"This required patience, and a bit of luck."
Bibi Dong said casually.
"Then... what should we do now?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at the mountain-like pile of materials, feeling somewhat at a loss.
"What else could we do?"
Xia Yang took a deep breath, his gaze turning resolute. "Since this is the only lead we have at the moment, we can only grit our teeth and get to work."
"First, we'll find every record in these archives where a Martial Soul mutated or where the circumstances bear even the slightest resemblance to ours. Then we'll categorize and analyze them."
"Let's begin!"
Thus, the three of them each took several thick archives from the shelves, sat at the long table by the window on the Fifth Floor, and began the long, tedious task of reviewing them.
Xia Yang raised his brows in surprise as he looked at Bibi Dong, who had naturally taken a seat beside him. "You... want to stay here and go through all this boring stuff with us?"
"What, am I not welcome?"
Bibi Dong pouted and asked back with feigned displeasure.
"How could you not be welcome?"
Xia Yang smiled, his tone sincerely grateful. "With the help of Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, we couldn't ask for more."
From then on, Xia Yang and Yu Xiaogang's lives settled into a new routine.
Every day, aside from their unwavering meditation to cultivate Soul Power and Xia Yang's insistence on swimming by the academy lake to strengthen his body, they spent most of their time with Bibi Dong on the Fifth Floor of the library, buried in old Soul Master archives.
Occasionally, when Xia Yang grew too tired and irritated from reading, he would put down the archives for a while and browse other books on the lower floors to clear