After Jiang Nannan and the others left, Huo Yuqing stayed behind at the Emerald Pavilion to manage the shop alone.
The girl sat behind the counter, a thick book titled Basic Principles of Herbal Compatibility spread out in front of her. The book had been read countless times, its margins filled with dense notes from predecessors who had studied it. These annotations were invaluable.
However, she struggled to focus. The small text on the page seemed like tiny insects crawling around, refusing to sink into her mind.
When she first arrived at Emerald Pavilion, it didn't feel like a big deal. But after two weeks of learning, Huo Yuqing had a clear understanding of the value of the cabinet of pills behind her—enough to buy a third of Star luo City.
Even though she knew Emerald City was incredibly safe, she couldn't help but feel a shiver of unease.
"What are you so worried about? Your teacher wouldn't leave you here alone if anything could happen," the lazy voice of Tianmeng Iceworm said after two weeks of silence. "Do you know how many ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts are near this place? There's no shortage of hundred-thousand-year ones either… Who would be so foolish as to cause trouble?"
"Tianmeng-ge, you're awake?" Huo Yuqing brightened at having someone to talk to. "You've been asleep for quite a while."
"Awake? No, no, I was just taking a nap. Just a little nap. Anyway, you're probably in the safest place possible."
"My teacher gave me a Heavenly Water Pill. Once I take it, I should be able to reach level sixteen," she said, half-speaking to Tianmeng and half-talking to herself, summarizing her recent progress. "Teacher also promised to get me a letter of introduction to Shrek Academy once I break past level fifteen… I only recently learned that Wang Rui will also be going to Shrek Academy."
"Not bad," Tianmeng replied sleepily. "That way, you can justifiably confront that Dai Huabin kid… If you can't beat him, have Wang Rui do it. By the way, you haven't told him about your martial soul fusion skill, have you?"
"No," Huo Yuqing replied, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure how to bring it up."
"Just tell him. What's the big deal?" Tianmeng seemed perplexed.
"But I've never formally studied anything about martial souls. I shouldn't even know about martial soul fusion skills," she said, her face scrunched in confusion. "If I bring it up, Wang Rui might ask how I know about such things, and I wouldn't know how to explain. You said I can't reveal that you're a sentient spirit ring, and I don't want to lie to Wang Rui either…"
Tianmeng fell silent.
"Well, that's… awkward."
Tianmeng: picking up a stone to drop it on my own foot.jpg
"But Wang Rui knows more than I do," Huo Yuqing said hesitantly. "If he hasn't mentioned it yet, he probably has his reasons."
"Haha… well, I'm going back to sleep." Tianmeng retreated hastily.
Huo Yuqing shook her head. Tianmeng Iceworm? More like Dreaming Iceworm.
Still, chatting with Tianmeng had eased her nerves. She opened her book again and resumed studying.
When you focus on something, time always flies. Before she knew it, half the day had slipped by.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Huo Yuqing looked up nervously, unsure if the newcomer was here to buy pills or sell herbs.
If they wanted to sell something, wouldn't it be embarrassing if she couldn't identify their goods and had to wait for her teacher?
Before she could speak, a voice rang out.
"It's not that you can't engrave the level-five energy-gathering array. Mistakes are normal if you haven't formally become a level-five soul engineer. The problem is that you tried to shove a faulty array into a soul tool. Do you want it to explode in your face during use?"
"Alright, alright, ancestor, I get it! Stop scolding me already; you've been at it the whole way here," a robust voice replied weakly.
"If I don't scold you, will you learn your lesson?" the first voice snapped.
Two oddly dressed individuals entered the shop.
The one in front was a slender young man, about 1.7 meters tall, with dark brown skin. He wore a sleeveless black turtleneck, loose white lantern pants, and flashy gold accessories—possibly soul tools designed to resemble jewelry.
His long black hair was tied in a high ponytail, but the strands reflected a blue-green iridescence, like the shell of a beetle. His sharp features and upward-slanting eyes gave him a strikingly melancholic air.
Behind him was a towering man over two meters tall, bald, with shiny, dark skin. Despite his intimidating appearance, he hunched his shoulders and followed the first man like a scolded child.
