"Zhou Qing, did you hear? Something happened at the Xiao Residence!"
Romantiña's efficiency in handling things was indeed high. In just one night, she officially became the "Wilderness Survival Training" instructor at Notting Academy.
At the very least, the spiritual detection and spiritual sharing skills she developed through her Brain Spirit convinced the academy's headmaster.
"Soul bones really are tempting." Zhou Qing hadn't expected that so soon after the auction ended, some soul masters would already start making moves.
However, with people dead, some of the remaining soul masters would likely choose to leave Notting City—but it wouldn't make much difference.
After all, Darius's goal was to throw Notting into chaos. He would definitely promote the incident from the shadows, and he might even exaggerate the age of the soul bone to lure in even Soul Sect–level and higher-ranked soul masters.
Zhou Qing had seen this kind of hype plenty of times in his past life—fake advertisements and overblown marketing everywhere.
But the problem is, someone always believes it!
Soul masters above the Soul Sect level weren't as impulsive as Soul Masters or Grand Soul Masters. They probably wouldn't go sneaking into the city lord's mansion at night. Upon discovering the soul bone was actually from a mere hundred-year-old Moo Spring Ox, many might choose to leave directly.
But that's just looking at it from the soul bone angle.
Who can guarantee that soul masters of Soul Sect level and above who come to Notting won't have grudges with one another?
Even setting aside the tangled interests of their families or factions, two strangers could get into a deadly fight over something trivial, possibly dragging in innocent bystanders.
Though cities large and small have rules forbidding soul masters from fighting in the streets, Notting's strongest individual was only at the Grand Soul Master level.
They might be able to handle a Soul Exalt.
But for soul masters at the Soul Sect level or higher, Notting would be completely powerless.
Technically, you could overwhelm them with sheer numbers, but in practice… most of Notting's soldiers and soul masters didn't have the discipline or courage for that.
Typically, soul masters of Soul Exalt or Soul Sect level wouldn't stay in small cities like Notting. They'd move to cities that matched their power level.
But alas, a soul bone had appeared in Notting.
[Still, if this continues, even if City Lord Xiao works to build good relations with other city lords, it probably won't be six months before the higher-ups of the Heaven Dou Empire catch wind of this… He only has that long to suppress the issue.]
[And now, with rumors of "City Lord Xiao staging the soul bone auction" spreading wildly—even if there's no solid proof—he absolutely can't let that soul bone surface again. Otherwise, it'll confirm everything.]
"What should we do next?" Romantiña asked.
"Just let it be."
Zhou Qing stretched lazily. "In a storm like this, nobodies like us—no power, no background—can't change anything. Best we can do is stay safe, keep training, and look for small openings to take advantage of this chaos."
"Is that really all we can do?" Romantiña said, clearly dissatisfied.
"Unless you have status or fame in the soul master world."
Status—
In the soul master world, strength reigns supreme. Until Romantiña reaches a high enough level, no one will truly respect her.
Fame, though, is easier.
Beyond making a name through combat, one could also gain renown through research and published theories on martial spirit cultivation.
That was Romantiña's only real path right now.
"Strength… fame…"
Romantiña realized her once-blissful life was now gone—and all of it was because of that bastard Darius.
"By the way, if you hadn't been so suspicious of me back then…"
"Don't make it sound like it was my fault." Zhou Qing had felt guilty before, but he later came to terms with it. The soul bone's exposure had merely given Darius the perfect excuse—it wasn't his fault.
"What I meant was… your suspicion back then really touched me emotionally." Romantiña's cheeks flushed red. "It felt like you were cheating on me and hiding it. That sense of betrayal… it was weirdly thrilling!"
"What's even going on in your head?"
Zhou Qing broke down. "Even if I were cheating, why would I hide it from you? Ugh—you almost got me twisted there. You and I barely know each other. We're not even a couple, so why would I need to sneak around?"
"Ah~ You vile boy! You toyed with my feelings and now you're throwing me away! Waaah~" Romantiña collapsed beside the library chair, gasping heavily, showing Zhou Qing a truly dramatic "no-tears-left-to-cry" expression: (灬灬)
Oddly enough, she seemed even more excited now that others had entered the library.
"Brother Qing, Romantiña—are we interrupting your little game?"
It was Tang San who had arrived. Familiar with Romantiña's personality, he chuckled playfully.
"No, your timing's perfect." Zhou Qing's mouth twitched. He decided to rope Tang San in and reached out his hand in invitation.
"Uh, I just remembered something—I'll be going first." Tang San's face changed, and he immediately turned to leave.
"Hey! I was joking! Don't go!" Zhou Qing shouted.
Tang San eventually came back.
He had originally come to the library to discuss the soul tool crystal's core formation arrays with Zhou Qing.
"You've got new ideas?" Zhou Qing guessed that the unrest in Notting had sparked Tang San's wariness. Perhaps he wanted to combine the crystal's array with Tang Sect hidden weapons to create more advanced soul-powered hidden weapons.
"Mm." Tang San nodded.
Zhou Qing took out the soul tool crystal, along with the diagrams he had drawn of every array inscribed on each facet of the crystal.
There were exactly three thousand drawings.
That meant the soul tool crystal had three thousand facets!
The person who had managed to engrave such a massive number of complex soul core arrays into a crystal the size of a fist—whether a lost civilization or an ancient nation—must have possessed soul tool knowledge far beyond current understanding.
As of now…
Zhou Qing and Tang San had only tested the basic functions of eleven core arrays. Many of the others required specific metals, gemstones, or crystals to activate.
But whether in Saint Soul Village or Notting City, their available materials were limited to iron, copper, silver, and gold.
And where did the silver and gold come from?
Naturally, from silver and gold soul coins.
Rarer ores and metals simply weren't available in small cities like Notting.
Beyond that, Tang San hadn't even tested all three thousand arrays yet. Engraving and activating soul core arrays required intense concentration and drained mental energy. With his current six-year-old mental strength, he could only test one a day—and even that wasn't something he could do daily, as he still had to focus on cultivation.
As a result, more than 2,900 of the arrays remained untested.
Of the nearly 100 he had tested, only 11 worked on common metals like iron, copper, silver, or gold…