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Unaware of Yu Xiaogang's behind-the-scenes scheming, Ye Wen had no interest in paying attention to it. His sole focus now was on strengthening his own abilities.
Though he didn't understand why Huo Yu'er had taken such a liking to him at first sight, Ye Wen had reciprocated her feelings and confirmed their relationship. (Still, he couldn't shake the guilt—he didn't want to become a second Tang San.)
However, as someone with the soul of an adult, Ye Wen knew that maintaining this relationship wouldn't be possible if he relied solely on Huo Yu'er's efforts. Everything in this world was prone to change. Without proper care, their bond would eventually fade and lead to separation.
Even now, Ye Wen felt insecure about their relationship.
After all, in his past life, many people had loudly opposed the idea of "social status compatibility," but reality proved otherwise. If two lovers had conflicting values, incompatible family backgrounds, or even one side came from a parasitic household, their relationship was doomed to fail—often in a catastrophic manner.
Ye Wen yearned for love but also hesitated to embrace it. Having possessed so little in his previous life, he cherished everything deeply.
Love was undoubtedly beautiful, but it was also fragile and easily lost. Ye Wen feared that after obtaining such a treasure, he might lose it due to his own inadequacies. Compared to his earlier days when he simply wanted to grow stronger while lying low, he now harbored greater ambitions.
He wanted to become a man worthy of Huo Yu'er.
Fortunately, though seemingly talentless, Ye Wen concealed a powerful latent ability that gave him confidence in achieving this future.
Moreover, besides his martial soul's innate potential, Ye Wen discovered that his mind worked better than ever before. The knowledge he absorbed at Nuoding Academy often sparked endless inspiration, allowing him to connect ideas effortlessly.
Before they knew it, a year had passed at Nuoding Academy. As in the original storyline, Tang San returned home in solitude. However, Xiao Wu's heart now belonged entirely to Huo Yu'er, likely sealing off any chance for Tang San's romantic storyline.
Still, Ye Wen harbored some concerns. He worried that Tang Hao, who secretly kept watch, wouldn't tolerate his son failing to connect with Xiao Wu forever. One day, if Tang Hao decided to intervene with Xiao Wu, might Ye Wen and Huo Yu'er get dragged into the mess?
This terrifying thought flickered through Ye Wen's mind for a brief moment before vanishing.
After all, even with Tang San's natural talent, it would take over a decade for him to reach the level of a Title Douluo and absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. By then, Ye Wen, Huo Yu'er, and Xiao Wu would have long gone their separate ways.
Nuoding Academy allowed students to stay on campus, and Ye Wen's parents frequently visited him in the city. Thus, Ye Wen had no intention of returning to the village and instead remained at school to cultivate diligently.
As expected, Huo Yu'er also chose to stay behind to accompany Ye Wen. Naturally, Xiao Wu stayed as well, indicating that this hundred-thousand-year soul beast was determined to bind herself permanently to Huo Yu'er.
Over the course of this year, Ye Wen had successfully raised his soul power to Level 10.
After ensuring Xiao Wu was out of sight, Ye Wen found a secluded spot and retrieved a metal device he had prepared long ago.
Huo Yu'er curiously observed the somewhat crude-looking mixed metal ingot beside him, pretending to ask:
"Ye Wen, what is this?"
Though Huo Yu'er had sealed away most of her cultivation, she had lived alongside Ye Wen for quite some time in his past life on Douluo Planet and was well-acquainted with his history.
If she wasn't mistaken, this object should be an important tool Ye Wen had used early on in The Oceanic Chronicles to alter the course of soul master civilization development on Douluo Continent: a soul attribute detector.
Though crudely made, lacking even spirit-guiding engravings, its basic functionality was still reliable.
The core principle behind its operation was detecting resonance between soul power and specific metals to identify a soul master's attributes. Even without fancy enhancements, it could still fulfill its purpose.
The only drawback was its roughness—it couldn't reveal a soul master's latent attributes, only their surface-level ones.
Upon closer inspection, Huo Yu'er identified the metals corresponding to six of the seven fundamental attributes of soul power: fire, water, earth, wind, light, and darkness.
The first four were common enough, but the last two—light and darkness—were noticeably smaller in quantity. This was understandable, as these elements were considered higher-tier. Even though few soul masters possessed these attributes and the metal industry was currently struggling, these materials remained highly valuable.
After all, even if they couldn't be used for spirit tools, they were essential for constructing advanced mimicry environments for corresponding attributes.
At this point, Ye Wen finished explaining the function of the rudimentary soul attribute detector in his hands.
Admiration gradually filled Huo Yu'er's eyes as she silently praised her teacher. True to form, even with his past memories sealed, he could still rely on his wisdom to recreate forgotten techniques.
Still, she hoped to grow up quickly and claim her teacher. Otherwise, based on her judgment, once her teacher broke through to Soul Sage, there was no telling whether his memories might return. If the woman's memories and true identity surfaced, her teacher would surely notice something amiss, making things difficult for her.
Meanwhile, Ye Wen remained completely oblivious to Huo Yu'er's subtle changes.
In truth, Ye Wen could have tested himself long ago. But what would testing achieve?
Before the start of the school year, Ye Wen had already experimented in various corresponding environments to see which mimetic environment suited his martial soul. However, it seemed his martial soul didn't require a specialized mimetic environment. Once summoned, it automatically absorbed ambient spiritual energy from the surroundings to fuel his cultivation, and upon dismissal, it would convert that energy into his own soul power, essentially acting as a cultivation cheat.
Now that he had brought out the soul attribute detector, Ye Wen had two purposes in mind.
The first was naturally to determine the true attributes of his martial soul so he could acquire a matching soul ring. He didn't want to end up like Yu Xiaogang, who had haphazardly absorbed soul rings, leaving his martial soul capable of nothing more than releasing gas.
Ye Wen, who had literally died over obsessing about academic papers, was undoubtedly a meticulous person. He refused to blindly follow so-called experientialism. While his elemental perception was strong, it was merely sensory. He couldn't discern the exact attributes of his slime martial soul, Nana. At best, he guessed it might be tied to water and earth.
As for the second purpose, it was naturally to showcase his excellence to Huo Yu'er.
Though a year had passed and Huo Yu'er remained affectionate toward him, she was exceptionally talented. Naturally, Ye Wen didn't want to fall behind and aimed to demonstrate his own capabilities.
This was the principle of like attracting like—excellent people were drawn to each other, inspiring and elevating one another.
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