Alone in a different world and still weak, there were only two options: play it safe, or find a powerful backer.
Jiang Shengyu and Jiang Qingtong were only six years old. In a world like Douluo Continent, trying to survive and grow in secret might work for a while, but there was always the risk that their unique martial souls would draw the attention of the Holy Spirit Cult, who'd kidnap them and turn them into the next "Holy Son" and "Holy Maiden."
As for powerful backers, only a few options existed: the official forces of the empires, or Shrek Academy.
But Shrek was too closely tied to Tang San, the Sea God. It would be unwise to approach them without a solid plan. The original three nations of the Douluo Continent didn't offer much in terms of resources compared to the Sun-Moon Empire, either.
So now that a powerful figure had essentially offered protection, why would he ever say no?
Sure, in the original story, the Sun-Moon Empire's future didn't look too bright—they'd fail in their attempt to unify the continent thanks to a certain child of destiny from the Douluo side.
But now that he had transmigrated into this world, who's to say he couldn't be the new chosen one?
As for those gods watching from above?
If they dared intervene directly in the mortal world, then let them die. What more was there to say?
Watching the siblings kneel and accept him as their master, Kong Deming was thrilled. He waved over Xuan Ziwen and introduced him to the two.
"This is your senior brother, Xuan Ziwen—a researcher at Mingde Hall and an instructor at the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy!"
The two bowed respectfully.
"Senior Brother!"
Xuan Ziwen smiled and nodded. "Hey!"
Kong Deming said,
"Ziwen, take Shengyu and Qingtong around and help them get familiar with Mingde Hall. I'm going to meet with the elders at the Hall of Worship and ask for some Level 9 Soul Devices."
Hearing this, Xuan Ziwen struggled to hide his grin.
"Understood, Master."
Watching Kong Deming's beaming smile, Jiang Shengyu felt a little emotional.
So even the mighty Silvermoon Douluo is such a straightforward, good-natured guy…
Xuan Ziwen led the two out of the room, explaining things along the way.
"Mingde Hall was founded by our teacher, though he's no longer the current Hall Master. That title now belongs to our senior brother—Jing Hongchen. Not only is he the head of Mingde Hall, but also the dean of the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy."
"The Sun-Moon Empire's population generally has lower-quality martial souls compared to the three original Douluo nations, and we're also weaker in terms of soul master talent."
"While that gap gave rise to the technological leap in soul device development, our lack of high-tier soul masters has always been a sore spot for both our teacher and senior brother. But now that you two have joined, I'm sure they'll both be overjoyed."
Jiang Shengyu was a little surprised.
"Why?"
Xuan Ziwen stopped and turned to them.
"Do you know what our teacher says more than anything else?"
Both shook their heads.
"He says, 'Any truly powerful Soul Engineer must first be a powerful Soul Master.' Without strong cultivation as a foundation, even the finest soul devices are just ornaments."
Jiang Shengyu nodded thoughtfully.
"Then why not go to the three original Douluo nations and recruit soul masters from there?"
Xuan Ziwen chuckled.
"Little junior brother, you're too naive. The soul master clans of the three nations have centuries of deep-rooted influence. Every high-quality martial soul already belongs to one of those families. How could we possibly compete?"
"We don't need those stuck-in-their-ways types," Jiang Shengyu replied confidently. "Senior Brother—have you heard of the Spirit Hall?"
The moment Xuan Ziwen heard those words, he went silent for a moment.
"…So little brother, you didn't really lose your memory, did you?"
Jiang Shengyu's expression froze.
But Xuan Ziwen didn't push him further. He smiled and reassured him,
"Don't worry. Everyone has their secrets—it's nothing to be ashamed of. I can tell you sincerely want to be here. That's all that matters."
Jiang Shengyu let out a quiet sigh of relief. Looking at this genius Senior Brother, who had become an eighth-level Soul Engineer before turning thirty, he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
No wonder Huo Yuhao held him in such high regard in the original story.
Seeing Jiang Shengyu pondering something, Xuan Ziwen asked,
"So, why bring up Spirit Hall?"
Jiang Shengyu answered,
"Back then, Spirit Hall gained strength by awakening martial souls for free across the continent. That allowed them to build a huge army of soul masters. We could do the same—if we cast a wide enough net, we're bound to find talent."
Xuan Ziwen nodded slowly.
"The Royal Soul Engineer Academy has actually started taking steps in that direction."
Jiang Shengyu shook his head.
"It's not enough. The academy's main focus is teaching. What we need is an entire organization dedicated to this—just like Spirit Hall once was. And we can't limit it to the Sun-Moon Empire."
Xuan Ziwen was startled by the boldness of the idea.
"Creating an entire organization wouldn't be difficult… but spreading it to the other three nations? Would Shrek Academy or their governments allow that?"
Jiang Shengyu smiled.
"We don't need their approval. All we have to do is spread the word and launch our own system ahead of time. The countless ordinary people unable to awaken their martial souls will become our natural supporters. Can Shrek Academy stand against the will of the people across the entire continent?"
Xuan Ziwen pressed on.
"But once the three nations realize what we're doing, won't they just copy us? They've got home-field advantage—they'll move faster. What do we do then?"
"Simple: money," Jiang Shengyu replied without hesitation.
"Our soul devices lead the entire continent—both in production and technology. That means we can offer financial incentives to every soul master, whether they join us or not."
"The three nations could try to match our subsidies—but without our soul device industry, how long can their budgets hold out?"
This was no longer about martial soul strength alone.
It was a contest of national power—and when it came to that, Star Luo, Heaven Dou, and Dou Ling were already too weak. Without Shrek Academy, they would've been crushed by the Sun-Moon Empire long ago.
This was how Spirit Hall operated back then—leveraging immense strength to force the two empires to provide funding, which they then redistributed to soul masters.
But after Spirit Hall's downfall, the aristocrats and soul master clans had hoarded the martial soul awakening process for themselves. Now, most ordinary people on the Douluo Continent couldn't even awaken a martial soul at all.
Xuan Ziwen looked at Jiang Shengyu's smiling face. After a long silence, he asked,
"…Junior brother, are you really just six years old?"
Jiang Shengyu could only laugh awkwardly in response.
"But your idea's actually quite good." Xuan Ziwen didn't press the matter.
"I'll report it. Whether it's approved will depend on the Emperor."
Jiang Shengyu nodded and said nothing more, following Xuan Ziwen as they continued their tour of Mingde Hall.