Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 355 I Have a Friend (3K)

Chen Ping listened very attentively.

As the saying goes, true knowledge can be conveyed in a single sheet of paper, while false knowledge can fill countless volumes.

As a level nine Soul Master who frequently exchanges and learns from other Soul Masters in Douluo Three Kingdoms, Mo Fang is well aware of some common problems among non-Sun Moon Soul Masters.

Seeing Chen Ping's slightly surprised expression after listening, Mo Fang raised an eyebrow: "What, what I told you can be considered a golden rule, did you not take it to heart?"

Chen Ping could only smile wryly upon hearing this: "How could that be? But Professor Mo, as a level nine Soul Master of the Sun Moon Empire, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to be so explicit in so many matters?"

Upon hearing this, Mo Fang burst into laughter.

"What's wrong with that? Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'raising a bandit to enhance one's own prestige'?"

"If you become a level nine Soul Master not long after you go back, that would be the best outcome for me."

"When it comes to resources, if you take a little more, others will have to take a little less. Do you think that once you reach the level of a ninth-level Soul Master, you won't have to be so eager to fight with others for them?"

"As for what happens when someone asks, I'll just shrug and deny it. Jing Hongchen will be in charge of this matter."

At this point, Mo Fang stood up, walked to the French windows, and a profound look appeared in his eyes.

This spot offers a perfect view of the students downstairs who haven't yet been fully grouped, as well as Lin Jiayi, who is in charge of drawing lots.

"Is Jing Hongchen thinking that he messed with me back then, and this time I'm going to use some tricks on the students I'm teaching, just to teach them some random stuff, and that'll be my revenge?"

"If I do this, the only ones cursing me will be your Shrek Academy people. When Jing Hongchen explains, he can easily deflect blame and shift the problem onto me, a level nine Soul Master. He accomplished what he wanted to do without lifting a finger by using me, his enemy."

"He wants to save face, he wants substance, and he wants to use other people's resources to do his own thing. Does Jing Hongchen still think I'm as easy to fall into his trap as before?"

At this point, Mo Fang seemed to realize that he had said too much, and he looked down at Lin Jiayi and snorted coldly.

Chen Ping didn't speak immediately. He hadn't expected the struggle within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy to be so intense, to the point that he even suspected that Mo Fang's words were deliberately prepared.

However, considering that there are only four level-nine soul masters in Mingde Hall who are in charge of that big robot, including Jing Hongchen, while the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has a laboratory with six level-nine soul masters, Chen Ping felt that Mo Fang's words might not be entirely unfounded.

"Then I must take this opportunity to study hard and strive to become the first level nine soul master among non-Sun Moon Soul Masters in the future."

Chen Ping smiled slightly, not bothering to inquire further about the feud between Mo Fang and Jing Hongchen. He knew he would have plenty of time to get to know his mentor in the future.

Chen Ping's words surprised Mo Fang: "Hmm, that sounds like something a research-oriented Soul Master would say."

"From now on, you should learn from me. As long as you want to learn, as long as it's something I know, I will teach you without hesitation."

"The bigger your reputation becomes in the Soul Master world after you leave, the more trouble Jing Hongchen will have."

"After all, everyone knows that I haven't taken on any students for many years. It was Jing Hongchen who knocked on my door in the middle of the night and asked me to take on a disciple."

At this point, Mo Fang's tone became a bit more cheerful: "If things really develop to that point, then I won't have wasted more than two years of teaching you; I'll have recouped my investment."

Chen Ping hadn't expected that his first three days of exchange studies would be spent like this.

After borrowing the textbooks from the library of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy according to the book list given by Mo Fang, Chen Ping spent three days doing only one thing: reading the textbooks that Mo Fang had asked him to read.

During these three days, Mo Fang didn't seem to make any other moves. He simply fiddled with some small parts at his lab table, spending most of his time deep in thought, occasionally picking up a pen to write or draw, remaining very quiet.

"Professor Mo, are you researching an absolute defense soul tool?"

Just then, Chen Ping closed the last book he was about to read, moved closer to Mo Fang, and looked at the golden bead in the other's hand before speaking.

Chen Ping's words came so suddenly that Mo Fang's body trembled without a trace before he turned to look at Chen Ping with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Have you ever seen an absolute defense soul tool?"

Chen Ping nodded: "I saw it when I participated in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Competition a couple of years ago. The effect is similar to an invincible shield, but it lasts for a full quarter of an hour. At the same time, it traps people from inside the soul tool, which caused some trouble for our team."

Upon hearing Chen Ping's words, Mo Fang's expression turned strange. He looked at Chen Ping, then at the golden bead in his hand, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"You, you're Chen Ping?!"

Mo Fang's words left Chen Ping completely bewildered.

"No, Professor Mo, didn't you already know my name three days ago?"

Seeing Chen Ping's strange expression, Mo Fang seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing and quickly said, "Um, well, I have a friend."

Mo Fang didn't seem to be very good at lying. He started by saying that he had a friend, which made Chen Ping a little flustered.

No wonder Jing Hongchen, with his limited skills, could outsmart Mo Fang; it seems this old professor is indeed a bit straightforward. "Yes, that's right. I have a Soul Master friend from the Star Luo Empire who specializes in energy defense Soul Tools. He recently sent me a damaged Soul Tool, which is the Absolute Defense I have here."

