All students to graduate from Spirit Academy would be prioritized for consideration to work at the Spirit Pagoda, and the first principal of the academy was Qiangu Zhangting.

Qiangu Zhangting had actually wanted Gu Yuena to take on this role, but ever since that day, Gu Yuena had locked herself into seclusion. Qiangu Zhangting was desperate to see her, but there was nothing that he could do, and he had even quarreled with his own grandfather, who had thought of this idea.

However, Qiangu Dongfeng merely brushed off his concerns, assuring him that engaging in physical relations with Gu Yuena was a massive step in the right direction. She would only be temporarily angry; the most important thing was that she had given herself to Qiangu Zhangting. At the same time, he now had full trust in Gu Yuena.

Qiangu Zhangting had been made the first principal of Spirit Academy in order to further elevate his status to prepare for when he took over the role of Spirit Pagoda chairman in the future.

Spirit Academy had been secretly under construction for a long time, even as far back as during the joust for a spouse event.

This was the true trump card that the Spirit Pagoda held against Shrek Academy, and it had been prepared to deal Shrek Academy a lethal blow.

Regardless of how one looked at it, the Spirit Pagoda held the absolute advantage. 

Shrek Academy had only just begun its reconstruction, and even with support from many different powers, they simply didn't have many of the core resources required for a Soul Master's cultivation.

Nowadays, one could no longer just travel to the Great Star Dou Forest to obtain soul rings; soul spirits had become an indispensable part of cultivation. On the surface, the Spirit Pagoda was open to all Soul Masters, but in reality, the conditions offered by Spirit Academy would significantly reduce the cost of one's cultivation. The temptation was simply far too great for young talents that weren't that well off, just like Tang Wulin in his youth.

Furthermore, there was also the Myriad Beast Plane. The Myriad Beast Plane was currently being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread, and it was earning the Spirit Pagoda a massive amount of wealth and influence.

As such, even though Shrek Academy had spoiled the joust for a spouse event, Qiangu Dongfeng wasn't concerned at all. He had been waiting for enrolment day to deal Shrek Academy the heaviest of blows. He was going to crush Shrek Academy with their absolute advantage in resources.

The entire Spirit Academy was visible from the top level of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.

The academy was constructed in a pair of hexagonal shapes, and each hexagon contained one of the Soul Master and mecha pilot branches.

Gu Yuena was currently standing in front of her window, casting a solemn gaze down toward the academy.

How was Tang Wulin going to face such a challenge? There was no sinister plot involved; this was the most straightforward of challenges, and that was what made it most difficult to face.

This was the most vicious ploy Qiangu Dongfeng had up his sleeve!

Gu Yuena was slightly concerned, but there was nothing that she could do.

She had just regained Qiangu Dongfeng's trust by placing Qiangu Zhangting into that illusion, and everything was progressing in the right direction, so she couldn't afford to do something that would make Qiangu Dongfeng doubt her again.

The ringtone of her soul communicator sounded, and she looked down at the number on the display, upon which a scornful look appeared on her face.

"What is it?" she asked in a cold voice as she picked up the call.

"Nana, how is your seclusion going? Staying indoors all the time isn't good for you. The grand opening for our Spirit Academy is coming up in a few days; would you like to accompany me?"

Gu Yuena replied, "No. Don't disrupt my cultivation unless something important comes up."

After that, she cut off the call. She was getting quite sick of pretending to be in a relationship with Qiangu Zhangting, and this gave her an excuse to temporarily avoid him.

Qiangu Zhangting put away his soul communicator with a resigned expression. The blissful memories from that day still struck him with a sense of indescribable excitement, but the price seemed to be a bit heavy.

He hadn't seen her for a very long time. His only source of consolation came from the fact that he knew that she had been in the Spirit Pagoda this entire time, but things couldn't just continue like this!

"She's still unwilling to come out?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked with a smile.

A wry smile appeared on Qiangu Zhangting's face as he nodded in response. "Look at what you've done, Grandfather! If you hadn't put me up to this, I wouldn't be in this situation."

Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Foolish boy, can't you see she's just playing hard to get so you'll cherish her more in the future? Nana is a very staunch girl; do you really think you could've taken her against her will? Don't forget that you're no match for her in battle."

Qiangu Zhangting's expression became even gloomier upon hearing this. "I don't understand, Grandfather. I'm already working very hard in my cultivation, and I'm not lacking in talent, either, so why is it that the gap between myself and Nana is only widening? Her combat prowess is close to the Limit Douluo level; I really don't understand how she did it."

Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and said, "That's not important; what's important is that we can use her to our benefit. Nana is a very smart girl. Do you know why she didn't reject you? In a sense, she's putting on a show for me. She's giving you the cold shoulder to express her displeasure about all of this, but she still engaged in physical relations with you to tell me through her actions that there's no one else in her heart aside from you. Nana is just as intelligent as she is beautiful. If you can control her, she'll most definitely be your greatest ally.

"However, it looks like she's more powerful than you, and there's a very good chance that you'll never be able to surpass her. Having said that, as long as she bears the child of the Qiangu Family, we'll have her locked firmly in our grasp."

Qiangu Zhangting sighed, "As usual, you're much better at considering the full picture than I am, but I don't think Nana is such a scheming character."

Qiangu Dongfeng snapped, "That's why you can't compare with her! She's far more wily than you think. Alright, don't focus all your attention on relationship problems; enrolment is about to begin, and we have to make sure that nothing goes wrong. I'm going to ensure that Shrek Academy is forever dead and buried!"

A hint of killing intent surfaced in Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes as he spoke. The Spirit Pagoda was in an unprecedented position of power that was completely unshakeable.

As such, he had to take advantage of this opportunity to completely consolidate the Spirit Pagoda's status, and Spirit Academy was an integral part of this. Once Spirit Academy replaced Shrek Academy as the number one academy on the continent, the Spirit Pagoda would become a truly insurmountable power.

Qiangu Dongfeng was the most ambitious chairman in the past several centuries, and he had invested much of the Spirit Pagoda's profits into research and development in soul technology.

He knew that with the advancement of soul technology, mechas and other soul weapons were going to continue to take massive forward strides.

This was why Soul Masters were no longer as revered as they had once been, and in this day and age, technology was the key to power.

The foundation of the Spirit Pagoda was built on soul spirits, but what if soul technology became so advanced one day that soul spirits were rendered redundant? Would there be any point in Soul Masters then?

However, if he were to grasp the most cutting-edge soul technology, then the Spirit Pagoda would always be the most powerful organization.

Tang Wulin had managed to stop a war with the soul technology of the Tang Sect, and in the past, most of the Spirit Pagoda's research had been directed toward soul spirits, but ever since artificial black soul spirits had been released, Qiangu Dongfeng was already directing more of his attention and resources into other ventures.

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