"Yes, yes, yes, Lady Black Tower, unparalleled in the world; Lady Black Tower, incredibly intelligent; Lady Black Tower, stunning beyond compare," Lu Jingming said with a helpless smile, raising his hands in surrender as he launched into a string of compliments.
Black Tower nodded with satisfaction, a proud smile playing on her lips. "You do know how to flatter. Say a few more praises. With my wisdom and beauty, no amount of admiration is ever too much. If you added a bit more feeling, that would be perfect."
Lu Jingming's mouth twitched slightly. He should have expected it—given Black Tower's level of narcissism, a few compliments wouldn't embarrass her in the slightest.
In her mind, her excellence was beyond what mere words could fully capture.
Walking over beside Black Tower, Lu Jingming glanced at the soul-guiding crystal floating midair and said with a hint of resignation, "You're still working on your simulated universe! Don't forget, the resources here aren't abundant enough for you to waste recklessly. And you have no like-minded companions here to discuss or research with you, nor a wealthy patron who can casually buy a star-destroying battleship with pocket money to fund you!"
Black Tower gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and replied calmly, "Of course I know. Even if my intelligence is arguably the best in the universe, without sufficient resources, everything is as rootless as a floating duckweed. But truly powerful beings aren't bound by external circumstances."
"Alright then, I look forward to your research results. I won't disturb you further," Lu Jingming said with a shrug. "I came mainly to sincerely thank you. I have to admit, your beauty and wisdom truly are unmatched. Without your help, I wouldn't have been able to manifest such a powerful martial soul out of thin air."
He knew well Black Tower's proud nature—she only focused on what interested her and invested her energy only in those she cared about. Everything else barely caught her attention.
At this stage, the person Black Tower was most interested in was undoubtedly Lu Jingming.
After all, the real power he held—the authority to turn illusions into reality—was endlessly alluring to her.
Watching Lu Jingming's figure gradually fade away, Black Tower's eyes deepened, as if lost in thought.
She murmured to herself, "I think I'm beginning to understand... why does the void come into being? And what truth does joy glimpse...?"
Shaking her head gently to dispel the complex thoughts swirling in her mind, Black Tower turned her gaze back to the soul-guiding crystal.
Within the crystal, mysterious streams of numbers continuously combined and split, shifting unpredictably.
They seemed almost alive, creating a brand-new world full of infinite possibilities.
In a modern-style bedroom, soft soul-guiding lights spilled over Lu Jingming's figure as he sat cross-legged.
Slowly opening his eyes, he ended his meditation training, shaking his head lightly with a faint expression of helplessness.
Without having obtained his first soul ring yet, his soul power level remained capped at its current stage, unable to break through.
This was an established fundamental rule of Douluo Continent—his present ability simply could not change it.
Though his soul power had increased during training, the pace was painfully slow. The efficiency of absorbing and refining soul power before and after a breakthrough was worlds apart.
With the same talent, the higher the soul power level, the greater the efficiency of absorption and refinement.
Even though Lu Jingming was practicing Jingliu's self-created Supreme Meditation Method, the situation hadn't improved much.
Jingliu had thousands of years of experience. Shortly after encountering soul masters' cultivation techniques, she had used her profound foundation and expertise to update and upgrade the Lu family's original advanced meditation method.
After careful refinement, the meditation method was completely renewed—becoming one of the finest training techniques across the entire Douluo Continent.
On Douluo Continent, cultivation methods were relatively simple; most people relied on meditation techniques to enhance their spiritual and soul power, with few methods offering special effects.
This was why a certain Divine King's ancient practice—Xuantian Gong—had endured for tens of thousands of years without being replaced.
Jingliu's tailored meditation method for Lu Jingming combined the strengths of the Xianzhou practice with traditional Douluo meditation.
Not only did it boost spiritual and soul power, but uniquely, it also tempered the body and enhanced physical strength.
For a soul master, this was crucial—before absorbing soul rings with thousands of years of power, a soul master's ability to endure and absorb was largely determined by their physical constitution.
With this in mind, Lu Jingming named the method with profound meaning: "From Novice to Standing Above the Heavens."
Three days had passed since Lu Jingming awakened his twin martial souls, Black Abyss and White Flower.
During these three days, he hadn't rushed out to hunt for his first soul ring. Instead, he chose to calm his mind and fully familiarize himself with the soul power surging inside and his newly awakened martial souls.
Before awakening a martial soul, humans on Douluo Continent could not freely control their soul power, and Lu Jingming was no exception.
In his previous life, he was an ordinary mortal. Though in this life he had learned some basic swordsmanship from Jingliu, the mysterious and extraordinary energy still felt foreign to him.
Therefore, he used these precious three days to meticulously sense and master all his existing power, preparing thoroughly for the upcoming journey to absorb his first soul ring.
Saint Freya Academy was a newly built institution in Haiyuan City over the past two years. Funded by the city lord's mansion, it was located in the eastern district of Haiyuan City.
Chang Li had deliberately allocated a large area for the academy's construction.
After the academy was established, Jingliu—the strongest figure in Haiyuan City—was appointed as the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, while Lady Black Tower, who had recently arrived in this world, took on the role of Dean of the Soul Guidance Department.
Over the past two years, Saint Freya Academy gradually recruited a batch of students.
However, most of these students were ordinary commoners recruited by Chang Li from surrounding villages, with very few students hailing from soul master families or noble lineages.
The main reason for this was that Saint Freya Academy had no reputation in its early days, making it difficult to attract students of prestigious backgrounds.
Up to now, the total number of students at Saint Freya Academy was still less than a hundred. These few dozen students chose to join primarily because the city lord's mansion offered to awaken their martial souls for free and promised to assist them in obtaining soul rings.
Out of gratitude, they resolutely embraced the academy as their new home. In reality, the academy's teaching staff was currently weak, with only a handful of true teachers.
The idea of establishing their own academy originated from Chang Li. After thoroughly understanding the basic situation of Douluo Continent, Chang Li began carefully planning to build a loyal and reliable team for Lu Jingming.
Cultivating talent from among the common people not only ensured their unwavering loyalty to Lu Jingming but also, under the current circumstances, was one of the few feasible ways to effectively assemble a core team.