Soon, Mo Fang had roughly organized his thoughts and continued fluently: "My friend sold several level seven absolute defense soul tools to get some gold soul coins to support his research project expenses, but one of the absolute defense soul tools was sold to a member of the Star Luo Royal Academy."

"According to the students of their academy, the absolute defense soul tool that my friend sold was shattered by a student from Shrek Academy with a single punch as soon as it was activated. He requested after-sales service, but my friend couldn't repair it, so he had to send it to me to see if it could be fixed."

Upon closer inspection, Chen Ping was speechless. It turned out that the absolute defense in Mo Fang's hand was the same absolute defense soul tool that he had blasted away with a single punch using the "Crushing Fist" technique two years ago.

Furthermore, with the other party mentioning that he had a friend, Chen Ping suddenly became more credible about Mo Fang's words from three days ago.

Professor Mo's days at the academy don't seem to be going very well. It appears that the funding for his research projects is insufficient, and he even has to secretly manufacture a few absolute defense soul tools to sell in the Star Luo Empire to earn extra money to support his research.

As for why Chen Ping was so sure that Mo Fang was lying, the reason was simple: the original work clearly stated that although the absolute defense soul tool was not a particularly high-level item, it was indeed a specialty of the Sun Moon Empire, and the soul masters of the other three empires simply did not know how to make it.

In this situation, Professor Mo immediately fabricated a friend out of thin air, a Soul Master from the Star Luo Empire, which naturally appeared full of loopholes in Chen Ping's eyes.

Although he had guessed these things, Chen Ping did not intend to reveal his guesses. Instead, he integrated the clues he had obtained today with everything he knew before and deduced the general outline of the matter.

First of all, it's possible that Mo Fang and Jing Hongchen have a conflict.

The reason is simple: the level nine defensive soul tool, Red Dust Protection, is the masterpiece of Jing Hongchen, which is highly overlapping with Mo Fang's research field.

As the saying goes, rivals are enemies. In this situation, it's quite normal for the two sides to fight like madmen. For details, you can refer to how Lord Niu used the resources of the Royal Academy to deal with Leibniz, suppressing him to the death and leaving him destitute for the rest of his life.

Secondly, the time when Mo Fang's linked defense soul tool truly shone brightly was after Xuan Ziwen created the sealed milk bottle.

Before this time, his proudest defensive soul tool, which could even withstand the charge of a Title Douluo, was almost never purchased from anywhere other than the Soul Tool Testing Ground.

The inability to commercialize academic achievements means they are meaningless, making it difficult to secure further funding and leading to Mo Fang's financial difficulties.

Under these circumstances, it would be perfectly normal for the other party to secretly manufacture a few absolute defense soul tools and sell them to soul masters in Douluo Continent.

Even if a level nine Soul Master like Mo Fang, who specializes in defense, isn't skilled in Soul Tools that defend from the inside, he could probably figure this thing out by guessing and researching it for a couple more days.

The reason why it took two years to deal with the absolute defense soul tool that Chen Ping destroyed was probably because he had run out of research funds and hadn't found any repeat customers. After making some inquiries, he learned that his absolute defense soul tool had been directly blasted apart, making people afraid to buy it back.

For the sake of his reputation, Mo Fang retrieved the absolute defense that Chen Ping had damaged, hoping to repair it and return it to the person.

Although he wasn't entirely sure if his guess was correct, Chen Ping suddenly had the idea that if given the chance, he could try to bring Professor Mo back to Shrek Academy.

Of course, having this idea is one thing, but Chen Ping doesn't really know what Professor Mo's sense of national identity is like.

Chen Ping felt that scholars like Xuan Ziwen, who were purely without borders, were probably a minority in the Sun Moon Empire.

Before understanding the other party's attitude towards the Sun Moon Empire and the original Douluo Continent Three Kingdoms, Chen Ping would not rashly try to win them over.

"Professor Mo, the absolute defense soul tool you have is indeed the one I broke during a competition two years ago."

"But this should only be considered normal damage. How dare those people from Xingluo Academy ask you and your friend to handle after-sales service?"

Upon hearing this, Mo Fang sighed, "What a small world! When I first heard your name, I thought it might be someone with the same name, but it turns out you really did break this soul tool."

"I'm just curious, the way you broke this soul tool, it shouldn't have been by brute force, right?"

"According to my inspection, all the parts of this soul tool, including the core magic array, are intact, but it is unusable no matter what, as if it has been killed."

At this point, Mo Fang realized he was exaggerating and unconsciously scratched his bald head.

Chen Ping was startled when he heard these words.

One can only say that Professor Mo truly deserves to be called a level nine Soul Master.
Even relying solely on intuition, he was able to guess that he had destroyed this absolute defensive soul tool using the judgment power of the Life Carving Knife.

"Professor Mo, this is my secret. I can only tell you that the answer to this question is related to this rare metal."

As he spoke, Chen Ping placed a piece of refined steel ingot that he had forged on the table and pushed it to Mo Fang.

Although it wasn't appropriate to openly extend an olive branch, Chen Ping still had ways to subtly flirt with Professor Mo and tease him a bit.

Refined through a hundred forgings, and reborn through a thousand forgings.

Although Chen Ping couldn't tell Mo Fang how he killed a soul tool, he could give him a piece of thousand-refined metal containing life force, letting Mo Fang experience the feeling of being itchy and eager.

　I haven't been feeling well these past couple of days and haven't been able to update. I'll adjust and start updating again tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)