DD Black White [154-156] (Patreon)

Chapter 154: The Arrival of Ganyu

After a period of excitement and uproar, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Battle Tournament finally came to a successful conclusion.

As the various participating teams gradually departed, the bustling Haiyuan City slowly returned to its usual tranquility.

The streets and alleys were no longer packed with crowds like during the tournament. The noisy hawking and heated discussions faded, and the whole city seemed to awaken from a grand celebration, returning to its daily rhythm.

According to the tournament's established rules, the top three academies all received corresponding rewards, prepared by Haiyuan City.

However, since St. Freya Academy won the championship in one fell swoop, the most precious reward originally intended for the champion was saved.

Lu Jingming displayed great generosity this time, awarding three ten-thousand-year Stigmata to Shrek Academy, the runner-up, and one ten-thousand-year Stigma to Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, the third place.

This was not only a reward but also a promotion for Stigmata.

Lu Jingming had already made up his mind to take the Jade Chamber as the core and gradually expand the business of selling Stigmata throughout the soul master world.

He planned to launch Stigmata covering ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, and ten thousand years, to meet the needs of soul masters of all levels.

As for the extremely rare hundred-thousand-year Stigmata, considering their scarcity and value, they would only appear at the annual Jade Auction, to attract the attention of numerous soul masters and enhance Jade Chamber's reputation and influence.

While advancing the Stigmata plan, Lu Jingming realized that relying on Ningguang alone made it difficult to handle so many complicated affairs, and her energy would inevitably be scattered.

Moreover, the appearance of Stigmata was bound to cause a stir in this world, attracting attention from all sides and requiring even more manpower and effort to cope.

At this time, Lu Jingming was not lacking in the power of reality. After careful consideration, he decided: it's you, Ganyu.

When Keqing and Ningguang learned that Lu Jingming was going to summon Ganyu, the two of them rushed over, full of anticipation.

As threads of the power of reality were slowly consumed, the Authority of Reality quietly activated.

In an instant, a vast power that turns the illusory real descended, causing strange ripples to appear in the space.

Under everyone's gaze, a figure gradually became clear from the void, turning from blurry to real.

Ganyu, who appeared, had soft blue hair neatly tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, naturally falling to her waist and gently swaying with her movements, emanating a lively beauty.

The playful ahoge on her head trembled slightly, adding a touch of cuteness and playfulness to her cold temperament.

She wore a white short qipao, exquisitely tailored, with golden patterns carefully adorning the collar and cuffs, exuding an elegant and luxurious aura.

The ice-blue gem at her waist complemented her overall appearance, and next to her black qilin horns was a unique fan-shaped headpiece.

The white-to-blue gradient sleeves on her arms, together with her black tights and golden-patterned sock rings, highlighted her elegance and beauty to the fullest.

Lu Jingming looked at Ganyu in front of him and couldn't help but secretly admire her.

The overall elegant, serene, cold, and pure aura Ganyu gave off was as holy and flawless as ice and snow. Even compared to Gu Yue, she was not inferior at all.

"Ganyu, how are you feeling?" Lu Jingming smiled, looking at the newly arrived Ganyu, then glanced at the equally delighted Keqing beside him, the corners of his mouth curling up unconsciously.

At this moment, he felt secretly pleased—he had finally assembled the combination he'd dreamed of.

"It feels… very strange. So this is another world?" Ganyu slowly opened her clear blue eyes, curiosity shining within.

Her voice was calm and gentle, like a mountain spring, extremely soothing, as if it could instantly calm one's heart.

On Teyvat, visitors from other worlds were not rare, but it was Ganyu's first time in another world herself.

This brand-new experience felt both wondrous and novel.

However, during her manifestation in this world, she had already received detailed information about it, so she wasn't completely unfamiliar with her surroundings.

Moreover, seeing the familiar Keqing and Ningguang here brought her comfort—at least she wouldn't feel lonely and helpless in this strange world.

"Great, with Ganyu here, work efficiency will increase at least tenfold!"

