Lingering Echoes

Ye Xinglan was waiting in the rest area.

Seeing Yun Jingheng return, she handed him a bottle of water, "Why were you so long?"

Yun Jingheng took the water, "Ran into someone, exchanged a few words."

Ye Xinglan didn't ask who it was and sat down beside him, "That Tang Wulin, he uses his Blue Silver Grass quite well."

Yun Jingheng nodded, "Mm."

"His Golden Dragon Claw is also interesting; it has great power, but the control isn't refined enough yet."

Ye Xinglan paused, "Give him another two years, and he will be very troublesome."

Yun Jingheng looked at her, "You actually praise others?"

Ye Xinglan glared at him, "I am analyzing an opponent."

She stood up, "Let's go, back to rest."

Yun Jingheng followed behind her as they walked out of the rest area.

Sunlight shone in from the sea, stretching their shadows long across the ground.

Xu Xiaoyan sat on the bed in her hotel room, her hands spread out on her knees.

She stared at her palms for a long time, but there was nothing there.

She tried to summon the Star Wheel Ice Staff; the staff appeared, glowing with a faint starlight in her hand.

It was the same as before, nothing special.

She frowned and retracted the staff.

Her palm was empty again, but she always felt like something was missing.

It wasn't the staff; it was something else.

She couldn't put it into words.

She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

In her mind, the image of Yun Jingheng standing on the arena appeared: his silver-white coat, the three soul rings floating behind him, and the frost-white light on the Moonlight Sword.

She rolled over and buried her face in the pillow.

The warmth in her palm appeared again, very light, very faint.

She clenched her hand tight, telling no one.

Gu Yue returned to her room and closed the door.

She didn't turn on the lights, standing by the window and looking at the sea outside.

The sea of Skysea City was blue, and very deep.

She reached out her hand; a ball of fire burned in her palm, very small, very bright.

She clenched her fist, and the fire went out.

She opened her hand again, and an ice pick appeared in her palm, very small, very sharp.

The ice pick shattered, turned into water, and flowed away through her fingers.

She pulled her hand back and leaned against the window.

The moonlight hadn't come out yet, and the sky was still bright.

She closed her eyes, the silver-white mark appearing in her mind.

It was very faint, very cool, like moonlight.

She opened her eyes, turned around, and walked back to the bed to sit down.

The communicator lit up; it was a message from Di Tian.

"My Lord, that soul bone has already been arranged."

She glanced at it and put the communicator down; it wasn't time yet, she would wait until he was a little stronger.

In the evening, Yun Jingheng sat in his hotel room and took the Blue Pregnancy Copper out of his storage Soul Tool.

The palm-sized metal ingot glowed with a blue halo under the light.

He turned it over and over for a long time, then pulled out several blueprints.

Those were the Soul Tool core circuit designs he had drawn previously; using Blue Pregnancy Copper as the conductive circuit could increase efficiency by thirty percent.

He picked up a pen and made a few changes to the blueprints.

After finishing, he looked them over again, felt dissatisfied, and changed them once more.

After revising them three times, he finally put down the pen.

Ya Li was reading a book nearby and glanced at him, "Done?"

Yun Jingheng put away the Blue Pregnancy Copper.

"I'll deal with it when we get back. There aren't enough metals here."

Ya Li smiled. "Then shall we sleep? We can check the Blacksmith Association tomorrow to see if there's anything you need."

Yun Jingheng nodded and lay back down on the bed.

No sooner had Yun Jingheng lain down than he felt the mattress sink.

Ya Li crawled over from her bed and lay down beside him, turning on her side to look at him with her eyes curved into crescents.

"Do you want Mommy to hold you while you sleep?"

Yun Jingheng stared at the ceiling, silent for about three seconds.

"Mom, I'm ten years old."

"So what if you're ten? You're still Mommy's son at ten."

