Moved

The next afternoon after school, Xue Lingyun went to the Soul Guidance Department Testing Area.

The Testing Area was livelier than outside.

Several students were busy at their respective stations. He Caitou was at the innermost workbench, using an engraving knife to carve something onto a core.

Xue Lingyun walked over and stood beside him for a while, watching his movements.

After carving a circuit, He Caitou set down the engraving knife and turned to look at him. "You're here? Looking for Teacher Fan Yu?"

"Yeah." Xue Lingyun nodded and glanced at the core he was carving. "A Third-Grade Energy Circuit?"

He Caitou scratched his head and smiled bashfully. "Yeah, it's a variation I came up with. I changed the corners of the standard circuit into arcs, so the energy flows more smoothly, but it's easy to go off track while engraving."

Xue Lingyun stared at the core for a moment before suddenly saying, "What if you widened the arc a little more and gave the energy room to buffer? Wouldn't that work better?"

He picked up a Discarded Core from the side, took an engraving knife, and drew a few lines on it. "Look, it takes up a bit more space this way, but it won't collapse as easily when the energy surges."

He Caitou leaned closer and examined it carefully, his eyes brightening. "That makes sense. I'll try it."

He took the scrap core and picked up his engraving knife again, beginning to experiment according to Xue Lingyun's idea.

Xue Lingyun watched from the side for a while. Seeing that He Caitou had gotten the hang of it, he did not disturb him further and turned to walk deeper inside.

Fan Yu was organizing materials at a workbench within. When he saw Xue Lingyun come in, he raised an eyebrow. "You again? What don't you understand today?"

Xue Lingyun walked over, took out the diagram from his Bracelet, and spread it across the table.

"These parts." He pointed at several marked points on the diagram. "I thought over what Teacher Fan Yu explained last time about the relationship between Loop Structures and energy attributes, but I still don't really understand how much the loss differs when Soul Power of different attributes passes through here."

Fan Yu took the diagram and looked it over. He nodded, then grabbed some paper and a pen from the side, drawing as he explained.

"Look, this loop filters unstable energy. Fire Attribute Soul Power is violent, so it loses a lot after making one circuit. Ice Attribute Soul Power is comparatively stable, so the loss is smaller. That's why the designer specifically marked it with 'use fire attribute with caution.'"

He drew several simple diagrams and demonstrated the flow paths for fire, ice, lightning, and several other attributes.

Xue Lingyun listened attentively, asking a question now and then and gradually clearing up every vague point.

After talking for nearly half an hour, he put away the diagram and thanked him.

Fan Yu waved a hand. "All right, go back and think it over slowly."

Xue Lingyun nodded, but he did not leave right away.

"Teacher Fan Yu." He spoke up. "There's one more thing I'd like to ask for your help with."

Fan Yu looked at him. "Go ahead."

"Huo Yuhao," Xue Lingyun said. "You still remember him, right? The one with the Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul."

"I remember." Fan Yu nodded as he looked at him. "You know him too?"

"We live next door to each other. We see each other every day," Xue Lingyun said. "His Spiritual Probe from the Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul can greatly improve the accuracy of Soul Guidance Cannons. He's quite suited to the Soul Guidance Department. I heard him mention the condition you gave him: a one-way distance of over a hundred meters."

He paused, then continued, "I was thinking, since he'll reach that standard sooner or later anyway, could he start learning the theoretical knowledge in advance? If he gets exposed to it now, he'll be quicker to pick it up later."

Fan Yu stared at him for several seconds before suddenly smiling.

"You really care about this." He leaned against the backrest and looked at Xue Lingyun. "You know the effects of his Soul Skill, and you know the condition I set. Looks like you two are pretty close."

Xue Lingyun did not respond. He only looked at him.

Fan Yu thought for a moment, then waved a hand. "Fine, let him come. He can learn theoretical knowledge from He Caitou first. Once his foundation is solid, we'll talk about the rest."

Xue Lingyun nodded, thanked him, and turned to leave.

As he walked, he thought things over.

The Spiritual Eyes Martial Soul and Spiritual Probe Sharing were abilities practically tailor-made for Soul Tools. Fan Yu valued Huo Yuhao greatly.

According to the course of the Original Work, even if Huo Yuhao failed to meet the Martial Soul Department's standards and was expelled, Fan Yu would definitely recruit him directly into the Soul Guidance Department as a special admission.

So the outcome was already set. Whether he said anything or not made no difference.

But saying it and not saying it were very different.

By speaking up, Huo Yuhao entering the Soul Guidance Department became the result of "Xue Lingyun putting in a good word for him."

The Soul Guidance Department would owe him a favor, and as for Huo Yuhao, that went without saying.

And all he had paid was a few words.

He Caitou was still busy at the workbench. When he saw Xue Lingyun come out, he looked up and gave him an honest smile. "I tried your suggestion just now. It really is more stable than before."

Xue Lingyun nodded, did not linger, and pushed open the door to leave the Testing Area.

That evening, before Wang Dong entered the bathroom with her clothes in her arms, she suddenly asked, "Where did you go this afternoon? I didn't see you after class."

"The Soul Guidance Department," Xue Lingyun said from the sofa without even raising his head.

Wang Dong pursed her lips, did not ask further, and went straight into the bathroom.

After Wang Dong went into the bathroom first to shower, only Xue Lingyun and Huo Yuhao remained in the living room.

Huo Yuhao stood beside the sofa, waiting.

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

Huo Yuhao sat down, placing both hands on his knees. He still looked as reserved as ever.

Only the sound of water from the bathroom filled the living room. Neither of them spoke.

After a while, Huo Yuhao asked, "Bro Lingyun, how is your research on that diagram going?"

