"This isn't difficult. Here in this frontier region, Spirit Hall has many troubles to deal with. I need to remain at the Main Branch and can't leave easily, so I can only ask Young Master Ye for help," Sading said.
"Handle Spirit Hall's troubles? Kill people?" Ye Xuan asked.
"Haha! Young Master Ye, you really are an amusing fellow. Spirit Hall isn't some kind of assassin organization. Sometimes we help gather important medicinal herbs, sometimes we hunt down fallen Soul Masters, and sometimes we help maintain order... These are the tasks that need to be done recently. If Young Master Ye has no problem with them, you can stay. If you'd rather not, just pretend I never brought it up."
After speaking, Sading took a scroll of paper from his Soul Tool and handed it to Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan reached out and took it. He unrolled it and read it carefully, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
The tasks listed were actually all good deeds.
One of the tasks was for Ye Xuan to help purge some fallen Soul Masters in the city. Among the list of names, Ye Xuan spotted several familiar ones.
One of them was Bu Le, the sleazy minor character from the original story.
Though these people were in the city, finding them wouldn't be easy.
Besides, their strength ranged from Soul Elders to Soul Kings, and Spirit Hall didn't have enough people to handle this.
After finishing the list, Ye Xuan rolled it up and asked Sading, "Bishop Sading, forgive me for being blunt, but shouldn't the authorities be handling these matters? Do you have some reason for taking them on yourselves?"
Sading's expression turned serious as he looked at Ye Xuan. Now he could be certain: this definitely wasn't a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy.
Even if an ordinary boy of that age truly had great strength, he probably wouldn't think about these issues.
Sading was silent for a moment, then finally came clean to Ye Xuan. "There's no harm in telling you. These things really should be handled by the authorities, but they're incapable of doing so. That's our opportunity. If Spirit Hall resolves these threats, we'll earn a great deal of goodwill among the people. That will also make it easier for Spirit Hall to act in the future."
Once Sading explained, Ye Xuan understood at once.
Spirit Hall was trying to win public favor. As long as the people supported Spirit Hall, its reputation would grow, and when it established a kingdom in the future, fewer people would resist.
Ye Xuan knew what would happen in the future and understood Spirit Hall's ambitions, so this was easy to understand.
Ye Xuan guessed that if these bishops handled these matters well, Spirit Hall would reward them too. Otherwise, Sading wouldn't be so eager.
Seeing Ye Xuan remain silent for a long while, Sading asked, "May I ask if Young Master Ye is willing?"
"No problem. Leave this to me. Sorry for the trouble, Bishop Sading, but please arrange two rooms for me," Ye Xuan said.
Ye Xuan didn't care about Spirit Hall's original intentions.
As long as Spirit Hall wasn't asking him to do something utterly unconscionable, he could agree.
"Please come with me, Young Master Ye." Seeing that Ye Xuan had agreed, Sading immediately arranged a place for him himself.
Sading arranged a small courtyard with a living room and three bedrooms.
After Ye Xuan had Zhu Zhuqing put away the luggage, he asked Sading to take them to Spirit Hall's Library Pavilion.
Though this was only a Main Branch, its collection still surpassed Ye Xuan's expectations. Of course, the books in the Library Pavilion weren't all about martial souls. There were also works on geography, sects, Soul Beasts, various medicines...
Ye Xuan couldn't help but marvel. As expected of the greatest power—the collection really was extensive.
Quite a few people were reading here, all of them members of Spirit Hall. They were leafing through cultivation methods related to martial souls.
As they walked, Sading introduced the books kept in each section to Ye Xuan.
After the tour, Sading tossed Ye Xuan a token and said, "Young Master Ye, when handling matters outside, you'll need to use Spirit Hall's name. This is Spirit Hall's token. I'm only a bishop and can't grant you a token of a higher rank. I hope you'll understand."
"That's all right. Don't worry, Bishop. When I handle matters outside, I'll make sure they know Spirit Hall was behind it," Ye Xuan said.
"Good. Then I won't disturb you, Young Master Ye. Feel free to read any of the books here, as long as you don't take them away. I hope you'll deal with some of the troubles within three days," Sading said.
"Sure!"
Three days was plenty of time for Ye Xuan.
After Sading left, Ye Xuan said to Zhu Zhuqing, "You can look for some cultivation methods too. If you think they'll help your cultivation, spend some time reading them. If they seem useless, go back and focus on cultivating. I'll return later."
"All right." Zhu Zhuqing nodded and went to browse the books.
In the past, Zhu Zhuqing would never have had the chance to read the books in Spirit Hall's Main Branch.
Although the Main Branch in Suotuo City couldn't compare to those in the two great royal cities, Heaven Dou City and Star Luo City, its collection was still useful to Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing spent half the day reading here. When Ye Xuan told her to, she returned to the courtyard to test out what she had learned.
Ye Xuan, meanwhile, stayed until nightfall.
It was only then that Ye Xuan returned to his courtyard.
When he got back, he saw Zhu Zhuqing cultivating earnestly. He watched her carefully for a while and immediately spotted a few problems.
As he watched, Zhu Zhuqing noticed him looking at her.
She stopped cultivating and said to Ye Xuan, "Big Brother Ye, you're back."
"Mm. There are some problems with your cultivation. Get a good night's rest. I'll teach you tomorrow," Ye Xuan said.
"All right." Zhu Zhuqing was overjoyed.
Deep down, she had always believed that Ye Xuan was surely very skilled in martial soul cultivation too.
If he taught her, she certainly wouldn't fare worse than she would at those academies.
The next day.
Ye Xuan first taught Zhu Zhuqing for an hour, then went to the Library Pavilion.
He entered and stayed until nightfall before leaving.
While reading, Ye Xuan also noticed someone keeping an eye on him.
He could guess who had sent them. It had to be Sading. But he didn't care. If they wanted to see what books he was reading in the Library Pavilion, they could watch all they liked.
That night.
Upstairs from where Sading was, a Soul King came to report to him. "Bishop, Ye Xuan has spent the past two days browsing books related to martial souls in the Library Pavilion, leaving only at night. The books he's reading cover everything. Besides cultivation methods, there are also books about researching martial souls."
"Interesting. I wonder how the Pope and the others will respond when they learn about such a remarkable person," Sading said with a sigh.
"Bishop, should we keep watching him?" the Soul King asked.
"No need. If he keeps his agreement with us, he should be going after the lowlifes hiding in the city next. I don't care what he reads after that," Sading said.
Before you continue