Time Flies

Inside the Library Pavilion of the Frost City Martial Soul Hall Branch.

The quiet room was lined with towering bookshelves, while sunlight streamed through the stained-glass high windows, casting mottled colors across the floor.

Within that play of light and shadow, a figure slowly closed the heavy leather-bound tome in his hands.

He was a youth of around fifteen or sixteen, tall and straight as a slender bamboo stalk, dressed in a plain long robe faded white from washing.

Most striking of all was his silver-white hair, as though woven from moonlight. It fell smoothly to his waist, with a few strands draped lazily over his shoulders.

When he raised his head, the face he revealed was enough to render any praise inadequate. His skin was like jade, and his delicate features seemed carved by a god with painstaking care.

Yet beneath that breathtaking beauty lay a calm restraint beyond his years, like the still waters of a deep pool, undisturbed by any ripple.

This youth was Lin Wan.

Setting down his feather pen, Lin Wan let out a long breath.

He had finally finished the last book.

Several thick stacks of notes lay piled across the desk before him.

From a child who had just entered the academy and still needed Old Drus to worry about escorting him, to a bookworm who had now nearly read every book he could access at Frost City Junior Soul Master Academy and in the Library Pavilion of the Martial Soul Hall Branch before him.

Lin Wan had spent a full six years on it.

He had long since completed the junior academy curriculum and graduated smoothly with the average grades he had displayed.

Yet Lin Wan had not left Frost City. Instead, he had devoted all his energy to the Library Pavilion of this Martial Soul Hall Branch.

There was no other reason. On one hand, his Soul Power Level was not high. On the other, the Library Pavilion here surpassed the junior academy in both the number of books and the breadth and depth of its subjects. It was the best window through which to understand the true face of this world.

The reason Lin Wan had obtained this privilege lay with Lin Zao.

Over these six years, his contact with Lin Zao had never truly been cut off.

Letters arrived every so often.

However, as time passed and distance grew, the two had fewer and fewer shared topics.

Perhaps Lin Zao had realized the gap between Innate Soul Power Level One and Innate Soul Power Level Seven. Perhaps the great crucible of Spirit Hall Academy had reshaped his understanding. Or perhaps it was simply the distance that came with growing up.

Their correspondence, once guaranteed every month, had gradually stretched to one letter every two or three months. The contents of their letters had also become increasingly brief and formal.

Everyone at the Frost City Martial Soul Branch Hall knew that this astonishingly beautiful youth shared a close relationship with Lin Zao, who had a promising future in Spirit City.

Thus, for the sake of that friendship.

When Lin Wan requested permission to enter the Library Pavilion to read, Moraki merely considered it briefly before agreeing.

In Moraki's eyes, what could a youth with Innate Soul Power Level One and a decorative Nine-Heavens Beauty Fox Martial Soul possibly accomplish by reading books?

As long as Lin Wan occasionally mentioned in his letters to Lin Zao that he had received Hall Master Moraki's care, this small convenience would be well worth it.

Thus, Lin Wan became a regular visitor to the Library Pavilion, remaining there for years at a time.

Lin Wan had not expected the book collection of a branch hall in a border city merely close to the Far North to be so extensive.

From Soul Beast atlases and ecological habits to continental geography and tales of dangerous regions.

The number of books in this Martial Soul Hall Branch was astonishing.

Lin Wan read extremely quickly, possessed astonishing comprehension, and had a memory that could only be called terrifying.

Countless obscure theories, tangled materials, and hidden records were all sorted, absorbed, and integrated into his own system of understanding.

And today, as he closed the final notes on the textual research of ancient Soul Tool fragments from the Star Luo Empire, it signified that the Library Pavilion of this branch hall no longer held any secrets from him.

"It was time to go."

Lin Wan murmured softly, his sea-blue eyes turning toward the lofty sky beyond the window, where a wider world awaited.

He had already briefly mentioned his intention to leave Frost City in his previous letter to Lin Zao.

Lin Zao's reply remained brief, containing only one sentence: "Understood. Take care." There was nothing else.

As for Cold North Village, that small village which had given him his first warmth.

Lin Wan had returned there during every holiday over the years.

He had not displayed his current strength. He had merely used the knowledge he had learned, together with the Gold Soul Coins he had obtained from system lotteries, to help the villagers improve their farming methods, teach them to identify some low-value herbs that could be exchanged for meager income, and reinforce the village's defenses.

After several years, Cold North Village was no longer the impoverished little settlement it had once been. Though it remained remote, the villagers' faces now carried the rosy glow of hope, and their houses had become much sturdier.

Old Drus remained hale and hearty. Whenever Lin Wan returned, the old man smiled so widely that his mouth could barely close, his eyes filled with pride and relief.

Lin Wan had repaid that kindness as best he could. There was little left there for him to worry about.

He rose and began tidying the desk in an orderly fashion.

He returned the borrowed books to their proper places one by one, then carefully stored several thick volumes of notes inside a spatial Soul Tool, one of the items he had obtained through a Reputation Points lottery.

After finishing everything, Lin Wan walked out of the Library Pavilion.

He still needed to bid Moraki farewell. It was basic courtesy.

As for Lin Wan's Soul Power Level?

He had already reached Level 35, though he had never revealed it before outsiders.

Because of the Disguise Card, he had kept his Soul Power Level at Level 10, just enough to graduate from the academy, while disguising his Soul Ring as a yellow Hundred-Year Spirit Ring.

Disguising it as a Hundred-Year Spirit Ring was the result of Lin Wan's careful consideration. After all, everyone at the academy knew that he was on good terms with Spirit Hall, and no one would suspect him.

The door to Moraki's office was slightly ajar, and Lin Wan knocked softly.

"Come in."

Lin Wan pushed open the door and entered.

Moraki was seated behind a broad desk, handling documents. His dark purple chief steward's robe lent him an imposing air.

Six years had passed, yet time seemed not to have left many marks on his face. Only his gaze had become deeper and more unreadable.

Upon seeing Lin Wan, Moraki set down his pen, and a faint, practiced gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Lin Wan, is something the matter?"

His gaze swept over Lin Wan with a trace of barely perceptible scrutiny.

The youth before him had become ever more astonishing in both appearance and bearing, enough to stir even his heart.

"Yes, Lord Moraki."

Lin Wan bowed slightly in salute, neither servile nor overbearing.

"Thank you for your care over these years, my lord, which allowed me to read in the Library Pavilion. Lin Wan came today to bid you farewell."

"Oh? You were leaving?"

Moraki did not seem surprised, his fingers lightly tapping against the desk.

"Where did you plan to go? Back to Cold North Village?"

"Not for the time being," Lin Wan replied.

"The world was vast. I wanted to travel around and see it. Perhaps I would seek some experience."

"Experience?" Moraki raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone carrying concern whose sincerity could not be determined.

"Given your circumstances, you must be extremely careful when traveling alone."