Keqing, living up to her reputation as the queen of hard work, immediately thought of increased work efficiency at the sight of Ganyu.

She said this with full confidence, and even exaggerated tenfold, making Lu Jingming's mouth twitch.

He did summon Ganyu partly hoping she'd help with affairs, but more out of fondness for Ganyu herself—not just to make her a workhorse!

"Um, no need to rush into work. Keqing, you should also consider others!" Lu Jingming said softly, feeling a bit of a headache.

He would much rather see Keqing and Ganyu living leisurely and enjoying life than working themselves to the bone.

"Work, huh? Leave it to me!" At the mention of work, Ganyu responded almost reflexively.

This made Lu Jingming even more helpless, both amused and exasperated.

Ningguang couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

She had already guessed that putting Keqing and Ganyu together would definitely trigger such amusing chemistry.

She came partly to welcome Ganyu, and partly to witness this hilarious scene firsthand.

For Ganyu, the moment Lu Jingming summoned her, a contract was formed between them.

Since Lu Jingming expended precious power of reality to bring her from the illusory world to reality, she would wholeheartedly fulfill the contract and do her best for him.

Seeing Ganyu immediately asking about work upon arrival, Lu Jingming truly felt helpless.

After all, with Stigmata sales centered around Jade Chamber, some malicious outlaws would inevitably covet them.

To ensure Jade Chamber's safety and stability, stronger power was needed to guard it.

Currently, Ningguang's strength was still a little lacking to handle all possible crises alone.

Therefore, in summoning Ganyu, Lu Jingming did not hesitate to expend a large amount of the power of reality, so that Ganyu would possess sufficiently strong power in this world.

This way, she could not only share Keqing and Ningguang's heavy workload but also rely on her own immense strength to deter would-be troublemakers and fully protect Ningguang and the Jade Chamber.

Ganyu's martial soul was the Ice Qilin; now, she was at the level of a 98th-rank Super Douluo, possessing the ultimate ice attribute.

As an auspicious beast, Ganyu's arrival would undoubtedly bring endless good fortune to Haiyuan City.

The reason Lu Jingming didn't raise Ganyu directly to the 99th-rank Limit Douluo level was that condensing a second soul core would consume exponentially more power of reality.

By comparison, he preferred Ganyu to break through on her own, relying on her talent and effort to condense her second soul core.

In this way, he could save a large amount of precious power of reality, and Ganyu would better adapt to this world and improve herself through self-breakthrough.

Given Ganyu's outstanding talent, breaking through to 99th rank was not difficult—her chances of success were far better than most Title Douluo on the Douluo Continent.

The same applied to Dan Heng; Lu Jingming hoped they could achieve breakthroughs on their own.

They already possessed such talent and potential, and a 98th-rank ultimate attribute Super Douluo was not to be underestimated—possibly even stronger than an ordinary Limit Douluo, which was already sufficient for the current situation.

Suddenly, a pink figure suddenly leaped from the side, pouncing straight into Ganyu's arms at lightning speed.

"Eh! Guuji? How did you become like this?" Ganyu's body stiffened in surprise, then quickly recognized the pink-haired fox in her arms as none other than Yae Miko.

Lu Jingming, seeing this, scratched his nose awkwardly, his face a bit embarrassed.

This all stemmed from his earlier mischievous whim. When summoning Yae Miko, due to a lack of sufficient power of reality, she had remained in her little fox form, and he hadn't yet restored her to her graceful, intelligent appearance.

Now, he thought, it was time to restore her true form.

"Um, Ganyu, when I summoned Yae Miko before, due to insufficient power of reality, there was a little accident. Now's a good time, so let's restore Yae Miko to normal!"

Lu Jingming quickly explained to Ganyu as he gently took the pink fox from her arms.

Then, he infused the power of reality into the little fox, replenishing her strength and restoring her original form.

As the power of reality continued to flow into her, purple lightning began to flicker and dance around the little fox.

In the next moment, the silly and dazed look in her eyes vanished, replaced by a flash of intelligence.

She turned into a dazzling bolt of lightning and instantly vanished from Lu Jingming's arms.

