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Indeed, with just a glance, Soren knew he should no longer continue to probe or speculate. He cleared his throat lightly, smiling as he spoke, "I should now present the fruits of my labor to the many guests... I must excuse myself for a moment, Ansel."

The phantom sitting next to Ansel seemed to vanish as if it never existed, and a figure draped in a magnificent white robe appeared out of thin air on the previously empty podium.

"Fellow seekers of truth,"

Soren\'s voice was clear and confident, "I, Soren Canaster, am honored to open a new door concerning the soul for you all."

His opening remarks were concise and direct, and the hall, filled to the brim except for the first row, erupted in applause.

"Whether you are a seeker walking the Heavenly Road or a brave soul daring to step into the abyss, you should all be very clear about one thing."

Soren spread his hands, and a dazzling light bloomed in his palm.

"The soul is the key to transcendence, it is the core that allows us to elevate life to a higher level..."

Ansel lightly tapped his scepter, he was indifferent to Soren\'s eloquent speech, and he didn\'t care about the spells spoken by this top soul sorcerer.

In this world, only a handful of people knew the depth of Ansel, while the majority never considered what kind of power the young and kindly Hydral, known for his benevolence, actually possessed.

As a beast closest to the abyss, Hydral\'s power was very broad and complex, but this did not mean that every generation of Hydral was, well... in the language of that world, a "jack of all trades".

Just as Flamelle had a terrifying talent in alchemy, because of the breadth of their power, the Hydrals could freely choose the power that suited them best for deep development.

This is one of the terrifying natures of Hydral — the ability to choose... the spiritual essence they desire.

If you want to become a warrior who can push everything, then the awakened essence can make you dominate all battlefields; if you want to become a sorcerer who explores the magic way, then countless mysteries will automatically open to you; if you want to become an alchemist, then the truth of creation in your eyes is so simple and clear...

The spiritual essence, as something rarer than extraordinary by countless times, can truly and completely change a person\'s characteristics... but Hydral can control its awakening direction.

Everyone knows what Flamelle\'s spiritual essence is, but in the imperial capital, few, or rather... only Flamelle knows what spiritual essence Ansel chose to awaken.

Yes, even the empress does not know — to be precise, Flamelle actively made the empress unable to know Ansel\'s essence.

Compared to Evora, who likes to show off her extraordinary talent and violent power without any restraint, Ansel, who has almost never "truly" revealed the power of the divine race, sometimes makes the top extraordinary beings feel awe.

So, at the beginning of Ansel\'s taming of Seraphina, he said... he actually didn\'t need pure "strength" that urgently.

In contrast, at this moment, a petite scholar who originally almost perfectly matched his character, thoughts, and ideas, seemed to have made a very wrong choice.

But Ansel just smiled lightly, seemingly sitting here, but in fact, he has been paying attention to another hall, and he is very satisfied with the development of everything.

Backstage of the podium, Mr. Phase Traveller Barnes was having a terrible conversation with Ronger.

"So, you failed to bring Ansel to our side in the end?"

He inquired with a gloomy countenance.

"…Mr. Barnes."

Ronger took a deep breath, "We had our considerations."

"You had your considerations… Damn it! You had your considerations!"

Barnes was so angry that he laughed, "Do you think I called you here to listen to your considerations?"

They had discussed this topic countless times before, but to express his anger and the humiliation he felt towards the Tower of Babel, he emphasized again, "What I need is Ansel!"

"Do you know… how much of the cake Soren could get after being supported by Ansel, and that stubborn bastard would leave after eating, leaving a mess behind!"

At this moment, Barnes seemed not only upset about his impending failure in the struggle for the inheritance of the Duke of Luminaris, but also about the fact that he had to bow to the Tower of Babel, only to receive such a ridiculous outcome.

He had wanted to win over Ansel, but was unexpectedly beaten to the punch by Soren… He didn\'t know how long he would be ridiculed by other factions in the future.

But he also knew that it was too late to change anything, so after venting briefly, he didn\'t say much more, but rather said irritably, "So, how is your lecture preparation going, don\'t tell me you can\'t even do this right."

Normally, a lecture would definitely require ample preparation time.

The fact that the people from the Etheric Academy only notified them in the morning and expected the Tower of Babel to be present in the afternoon showed their ill intentions in their attempts to curry favor — as long as Ansel was there, the lecture itself… didn\'t matter much, it could even be seen as a reverse test for the Tower of Babel.

If such a rising academic organization couldn\'t even handle this, they might as well disband on the spot.

But now that Ansel hadn\'t come, the only thing that could save Barnes\' face was the quality of Ronger\'s lecture.

"About that, Mr. Barnes."

Ronger was silent for a moment, then said with unwavering determination, "This lecture will be hosted by Ravenna."

"…"

This fifth-stage extraordinary, who spent most of his time exploring the Zero Realm Enigma and was therefore somewhat solitary and irritable, was stunned for more than ten seconds, then asked incredulously, "Who did you say is going to host the lecture?"

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