The main hall fell silent for a moment.
Zhuo Shi's smile froze on his face.
"Why?!"
He shot to his feet. "Jing Heng is in the Agility Attack Department! What does someone from the Agility Attack Department need to learn forging for?! He should be learning close combat from me!"
"He's no damn Agility Attack-type! He's obviously a Power Attack-type!"
"And he took my Lunar Divine Metal!"
Feng Wuyu refused to yield an inch. "If he took it, he has to take responsibility!"
"Responsibility for what? He never said he wanted you as his master!"
"Then he shouldn't have taken my stuff!"
"So what if he took it? Does taking your things mean he has to study under you? What kind of logic is that?"
"This is—"
Feng Wuyu choked for a moment, then declared righteously, "This is a forger's logic! If you take materials, you have to forge something! If you forge something, you have to learn forging! If you learn forging, you have to take a master!"
"That's bandit logic!"
"He's the bandit! He cleaned out my entire home!"
The two argued fiercely, their voices growing louder and their faces redder. Neither was willing to give in.
Standing by the door, Lan Muzi silently took a step back.
Tang Yinmeng finally could not hold it in and let out a soft laugh.
She hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was already too late.
Everyone looked at her.
"Yinmeng," Long Yeyue said blandly, "do you have something to say?"
Tang Yinmeng lowered her hand. The smile had not entirely faded from her face, but her gaze was serious.
"Elder Feng," she said, "I'll find a way to return what my little brother took."
Feng Wuyu froze for a moment, then waved his hand.
"I'm not here to collect a debt." His voice suddenly lowered, carrying an emotion that was difficult to describe.
"I just..."
He fell silent for a while.
"That kid has talent," he said in a muffled voice. "He didn't take things at random. Sinking Silver, Magic Silver, Star Silver, Crystal Silver, Titanium Crystal, Lunar Divine Metal... every single thing he chose was right."
Everyone fell silent.
Feng Wuyu stood there with a complicated expression.
"I've lived for many years and seen a lot of talented children. But someone like him..."
He shook his head. "When he chose materials, he didn't rely on knowledge. He relied on feeling. He knew what materials he should take and what he should not take. He even knew where things were hidden."
"That's talent." He looked at Yun Ming. "The talent of a born forger."
Zhuo Shi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
Long Yeyue lifted her teacup and took another sip.
"So," she said leisurely, "you didn't come today to complain. You came to ask for the boy?"
Feng Wuyu was silent for a moment, then nodded heavily.
"I want to take him as my disciple."
Zhuo Shi finally could not hold back any longer. "I told you, he's from the Agility Attack Department—"
"So what if he really is?"
Feng Wuyu abruptly turned toward him. "I've taught him how to use Soul Power. He learns quickly."
"Forging requires more than strength. It requires precision, perception, and control."
"His martial soul is the Moonlight Sword. His precise control over Soul Power is exactly the best foundation for forging."
Zhuo Shi opened his mouth and discovered that he actually could not refute that.
Feng Wuyu pressed his advantage. "And he can sense the resonance of metals."
"When he found the Lunar Divine Metal in the hidden compartment, it wasn't because he saw it. It was because he felt it."
"He said that piece of metal kept the same rhythm as him—that is a forger's talent, not a warrior's talent."
The main hall remained silent for a long time.
Yun Ming had not spoken the entire time.
He sat there, calmly watching Feng Wuyu as though he were considering something.
"Elder Feng," he finally said. His voice was not loud, but it was very clear. "How much were the things Jing Heng took last night worth?"
Feng Wuyu froze for a moment, then said in a muffled voice, "...It's not about the money."
"How much?"
"...The Black God Iron was worth tens of millions, the Titanium Crystal is hard to price, and the Lunar Divine Metal..." He gritted his teeth. "It could be considered a ninth-rank soul guidance core. Altogether... around three hundred million."
A collective gasp rose in the main hall.
Three hundred million.
A ten-year-old child had stolen three hundred million worth of things in a single night.
Yun Ming nodded, his expression still calm.
"Fine," he said. "I'll accept it on Jing Heng's behalf."
"What?" Feng Wuyu did not understand.
"Those materials." Yun Ming looked at him.
"Consider them the apprenticeship gift you gave him. Jing Heng will learn forging from you."
The main hall fell silent for three seconds.
"Wait—"
Zhuo Shi sprang to his feet. "I haven't agreed to this yet!"
Yun Ming gave him a bland glance. "You're his teacher, not his master. He walks his own path."
Zhuo Shi was left speechless.
He opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but when he saw Yun Ming's expression, he knew the matter had already been decided.
Once Yun Ming made a decision, no one could change it.
Feng Wuyu stood there as his expression shifted from grief and indignation to shock, then from shock to wild delight.
"You mean it?!"
"I do."
"He'll really study under me?!"
"Mhm."
"You won't charge me?!"
"...No."
"Good!!!"
Feng Wuyu slapped his thigh, the sound making the windows hum. "Wonderful!!!"
He turned to leave, then took two steps before hurrying back.
"So—where is he? I'll go find him right now!"
"He didn't return to Sea God Island last night," Ya Li said softly. "I had someone look for him. He wasn't there."
Feng Wuyu froze.
"Then where did he go?"
No one answered.
The main hall fell silent once more.
Holding her teacup, Long Yeyue looked through the window toward Sea God Lake.
"He took all those materials," she said leisurely.
"He had to find somewhere to use them, didn't he?"
Everyone thought of the same place at once.
The Soul Guidance Teaching Building...
Cai Yue'er abruptly rose to her feet. Her chair slid back a foot with a shrill scraping sound.
