Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ah! Finally finished!"
Ning Rongrong slapped the book, half a person thick, onto the table and slumped in her chair. Her arms ached so badly she could barely lift them, and her eyes stung until tears streamed down her face.
In all her life, she had never worked this hard.
Back in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had always been a halfhearted student with the tutors her father hired to teach her to read and write, slacking off whenever she could.
But this time was different. Xuanqiao had said that if she wanted to learn about Soul Tools, she had to finish this book first.
She had gritted her teeth and slogged through it for half a month, nearly wearing out the pages from turning them.
Zhu Zhuqing stood beside her, the corner of her mouth twitching.
Although she had not worked through the entire book from cover to cover like Ning Rongrong, she had read quite a bit of it. Its contents really were painfully dry.
Soul Power Circuits, Energy Guidance, Inscription Engraving—all of it made her head spin.
Xuan Xiao looked up and swept his gaze over Ning Rongrong's face. Then his next words shattered both girls on the spot.
"Actually, you didn't need to read the whole thing."
Ning Rongrong froze, her eyes going wide.
"What did you say?"
Xuan Xiao got up and poured himself a glass of water.
"I said you didn't need to read the whole thing."
Ning Rongrong's mouth opened and stayed that way for a long while.
Her face went from white to red, then from red to livid, finally settling into an indescribable shade of ashen fury.
She had spent half a month on it, pulled more than a