"You seem pretty happy."
Ma Xiaotao followed behind him. She seemed able to catch a faint trace of the boy's emotions.
"An unexpected gain, I suppose. I've come up with a new hypothesis about Soul Ring Attachment that needs testing. It differs quite a bit from the original goal, but that's research—the exploration of the unknown. Things rarely go perfectly."
"And I've also found some clues toward the original objective. If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to refine the theory and begin testing it within half a year."
On an unknown road, no one could predict what they would encounter at their next turn—an immovable fixture in their life, or a demolition crew coming to wreck everything. All of it was unknown.
Perhaps it was precisely because of that that life's depth and height held so much uncertainty.
And that was why life possessed the resilience to rise from dust into brilliance.
"Yuhao, are we really going to see Ning Tian?"
Standing outside the teaching building, Wang Dong frowned, his face full of hesitation.
"But so many of our questions need Teacher Ning Tian to answer them."
Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong in confusion. Didn't you use your looks to pry information out of her before? Why are you suddenly so afraid of seeing her?
"Hey! Fine, then. Today, I'll risk my life for a gentleman!"
"Oh? Since when did I become a gentleman?"
Ning Tian's voice suddenly came from behind Wang Dong, startling him into hurriedly stepping back to avoid being groped.
"You two as well—just look. Being too curious will only get you hurt."
Ning Tian passed by them, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness. She had already learned the details through [Youlan].
All Ning Tian could do was sigh. A newborn calf feared no tiger.
Why did that sound so familiar? Oh, right. Teacher had evaluated me that way back then too...
At the time, Chen Fu had planned to customize a special Battle Soul Instrument for Ning Tian to improve her work efficiency. Of course, her working hours would not change.
But Ning Tian felt that she had already learned enough. She wanted to make a Battle Soul Instrument for herself and told him not to trouble himself over it.
Chen Fu's assessment was: newborn calf... To avoid discouraging his disciple's enthusiasm for learning, and to show his support for her dream, he had Youlan compile a grand gift package of Battle Soul Instrument chip theory and give it to Ning Tian, expressing Teacher's earnest expectations for her.
"Ahhh! I finally have someone to take over! I'm about to go bald!"
Ning Tian authorized the Second Generation Battle Soul Instrument containing the learning gift package to Huo Yuhao and handed it to him. To Ning Tian, merely transferring a small Soul Tool meant that a wonderful life as a support Soul Master was beckoning to her.
She missed the days when she had still been a support-type Soul Master, when she could not yet swing a pagoda around to smash people. She had been silly back then, but at least she had not lost hair!
[Hair loss is a normal physiological phenomenon.]
Ah! Even [Youlan] can bully me now ()
[Youlan] is the core hub and mainframe of the Battle Soul Instrument Mental Network. It possesses the authority to remotely control any Battle Soul Instrument within range.
One of Youlan's long-term tasks, though no one knew who had assigned it, was to ensure that Ning Tian did not slack off during work hours.
As a result, every time she wanted to take a brief break, Youlan would remind her and threaten to add however much overtime matched the time she spent slacking.
Ning Tian: (furious)
[Youlan]: (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ Have a pleasant workday!
As for why Wang Dong knew Ning Tian, when the New Life students had first enrolled, she had faced girls who were infatuated with her and boys of the opposite sex who either lusted after or resented her. Ning Tian, who was neither infatuated nor hostile and instead seemed genuinely interested in her, had naturally left a good first impression.
As for Ning Tian, some non-core materials in Youlan's database were accessible to her. Combined with the vast amount of knowledge Chen Fu had force-fed her... a Light Goddess Butterfly! That was incredibly rare, all right?! Damn, was she maybe a one?! Oh ho ho, this was... so cool!
Sometimes Chen Fu wondered whether the changes in her constitution had also produced unknown effects on her brain. Or perhaps she had too few work assignments and kept thinking about strange things? Unlike him—he worked twenty-four hours a day, all year without rest. Once Youlan had taken shape, he did not even need to sleep.