"Oh no! My soul guidance core!"
Her face changed in an instant—from the composed ease of someone watching a show to an indescribable panic.
No one had ever seen Cai Yue'er make that expression.
She had always been one of the calmest people in Sea God Pavilion, forever carrying herself with unhurried poise. She spoke softly and handled matters without a single flaw.
Even if the sky fell, she would probably only lift an eyelid and say, "Understood."
But now, her face had gone pale.
And the way she ran did not suit her temperament at all.
She lifted the hem of her robes, her boots striking the stone floor of Sea God Pavilion with rapid taps as she swept through the front corridor like a gust of wind.
The two Inner Court disciples guarding the entrance were startled for the second time that day.
When Feng Wuyu had charged in earlier, they had merely not dared to stop him. This time, they had no time to react at all.
Cai Yue'er had already passed between them, the wind she stirred making the hems of their robes flutter wildly.
"C-Cai... Elder Cai?!" one disciple called out instinctively.
No one answered him.
Cai Yue'er had already vanished beyond the other end of the stone bridge.
Feng Wuyu froze for a moment, then followed her out.
"Wait for me!" he shouted, striding after her.
The two figures vanished one after the other into the morning light. Their footsteps grew fainter until all that remained was the startled waterfowl rising from Sea God Lake and flapping into the sky.
Inside the main hall of Sea God Pavilion, silence lingered for a long time.
Long Yeyue held her teacup, slowly took a sip, and then set it down.
The sound of porcelain touching the table was especially clear in the empty hall.
"Do you really want little Jing Heng to learn forging?" she asked.
Her voice was not loud, but everyone heard her clearly.
Yun Ming sat in the seat of honor and remained silent for a while.
His expression was still calm. His gaze rested in the direction Cai Yue'er had disappeared, as though seeing someone off, or perhaps thinking about something.
"Whether Jing Heng agrees," he said, "is his own business."
The main hall fell silent for a moment.
Then Zhuo Shi laughed.
"Well, damn," he said, slapping the armrest of his chair. "You accepted the apprenticeship gift on his behalf, then turned around and said, 'Whether Jing Heng agrees is his own business'? What are Feng Wuyu's three hundred million worth, then? Charity?"
Yun Ming glanced at him without answering.
Lan Muzi, standing at the doorway, gave a soft cough. "So... if Jing Heng doesn't agree, then those three hundred million worth of materials were... given away for nothing?"
"They were not given away for nothing," Yun Ming said blandly.
"Jing Heng took them."
"What's the difference?!"
"There is a difference."
Yun Ming's tone remained calm. "I accepted them on his behalf because I accepted Elder Feng's goodwill."
"Whether he agrees is his own choice."
"He can choose to forge something with those materials to repay that goodwill, or he can choose to take Elder Feng as his master."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Zhuo Shi glared.
"It isn't." This time, Ya Li spoke.
She sat by the window, sunlight falling across the side of her face. Her expression was gentle and tranquil.
"Taking a master means acknowledging someone as your master. It is a lifelong relationship. Making something with the materials to repay him is a transaction."
She paused, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. "Brother Ming means that he accepted this goodwill for Jing Heng, but Jing Heng can decide how to repay it himself."
Zhuo Shi opened his mouth, pondered it for a while, then shook his head.
"You two..." he muttered. "One more cunning than the other."
Long Yeyue gave a soft laugh.
It was not a loud laugh, only a faint and gentle one, like a ripple spreading across the lake when the wind blew over it.
"So," she said leisurely, "when Feng Wuyu ran after her, he still didn't know that the disciple he wanted might have no intention of taking a master at all."
The main hall fell silent again for a moment.
Then Lan Muzi laughed.
He restrained himself well. His shoulders trembled slightly before he quickly held it back, but his eyes were full of amusement.
"Then Elder Feng right now..."
He paused, carefully choosing his words. "He's probably chasing after Elder Cai toward the Soul Guidance Teaching Building, fully convinced that the Pavilion Master has already arranged this match for him—"
"What match?" Zhuo Shi interrupted. "It's a master-disciple relationship."
"More or less, more or less." Lan Muzi waved his hand, the curve of his smile growing wider.
"But when he finds Jing Heng and excitedly says, 'Your father already agreed to let you learn forging from me,' Jing Heng will say—"
He suddenly changed his voice, imitating Yun Jingheng's tone.
"I never agreed."
Tang Yinmeng finally could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
She bent over with laughter, one hand covering her mouth and the other bracing against her knee, her shoulders shaking.
"Sorry," she said indistinctly.
"I'm not... I just..."
She couldn't form a complete sentence; laughter shattered her voice into fragments.
Zhuo Shi watched her, the corner of his mouth twitching, then he laughed too.
His laughter was loud and hearty, carrying the uninhibited ease of an old hand who had seen the world.
"Good!"
He slapped the armrest. "Good!! You've got backbone! That old bastard Feng Wuyu wants to take him as a disciple? Keep dreaming! What's three hundred million?"
"My grandson can cough up three hundred million worth of stuff. Why would I be afraid he can't pay it back?"
"That was stolen," Lan Muzi reminded him quietly.
"That's called taking! Borrowing! It's— it's withdrawing in advance!"
Zhuo Shi spoke with complete confidence. "So what if he took a few materials from him? That means he thinks highly of him!"
Long Yeyue was finally amused.
When she smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothed out. She changed from that unfathomable old woman into an ordinary elderly person who had been thoroughly entertained.
"You people..."
She shook her head, picked up her teacup, found that the tea had already gone cold, and set it down again.
Before you continue