Before anyone could react, Yae Miko reappeared before them.

Chapter 155: Yae Miko Restored

At this moment, Yae Miko had returned to her human form.

Her dreamy pink hair draped smoothly over her shoulders, the ends tied with a vibrant red ribbon, making her look both simple and refined—her every gesture exuded elegance.

She wore a traditional red and white shrine maiden outfit, which accentuated her graceful figure.

Upon appearing, Yae Miko fixed her deep purple gaze on Lu Jingming, her lips curling into a smile that was not quite a smile as she said, "Little one, don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Her voice was soft and melodious, yet tinged with a hint of bashful anger—clearly, she hadn't forgotten her embarrassing experiences as a little fox.

Recalling her antics in that form, Yae Miko just wanted to summon a thunderbolt to knock everyone unconscious and erase their memories, burying her dark history forever.

"Ahem, Yae Miko, you know it was all due to uncontrollable circumstances!" Lu Jingming, uneasy under her gaze, spoke with a few traces of awkwardness.

Thinking back, he had indeed done a few rather inappropriate things while she was a fox—like checking her gender, which, in hindsight, was quite improper.

"Heh, do you think I'd believe that nonsense?" Yae Miko's smile didn't reach her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing in them—like a fox eyeing its prey, cold and intimidating.

In her view, she was always the one to tease others, never the other way around. When had she ever become someone else's source of amusement? This made her very displeased.

Sensing the danger radiating from Yae Miko, Lu Jingming felt a chill run down his spine and secretly despaired.

He knew all too well how devious she could be; this sly fox was clearly planning to settle the score.

If she really set her sights on him, life would be tough from now on, and Lu Jingming was already getting a headache.

To make it up to Yae Miko, Lu Jingming directly raised her strength to level 94.

He stopped at this level because breaking through to level 95 would mean entering another realm, which would consume exponentially more power of reality.

But even at level 94, Yae Miko was more than strong enough to handle Lu Jingming now—absolutely no pressure.

Left with no choice, Lu Jingming cast a pleading look at Ganyu, Keqing, and Ningguang, hoping they'd help him out.

But, unfortunately, the three of them all chose to ignore his silent plea.

Especially Keqing, whose eyes were openly filled with schadenfreude.

"Fine, for her sake, I'll let the previous matters go."

Just as Lu Jingming was about to flee, Yae Miko's expression suddenly softened.

She tilted her head slightly and looked at the blood-red Stigma on the back of his hand, her eyes showing a complex mix of joy and nostalgia.

Lu Jingming instinctively looked at the Stigma in his hand, then glanced at the figure sleeping quietly in the space within, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, his precautions had worked.

He was never one to act without preparation.

Long before restoring Yae Miko's intelligence, he had anticipated that she would want payback once she was back to normal.

But he dared to do it because he had already prepared a trump card.

Now, that trump card had worked—Yae Miko, because of "her" presence, chose to let him off for now.

"But, while you're spared the death penalty, you can't escape punishment, little one. Just you wait!" Yae Miko's teasing voice sounded in his ear just as he was relaxing.

Lu Jingming's mouth twitched—he couldn't escape her revenge after all! Hopefully, given her current mood, she wouldn't go too far…

…

The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Battle Tournament, held in Haiyuan City, created a sensation far beyond anyone's expectations.

The main focus was not St. Freya Academy winning the championship again, but the emergence of Stigmata.

This new thing caused a huge storm throughout the soul master world.

For most soul masters, the birth of Stigmata was tremendous news.

In the past, soul masters who wanted soul rings had to venture deep into dangerous soul beast forests.

In those perilous forests, a single misstep could mean death, their bodies left for the beasts.

But now, things had changed. Soul masters just needed to work and save up enough money. They no longer had to risk their lives hunting soul beasts.

All they had to do was visit the Jade Chamber and buy a Stigma to obtain a soul ring easily.

Even more remarkable, high-quality Stigmata could provide multiple soul rings, and even had the potential for inheritance—to be passed on to descendants.