Ya Li reached out and pulled his quilt up, her movements natural. "When you were little, you wanted me to hold you to sleep every single day. You wouldn't sleep if I didn't hold you, and you'd cry the moment I put you down."

The corner of Yun Jingheng's mouth twitched. "That was when I was little."

"You're still little now," Ya Li said righteously.

Yun Jingheng stopped talking.

He turned over, facing away from Ya Li.

Ya Li let out a soft laugh and didn't tease him further, simply tucking in the corner of his quilt before lying back down to watch the back of his head.

Moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains, casting a thin streak onto the floor. The room was very quiet.

"Mom," Yun Jingheng suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"That Gu Yue today, her elemental control is very impressive."

Ya Li didn't speak.

Yun Jingheng continued.

"She can control four elements simultaneously—ice, fire, wind, and earth—and she switches between them very quickly. As soon as an ice spike is released, a fireball follows, with almost no interval in between."

He paused. "Her spiritual power is very strong."

Ya Li watched him; the moonlight shone on his profile, making him look very quiet.

"Are you very interested in her?"

Yun Jingheng thought about it.

"She helped me."

Ya Li waited for him to continue.

Yun Jingheng was silent for a moment.

"That time in the Spirit Ascension Platform, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was chasing me. She blocked it for me and then got swatted out."

His voice was calm. "I owe her a favor."

Ya Li reached out and stroked his hair.

"So that's why you kept watching her in the arena today?"

Yun Jingheng didn't answer.

It wasn't that he didn't want to answer; it was that he hadn't figured it out himself.

Why did his gaze always fall on her while he was in the arena?

It wasn't because she was strong; it was because of something else.

He couldn't put it into words.

Ya Li didn't press him, simply rubbing his hair gently.

"Sleep now, there's still a match tomorrow."

Yun Jingheng gave a soft "mm" and closed his eyes.

The moonlight shone through the gap in the curtains, landing on his pillow.

He turned over to face the window.

The streak of moonlight was thin and bright, like a silver thread.

He closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Listening to his breathing become steady, Ya Li sat up gently.

She looked down at his sleeping face for a long time.

Then, she reached out and pulled the curtains tighter, blocking out the streak of moonlight.

She lay back down and closed her eyes.

The next morning, Yun Jingheng was woken up by a knocking at the door.

He opened his eyes to see Ya Li already up, busy combing her hair.

He sat up and stretched his neck.

"Who is it?"

Ya Li went to open the door.

Ye Xinglan stood at the entrance, her golden ponytail tied up neatly.

"Elder Ya Li, Teacher Shen asked me to come get you two. Today's match schedule is out."

Yun Jingheng climbed out of bed and walked to the door.

"Who are we against?"

Ye Xinglan looked at him.

"Crossing Sea Academy. Two power-type soul masters, both with bear-type martial souls."

Yun Jingheng nodded. "Are they easy to handle?"

The corners of Ye Xinglan's mouth curved upward. "Easy."

Yun Jingheng smiled as well. "That's good then."

Ya Li poked her head out from the room.

"Wait for me a moment, I need to change."

Ye Xinglan and Yun Jingheng stood in the hallway waiting.

Ye Xinglan leaned against the wall, looking at Yun Jingheng. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Yun Jingheng shook his head. "Not at all, why do you say that?"

"It's nothing."

Ya Li emerged, wearing a pale blue long dress with her hair pinned back, looking quite refreshed.

Ye Xinglan led the way, with Yun Jingheng and Ya Li following behind.

When they reached the elevator, Ye Xinglan suddenly stopped and turned to look at Yun Jingheng.

"In today's match, you take the lead."

Yun Jingheng was stunned for a moment. "Why? Didn't we agree that you would take the lead?"

Ye Xinglan glared at him. "You promised yesterday."

Yun Jingheng thought about it, unsure if such a thing had actually happened.

"Is that so? Fine, whatever."

Ya Li listened from the side, the corners of her mouth curling up, but she said nothing.