Apprenticeship? No, Cooperation

Master's office.

A heavy scent of books, mixed with a hint of dust, rushed over them.

The four walls, aside from the door and windows, were completely occupied by towering bookshelves.

The shelves were crammed with books and scrolls of every thickness. There were so many that some could only be piled crookedly on the floor like little mountains.

Only someone so obsessed with knowledge that they had gone mad would live in a place like this.

Han Yuchen gave the room a glance and passed his judgment inwardly.

At that moment, this obsessed scholar was staring fixedly at him with eyes burning like flames.

Yu Xiaogang's eternally stiff, zombie-like face had flushed bright red from extreme excitement. Even the black-rimmed glasses on his nose seemed superfluous; they could not conceal the nearly crazed light in his eyes.

The hands gripping Han Yuchen's shoulders were still trembling slightly.

"Child!"

His voice was hoarse, yet filled with an urgency that brooked no doubt.

"As long as you take me as your master, I will teach you everything I have learned in my life without reservation!"

Behind him, Tang San's eyes also gleamed with excitement.

To him, this was simply a heaven-sent opportunity.

Though this Master's theories were shocking and unconventional, the vast knowledge he had displayed while examining his body earlier had already completely won him over.

Xiao Wu, meanwhile, warily tugged at Tang San's sleeve and quietly took half a step back.

The way this weird bespectacled uncle looked at Han Yuchen was terrifying.

Like a wolf that had starved for eight hundred years and suddenly spotted a steaming slab of pork belly that could run.

And as the pork belly in question—

Han Yuchen's expression was as calm as an ancient well.

Meeting Yu Xiaogang's fervent gaze, he slowly yet incomparably firmly shook his head.

"Master, thank you for your kind offer."

His voice was soft, but every word clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"But I cannot become your disciple."

Give me a break.

I am the mighty Starlight Ruse King. I know astronomy above and geography below, and I've fought more cosmic-level bosses than you've seen types of spirit beasts.

Why would I need a master?

Besides, I shattered your theories right here and now. Even your worldview has collapsed.

What would I learn from you?

How to get slapped in the face? Or how many holes your theories have that need me to patch them up?

Don't be ridiculous.

The fervor on Yu Xiaogang's face instantly froze.

The flush drained from his face at a visible speed, replaced by stunned pallor.

He was dumbfounded.

He had considered ten thousand possibilities, but never this one... being rejected.

Why?

He was Yu Xiaogang! The man hailed as the foremost theorist in the Soul Master World!

Although the flaws in his martial soul had prevented him from ever breaking through Rank 30, that did not stop him from possessing the sharpest mind on the entire continent!

The knowledge he commanded was enough for any sect to treat him as an honored guest!

For him to personally offer to accept a disciple was, to any commoner child, a heaven-sent chance to rise in a single step!

Yet he had... refused?

Watching Yu Xiaogang look utterly lost, as if his worldview had collapsed for the second time, Han Yuchen felt no ripple in his heart.

He knew the timing was right.

Changing the subject, he revealed a calm smile utterly mismatched with his age.

"Although I cannot become your disciple."

"We can do this another way."

He paused, then clearly spoke two words.

"Cooperate."

Cooperate?

Yu Xiaogang's pupils contracted slightly. Those two words forcibly dragged his mind back from its frozen state.

Han Yuchen continued unhurriedly. His reasoning was clear and orderly, completely unlike that of a six-year-old child.

"You are the continent's most learned theoretical master. Of that, I have no doubt."

First, give him something sweet and flatter him.

"And I may be... a special case."

He pointed at himself. His wording was humble, yet it carried unquestionable confidence.

"You can study me—study my martial soul, study my spirit ring, even study why I have developed such a 'special' condition."

"That is what you need, isn't it? A living, breathing miracle capable of overturning existing theories."

Yu Xiaogang's breathing unconsciously quickened.

That was right!

He was right! This was exactly what he had dreamed of!

The corners of Han Yuchen's lips rose slightly. He had completely seized the initiative in the conversation.

"In return, you will answer all my questions about martial souls, spirit beasts, soul masters, and this world. I need your knowledge to clear the fog from the road ahead."

"At the same time, as I grow, I will need you to provide the best cultivation resources and intelligence support within your means."

"We will be equal partners. You research your subject, and I obtain the information and resources I need. Each of us gets what we want, and neither holds the other back."

"What do you think of this proposal?"

When he finished, the entire office fell so silent one could hear a needle drop.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were completely stunned.

Their mouths hung open as they stared at this peer who was only a little younger than them and still looked sickly, as though they were looking at a monster.

Could... could a six-year-old really say something like that?

Such airtight logic, such neither humble nor arrogant poise, such confidence in controlling the entire room...

Was he really a child?!

After his initial shock, the extinguished flame in Yu Xiaogang's eyes suddenly flared back to life!

It burned even more fiercely than before!

Cooperation!

Of course! Cooperation!

This arrangement was far more beneficial to him than the title of "master and disciple"!

Master and disciple meant he would have to bear the responsibility of teaching, passing on knowledge, instructing, and resolving doubts.

