To ensure the Soul Master Tournament went smoothly, teams from many academies had arrived several days early.
The Blazing Fire Academy team was no exception.
But last night, that idiot Feng Xiaotian had confessed to her in public for who knew how many times. He'd used banners and streamers and everything... Wasn't he just humiliating her in front of everyone?
She'd lost count of how many times she'd rejected him, but that idiot just wouldn't listen!
The worst part was, her family was pretty supportive of Feng Xiaotian pursuing her—even of the two families arranging a marriage...
That guy's confessions weren't confessions at all. They were disasters. She couldn't offend him, couldn't drive him away, and couldn't reason with him. Fine. Then she'd leave, right?
To avoid Feng Xiaotian's endless attentions, she'd simply locked herself in her room and refused to come out. But... while she was enjoying the night view and having a late-night snack, a nine-story pavilion had suddenly appeared across the street, on Gourmet Street!
She'd only looked down to take a sip of water, and the pavilion had appeared just like that... Its architectural style was completely different from the surrounding buildings. It had popped into existence out of thin air!
"An illusion? A Soul Skill?"
Just as she was wondering if some powerful Soul Master had unleashed a Soul Skill, two people suddenly went inside. One was Dugu Yan, and the other, her face veiled with a light scarf, had to be Ye Lingling.
One of them was the core controller and commander of Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team, while the other was the team's core support and healer... Since they were competing in the Soul Master Tournament, of course she needed to know about her opponents. She'd long since memorized the information on Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, both of whom had been directly seeded into the finals.
Not long afterward, the two came out. Dugu Yan looked as excited as if she'd just found a priceless treasure!
She'd hesitated in her room for a long time. Just as she made up her mind to go over and investigate, Dugu Yan appeared again—this time in a carriage. She went inside, stayed for a few minutes, then hurried away!
By then, it was almost dawn!
She thought she'd wait until daylight to investigate, but just as the sky brightened... Dugu Yan showed up again?
What exactly is in there?
A rare Soul Tool? A precious medicine for cultivation?
If Dugu Yan keeps making trip after trip... this pavilion must have something special about it...
The more she thought about it, the more certain she became!
And seeing the pavilion appear out of thin air with her own eyes the night before had only fueled her curiosity.
Could Dugu Yan be preparing for the Soul Master Tournament?
But after she entered the Scripture Depository and saw the few books scattered around... she was still completely bewildered!
Wait, so it's just... a bookstore?
She watched Dugu Yan discreetly, even straining to listen to the two of them talk...
She caught faint mentions of... increasing Soul Power... quick mastery... Soul Skills...
Could it be...
A strange notion suddenly flashed through her mind.
She instinctively looked at the ancient books displayed in the cabinets.
Could these all be Soul Skills? Self-Created Soul Skills?
The thought struck her as absurd!
How could that be possible?
How precious were Self-Created Soul Skills? Who would sell them? Let alone so many?
Hadn't Feng Xiaotian spent years studying Self-Created Soul Skills without coming up with anything particularly useful?
But Dugu Yan's attitude hadn't seemed fake...
Suppressing her turbulent thoughts, she waited until Dugu Yan had left, then picked up the book titled Blazing Blade and began to leaf through it, keeping her expression neutral.
She hadn't known what to expect, but the moment she looked, she was stunned. This... this really was a Self-Created Soul Skill?
Let Soul Power circulate through the two main meridians in the body... and the twelve limb meridians, catalyzing it... then guide it through the arm meridians to the palm... and release...
It's truly ingenious, and explained in plain language!
As a forty-third-rank Soul Ancestor, she only had to look at the Soul Power circulation route to know it was genuine. When she used her Soul Skills, Soul Power circulated through most of the meridians described in the book!
It was genuine, without a doubt!
If the Blazing Blade is real, then what about the others...?
Still astonished, she glanced at the books on the shelves... Leopard Tail Kick... Mount Song Mental Method... Precept-Breaking Saber Technique... Her heart was shaken.
This Scripture Depository... has so many Self-Created Soul Skills. Who could have created all this?
The Upper Three Sects? Spirit Hall? Or some hidden sect or family?
Thump—
Thump—
At that moment, her heart pounded like a drum!
It took her a long while to compose herself. Then she walked over to the desk, where a young man in blue-green robes, about her age, was sitting. "You're the owner of this Scripture Depository?"
"Pavilion Master!" Li Jingzhe replied coolly.
"Mm, Pavilion Master!"
Huo Wu nodded, then asked casually, "If I'm not mistaken, that was the young lady of the Dugu Family? Are you two close?"
But Li Jingzhe didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the Blazing Blade in Huo Wu's hand, gestured toward it with his eyes, and asked, "Interested?"
Huo Wu raised the Blazing Blade manual in her hand. "I am!"
Li Jingzhe yawned. His Soul Power was only at level 12.6, and he'd been up all night, so he was feeling rather mentally exhausted. "If you're interested, you can give it a try."
"You still haven't answered my question."
Huo Wu pressed him, her beautiful eyes fixed directly on Li Jingzhe's.
"Why should I answer your question? Or can you give me a reason I have to?"
Li Jingzhe leaned back in his chair, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
Huo Wu's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly... As a forty-third-rank control-type Battle Soul Ancestor, she could put immense psychological pressure on ordinary people and those beneath her with nothing more than a glance, even without deliberately releasing the pressure of her Soul Power!
Yet this man was only a Soul Master of around level twelve. How could he be so composed?
Where did he get that confidence?
She couldn't make sense of him!
But she said, "We're just chatting. You don't have to be so standoffish, do you? You weren't like this when you were talking with Miss Dugu just now."
"I'm just curious. What place does the talented young man who's friends with Miss Dugu come from? Which family or sect does he belong to? What's your surname, Pavilion Master? How should I address you?"
"Heh—"
Li Jingzhe couldn't hold back and laughed, but he still introduced himself. "Li Jingzhe, Pavilion Master of the Scripture Depository."
"Besides... did you come to buy books, or to find a match and check my family background?"
He'd figured it out. Huo Wu was here to sound him out. Dugu Yan must have drawn attention by making trip after trip to the Scripture Depository.
Li Jingzhe? The surname Li...
Huo Wu turned the surname over in her mind, but couldn't connect it to any family or sect she knew.
So it really is a hidden sect or family?
Since they've chosen to remain hidden, they won't come out into the open easily... It seems this Pavilion Master Li is only the one managing things on the surface.
Huo Wu turned the thought over in her mind, then suddenly smiled mischievously. "Pavilion Master... how about we make a deal?"
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