncle Wang, Su Luoheng didn't return to the hotel to rest but instead wandered around Mingdu under the cover of night.
This was his first time in Mingdu. He had been intrigued by the bustling markets he saw from the carriage, and now that he was alone, he naturally wanted to satisfy his curiosity.
Mingdu was indeed very prosperous.
Before long, Su Luoheng found himself wandering through the streets and alleys of Mingdu.
After all, whether a soul master or a soul engineer, ordinary people were still the majority on the Douluo Continent.
Bustling streets, a dazzling array of various goods, a wide selection of delicious food… Meanwhile, the cries of vendors, the haggling of customers, and the sounds of laughter filled the air.
The food, in particular, whetted Luoheng's appetite.
He strolled along, eating the snacks he bought along the way.
As the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, the most advanced in soul tools on the Douluo Continent today, the streets naturally featured a fair number of stalls selling soul tools. However, most of the items for sale here were fun little gadgets ranging from first to third-tier.
As for those advanced soul tools, one would need to go to shops or auctions to find them.
"So many soul tools…"
Just as Su Luoheng was about to return to the hotel after filling his stomach, his gaze casually swept over a stall selling soul tools. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he quickly walked over, picking up a soul tool and, like other customers, injecting his soul power into it.
The stall owner, who was already used to such behavior, didn't pay much attention.
This was how customers usually behaved here.
Low-level soul tools were quite common in Mingdu, so there weren't too many rules regarding their sale.
Of course, the premise was that you didn't break anything.
As he injected his soul power, the core magic array patterns emerged in his mind one by one. Soon, Su Luoheng calmly put down the soul tool and walked away.
"Just as I thought!"
Su Luoheng muttered to himself, a gleam of intelligence flashing in his eyes!
His first soul skill could now analyze second-tier soul tools, and most of the soul tools sold at these stalls fell within this range. Most importantly, he could use his soul skill to analyze and record the core array formations without restraint.
Although he had been studying array knowledge with his mother for the past two years, it was impossible to cover all the basic formations in such a short time.
But now, things were different...