That Loser of a Big Brother Sure Is Lame

"I wasn't actually going to do it! Why'd you kick me out?!"

"Honestly, I was only thinking about it. Since when are we not even allowed to think about things?"

Xiao Meng stood outside the Body Sect's Soul Tool workshop, which was built atop a steep mountain peak.

Who knew why this bunch of muscle-bound Body Soul Masters had built their Soul Tool research area in a place like this?

Whoosh—

A nameless cold wind swept over her. Xiao Meng pressed down her skirt hem, then crouched and looked down at the Body Sect below.

"Maybe I should go to Brother Xu's room now... while those two are busy..."

Smack, smack.

Xiao Meng patted her cheeks with both hands.

That brought her back to her senses a little.

"I'll resist the temptation. No, I'll openly get Brother Xu to come back to the family home with me!"

She pouted, picturing that piece of leather gleaming with a lustrous sheen.

"The ice attribute remnants on it even made my Vermilion Clear Ice Toad react. Can Xiao really craft something good...?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!"

Xiao Hongchen laughed uproariously, his eyes feverish. A monocle magnifier sat over one eye, and he held a Ranking Engraving Knife in his hand.

Number 91—Xiao's birthday present.

"What beautiful material! With such top-tier material as the main component... no! It doesn't even need any other metals or materials as supplementary components."

"It's already perfect all on its own!!"

"Ah... These gorgeous golden patterns are faint, yet they carry an inexplicable air of power. The owner of this hide must have been an incredibly powerful Soul Beast in life."

His hands never stopped moving. He made cut after cut, the blade—quietly imbued with a trace of gray—slicing through the hide like a hot knife through butter.

It was unbelievably sharp!

Xu Qing stood to one side, with a black sphere perched on his shoulder.

The sphere was flawless, its surface perfectly smooth and round. A deep golden speck glimmered at its very center.

It was none other than the legendary Saint of the Undead, the Scourge of the Undead, Electrolux's—external spiritual projection.

There to supervise.

And to quietly lend a hand when the time was right.

Xiao Hongchen muttered to himself, already lost in a state of flow.

The Million-Year Insect Skin was gradually taking shape in his hands.

The shape of a pair of hands, that was.

This prodigy, a Soul Tool genius who could even be called the greatest beneath a cheat's advantage—

At that moment, his focus, his observation skills, even the control his brain exerted over every tiny movement of his muscles had reached a level he'd never experienced before.

The feeling enthralled him. It filled him with joy. He didn't want it to end.

His knife flew as if guided by the gods!

Those five words couldn't have described it better.

He felt as though some presence—perhaps the legendary God of Soul Engineers—were supporting his wrist and holding up his neck.

Creak—

The hide had now been cut into the shape of a pair of hands, but one final step remained.

"Stitching..."

"With what... with what..."

Xiao Hongchen was stumped, and his scalp prickled.

Xu Qing's eyes sharpened. His Self Martial Soul quietly appeared behind Xiao Hongchen and blew on the very narrow white strip that had been trimmed away earlier when the hide was split in two.

"Thread... right!! Ha ha ha ha!!"

"I was so caught up in it that I forgot! If I don't have any thread, I can just use this hide to make some!!"

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

Several hours passed, and the sun outside was about to set.

Xiao Meng was getting impatient, too.

If this takes any longer, I'm really going to have to set up a Soul Tool surveillance device!

What a loser of a big brother. If it were me, I'd have finished ages ago.

"Ah... ah..."

Xiao Hongchen collapsed into his chair, drenched from head to toe.

The monocle over his left eye was fogged up with his breath, and he could barely see.

But it didn't matter. He'd finished.

"I feel so damn good..."

"I could definitely start making Level Six Soul Tools now! Heh heh... Xu Qing, thanks."

He leaned his head back and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Do you know what this means?"

"It means I can conjure a Level Six Soul Cannon out of thin air during battle. It means I can try out that idea you gave me."

The black sphere on Xu Qing's shoulder slowly shrank. He took it in his palm and walked over to the workbench.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Xiao."

"Give the Level Six hand Soul Tool a name, Xu Qing."

Xiao Hongchen panted. Then he took a pill out of his Storage Soul Tool and was about to toss it into his mouth, but Xu Qing struck the pitch-black pill out of the air, turning it into a cloud of black smoke.

Boom!!

"Cough, cough, cough... What the hell? What are you doing?"

"If you want to truly catch up with me, you can't do it by relying on shady tricks like this and burning through your potential."

Xu Qing flicked his hand, only to find the stuff wouldn't come off!

So he wiped it on Xiao Hongchen's clothes instead. And wouldn't you know it, that did the trick.

"Tsk. Doesn't the medicine you developed have side effects, then?"

"Every medicine has some poison in it, little brother Xiao. You're not a Body Martial Soul, and you don't have the powerful constitution needed to keep up with your body's high metabolic demands."

Xu Qing tossed the black sphere onto a pair of pristine white gloves as smooth as jade. He rubbed them together and sent a ripple of Soul Power through them.

Hey, they turned black!

Thanks to Elder Yi for the dye.

"You're hopeless! What kind of taste is that?! Didn't I make them look good? Why'd you have to dye them black?!"

Xiao Hongchen had recovered a little strength and was hopping around.

It was just like having someone buy a painting you'd just finished, then change it to some ugly color scheme.

"What do you know? This is what you call cool."

Xu Qing wouldn't entertain any arguments about which color looked the coolest. As soon as he put on the gloves, he patted little brother Xiao's white hair.

And gave his white locks a few highlights, while he was at it.

Boom!!

Xu Qing threw a light punch, blasting a huge hole through the room built into the mountain peak.

It was half as big as a whole district!

In other words, a tunnel three meters in diameter.

The cool night breeze swept through the passage and brushed over someone who was busy fussing with his hair.

Along with that pleasant breeze came a sweet voice, heavy with concern.

Is that you, my dear little sister...? Heh heh... After all that hard work, if only I could get some comfort from my adorable little sister...

"Brother Xu!!"

Xiao Hongchen: I'm so awesome!!!

"Brother Xu! Are you okay?"

Xiao Meng's blue eyes held countless thoughts, but above all, she was worried about Xu Qing.

"I've been waiting forever. It's finally over! My brother didn't do anything bad to you, did he? Let me have a look."

Seeing that the one she cared about was fine, she relaxed. Her gaze began searching for her big brother.

"Tsk... Eww~ What a lame big brother. All you had to do was cut the material in half, cut out the shape, and stitch it up at the end."

"Look at you. You're all stinky, and drenched in sweat. Honestly..."

"Hmph, not talking again? Have you switched back to your brooding persona?"