But before such a world-defying monster, what could he possibly teach?

The theories he had always been proud of were as fragile as paper before this child!

Cooperation, however, was completely different!

They would be equals!

He could regard Han Yuchen without reservation as the highest-grade, one-of-a-kind research subject!

He could freely explore, verify, overturn, and rebuild his own theoretical system!

And all he needed to offer was his vast sea of knowledge, along with resources his backing could easily acquire.

This deal... was an absolute steal!

"Good!"

Yu Xiaogang slapped his thigh hard. His previous dejection and despondency vanished completely, and his entire body radiated an unprecedented vigor!

"We'll do as you say. We'll cooperate!"

He eagerly pushed up his glasses and immediately entered the mindset of a researcher.

"Then our first collaboration begins now."

"First question: what is the exact age of your First Spirit Ring? How did your six-year-old body withstand the terrifying energy impact of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"

Here it came.

Han Yuchen had long expected him to ask this.

A trace of perfectly timed confusion appeared on his face, and he scratched his head.

"I don't know exactly how many years it is. I only know it was much older than that Mandala Snake. As for why I could absorb it..."

He spread his hands and summoned his martial soul, Balus, once more.

"Maybe my martial soul underwent some... beneficial mutation when it awakened. My body seems to have been born able to withstand very powerful energy."

Mutation.

What a wonderful thing. The universal excuse.

Yu Xiaogang furrowed his brows, staring fixedly at Balus as if he wanted to find proof of the mutation within the patterns of every scale.

"A beneficial mutation..." he muttered.

This explanation was vague, but in the face of the ironclad fact of a Thousand-Year Soul Ring, it became the only reasonable explanation.

"Second question." He raised his head again, his gaze blazing. "Why are you completely unaffected by the poison on Tang San's Blue Silver Grass?"

"I know even less about that."

Han Yuchen's acting was flawless.

"Maybe... it's also because of the mutation? Perhaps my martial soul is naturally immune to plant-based poisons?"

He attributed everything to that all-purpose excuse.

Yu Xiaogang fell silent.

He circled Han Yuchen twice, as though appraising a priceless treasure.

Only after a long while did he let out a deep breath and look at Han Yuchen with a complicated expression.

"Physical qualities far beyond ordinary people due to a Spirit Mutation... the martial soul itself possessing a certain powerful immunity due to mutation..."

He nodded, as if convincing himself.

"Although it is inconceivable, until new evidence appears, I can only accept this explanation for now."

"It seems Spirit Mutation will be the core subject of my research for the coming decades!"

He looked at Han Yuchen, his eyes filled with unprecedented fervor.

Done.

A weight lifted from Han Yuchen's heart.

After that, everything proceeded naturally.

Yu Xiaogang personally took the three of them to complete their enrollment procedures.

The guard who had been sprawled on the ground earlier scrambled to his feet the instant he saw Master personally leading this "god of slaughter" over. He nodded and bowed, so respectful it was as though he were serving his own father.

When the teacher at the academic affairs office saw Master's token and sensed the Soul Power fluctuations Han Yuchen "inadvertently" leaked—far beyond those of children his age—their efficiency became astonishing.

In less than ten minutes, all three of their enrollment paperwork and Work-Study Student certificates were completed.

They were assigned to Dormitory Seven, reserved specifically for Work-Study Students.

During the process, Tang San was completely won over by Master's vast knowledge and rigorous attitude.

When Master explained the future development path of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul and accurately identified that he possessed Twin Martial Souls, Tang San could no longer suppress his inner excitement and immediately took him as his master.

The story returned to the track it was meant to follow.

Han Yuchen watched quietly from the side, without the slightest ripple in his heart.

Good.

Each got what they needed, and neither held the other back.

Upon entering Dormitory Seven, they were greeted by a faint smell of mildew and sweat.

Several children were already in the dormitory. When they saw the newcomers enter, they all cast curious looks their way.

Han Yuchen could not be bothered with them. He walked straight to an empty bed in the innermost corner by the window.

He set down his small bundle, sat quietly, and began silently planning his next cultivation schedule.

Night deepened.

The dormitory filled with rising and falling snores.

Everyone had fallen asleep.

In the darkness, Han Yuchen suddenly opened his eyes from the bed by the window.

There was not the slightest trace of sleepiness in his eyes.

Instead, they were cold and sharp, making him utterly unlike the sickly, harmless boy he had been during the day.

He slowly turned his head toward the window.

His gaze precisely settled on the Spirit Hall Branch in the center of Nuoding City, brightly lit and built in the grandest architectural style.

The feeling he had experienced at the city gates during the day surfaced once again.

That cold, chaotic aura that made even his Soul Origin feel intense disgust was incredibly faint. From so far away, it was nearly impossible to detect.

Yet to the senses he had inherited from the Starlight Ruse King, it was as clear as a wisp of Ghost Fire in the night.

Solonsen's stench...

Had it already spread to a backwater place like Nuoding City?

It seemed the waters of Spirit Hall ran far deeper than he had imagined.

In the darkness, a piercing glint of frost flashed through Han Yuchen's eyes.