Furthermore, soul masters now had great freedom in choosing Stigmata, able to pick the ones best suited to their own martial souls and development path, rather than relying on luck in the forest. This was a huge improvement, thousands of times better than before.

However, with such massive benefits on offer, it was clear that Haiyuan City could not monopolize the profits from Stigmata alone—difficulties and severe tests were inevitable.

After all, the changes brought by Stigmata affected the interests of many forces.

But Lu Jingming's goal was not just the material benefits from selling Stigmata.

For him, obtaining large amounts of power of reality was the true objective.

So, as soon as the tournament ended, he immediately began cooperating with the Common Alliance.

Of course, the production method for Stigmata was a tightly held secret, but profits from sales could be reasonably shared with other powers.

Regarding the Stigmata project, Lu Jingming publicly announced that other great powers were welcome to invest and share in the profits.

However, the core technology must remain firmly in the hands of Haiyuan City—this was his unshakable bottom line.

Once the news spread, all the powers scrambled to get involved. The Star Luo Empire was the first to seek cooperation and buy into the Stigmata project.

Next, Princess Weina of Heavenly Soul Empire couldn't hold back either—she contacted Xu Jiujiu to help connect with Lu Jingming, expressing her desire to share in the profits.

Dou Ling Empire quickly followed, sending envoys to negotiate with Haiyuan City in hopes of gaining a share.

Even Shrek Academy in far-off Shrek City noticed the huge business opportunity behind Stigmata.

They also approached Ningguang, expressing their desire to invest in the project.

Lu Jingming accepted all comers with pleasure.

He understood that monopolizing the profits in the soul master world was unwise—it would only make him a target.

Instead, by giving up some profits and cooperating with the major powers, he could avoid many unnecessary disputes and gain a relatively stable development environment.

As long as the core technology remained in his hands, no matter how the profits were divided, Haiyuan City would always be in control and remain the biggest beneficiary.

…

Sun Moon Empire, Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Mingde Hall

Jing Hongchen tightly held two blood-red crystals, his expression focused and grave.

Within one crystal was a small Mountain Moving Ape, surrounded by a striking blood-red soul ring—clearly, an extremely precious hundred-thousand-year Stigma.

Inside the other, a snow-white toad with flame-red eyes floated, surrounded by a deep black soul ring—a ten-thousand-year Scarlet Eyed Ice Toad Stigma.

This ten-thousand-year Stigma was a special reward Lu Jingming chose for Meng Hongchen after Sun Moon Academy's third-place finish in the tournament.

The goodwill behind this gift was obvious.

Scarlet-eyed Eyed Ice Toads usually lived in the outer areas of the extreme north and were very rare.

However, Snow Empress, the ruler of the extreme north, was now one of Lu Jingming's people, so finding a ten-thousand-year Scarlet Eyed Ice Toad and extracting its genetic soul information was not difficult for him.

When Meng Hongchen first saw the Stigma, she was so excited that her face turned red, her eyes sparkling with joy. If not for the occasion, she might have jumped on Lu Jingming and kissed him.

"So this is a Stigma? It's hard to imagine what kind of genius could master such incredible technology."

Jing Hongchen gazed at the Stigma in awe.

Even though the Sun Moon Empire led in soul engineering technology, and had advanced genetic tech like extracting male seeds and implanting them in females, allowing female pregnancy, the miraculous Stigma technology—which let soul masters easily obtain soul rings—was still a total mystery.

It felt like facing a simulated universe—the Stigma technology was far beyond their current knowledge and understanding.

Others might suspect the Stigmata were the work of Lady Herta.

But Jing Hongchen disagreed; he had long observed Lady Herta's every move. Though he'd never met her, he'd learned she was extremely proud and narcissistic.

If she had invented Stigmata, she'd never keep it a secret.

So Jing Hongchen concluded the developer was someone else, and that person must be from Haiyuan City.

Thinking of this, he marveled at how Haiyuan City was truly full of hidden talents.

