The Wordless Heavenly Tome Props Up the Table Leg—Master, Who Are You Trying to Fool?

Chen Xuan pinched the extremely thin parchment scroll.

Dorm Seven was filled with snores. By the moonlight filtering in through the window, he carefully unrolled the parchment.

Blank.

He flipped it over.

Still blank.

Chen Xuan refused to believe it. He had read so many web novels in his previous life—something hidden between the layers of a Wordless Heavenly Tome had to be a secret cultivation technique or a treasure map.

He mobilized the little innate rank-nine soul power within him and slowly poured it into the parchment through his fingertips.

There was no reaction at all. His soul power vanished like a mud ox sinking into the sea, without even raising a ripple.

Chen Xuan pulled a box of matches from the bedside cabinet, struck one, and held the flame near the edge of the parchment.

No writing appeared. It did not even leave a scorch mark.

He picked up the cup beside him and dripped two drops of water onto the paper. The droplets slid straight off its surface without leaving the slightest damp mark.

A translucent system panel slowly popped up.

[Hint: The Wordless Heavenly Tome and the complimentary parchment scroll are made of special materials. They are impervious to water and fire, insect-proof and moth-proof. They perfectly solve the problem of uneven table and bed legs. The host is advised to use them as padding.]

Chen Xuan looked at the words on the panel, and the anticipation on his face instantly collapsed.

He crumpled the parchment into a ball, shoved it and the heavenly tome under the bed, then wedged them beneath one of the slightly wobbly bed legs in the dark.

The bed stopped shaking.

Chen Xuan climbed onto the bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and went to sleep.

The next few months at Nuoding Academy were as bland as a cup of plain water.

Xiao Chenyu and the other sixth-year official students had been thoroughly beaten into submission by Tang San and Xiao Wu. The work-study students could finally hold their heads high around the academy. Chen Xuan was happy to have it easy. He attended class on time every day, then returned to the dormitory to sleep or wandered around the back mountain.

He took the art of lying low to its absolute limit.

The midnight lottery never failed to arrive. But luck truly seemed conserved—after drawing the Wind Eagle Crossbow, everything he got afterward was trash.

Moldy rations, torn strips of cloth, rusty iron nails. Occasionally, two gold soul coins would pop out, and he would carefully tuck them into his pocket.

Yu Xiaogang had completely begun treating him as invisible.

Whether it was a practical combat class or a theory class, Yu Xiaogang's gaze always passed right over him and stuck entirely to Tang San. Under Yu Xiaogang's guidance, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had developed traits such as binding and poison, making him the academy's most dazzling genius.

Chen Xuan watched from the side as if it were a show.

At the end of the first semester, on the night before the holiday.

Deep in the woods behind the mountain.

The wind was strong, and leaves rustled loudly enough to cover up certain sounds that should not have been there.

Chen Xuan stood in a clearing. He took off his shirt and casually tossed it over a nearby branch.

He closed his eyes and mobilized the soul power within him.

A layer of transparent ripples spread across his chest as the Water Armor Shield clung tightly to his skin.

He opened his right hand. A burst of red light flashed, and the Flame Bow instantly took shape, its body radiating scorching heat.

With a flip of his left hand, blue-green light flowed as the Wind Eagle Crossbow settled firmly into his palm.

Three epic pieces of equipment appeared at once.

The three Light-Shadow Stones inside him resonated violently. Red, blue, and blue-green halos intertwined around him, causing the surrounding tree trunks to flicker between light and shadow.

The consumption was too great.

Chen Xuan could feel his soul power draining at a terrifying rate. But he had to test the limit of switching between multiple weapons.

He raised his left hand and aimed the Wind Eagle Crossbow at a boulder half a man tall, ten meters away.

His finger pulled the trigger.

There was no twang of a bowstring, nor any blast of gunpowder. The wind elements in the surrounding air were instantly sucked dry and gathered in the crossbow's groove.

Three blue-green wind blades shot out soundlessly.

