Feeling Spiritual Probe

Xue Lingyun leaned back on the sofa, holding the diagram Fan Yu had drawn and studying it carefully under the lamplight.

Layered Structure, loop radius, attribute differences... He had yet to fully digest everything Fan Yu had explained and needed to look it over several more times.

Just as he became absorbed in it, there was a knock at the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Heavy at first, then light, followed by a two-second pause.

Without even looking up, Xue Lingyun called out, "The door's unlocked."

The door opened. Wang Dong entered first, carrying the wooden basin, which was piled full.

Huo Yuhao followed behind her, carrying the old cloth bag.

"Borrowing the bathroom again." As Wang Dong spoke, she set the basin down by the bathroom door and glanced at Xue Lingyun. "What are you looking at?"

Xue Lingyun raised the paper in his hand. "A Soul Tool diagram."

Wang Dong leaned over for a look. The densely packed lines and annotations made her eyes swim.

She immediately drew back and waved her hand. "I don't get it, I don't get it. Take your time looking at it yourself."

With that, she grabbed her clean clothes and slipped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Huo Yuhao stood beside the sofa, waiting.

Xue Lingyun patted the spot beside him. "Sit."

Huo Yuhao sat down, his gaze falling on the sheet in Xue Lingyun's hand.

The lines on the paper were immensely complicated, with symbols he did not recognize scattered densely across it.

"Bro Lingyun, what is this?" he asked.

"A Structure Diagram of a Soul Tool core," Xue Lingyun said. "A relatively high rank one."

Huo Yuhao stared at it for several seconds but could not make sense of it at all. "The things you study are all so profound."

Xue Lingyun smiled. "You haven't learned about Soul Tools before, so it's normal that you can't understand it."

He folded the diagram and set it on the coffee table. Then he turned to Huo Yuhao and suddenly asked, "Are you interested in Soul Tools?"

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment, then nodded. "Quite interested."

Xue Lingyun looked at him and added, "Your Martial Soul should give you quite an advantage when it comes to inscribing formations."

"An advantage?" Huo Yuhao did not quite understand.

"Your First Soul Skill," Xue Lingyun said. "Would it be convenient for you to tell me exactly what it is?"

Huo Yuhao was slightly startled.

Soul Masters generally did not casually reveal the specific effects of their Soul Skills to others.

It was a rule, as well as a form of self-protection.

Who would be willing to show someone else their Trump Card?

But Bro Lingyun was different.

He was the first person who had ever treated him well.

When he had been at his lowest, in that shabby little courtyard, Bro Lingyun had taught him how to make grilled fish and left him money and medicinal herbs.

After entering the academy, Bro Lingyun had given him the Mystic Water Pill, making his cultivation go so much more smoothly. He had even let him and Wang Dong come bathe whenever they wanted...

Besides, the teachers had already seen his Soul Skill. If Bro Lingyun wanted to know, he could have simply asked them.

But he had chosen to ask Huo Yuhao himself. That was respect.

Huo Yuhao nodded. "All right."

He stood and released his First Soul Ring. A faint white glow flashed, followed by an invisible ripple spreading from his body.

That ripple flowed toward Xue Lingyun, carrying a sense of invitation.

Xue Lingyun could have refused, using his Spiritual Power to block that connection outside.

But he did not.

The instant the information flooded in, every detail of the living room appeared in his mind.

It was not an image seen through the eyes, but a three-dimensional, all-encompassing perception.

The position of the coffee table, the angle of the sofa, the patterns on the wall decorations, the back of the small ornament in the corner, even the designs on the towel Wang Dong had tossed by the bathroom door... everything was perfectly clear.

It was as if a three-dimensional map had been directly etched into his mind.

The range was not large, covering precisely the entire living room without extending even a bit outside.

Xue Lingyun nodded slightly.

Spiritual Probe Sharing.

Just as it had been described in the Original Work, it could transmit all information within its range to his teammates.

He had known about this effect long ago.

He had read the Original Work. He knew Huo Yuhao's First Soul Skill was Spiritual Probe, knew what it could do and what it could not.

But knowing was one thing. Seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it personally was another.

Besides, he needed a reasonable way to "learn" about this Soul Skill.

If they were to coordinate and make plans in the future, he needed some source of information.

Having Huo Yuhao tell him personally was the most natural approach.

"The range is a little small," he said.

Huo Yuhao nodded and explained, "I can control the size and shape of the probe.

I kept it confined to the living room because if I expanded it any further, one side would reach the bedrooms, which would feel a little inconvenient."

He pointed toward the bathroom. "As for the other side..."

Xue Lingyun nodded to show that he understood.

Huo Yuhao continued, "The distance of Spiritual Probe increases with my level. When I first mastered it, it only reached around thirty meters. Now it's almost forty meters."

Xue Lingyun leaned back on the sofa, thought for a moment, and said, "Your Soul Skill is very suitable for use with a Soul Guidance Cannon."

Huo Yuhao paused.

"A Soul Engineer's Fire Suppression has strong coverage area, but poor accuracy," Xue Lingyun said. "With Spiritual Probe, you can lock onto a target's position in advance. If you coordinate it with a Soul Guidance Cannon, the accuracy will improve greatly. You should have plenty of room to develop in the Soul Guidance Department."

As Huo Yuhao listened, his eyes gradually lit up, but they soon dimmed again.

"I've been to the Soul Guidance Department," he said.

Xue Lingyun looked at him.

"The teacher there promised that if my Spiritual Probe can someday reach over a hundred meters in one direction, he'll teach me how to make Soul Tools."

As Huo Yuhao spoke, his voice lowered. "I don't know when I'll be able to reach that."

Xue Lingyun did not respond. After a while, he asked, "Do you want to learn earlier?"

Huo Yuhao raised his head to look at him.

He could roughly guess what Xue Lingyun meant. Bro Lingyun was very capable and knew many people. If he were willing to help...

But Huo Yuhao could not bring himself to say it.

He did not want to trouble Xue Lingyun.

Bro Lingyun had already helped him so much. The Mystic Water Pill, the bathroom, his usual guidance—weren't all of those acts of kindness?

He owed him too much.

He lowered his head and said nothing.

Xue Lingyun looked at him, reached out, and patted his shoulder without saying a word.

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped. After a while, Wang Dong pushed open the door and came out, her hair still dripping as she wiped it with a towel.

"Your turn," she said to Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao stood, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door.

Wang Dong flopped onto the sofa, draped the towel over her shoulders, and tilted her head at Xue Lingyun. "What were you two talking about just now?"

"Just chatting," Xue Lingyun said.

Wang Dong did not ask further. After lounging around for a while, she waited for Huo Yuhao to finish bathing, and the two of them packed up their things to leave.

When Huo Yuhao reached the door, he looked back at Xue Lingyun. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he merely smiled. "Bro Lingyun, we'll be going, then."

Xue Lingyun nodded.

The door closed, and the room fell quiet again.

Xue Lingyun leaned back on the sofa, picked up the diagram once more, and studied it while pondering what had just happened.