Eavesdropping at the Sea God Pavilion
Yun Jingheng blinked.
She blinked again.
Then he raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at Yun Ming.
"... What did you say?"
"Your mom voted in favor."
Yun Ming's tone was as calm as if he were reading a weather forecast, but the redness at the base of his ears had spread from his earlobes to his auricles, like a late-blooming cherry blossom that had been forced to bloom.
"My mom—" Yun Jingheng's finger pointed towards the door, then turned back, "She—voted—to—a—way—to—hold—me—under—house—confessed????
"This cannot be considered house arrest; it is a protective measure."
"Protective measures?"
Yun Jingheng's voice rose a octave, vibrating twice under the dome of the Council Hall, "So the first thing I did after coming out of seclusion wasn't to drink her medicinal soup, but to be informed that I've been imprisoned?"
Yun Ming raised his hand and made a "calm down" gesture, but the gesture paused in mid-air before he lowered it.
Because Yun Jingheng had already walked around the table and stood in front of him.
The distance is less than one step.
"Dad."
Yun Jingheng lowered his voice, but it was a very forceful low, like a string stretched to its limit, "Do you know how I got through the Second Trial? Three months, the Moonlight seeping into my bones. There was a time when I almost exploded the meridians in my left arm. Do you know what I was thinking at that time?"
Yun Ming did not respond.
"What I'm thinking is—just wait until I get out. When I get out, I can go to the Library Pavilion and look at the rubbings of the Stele Inscriptions, I can also—"
He paused for a moment, his voice softening slightly, "--I can still go sit by the Sea God Lake for a while."
"... You are allowed to move freely within the Sea God Pavilion area."
"Within the vicinity of the Sea God Pavilion?"
Yun Jingheng was so angry he laughed.
The laughter was short, mostly breathy, like a stone sliding across ice and then coming to a stop.
"Tell me, how big is the courtyard of the Sea God Pavilion? How many steps is it from the Golden Tree to the East Gate? I can count it with my eyes closed."
"Dad, you're letting me stay here until I reach level 65 in Soul Douluo? Soul Douluo level 80. You do the math, how much is that?"
Yun Ming remained silent for two seconds.
Level 15.
Level 15.
Yun Jingheng repeated the number, his anger suddenly crumbling as if a pillar had been removed, "... Normal cultivation, without encountering bottlenecks or relying on rare and precious materials, takes at least three years. You want me to stay in this courtyard for three years?"
He took a step back and plopped down on the chair behind him, the chair legs scraping against the wooden floor with a short, sharp sound.
"I refuse."
"Your refusal has been rejected by a majority vote of the Sea God Pavilion."
I want to appeal.
Appeal dismissed.
"I want to run away from home."
"There are dozens of Titled Douluo outside; you can't get out."
Yun Jingheng looked up at the ceiling of the Council Hall. The living wood grain of the Golden Tree coiled into a spiral above his head, and the golden-green light pulsed evenly, like a giant heart beating slowly.
He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and then-
"Mom--!!!"
The shout pierced through the Council Hall doors, traveled along the living wood conduction system of the Golden Tree trunk, and even caused a layer of fine cracks to appear on the surface of a celadon vase that had been placed at the corner of the stairs for decades.
A commotion of fighting and chaos came from outside the door.
Yun Ming's expression changed.
He almost reflexively took a step towards the door, then abruptly stopped, turning to look at Yun Jingheng.
Yun Jingheng sat in a chair with his arms crossed over his chest.
Then the door was pushed open.
To be precise, they were "squeezed" apart.
The door hinges groaned under the strain, because there were just too many people piled up outside.
Ya Li stood at the front, holding an empty bowl in her hand, her expression very subtle.
Behind her was Long Yeyue.
The old lady stood ramrod straight, leaning on her cane. One eye was half-closed, while the other gleamed brightly. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, but the corners of her mouth trembled slightly.
Next to Long Yeyue was Feng Wuyu, a teacher known for his unrestrained manner. At this moment, he had his shoulders hunched, his hands behind his back, and his heels slightly raised, giving off a passing-by vibe.
Tang Yinmeng was squeezed behind Feng Wuyu.
The girl poked her head out halfway, still clutching a scroll of books she hadn't had time to put away, the spine facing outwards. Yun Jingheng glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and saw the words "Minutes of the Resolutions of the Sea God Pavilion".
Behind Tang Yinmeng was Lan Muzi.
The usually gentle and refined teacher now rested his hand on the door frame, his face calm, but a bead of sweat was sliding down his temple.
