"Whew~"
The window and door to Xu Cheng's office were opened. Nana's little face still carried a trace of afterglow. As she opened them, she sneaked a glance at Xu Cheng, who was lounging in his executive chair, looking relaxed and content.
This kind of "affair" between a secretary and her boss was, admittedly, quite thrilling.
Especially since someone had just come by earlier—but due to the door and windows being tightly shut and no sounds heard, they eventually left.
She bent down to tidy the floor. The "battlefield" had even spread onto the desk, and Xu Cheng had swept everything to the floor in the heat of the moment. Now everything lay scattered—bits and pieces all over.
Xu Cheng watched the primly pretending Nana. As she bent down, her snug uniform tightened, outlining her curvaceous figure vividly. He took a deep breath, forcing the urge for another round out of his head.
He admired the stunning curves of the beauty before him, hands resting behind his head.
Apart from having to go to Mingde Hall next month to show up for an assessment—where Elder Jing wanted him to make an impression on the newcomers from noble families—there wasn't much else going on recently.
Especially since Zhang Lexuan stayed at the royal residence all day, and Juzi had gone to the military. Xu Cheng now spent his days teasing his little secretary, Nana.
Meng Hongchen wanted to spend time with him, but she was buried in her studies and preparing for the upcoming Mingde Hall Grand Competition. Every time she saw him, she acted like a cat addicted to cuddling—lunging over for a sniff and hug—before rushing off again.
As for Wang Qiu'er, she often hung around asking him to make food—definitely a foodie. Their relationship was steadily warming up, but still hadn't crossed the line. It was as if both were waiting for the other to take that step...
"Let's head to Mingde Hall. I want to check on the progress of the second-generation mech." Xu Cheng stood up and stretched lazily.
"Let's go~" He mischievously rested his hand on Nana's bent-over waist, gently caressing her lower abdomen.
"Yes, sir!" Nana straightened up quickly, her pretty face slightly flushed. She didn't leave until she'd cleaned up most of the room's traces, hesitating as she followed Xu Cheng out. She even darted her eyes around, afraid she'd missed something.
The room quickly became empty.
A few minutes later...
Ma Xiaotao, cloaked in black, pulled down her hood to reveal a stunningly beautiful but slightly surprised face. The door was wide open, and she scanned the room, frowning slightly—Xu Cheng wasn't here again...
She'd already come by once earlier, but the door had been locked. An hour and a half later, she came again. This time, the door was open—but the man was nowhere in sight.
He must have stopped by briefly...
Wait a second!
Ma Xiaotao twitched her delicate nose. Her eyes slowly widened.
There was a faint scent lingering in the room—the same one from the car that day. After Xu Cheng and Juzi had finished, even rolling the windows down hadn't helped.
"Damn! That bastard Xu Cheng! I was knocking outside like a fool while he was in here doing that?" Ma Xiaotao clenched her fists, her face darkening.
Just thinking about how she'd been standing outside, clueless, while he might have been inside getting it on... she felt she couldn't hold it in anymore.
Fine, so she'd become the backdrop for their little fling?
"But..."
Ma Xiaotao hadn't finished speaking before her voice softened.
She was here today because she needed something from Xu Cheng—otherwise, she wouldn't be this eager to see him.
Forget it. Handle business first.
She'd let it go... for now!
Meanwhile, at the Body Sect...
On a mountain peak surrounded by endless ranges and drifting clouds...
Poison Immortal stood with his hands behind his back, lost in thought.
"Sect Master, this is my failure..." Mu Xue's eyes dimmed as she knelt on one knee and cupped her fist.
It had been such a great opportunity, yet she and her sister had only passed the first trial. Just as that pink flower had said, they were only able to get in thanks to Brother Huo. By their own talent and strength, they would've been like that Tang San guy—unable to even qualify.
"Sis, it's not our fault—the test was way too hard! We're just Soul Ancestors, and they wanted us to last three moves against a hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast! How is that even possible!" Weina complained, unwilling to accept the result.
"But Brother Huo passed the test," Mu Xue said quietly.
There was no argument. The challenge Huo Yuhao faced was even tougher, yet he still succeeded. Results speak louder than words.
"..." Veena opened her mouth, but said nothing more.
"Haha, it's fine. Even though you didn't pass, didn't that flower still give you some rewards? It helped solidify your foundation and boost your strength. It might not be as effective as an immortal herb, but even within Shrek's Treasure Basin, such items are rare and invaluable." Poison Not Dead chuckled.
He took it in stride. After all, Xu Cheng had already written to him beforehand...
As for Huo Yuhao, he'd gone into closed-door cultivation ever since he returned, training madly to reach the Soul Ancestor level and leave the Body Sect.
"Sect Master, about Brother Huo..." Mu Xue hesitated.
"From now on, don't call him 'Brother' anymore. He has no intentions of staying. Still, the fact that you two got a boost from his fortune is quite the fateful encounter." Poison Immortal sighed.
Hearing that, both girls fell silent.