Jing Hongchen's expression grew more solemn. Haiyuan City's rise had already broken the Sun Moon Empire's long dominance in soul engineering, something the Sun Moon high command had noted.

The tournament especially had shown many advanced technologies from Haiyuan City, which amazed him.

The sensational Stigmata technology was even more influential—enough to change the soul master world entirely.

All these changes showed that the Douluo Continent was about to undergo unprecedented transformation—a stormy age was coming.

Although the Sun Moon Empire viewed Haiyuan City as a potential rival, Jing Hongchen knew that if they could win Haiyuan City over, making it part of their camp, that would be ideal.

He then looked at his beloved granddaughter Meng Hongchen.

He knew her character well—she was a fangirl who couldn't resist handsome guys, but usually only admired them from afar.

But her near-obsession with Lu Jingming showed she had fallen hard.

Jing Hongchen didn't want to pull her out; instead, he planned to help push things along.

"Meng, Xiao, would you two like to study at St. Freya Academy for a few years?"

Jing Hongchen narrowed his eyes, glancing between Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen as he asked.

Chapter 156: The Body Sect's Move

In fact, Jing Hongchen had always wanted to set up exchange programs with Shrek Academy, hoping to learn from their advanced soul master education.

After all, the Sun Moon Academy's soul master training lagged behind—they only excelled at training soul engineers, not soul masters.

Unfortunately, Shrek Academy had always rejected his proposals.

Now, the situation had changed.

St. Freya Academy had won two consecutive tournaments—their strength and teaching quality were clear.

Jing Hongchen hadn't considered sending Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen to St. Freya for exchange before, but after much thought, he decided it was time.

Even if they couldn't learn the core knowledge and skills, they would still benefit, and Meng Hongchen could get closer to Lu Jingming—the core of Haiyuan City.

If lucky, they might even meet the legendary Lady Herta and the mysterious developer of Stigmata.

So, he believed that an exchange was necessary.

Also, under the pretext of exchange, he wouldn't need to worry about their safety in Haiyuan City.

After all, St. Freya valued its reputation and would surely protect the visiting students.

"Grandpa, you mean send me and Brother to St. Freya Academy for exchange?" Meng Hongchen's eyes lit up with excitement.

She'd thought she'd have to wait until the next tournament to see Lu Jingming again, but now her grandpa was giving her a surprise.

"Is it necessary, Grandpa? St. Freya's strong, but I don't think their teaching is definitely better than ours," Xiao Hongchen frowned, unconvinced.

"Foolish!" Jing Hongchen, usually indulgent with Meng Hongchen, was very strict with Xiao Hongchen.

On hearing his shallow comment, he immediately scolded him.

"Losing isn't scary, but not understanding the gap between you and them is. Do you not see how big the difference is between you and the students of St. Freya?"

Even without watching in person, just from the recordings, Jing Hongchen could tell that St. Freya's students were overwhelmingly strong compared to their peers.

Even Shrek Academy's deep roots were barely enough to compete.

Where did Xiao Hongchen's confidence come from, thinking their academy could compare with St. Freya?

"I…" Xiao Hongchen blushed, unable to reply.

He knew deep down that, aside from Lu Jingming, he wasn't confident he could beat the other St. Freya students.

Of course, as a support-type soul master, Robin was an exception, and Xiao Hongchen didn't even care to compare himself to a support.

"It's settled. I'll immediately send someone to St. Freya to arrange the exchange."

Jing Hongchen made the decision quickly.

Shrek and Sun Moon Academies had always refused exchange, but St. Freya was different. Jing Hongchen didn't think they'd refuse.

Haiyuan City's soul engineering was impressive, but their technology mostly relied on the mysterious Lady Herta.

Given her style, she wouldn't spend much time teaching students.

In fact, though she was listed as a teacher, she'd never taught a class.

After all, geniuses are always busy with their own research, not teaching.

And to a genius, teaching ordinary people is of no use to their own research.

On the other hand, Lu Jingming was quite happy to hear Sun Moon Academy wanted to exchange.

"Exchange? Approved!"

When the official request arrived, Lu Jingming immediately agreed.

