"Sister Nana, you're amazing! You won another match."
"Yeah, and Sister Nana's cultivation speed is so fast."
In the Soul Guidance Testing Area, Nana defeated her opponent and leaped down from the arena. But hearing the familiar envious voices around her, her gaze flickered evasively.
"Thank you all. You're all amazing too. I'm feeling a bit unwell today, so I'll head back first."
After greeting the others, Nana parted the crowd and headed outside. Cheers erupted behind her, likely for other students in the arena, interspersed with occasional discussions about the recent uproar over evil soul masters.
Evil soul masters…
Nana's expression darkened. Since entering the academy, she had been diligently working to improve her cultivation. Due to the rarity of her Ghost martial soul, few could guide her on choosing suitable soul skills. Thus, she had taken advantage of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's resources to study related texts.
However, the books offered little on how to cultivate a Ghost martial soul. Most were records of past encounters between teachers and students with evil soul masters.
The most recent record, from a few years ago, mentioned a female Soul Ancestor with a Ghost martial soul who was injured by an academy teacher and fled to parts unknown.
With the recent news of evil soul masters spreading around the capital, Nana couldn't escape hearing about them wherever she went, which made her think more deeply.
Why did her mother always call her an ill omen? Why did her mother return home covered in wounds each time? Her mother claimed they were injuries from soul beasts, but as a soul master herself, Nana realized they were clearly marks left by soul tools.
And that last time her mother left home, she had fled in a panic without a word. Who was that black-clad figure Nana had secretly seen?
The recent events made Nana learn more about evil soul masters from her classmates and teachers, and the suspicion in her heart grew harder to suppress. She wanted to verify the truth but feared it might be exactly as she suspected.
"Sorry!"
A figure flashed before her eyes, and before Nana could react, she bumped into something, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"It's fine. You seem distracted. Are you sick?"
Nana looked up at the voice and found the person she collided with somewhat familiar.
"You… aren't you from a few days ago…"
"Looks like you remember me." Lin Xiao, standing across from her, chuckled.
After parting with Lin Jiayi, Lin Xiao had come to the Soul Guidance Testing Area as usual. Seeing Nana approach from a distance, he hadn't paid much attention. There was no rush to bring her into the Holy Spirit Cult; since he was in charge, he could decide how to proceed.
But seeing her walk straight into him, he grew curious about what was going on with her. She had seemed distracted when he saw her last time. Could another Holy Spirit Cult disciple have approached her?
"Thank you for your guidance last time, Senior." Nana nodded to Lin Xiao and turned to leave.
"If you're feeling unwell, it's best to get it checked. Though soul masters don't fall ill like ordinary people, we can still have issues."
It wasn't just physical ailments. In a world of cultivation, many inexplicable phenomena existed, and one could even go astray during practice. Nana's behavior seemed far from normal.
"Thank you, Senior. I'm fine."
Lin Xiao didn't press further, only narrowing his eyes slightly as he watched her retreating figure before turning to leave. As a "considerate" senior, doing this much was enough.
As Nana walked away, she suddenly felt a tremor—not in her body, but in her soul, her martial soul. She stopped, looking back, and for a moment, it was as if she saw an illusion. She instinctively stepped back half a pace.
Shaking her head sharply, she realized she was still in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. The figure ahead was just a senior from the academy, not the person she had seen back then.
Lin Xiao faintly sensed the gaze behind him but didn't stop. Arriving at the Soul Guidance Testing Area, he took out his self-propelled soul cannon.
Having just observed Jing Hongchen dismantle a soul tool, he wasn't confident he fully understood the workings of array soul tools, but he was certain the technology wasn't beyond his reach. Given time, he was confident he could replicate the device.
The self-propelled soul cannon he'd been tinkering with wasn't yet fully "self-propelled" as he envisioned, but it no longer required a soul engineer's direct operation. With array soul tool technology, it might unleash even greater power. A soul cannon that didn't need a soul engineer was entirely different from an army that didn't need one.
The only drawback was the high cost of the charging soul tool, even within the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, where such items were considered precious. To produce more self-propelled soul cannons, he'd need to learn to craft charging soul tools himself.
Also… Lin Xiao glanced at his storage soul tool, a thought rising before he shook his head to dismiss it.
He didn't fully understand the Star Soul Ingot he'd accidentally created—its properties in soul tools, or which array patterns it could pair with. These required experimentation to determine.
Unfortunately, such experiments couldn't be conducted here. He'd have to bring materials back to his dorm for slow study. Fortunately, many students at the academy did the same, so it wouldn't seem too odd.
Additionally, as his soul engineer rank increased, the metals he worked with demanded finer manipulation, raising the requirements for his carving knife…
Thinking of the carving knife, Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes, his thoughts drifting far. Memories surfaced—Ju Zi, Nana, the Xiao Hongchen siblings, Ji Juechen… these familiar names kept appearing before him. As they grew older, certain events seemed to be approaching.
Lin Xiao didn't know what unexpected changes his presence might bring to this world or what would become of these familiar figures. But he knew one thing: he needed strength.
The nightmares of his childhood, the despair and helplessness before the Spirit Ascension Ceremony… all told him that in this world, only strength mattered.
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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