"Sssh—sssh—sssh—"

An extremely faint scraping sound.

The boulder's surface appeared unchanged.

Chen Xuan walked over and gently pushed the top of the rock.

The upper half slid straight down along three smooth cuts and crashed heavily into the dirt. The cut surfaces were so smooth they reflected light.

That penetration power. That concealment.

Compared to this thing, the sleeve arrows Tang San was so proud of were practically children's toys.

Chen Xuan took two steps back. The Wind Eagle Crossbow in his left hand instantly vanished, while he drew the Flame Bow in his right hand to its fullest.

Fire elements gathered frantically as he fired an arrow at the broken stones on the ground.

"Boom!"

The rubble exploded into powder, and flames shot into the sky.

The shockwave from the explosion, mixed with rebounding stone fragments, slammed into the Water Armor Shield on Chen Xuan's chest. Rings of ripples spread across it as every bit of force was dispersed.

Chen Xuan panted heavily and dismissed his weapons.

The three-equipment combo test had drained seventy percent of his soul power in just a few seconds.

His combat strength had truly undergone a qualitative leap.

If he encountered Tang San again now, there would be no need to play any close-range exchange game with him. He could open the distance, use a triple shot from the Wind Eagle Crossbow to break his defenses, then finish him directly with the Flame Bow. The Water Armor Shield could even withstand a surprise attack from Tang San's hidden weapons.

Chen Xuan picked up his clothes from the branch, put them on, and turned toward the dormitory.

Tomorrow was the last day of the semester.

The next morning.

All teachers and students gathered in the grand hall.

Yu Xiaogang stood on the stage. His status at Nuoding Academy had risen along with Tang San's emergence. Now, even the headmaster had to show him some respect.

The seats below were filled with students and teachers. Tang San sat in the center of the first row, his back straight as he listened attentively.

Chen Xuan sat in the farthest corner of the last row.

He was tossing a smooth pebble in his hand. It was a useless item he had drawn from the lottery one day.

Yu Xiaogang spoke eloquently onstage, his voice spreading throughout the hall through a sound-amplifying soul tool.

"The evolution of martial souls follows patterns. As long as one finds the right direction, any martial soul can unleash tremendous power."

Yu Xiaogang braced both hands on the podium and delivered the conclusion he was most proud of.

"This is what I have always emphasized: there are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters!"

Thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall.

Tang San clapped the hardest.

Yu Xiaogang greatly enjoyed the feeling of being admired by everyone. He pressed down with his hand to signal for silence, then continued expounding on his theory.

"Of course, every theory has its scope of application."

Yu Xiaogang changed tack, his tone becoming extremely certain.

"A martial soul's evolutionary path must be built on a core attribute. Those mutated martial souls that lack attributes, are scattered, and cannot be categorized possess no potential for evolution."

As soon as he said this, several students in the front rows could not help glancing back.

Everyone knew who those words were aimed at.

Even Tang San turned his head slightly and glanced at Chen Xuan in the last row from the corner of his eye.

Chen Xuan caught the falling pebble and clenched it in his hand.

As he watched Yu Xiaogang boasting onstage, a mocking curve formed at the corner of his lips.

You use Tang San, a genius with twin martial souls, to prove your theory, then directly kick any martial soul you can't explain out of the ranks of those capable of evolution.

How interesting.

Chen Xuan raised his hand.

He held it high, completely above the heads of the people in front of him.

In the silent hall, the gesture was exceptionally conspicuous.

Yu Xiaogang frowned. His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Chen Xuan. He had not wanted to acknowledge him, but the entire academy was watching.

"Student Chen Xuan, what is your question?" Yu Xiaogang asked flatly.

Chen Xuan stood up, placed the pebble on the desk, and lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingertips.

"Master."

Chen Xuan's voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the spacious hall.

"You just said that every martial soul has an evolutionary path."

Chen Xuan looked directly at Yu Xiaogang onstage, his tone casual.

"Then where is the path for my five stones?"