"Youlan, did I overlook something?"
Chen Fu, who was adjusting the Soul Power nodes one by one, frowned. He felt as if he had overlooked something.
[Could you provide a specific scope?]
"Something related to Ning Tian."
[Family, friends, behavior...]
[Youlan] listed Ning Tian's information item by item.
After quickly reading through it, Chen Fu fell into an inexplicable silence.
He then opened the information on the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, as well as the history of its predecessor, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, preserved by Shrek Academy.
"Build a Wu Feng personality model."
[Model constructed.]
"???"
Even Chen Fu, who had weathered every kind of storm and never showed joy or anger on his face, felt his expression stiffen.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect's pressing need for Soul Masters with powerful individual combat strength had become optional in the face of Melting Ring.
That is, Ning Tian's standards for choosing a partner would no longer be restricted by sect rules.
It was understandable, but...
Did I run into something unclean when I went out today? Why am I so unlucky??
"Youlan, send Ning Tian a values-learning gift package. It must include an assessment!"
[Task Bar updated.]
Ning Tian, who had been imagining her wonderful future, suddenly felt a chill run down her back and immediately straightened her posture.
"Why are you always jumping at shadows like that?"
Wang Dong, whom Ning Tian had kept behind alone, was startled. He thought this monstrously strong woman who had no respect for her role as Teacher was going to grab him and take advantage of him again.
If she did not have dirt on him, he would never have stayed behind alone!
"It's nothing. Sometimes [Youlan] assigns tasks. You'll get used to it."
Watching the download bar on the Battle Soul Instrument interface slowly crawl forward, Ning Tian began to realize the severity of the situation.
"Hurry up and tell me why you kept me here."
Seeing Ning Tian's expression freeze as she remained silent for so long, Wang Dong grew impatient. He still needed to go ask Huo Yuhao for the Second Generation Battle Soul Instrument to play with. That thing was not for sale yet.
"I'm not keeping you anymore. Teacher won't let me play with you now."
Bang!
The gust of air from the wooden door slamming shut nearly blew Wang Dong's eyes closed.
If confusion had levels, Wang Dong felt that he had probably maxed it out.
"What? You finally got results?"
Chen Fu, who had pushed the inspection progress of [Ascension] to 89%, looked toward the Green Hamster girl who seemed to have been missing for quite a while.
Under Chen Fu's intervention, Mo Ling's martial soul had undergone a beneficial mutation, changing from a Lucky Golden Silk Bear into a Jade-Scaled Lucky Golden Silk Bear... because she had perfectly inherited both the poison and fortune characteristics.
"Take a look yourself. The data from Seed Experiment No. 52."
[Data received.]
Chen Fu roughly scanned the data, then looked suspiciously at Mo Ling, who seemed to have slimmed down considerably.
"Twenty-seven consecutive positive mutations?"
And every single time, she could get the beneficial mutation result she wanted?
"Yeah. If the early rapid-growth trait had appeared, I wouldn't have kept crossbreeding for so long. Is something wrong?"
The girl with twin buns seemed to be asking with her chubby little face: Was that wrong?
This was utterly outrageous...
"Youlan!"
[Statistical model established. Variables are being added.]
[Seed Experiment No. 52 model constructed. Calculating probability.]
[Average time required to achieve the objective using the procedures of Experiment No. 52: 69 years.]
"She completed every planned stage in one year. Is that normal?"
[Normal. Such a probability exists.]
"Then doesn't someone like her turn probability theory into a joke?"
[No.]
[Because someone else bears the burden.]
Thanks to [Book Friend 5123] for the reward (ω｀)
Thanks to [Mango Ancient] [Book Friend 6418] [Book Friend 8160] for the monthly votes (><)
Thanks to all you good brothers for the recommendation votes~(￣▽￣~)~
The pace has slowed a little. There will be side stories later.
Before you continue