There was no doubt that Jing Hongchen did not trust me completely. I was still under observation; every word and action of mine could be reported and analyzed.
But this was all within my expectations. It could even be said that this was already the best possible start.
White Tiger Lin Qing showed neither dissatisfaction nor surprise.
He nodded calmly.
"I understand. I will prove myself through my actions and results."
He did not make any grand declarations.
Yet that pragmatic attitude made a trace of barely perceptible satisfaction flash through Jing Hongchen's eyes.
The key was not the little bit of surveillance and suspicion, but the fact that I had gained the qualifications and platform to formally access and study Soul Tools!
The scene shifted again.
This time, it was a bright, spotless classroom for Soul Tool theory.
Sunlight streamed through the enormous glass windows and fell across the smooth blackboard.
A complex diagram analyzing Soul Tool circuits, its lines interwoven, had been drawn across the board.
A refined middle-aged lecturer wearing glasses used a light pen formed from Soul Power to highlight key areas of the diagram as he explained the underlying principles.
"The core of a Level 3 offensive Soul Tool lies in optimizing energy compression and the release path. Although traditional double-helix circuits are stable, their explosive force has an upper limit..."
White Tiger Lin Qing sat upright in the front row by the window.
A thick notebook lay open before him, and his pen moved swiftly across the pages as he recorded the key points emphasized by the lecturer.
On a level imperceptible to others, however, the Heavenly Eye Martial Soul at his brow remained faintly lit in a half-activated state.
Delayed Vision operated silently.
The lecturer's rapid explanation became clear and orderly in his ears.
Those complicated Soul Tool circuits on the blackboard, enough to make anyone dizzy, had every energy flow and every nodal structure slowed and broken down in his vision, becoming exceptionally clear.
He could even simultaneously simulate in his mind how those circuits would operate under different energy inputs.
With the two divine abilities of Delayed Vision and Spiritual Detection, I displayed an almost terrifying talent and understanding in both Soul Tool theory and practical operation.
The scene flashed rapidly through several moments.
At a practical workbench piled with metal materials and carving knives.
White Tiger Lin Qing held a Fine Gold carving knife, his wrist as steady as a rock.
The knife's tip glided across a hard Starlight Blue Silver metal plate, leaving behind Soul Tool patterns of uniform depth and perfect curves.
His movements flowed like water and clouds, without the slightest hesitation or tremor.
That complex blueprint had long since been imprinted in his mind.
The practical instructor guiding him nearby nodded again and again, his eyes full of amazement.
"This degree of fine control over Soul Power output, this precision in the carvings... What an unbelievable talent."
Inside the Soul Tool energy testing room.
The energy beam fired from the Level 2 Soul Ray Gun he had made was condensed and stable. When it struck the test target, both the depth and range of its energy erosion reached excellent standards.
In less than a year, on the eve of my twelfth birthday, I successfully passed the certification for a Level 2 Soul Master.
The atmosphere in Mingde Hall's certification hall was solemn.
White Tiger Lin Qing stood before the testing platform and completed the final task—independently designing and crafting a fully functional Level 2 Soul Tool.
When the several senior Soul Masters on the evaluation panel unanimously nodded their approval,
a silver badge engraved with two delicate spiral patterns was solemnly pinned onto the chest of his academy uniform.
The Level 2 Soul Master badge!
Even Jing Hongchen, who had always regarded me with scrutiny, gave an extremely high evaluation in private after receiving the detailed assessment report.
Inside the hall master's office.
Jing Hongchen stood alone before the window, holding a thick file in his hand.
Written on the cover were the words: "Lin Qing—Annual Comprehensive Assessment Report."
He flipped through the recorded materials inside:
top marks in every theory class, practical-operation scores that set a record among low-level Soul Masters, steadily improving Soul Power, three effective suggestions offered while participating in a Soul Tool improvement project...
After a long while.
He closed the file.
His gaze fell upon the young Soul Master students outside in the academy, hurrying along with vigor and youthful spirit, and his eyes deepened.
"One year, from knowing nothing about Soul Tools to standing firmly at the level of a Level 2 Soul Master..."
He murmured softly, his tone complicated.
"This learning speed and practical talent are indeed astonishing."
He fell silent for a moment, as if weighing something.
In the end.
He returned to his desk.
He picked up a specially made Soul Tool pen, signed his name on the final page of the file, and added a concise note:
"Exceptional talent, enormous potential. Continue observation. Resource allocation may be increased as appropriate. Focus on cultivating his Soul Tool research and development as well as practical combat application abilities."
The pen tip scraped across the paper with a soft rustling sound.
This was not merely a signature, but a signal.
It meant that this genius youth from an enemy nation had truly begun to put down his first tendril of roots in the great tree that was the Sun Moon Empire.
As for whether that tendril would one day grow into a branch that sheltered the tree, or become poisonous vines that corroded its heart...
Time would provide the answer.
Not long after I became a Level 2 Soul Master, my Soul Power also broke through to Level 30.
Inside Mingde Hall's cultivation chamber, the lighting was gentle.
White Tiger Lin Qing sat cross-legged atop the Soul Gathering Array at its center.
Soul Power surged and ebbed around him like the tides, growing ever stronger.
At a certain moment.
A faint crack seemed to sound from within his body, as though some invisible bottleneck had been shattered.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Silver light flowed deep within them.
The fluctuations of Soul Power around his body had clearly risen to another level.
Level 30!
Soul Elder!
It had only been about a year since his Soul Power had soared to Level 26 after absorbing the million-year second Soul Ring of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
Yet he had actually charged all the way from Level 26 to the threshold of Level 30—and successfully crossed it!
If word of this cultivation speed got out, it would absolutely make countless people's jaws drop.
Even those so-called geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power would see their cultivation speed slow significantly after Level 20.
But White Tiger Lin Qing's speed was practically like riding a rocket. It completely defied common sense.
"Tian Meng, I've reached Level 30."
White Tiger Lin Qing did not show much excitement.
He merely informed him calmly within the Spiritual Sea.
"Mhm, mhm, I felt it."
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's lazy voice rang out, as though he had just awakened, still carrying a slight nasal tone.
But very quickly, his voice turned serious, even holding an excitement he could barely suppress.
"Level 30... Good! Very good!"
"Ah Qing, do you remember the God-Making Plan I told you about before? You have taken the first step very steadily."
"Now, it is time for the second step—a crucial second step."
The turning point of fate had appeared once again!
Within the light screen.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's voice echoed through the Spiritual Sea, carrying the certainty of a plan long in the making.
"I will obtain your Second Martial Soul!"
Tian Meng told me that it was time to head to the Far North and 'persuade' the Ice Empress to become my Second Martial Soul!
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