"Not bad," Xue Lingyun said. "I need to slowly digest what I went to ask about. There are still some parts I need to think over."

Huo Yuhao nodded and said nothing more, but his posture relaxed somewhat.

Xue Lingyun glanced at him and suddenly said, "By the way, after school tomorrow, go to the Soul Guidance Department."

Huo Yuhao froze for a moment and turned to look at him.

"I've already spoken with Teacher Fan Yu," Xue Lingyun said evenly. "You'll study theoretical knowledge under He Caitou first. You'll be going there sooner or later anyway, so there's no harm in getting started earlier."

Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Xue Lingyun continued, "Study well when you get there. Don't neglect your Martial Soul cultivation either. Soul Tools are tools. A Soul Master's foundation is still himself. If your rank is too low, you won't even be able to withstand the recoil of a Fixed Soul Tool Cannon."

Huo Yuhao lowered his head and nodded forcefully.

He wanted to say something, but it felt as if something had blocked his throat.

Bro Lingyun lacked nothing. Talent, strength, connections—every one of them was far greater than his own.

Helping him was purely because... he wanted to help him.

He had two Elder brothers by blood, but from childhood until now, he had never felt even a trace of brotherly warmth from them.

Yet from Bro Lingyun, he had truly experienced that feeling.

The sound of water from the bathroom stopped.

After a while, Wang Dong pushed the door open and came out, her hair still dripping as she dried it with a towel.

"Your turn," she told Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao stood, lowered his head, walked into the bathroom, and gently shut the door.

As Wang Dong came out, the two passed each other.

She glanced at him—the kid's eyes were a little red.

She said nothing. Walking to the sofa, she flopped down onto it and tilted her head at Xue Lingyun. "What happened to him?"

Wang Dong stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly lowered her voice. "Did you scold him?"

"No," Xue Lingyun said.

"Then he..."

"I told him to go to the Soul Guidance Department to learn some things." Xue Lingyun's tone was calm. "He's happy."

Wang Dong froze for a moment, then understood. She let out an "oh," did not press further, and leaned back against the sofa as she muttered, "You really are good to him..."

Xue Lingyun did not respond.

After a while, Wang Dong suddenly said, "Your sofa is really comfortable. We only have hard benches over there."

"Mm."

"Where did you get it?"

"The academy provided it."

Wang Dong curled her lips. "The academy's favoritism is really obvious."

Xue Lingyun did not respond.

When Huo Yuhao came out after washing up, the two of them gathered their things and prepared to leave.

At the door, Huo Yuhao turned back to look at Xue Lingyun. His lips moved, but in the end, he only bowed to him before pulling open the door and leaving.

Wang Dong followed behind him. She turned back and gave Xue Lingyun a thumbs-up before closing the door.

The room fell quiet again.

Xue Lingyun leaned against the sofa and took out that picture album of design diagrams, flipping through it.

That kid Huo Yuhao would definitely remember this favor.

And because he had actively recommended him, the Soul Guidance Department would also view him more favorably.

All he had done was move his lips. He had lost nothing, yet gained goodwill from both sides.

There was no loss in doing this sort of thing a few more times.

Just as he was thinking that, a sound came from the window.

"Click."

A very soft sound—the window bolt being undone.

Xue Lingyun did not even raise his head.

By now, he did not even need to look. He could tell who it was just from the sound.

The "tap tap tap" secret knock was Wang Dong. Anyone climbing through the window had to be Ma Xiaotao.

Not one of them knew how to use a door properly.

The window was pushed open. Ma Xiaotao swung one leg inside, flipped neatly through, and landed lightly. Once she steadied herself, she casually shut the window.

"Reading again?" She walked over, sat down on the sofa, and crossed her legs.

Xue Lingyun set down the picture album and looked at her.

Ma Xiaotao seemed to be in a good mood tonight, with a faint smile on her face.

Without ceremony, she continued on her own, "I ran into Ling Luochen in the Inner Court today."

Xue Lingyun said nothing.

Ma Xiaotao's smile widened as she leaned closer. "Do you know what she said to me?"

Xue Lingyun still did not respond.

Ma Xiaotao did not mind and continued, "She asked me what your friend's name was—the one who was with you last time."

She paused, her tone teasing. "You don't know what Ling Luochen is like. She normally can't be bothered to speak to anyone. She always looks at people with that cold, indifferent expression. She's never willing to say more than a word to me. Yet today, she actually took the initiative to ask me about a guy."

Xue Lingyun looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

Ma Xiaotao spread her hands. "So I told her. Then she was silent for ages and asked me where he usually went."

She laughed. "I told her, how would I know? It's not like I'm anything to him. She didn't ask anything else after that."

Xue Lingyun said nothing.

Ma Xiaotao stared at him for several seconds, then suddenly leaned a little closer, mischief in her eyes. "Is there something going on between you two that I don't know about?"

Xue Lingyun leaned back slightly, his tone calm. "We've met twice. We haven't exchanged more than a few words."

Ma Xiaotao stared at him, trying to find something in his expression.

But there was no expression on that face. His gaze was calm too—no embarrassment, no panic, not even the slightest ripple.

She waited, but there was still nothing.

"How boring." She leaned back and waved a hand. "Fine, whatever. I won't concern myself with you two."

She stood, walked to the window, and pushed it open. The night wind rushed in.

Xue Lingyun suddenly spoke. "You came all this way just to tease me?"

Ma Xiaotao turned back and nodded as if it were only natural. "What else would I come for?"

With that, she flipped out the window and casually pulled it shut behind her.

The room fell quiet again.

Xue Lingyun sat on the sofa and shook his head.

Not one of them was normal.