A Timely Helping Hand? Better to Add Flowers to Brocade!

"Why should my reward go to you?"

Xiao Wu shouted indignantly.

"Because I did the work, so naturally the reward goes to me." Zhou Qing ignored Xiao Wu's pitifully wide eyes. "And stop looking at me like that. I believe in gender equality. In other words, even if you're a girl, if you try to guilt-trip me, I won't hesitate to punch you."

"You'll definitely never get a girlfriend!"

Xiao Wu snapped furiously, cursing at Zhou Qing.

"Remaining a virgin is beneficial to cultivating soul power," Tang San suddenly interjected. As a disciple of the Tang Sect who cultivated a Daoist Cultivation Technique, he naturally understood the benefits that retaining one's virginity had for cultivating Internal Energy.

If one lost one's virginity and leaked vital essence...

Although it would not affect the growth of soul power, it would very likely hinder improvements in purity.

Unless one practiced a Dual Cultivation technique in which the two parties complemented each other. That would not only avoid any adverse effects, but would instead make one's Internal Energy purer.

Unfortunately, the Tang Sect had no such technique.

Therefore.

Before he cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill to great mastery, Tang San would not let himself get involved with matters between men and women too early.

"You too. You definitely won't get a girlfriend either," Xiao Wu shot back.

"You wouldn't happen to be some great family's young lady, would you?" Zhou Qing looked at Xiao Wu suspiciously. "Did you sneak out to become a Work-Study Student?"

"How could that be?"

Xiao Wu hurriedly denied it.

"Then how could you not know that you can only earn rewards by working?" Zhou Qing spoke as though it were perfectly natural. "Only pampered noble ladies and young masters who have servants tending to their every need could possibly fail to understand something like that."

"Of course I know!"

Xiao Wu—now she knew. "I was just testing you two."

That was hardly convincing.

Thus, with what little sense of shame she had left, she immediately ran out to complete the work-study task assigned to her by the academy.

Tang San, meanwhile, planned to head into the city and find a Blacksmith Shop.

Although he was no longer short on money, he could not openly use so much of it in the short term. To avoid drawing the attention of others, he had to make long-term plans.

Besides, he had learned the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer. It could temper his body, and he could also ask the Blacksmith Shop's owner for discarded metal materials to reforge for researching Hidden Weapons, Soul Tools, and the like.

Zhou Qing first found Wang Sheng and asked where the academy Library was, then headed there to search for books related to Soul Beasts, Soul Masters, and Soul Tools...

The next day.

After the opening ceremony ended, the homeroom teacher assigned to teach Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the others was Mo Hen, the teacher who had received them when they enrolled.

The first lesson was teaching the students how to read.

Most Work-Study Students came from small villages and were illiterate, so this was a necessary course.

As for Soul Master cultivation, Mo Hen handed out the Basic Meditation Method published by Spirit Hall. Its main lesson was how to calm one's mind and settle one's emotions.

Only when one's mind was tranquil could one become closer to the Martial Soul within one's body, thereby sensing the method of circulating soul power for cultivation that the Martial Soul provided.

After class.

Before Teacher Mo Hen left, Zhou Qing raised his hand and asked, "Teacher, may I ask what the difference is between the Intermediate Meditation Method, the Advanced Meditation Method, and the Basic Meditation Method?"

"There is no essential difference." Mo Hen remembered Zhou Qing, who possessed Innate Full Soul Power, and answered, "The only difference is that the diagrams of the routes through which soul power circulates in the human body are more complex in the Intermediate and Advanced Meditation Methods. They can help Soul Masters understand more clearly how soul power actually circulates through the body."

"However, the route diagrams in the Intermediate and Advanced Meditation Methods were researched and compiled by countless Soul Masters of Spirit Hall. They cannot be published for free. If you want to learn them, you must join Spirit Hall."

"Thank you, Teacher. I understand."

Zhou Qing and Tang San both confirmed their previous suspicions. Compared to the Basic Meditation Method, the Intermediate and Advanced Meditation Methods simply involved more meridians, making it easier for Soul Masters to determine the routes through which soul power flowed in their bodies more accurately.

Therefore, the Intermediate and Advanced Meditation Methods were not particularly important to Soul Masters with powerful Martial Souls. With the Basic Meditation Method alone, Soul Masters could sense their Martial Souls and obtain cultivation routes unique to those Martial Souls. It was merely that when their Soul Power Levels were low, their Spiritual Power was weak, and they could not fully grasp that cultivation technique.

Spirit Hall's Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Meditation Methods were probably prepared for Commoner Soul Masters, allowing them to progress step by step...

Afterward, Zhou Qing asked Mo Hen for leave, giving the reason that he needed to obtain a Soul Ring.

"You possess Innate Full Soul Power, so you indeed need a Soul Ring. The sooner you obtain one, the sooner you can break through your current level."

Mo Hen said, "But I still have other Work-Study Students to teach. I'm afraid I won't be able to take you to obtain a Soul Ring before this semester ends. Generally speaking, teachers only take students who have reached a bottleneck to hunt Soul Beasts after the semester ends and the holiday begins... I can ask whether any other teachers are free, but don't hold out too much hope. Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy is not large, and we do not have many teachers. We have to teach students from every grade. As far as I know, among the upper-year students, aside from Xiao Chenyu, who has already become a Soul Master, no one has reached level ten."

Zhou Qing understood as well.

In Douluo Continent, once a teacher-student relationship was truly established, it might not be as profound as that between master and disciple, but it was still very close.

However, Mo Hen was only a teacher. He served as a guide who taught students the basic knowledge of Soul Masters and Soul Beasts, and would not attend to every detail as a true master would.

Although he and Tang San both possessed Innate Full Soul Power, one's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, a publicly recognized useless Martial Soul, while the other's was a heart—the Blood Circulation System. Body Martial Souls had yet to rise to prominence in this era, so it was probably also regarded as a useless Martial Soul, and an especially rare one at that.

Furthermore, Zhou Qing and Tang San came from a small rural village with no background or influence. Even if Mo Hen wanted to invest in them, he would have to wait until Zhou Qing and Tang San displayed real talent.

Before their potential had been realized, there were simply too many uncertainties.

A timely helping hand?

For teachers at a junior Soul Master academy, whose future limit would likely be the Soul Elder realm, they were more inclined to add flowers to brocade.

Take the most basic expenses for food, clothing, shelter, and travel as an example. They were Soul Grand Masters and needed to cultivate themselves, consuming substantial resources. In addition, they had families to support—parents to provide for, wives and children to care for, and so on. Even if they had spare money, they had to save it for unforeseen needs.

What if they invested in a promising child and that child truly became successful, only to repay kindness with enmity?

Or what if the other party grew up, forgot them entirely, and simply ignored them? Wouldn't that investment have gone down the drain?

Therefore, teachers at junior Soul Master academies would not become overly close to students unless a student was willing to truly become their disciple and establish a master-disciple relationship.

"Thank you, Teacher, but there's no need. Tang San and I plan to try our luck at the Adventurer's Guild jointly established by Spirit Hall and Nuoding City," Zhou Qing decided not to trouble Teacher Mo Hen.

"Mm."

Mo Hen nodded slightly. "If no one accepts the task you post within this semester, wait until the semester ends. I'll take you to hunt Soul Beasts then."