Gu Yuena Serves Chen Yan Food, Leaving Him Flattered

"Mm—comfortable."

Gu Yuena left with the maid. Chen Yan slipped the key into his pocket, then fell backward onto the soft bed, his eyes taking in the luxurious decor.

Now this was living.

After lying there for a while, Chen Yan forced himself back up.

Damn money, it had nearly corrupted me. Luckily, my noble and unyielding soul is still reminding me to stay strong.

Chen Yan opened the study door and poked his head inside before sneaking in.

I wonder if there are surveillance devices in here, monitoring what I read so they can analyze and break down my will.

Probably not...

Chen Yan walked over to the bookshelf. The upper shelves were so high that he would have needed a chair, so he did not force the issue. He picked a book from a shelf suited to his height.

Looking more closely, he saw that every row of bookshelves was neatly organized. The bottom two shelves were filled with all kinds of popular science books about soul beasts, while the third contained cultivation insights for soul masters of various ranks, along with techniques for using soul power. There were relatively few books on that shelf. After all, the weak could not write such books, while the strong disdained writing them.

Still, these were the words of renowned masters. They were more than enough for Chen Yan.

Pretty thoughtful. Chen Yan silently gave it a thumbs-up.

Chen Yan pulled out a book titled "Soul Power Compression," then picked out another book on forging.

When he opened the book on soul power compression, he found that it was a handwritten reproduction.

Generally speaking, techniques for compressing and refining soul power only began to be studied after one reached the Soul King rank. At that point, the body's capacity began to become a limitation, so soul masters consciously started exploring this area and eventually developed methods to compress soul power.

But that only applied to ordinary soul masters. Throughout history, there had been countless exceptional geniuses. With lower soul power, they often accomplished what ordinary people could not, ultimately reaching even greater heights. As for those who died young, naturally, they left no traces behind.

That made books like this all the more precious. For it to be copied and even stored away in such a grand collection meant that it had been written by at least a Soul Emperor, if not someone even stronger. After all, at the Tianhai Alliance Tournament, a Six Rings Soul Emperor wearing Two-Word Battle Armor had been publicly invincible.

"Recipes for compressing soul power, recommended daily meals, personal methods for compressing soul power..."

Good lord, just good lord. The section on meals alone took up more than half the book. Isn't this just a cookbook?!

Chen Yan flipped past it indignantly, eventually finding the method for compressing soul power in the final few dozen pages.

Mm, simply put, it came down to spiritual power and vital energy. One needed powerful spiritual power to guide soul power toward the dantian, while constantly monitoring the soul power within it. Otherwise, a moment of carelessness could damage the dantian. Furthermore, the stronger one's vital energy, the stronger one's recovery ability and dantian would be later on, making it more conducive to compressing and refining soul power. Of course, if one did not have sufficiently powerful spiritual power to guide soul power, then one should stop before absorbing the next soul ring and continue increasing soul power, using quantitative change to trigger qualitative change.

It described the specific process, the direction of soul power circulation, and the signs of reaching the dantian's limit.

"I wonder if my spiritual power is enough."

Chen Yan rubbed his chin as he thought. Although he had been tested once before buying his soul ring, the Orphanage had delayed the tests until everyone reached level ten in order to accommodate some children with Innate Soul Power at rank nine and make things easier. As a result, Chen Yan still did not know what level he was currently at.

I wonder whether those brats miss me. Chen Yan suddenly thought of them, then carefully recalled the time he had spent with them.

Damn it, a bunch of little brats! They started excluding me when we were tiny. Teacher was the one who wanted to care about me. It had barely anything to do with me, yet you all kept pestering me!

Chen Yan snorted disdainfully and decisively threw them out of his mind.

The person who came with Gu Yuena should have been Di Tian, right? After all, Di Tian and Xiong Jun were the ones who appeared alongside her most often. And Xiong Jun clearly did not have that kind of bearing.

Though he did not know the others either, that did not stop him from letting his imagination run wild.

For example, why had Di Tian agreed to let him stay in this villa? Even if the first person he had seen was not Di Tian, Chen Yan would never believe that Di Tian did not know he existed.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

"Young Master, dinner is ready..."

Hearing himself called Young Master, Chen Yan, who had been exploring the room's functions, froze. After confirming that she was indeed knocking on his door, he hurriedly called out.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

Since he had just arrived, he should leave them with a good first impression. But had Gu Yuena told them to call him Young Master?

Chen Yan scratched his head and opened the door.

"Young Master."

Uh... were maids this dedicated nowadays? She had been standing right outside his door?

Chen Yan nodded stiffly.

"Please wait a moment. I'll call Miss."

Then she went straight to the room next door and knocked.

"Miss, dinner is ready."

Before long, the door opened, and the first thing Chen Yan saw was a head of silver hair.

"Let's go."

Her voice was cool and clear, lacking the liveliness and vitality a child should have had.

They followed the maid to the dining room, where dish after dish had already been laid out on the round table.

But why was it all vegetables and seafood? Even if you can only rule over the land, you're still the Soul Beast Master. Isn't that a little too biased?

Chen Yan secretly glanced at Gu Yuena, only for her to directly take his hand and sit him down.

Chen Yan's body went stiff.

What was this? Why was she holding his hand already?

The maid placed bowls and chopsticks before them.

"Try this."

Gu Yuena picked up her chopsticks, took a piece of tuna belly, and placed it in Chen Yan's bowl. Then she selected a few leaves of greens. The vegetables had been prepared very carefully, without roots or stems, perfectly suited to Chen Yan's tastes.

Chen Yan turned to look at her, but she seemed not to notice and continued picking food for him.

Don't be like this, sis. You're being so warm that you're making me socially anxious!

"Eat. Aren't you eating?"

Gu Yuena tilted her head and asked.

Stab, stab, stab... knife through the heart JPG.

Ahem, to be fair, she was kind of pretty.

After secretly glancing at Gu Yuena again, Chen Yan lowered his head and quietly started eating.

Mm... wait, something was wrong? Gu Yuena was still a child! How could I think that? This is seriously criminal. Stop, stop!

Chen Yan tried hard to suppress his wandering thoughts. Gu Yuena was as captivating as a flawless piece of jade. Everything felt harmonious and natural.

"I'm done eating. I'll head back first..."

Before Chen Yan could finish, Gu Yuena interrupted him.

Unhurriedly, she used a napkin to wipe the corner of her mouth before speaking.

"I'll take you to the cultivation room."

Chen Yan: ...

Gu Yuena led Chen Yan to a secret chamber. After an iris scan, the door opened. Inside was a small room, but the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy had gathered to the point of nearly becoming gaseous. His skin could easily feel the air's viscosity.