"Yes, yes, yes, Ms. Herta, unparalleled in the world, Ms. Herta, supremely intelligent, Ms. Herta, beauty that eclipses the moon and shames the flowers." Lu Jingming helplessly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, launching into a string of praises.
Herta nodded in satisfaction, a smug smile gracing her face. She said, "You're decent at compliments. Now, praise me a few more times. With my intelligence and beauty, no amount of praise is too much. It would be even more perfect if you could put more emotion into it."
Lu Jingming's mouth twitched slightly. He should have known that with Herta's level of narcissism, a few compliments wouldn't faze her in the slightest.
In Herta's mind, her excellence far surpassed what anyone else's words could fully describe.
Lu Jingming walked over to Herta's side, looking at the floating soul tool crystal in mid-air. He said with a hint of helplessness, "You're still researching your Simulated Universe! Don't forget, the place we're in now doesn't have such abundant resources for you to squander, nor are there companions who share your aspirations to delve into research with, and certainly no rich ladies who can easily buy Star Destroyers with their pocket money to fund you!"
Herta gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, responding calmly, "Of course I know. Even if my intelligence is supposedly the best in the universe, without sufficient resources, everything is like a rootless duckweed. However, how could a true powerhouse be constrained by external environments?"
"Alright, then I'll look forward to your research results. I won't disturb your continued studies. I mainly came here this time to sincerely thank you. I must say, your beauty and wisdom are indeed unparalleled. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have such a powerful martial soul out of thin air."
Lu Jingming shrugged. He knew well that Herta was arrogant and only focused on what interested her, dedicating her efforts solely to the people and things she cared about. Other matters rarely captured her attention.
At this stage, the person Herta was most interested in was undoubtedly Lu Jingming.
After all, the True Authority Lu Jingming possessed, capable of turning illusion into reality, held an endless allure for her.
Watching Lu Jingming's receding figure, Herta's eyes gradually deepened, as if she had fallen into thought.
She murmured to herself, "I think I understand now, why nothingness is born, and what the truth seen by love truly is..."
Shaking her head gently, trying to dispel these complex thoughts, Herta's gaze returned to the soul tool crystal. At this moment, within the soul tool crystal, strings of mysterious numbers continuously combined, split, and changed unpredictably.
They seemed to possess life, creating a brand new world full of infinite possibilities.
In a rather modern-style bedroom, soft soul tool lamplight cascaded down, illuminating Lu Jingming's cross-legged figure.
At this moment, he slowly opened his eyes, ending his meditation session. He shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness on his face.
Due to not yet having acquired his first soul ring, his soul power level remained restricted at its current stage, unable to break through.
This was a predetermined fundamental rule of the Douluo Continent, and with his current abilities, it was truly difficult to change.
Although his soul power did increase during cultivation, the speed was very slow. It's important to note that the efficiency of absorbing and refining soul power differed greatly before and after breaking through.
Under the same talent conditions, the higher the soul power level, the higher the efficiency of absorbing and refining soul power.
Even though Lu Jingming was practicing Jingliu's self-created top-tier meditation technique, the situation hadn't changed much.
Jingliu possessed over a thousand years of experience and knowledge. Not long after encountering the cultivation methods of Soul Masters, with her profound background and experience, she upgraded the original advanced meditation technique inherited by the Lu family.
After meticulous refinement, this meditation technique was revitalized, becoming a top-tier cultivation method in the entire Douluo Continent.
In the Douluo Continent, cultivation methods were relatively singular. Most people relied on practicing meditation to increase their spiritual power and soul power, with few techniques possessing other special effects.
This is precisely why the Mysterious Heaven Skill (Xuantian Gong) passed down by a certain God King, after tens of thousands of years, has still not been eliminated.
The meditation technique Jingliu tailored for Lu Jingming fused the strengths of Xianzhou cultivation methods with traditional Douluo Continent meditation.
It could not only enhance spiritual power and soul power but, more uniquely, also had the effect of tempering the body and strengthening physical resilience.
This was of great significance to Soul Masters, as before absorbing a ten-thousand-year soul ring, the year limit of the soul ring a Soul Master could withstand and absorb largely depended on their physical constitution.
Given this, Lu Jingming gave this meditation technique a rather profound name—"From Entry to Standing Above the Heavens."
Three days had already passed since Lu Jingming awakened his twin martial souls, Black Abyss White Flower.
During these three days, he did not rush out to hunt for his first soul ring. Instead, he chose to calm his mind and wholeheartedly familiarize himself with the soul power surging within him and his newly awakened martial souls. Before awakening one's martial soul, humans on the Douluo Continent couldn't freely control the soul power within their bodies, and Lu Jingming was no exception.
In his previous life, he was merely an ordinary mortal. Although he had learned some basic swordsmanship from Jingliu in this life, he still felt very unfamiliar with this mystical, extraordinary energy.
Therefore, he used these valuable three days to meticulously sense and master all of his existing power, thoroughly preparing for the upcoming journey to absorb his first soul ring.
St. Freya Academy is a newly established academy in Haiyuan City over the past two years. This academy was funded by the City Lord's Manor and is located in the eastern district of Haiyuan City, where Changli specially allocated a large area for its construction.
After the academy was built, Jingliu, the strongest individual in Haiyuan City, became the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, while Ms. Herta, who had recently arrived in this world, became the Dean of the Soul Tool Department.
Over the past two years, St. Freya Academy has successively enrolled a batch of students.
However, most of these students were ordinary commoners recruited by Changli from surrounding villages, with very few students from Soul Master families or noble backgrounds.
The reason for this was primarily that St. Freya Academy had no reputation in its early stages and found it difficult to attract students from prominent backgrounds.
As of now, the total number of students at St. Freya Academy is less than one hundred. The reason these dozens of students chose to join is because the City Lord's Manor not only helped them awaken their martial souls for free but also promised to help them acquire soul rings.
Out of gratitude, they resolutely joined St. Freya Academy. In reality, the academy currently has a weak teaching staff, with only a handful of people who can truly be called teachers.
The idea of establishing his own academy initially came from Changli. After gaining a deeper understanding of the basic situation of the Douluo Continent, Changli meticulously planned to build a loyal and reliable team for Lu Jingming.
Cultivating talent from commoners not only ensured their loyalty to Lu Jingming but, given the current circumstances, it was also one of the few viable methods for them to effectively build a team.