St. Freya was new, but not lacking in teaching quality: Jingliu brought Cloud Knights training, Changli brought Midnight Rangers Training, Keqing brought Liyue Army methods.

These, after localization, worked wonders.

Haiyuan City's Gold Guards and City Guards training was also based on those methods.

Lu Jingming believed that to train a good soul master, resources were fundamental.

Then, the age of soul rings and suitable skill combinations.

Finally, practical experience—only through battle can a soul master truly improve.

St. Freya had all these advantages.

Haiyuan City didn't lack resources; Honkai energy was top tier; for practice, there was full-dive simulation and simulated universes; and now, with Stigmata, soul rings and skills were no issue.

Shrek's dominance for millennia came largely from gathering the continent's most talented students.

Those monsters students weren't created by the academy, but were already incredibly talented.

The academy's real role was to provide a broad platform and higher starting point.

So, cultivating monsters was misleading—the real measure of an academy's teaching is the average level of its regular students.

St. Freya possessed advanced soul engineering theories left by Lady Herta, but these were hard to understand or use for most.

By sending some students to Sun Moon Academy, they could learn more practical skills and produce a new generation of mid- and low-tier soul engineers.

Once they had a solid foundation, they could then use Lady Herta's advanced theories to train high-tier soul engineers.

For all these reasons, St. Freya had no reason to refuse the exchange.

The details would be handled by appointed staff. Lu Jingming just had to agree and wait for results.

…

While St. Freya and Sun Moon were busy organizing the exchange, elsewhere, dark currents were stirring.

Within the Heavenly Soul Empire, at a natural barrier, the infamous Body Sect was located.

In a spacious council hall, a burly old man with dark green hair slammed his wine cup on the table with a bang.

"Stigmata—heh, damn, it's really a good thing!"

The old man's face was full of unwillingness and greed, but he sighed, "Too bad that Snow Moon Douluo isn't easy to mess with. With my skills, I'm not sure I could beat her!"

This was the Body Sect Master, Body Douluo Du Busi, a 98th-rank Super Douluo.

For a long time, the Body Sect had always been direct and forceful—if they wanted something, they just took it.

Even facing giants like Shrek Academy, they dared to rob.

But this time, things were different. Snow Moon Douluo's Limit Douluo power made them wary.

Plus, Haiyuan City had more than one Title Douluo guarding it, making its defenses formidable.

Furthermore, Heaveny Soul Empire and Star Luo Empire were allies; any trouble would have wide consequences.

Having secretly joined Heavenly Soul as a national protector sect, the Body Sect had to be cautious and couldn't stir up trouble lightly.

Moreover, Haiyuan City had already shared the profits of Stigmata with various powers, with Heavenly Soul getting a share.

In these circumstances, robbing Stigmata outright would be asking for trouble—a foolish move.

"Stigmata may be out of reach, but Huo Yuhao is mine for sure!" Du Busi suddenly roared.

"Jinpeng, gather the men. We're going to Shrek City to visit Xuan Zi. I heard he was injured by Snow Moon Douluo and hasn't recovered—let's see if that's true!"

With that, dozens of figures appeared instantly before him.

They came in all shapes and sizes, but each radiated powerful, restrained auras.

Careful observation revealed that each had a bodily feature different from normal, showing their unique Body Martial Souls.

"Let's go—bring back our Body Sect disciple!" Du Busi ordered.

He turned into a dark green beam of light and shot into the sky, followed by his men, heading straight for Shrek City.

To the Body Sect, anyone with a Body Martial Soul was naturally their disciple.

Moreover, Huo Yuhao had the rare Spirit Eye, which alone qualified him as a Body Sect member.

More than that, he was a twin martial soul holder, with the second being the powerful Ultimate Ice.

Such astounding talent—how could Du Busi not be tempted?

He'd also heard that Shrek's Xuan Zi was still injured from his conflict with Snow Moon Douluo, giving him the confidence to act.

None of the Body Sect's elders objected; their unity showed they firmly believed anyone with a Body Martial Soul belonged to them.