Then— Yun Jingheng's gaze passed over Lan Muzi's shoulder and fell on the outermost layer.
Cai Yue'er and Zhuo Shi looked the most flustered, because they were the ones who advocated rejecting Yun Jingheng's refusal.
There were seven people crowded outside the door, plus the Sea God Pavilion Master, who was hiding in the corner with only half of his sleeve showing.
The Council Hall was silent for a full three seconds.
Looking at this impressive eavesdropping group, Yun Jingheng slowly stood up from his chair.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
It opened again.
Then he turned to Yun Ming, pointed to the group of people at the door, and the explosive anger in his voice suddenly turned into something deeper, like the magma slowly cooling into rock after a volcano has erupted.
"... When you hold the Sea God Pavilion Meeting, do you specifically create a duty roster? Who stands in the first row today, and who stands in the second row tomorrow?"
No one answered at the door.
The eight people at the door, plus the one with half a sleeve around the corner, all fell silent the moment Yun Jingheng finished speaking.
It's like someone throwing a whole block of ice into a pot of boiling water.
Ya Li was the first to react.
She handed the empty bowl behind her back, and Lan Muzi reflexively reached out and caught it. Only after taking it did she realize that she had an extra bowl in her hand. She looked down at it, then looked up again, and finally chose not to say anything.
"Jing Heng."
Ya Li stepped across the threshold into the Council Hall, reached out and straightened Yun Jingheng's ruffled collar, "Let me finish speaking first."
Yun Jingheng looked down at his mother's fingers as she folded them back and forth at his collar twice, the movements as light as if she were folding a piece of silk that she was afraid of wrinkling.
"You say."
"I voted in favor of this, not because I think you should be locked up."
Ya Li withdrew her hand, looked up into her son's eyes, and said, "Do you know that what you're emitting right now isn't Soul Power?"
Yun Jingheng:?
Yun Jingheng's expression changed from explosive anger to bewilderment, as if he had been hit with a completely unexpected stone.
"... I didn't understand."
"The energy emanating from you right now is not Soul Power."
Ya Li repeated herself, her voice very soft, as if she were talking about something she wasn't quite sure how to explain, "After you came out of the Second Trial, I could feel it standing next to you. It's true that your Soul Power is level 65, but the aura around you is much stronger than your father's when he unleashed his full power—"
She paused, then glanced sideways at the doorway.
Long Yeyue took a step forward, leaning on her cane, and continued the conversation.
"Yun Ming possesses a self-created demigod Godhood; in other words, your Soul Power is transforming into Divine Power."
Long Yeyue's tone was serious.
"Furthermore, you seem unable to control this aura. If you wander around outside, those with higher cultivation levels will be able to detect your unusual presence."
She tapped the ground with her cane; the sound was soft but steady. "Do you think your Second Trial just tempered your bones?"
"Boy, you've greatly underestimated the power of Godhood Inheritance. The body tempering you've undergone isn't just about refining your flesh and bones; it's about refining the essence of your Soul Power. Every time Moonlight flows through your meridians, it's squeezing out the mundane impurities from your Soul Power— "
The old woman raised her eyelids and looked at him.
"Three months. We would secretly open the door and peek at you every day. You went from level 61 to level 65. On the surface, it only seemed like you increased by four levels, but the increase in the purity of your Soul Power was greater than the total increase in the previous two years of cultivation."
Yun Ming's voice came from behind.
He had already reached the door and stood beside Ya Li, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, his gaze level with Yun Jingheng. "Your total Soul Power is level sixty-five, but its quality is changing towards Divine Power. If we were to use a container as an analogy—"
He paused for a moment, as if searching for a more accurate way of putting it.
"--You are now a glass of water with the same volume but a rapidly increasing density. From the outside, it still looks like the same glass of water, but its weight has changed."
Yun Jingheng slowly closed his fingers, the silver leaf patterns flashing a final glimmer in his palm before disappearing beneath his skin.
"Once you go out—"
Cai Yue'er lazily chimed in from the doorway, "Those Titled Douluo can smell your scent from three hundred miles away. You're like a walking, ancient medicinal herb, complete with your own coordinates and glowing effects."
Yun Jingheng:...
That's a really novel metaphor.
"Hey, now that you understand, tell us about your Third Trial?"
Yun Jingheng looked at Feng Wuyu, who was beaming with excitement, and said, "The prerequisite for the Third Trial is... I need at least one Soul Core to review the test content."
"... Then let's condense the Soul Core first." ×8