"Welcome! How can I help you?" Huo Yuqing quickly stood up.
"Wow, it's that two hundred-thousand-year-old widower!" Tianmeng suddenly exclaimed, his voice filled with gossip. "I didn't expect to see him here!"
"Haha, this guy's a ferocious beast. His true form is a dung beetle!"
Huo Yuqing: …
Hold it together! Don't show any strange expressions in front of a beast! You can do this!
Tianmeng gleefully continued, "He's not from the Star Dou Forest. His home is in the soul beast habitat over in the Sun-Moon Empire. Back in the day, this guy had a stunning human wife and loved to flaunt their love in front of other beasts…" Tianmeng sighed dramatically. "Then his wife passed away, and he's been moping around ever since, wearing his widowhood on his sleeve."
"I'm here to repair a soul tool pill cabinet," the young man said flatly, glancing at Huo Yuqing without noticing her strained expression. "My name is Wen Qiang. I'm a level-nine soul engineer from New City. This is my…" He hesitated, then gave a sideways glance at the towering man beside him. "Let's just say apprentice. His name is He. No need for formalities; just call him He Caitou."
"You must be Huo Yuhao," Wen Qiang said suddenly, his sharp gaze landing on her.
"How did you know?" Huo Yuqing asked, startled.
Wen Qiang shrugged. "I heard that Lu Mingyou took on a new disciple. Someone asked me to come check things out." He glanced at He Caitou. "Go inspect the soul tool."
"But Ancestor, isn't the cabinet a level-seven soul tool?" He Caitou asked hesitantly.
"It's not fully level seven," Wen Qiang replied. "The core formation is only level six. It's just that the drawers are integrated with multiple lower-level arrays, making the structure complex enough to be classified as level seven. Go check; if you can fix it, do so. If not, I'll handle it."
"This way, He-ge," Huo Yuqing said quickly, stepping aside to let He Caitou access the cabinet.
Curious about soul tools, she stood nearby, tiptoeing to watch as He Caitou removed the cabinet's outer casing.
"Do you want to learn soul engineering, Huo Yuhao?" Wen Qiang suddenly asked.
"That… doesn't seem appropriate," Huo Yuqing replied hesitantly. "I'm still learning about alchemy, and there's a saying: 'Jack of all trades, master of none.'"
"Alchemy?" Wen Qiang chuckled disdainfully. "What's there to alchemy? Memorize the recipes, gather the materials, and follow the steps. It's child's play. Even alchemy relies on soul tools to some extent. Learning soul engineering is far more worthwhile."
He sounded like a stereotypical science teacher mocking humanities.
At that moment, the door opened again, and Lu Mingyou entered with Wang Rui in tow. Jiang Nannan hadn't come along, staying behind to care for the recently molted Yan Zhi.
"What did you just say is simple memorization and imitation? Care to repeat that?" Lu Mingyou asked with a polite smile, though her aura seemed to radiate a dark, ominous energy.
"I said alchemy," Wen Qiang replied lazily. "Don't glare at me like that. Teaching this fool here already exhausts me. I wouldn't take on another student even if someone begged me."
He Caitou shrank back instinctively.
"If not for a certain someone's request, I wouldn't even be here."
"You mean that person?" Lu Mingyou asked, surprised.
The fact that someone had persuaded Wen Qiang, a level-nine soul engineer and beast, to take on a student left no doubt—it had to be the Auspicious Beast. She resisted the urge to look at Wang Rui.
"Yes," Wen Qiang confirmed before turning to Huo Yuqing. "Forget about Lu Mingyou. If you want to learn, just say so. Don't worry about anyone else's opinion."
"Learning could be useful," Wang Rui added. "Think about it, Yuhao. As an alchemist, you'll rely on soul tools anyway. If you learn how to make them, you'll be more self-sufficient. Besides, your martial soul lacks offensive capabilities early on. Some long-range soul tools could cover that weakness."
As for the concern about overloading oneself with knowledge? That was a worry for average people, not prodigies. True geniuses were often polymaths.
Wang Rui silently mused about the old skeleton dragon in his mind, who had already started studying the soul tool blueprints. It probably wouldn't be long before he saw a dragon equipped with magic or soul cannons flying through the sky.
(End of Chapter)