The agreement between Huo Yuhao and Poison Immortal was already known to many in the sect.
Given Huo Yuhao's current potential, plus the benefit of the immortal herb, it was only a matter of time before he broke through to Soul Ancestor.
"Brother Huo's fortune seems..." Veena hesitated.
"For thousands of years, there have been rumors on the Douluo Continent about a 'Child of Destiny'—someone chosen by the Will of the Plane every ten thousand years to become the protagonist of their era. If I'm not mistaken..." Poison Immortal narrowed his eyes, speaking with conviction.
"You mean... Brother Huo is the Child of Destiny?" The two girls gasped.
"No—it's Xu Cheng." Poison Not Dead looked over the mountain range, his eyes like torches.
"Huo Yuhao passed the test only because of Xu Cheng. I don't know why Xu Cheng values him so much, but one thing is clear—Huo Yuhao got to where he is today thanks to Xu Cheng."
The two girls: "..."
"So, a mere Huo Yuhao—I have no reason to stop him from leaving, nor could I if I tried." His gaze gleamed. "That boy is terrifying—so terrifying that unless I have a direct conflict of interest with him, I'd rather not be his enemy."
"Train hard." Poison Immortal sighed. "With Xu Cheng's nature, the coming decades won't be peaceful. Only with enough strength can you sail steadily through this stormy era."
"Will we... be enemies one day?" Weina asked blankly.
"Yes. We definitely will." Poison Not Dead said firmly.
Looking at the two confused princesses, he remained calm. Since the Body Sect had tied itself to the Heavenly Soul Empire, they had to see it through to the end.
The Sun-Moon Empire's ambitions were growing. Now, under Xu Cheng's lead, it was reaching new heights. Faced with the glory of becoming the first to unify the continent, how could Xu Cheng not be tempted?
(※ In the original work, the Body Sect was indeed very dedicated—the Holy Son died, the sect's Titled Douluos were all killed or injured, and even the sect master went to the Sun-Moon Empire's capital to self-destruct in an attempt to take Xu Tiannan down with him...)
In reality, out of everyone on the continent, Poison Immortal understood Xu Cheng the most.
The boy seemed like an evil soul master, the Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Sect, infamous for bloodshed and wickedness. Yet he wasn't like the rumors.
If you looked closely, his actions were all good deeds.
Whether it was going against the grain within the Holy Spirit Sect or what he did on the surface, he was walking toward the path of a "saint."
His behavior was eccentric, unpredictable—many couldn't grasp his personality. Yet Poison Immortal, having only met him once, felt like they'd clicked instantly...
"Hahahaha..." He suddenly burst out laughing.
Everyone called him a madman, but little did they know—the real madman in the eyes of the old elites should be this rapidly rising Douluo prodigy.
"I'm quite curious to see what kind of storm you'll stir up," Poison Not Dead murmured.
To overthrow the old order and establish a new one—that was the dream of countless people across the ages, yet few ever achieved it.
Now, Xu Cheng was the closest anyone had ever come to that dream.
Even though they stood on opposite sides, Poison Immortal couldn't help but be curious—what would become of Xu Cheng?
Would he fall from grace, or...
"But speaking of which—Shrek's got so many geniuses." Poison Immortal licked his lips, eyes gleaming with greed.
"The Holy Spirit Sect's two Saintesses—one was snatched from Shrek, and the other almost entered Shrek. I hear many Shrek students are in the Holy Spirit Sect. If they can source from Shrek, why can't we?"
"Pass my order: send disciples to infiltrate Shrek Academy, gather intel, and identify targets (Body Martial Spirits). When the time is right—snatch them all!"
"..."
Meanwhile, at Mingde Hall...
"Data, data—it's always damned data!" Xu Cheng emphasized.
"But Master, this data is already detailed—it can even precisely lock onto the enemy's distance..." Nana replied, confused.
"Still not enough." Xu Cheng shook his head.
Although the current system had achieved effects similar to laser rangefinders from his past life—even usable in telescopes, like mechanical-electronic scopes...
In truth, data visualization was a whole integrated system—it meant everything could be translated into data.
Like the tech lenses those two Saiyans used when they first arrived on Earth—it could clearly read everyone's combat power, down to the digit, and present it visually.
So Xu Cheng's goal with measuring distance and aiming precision was just the initial phase of data visualization.
Ultimately, he wanted a system capable of detecting the opponent's soul power, level, speed, strength, etc.—and then using AI algorithms to recommend the best attack strategy, weapon type, firing sequence, and so on.
"Our current methods of testing are way too primitive." Xu Cheng said seriously. "Sure, we can scan for things like bone age—but strength, speed? The methods are so clunky that trying to use them in battle is a joke. What, you're going to strap a sandbag to someone and let them punch you to test?"
"Your Highness, we could scan the opponent's bone density, muscle density, and muscle reaction at the moment of movement to calculate those values. Speed too—simple scanning can do it. But integrating it all into one system—that's the hard part..." an elderly white-bearded man pondered.