Old and Cunning

Even as mischievous and troublesome as Ning Rongrong was, she was still just a little girl.

Her little mind might not have understood the hardships Han Tao spoke of, but she was moved by his sincerity at that moment.

In the end, the gold-trimmed copy of the "Advanced Distraction Control Method" that Ning Fengzhi had taken out fell into Han Tao's hands.

"Thank you, Ning Rongrong!"

At a loss for what to do, Ning Rongrong handed the Secret Method to Han Tao.

Han Tao accepted it, and a joyful smile bloomed across his face once more.

"Han Tao, is this book really that important to you?"

Ning Rongrong opened her eyes wide and stared straight at Han Tao, as though trying to read the emotions in his heart.

"Yes."

"A Trash Martial Soul not only cultivates slowly, but even at the same Soul Power Level, one's Physique, soul power, and Mental Power all lag behind those of ordinary Soul Masters."

"This manual may be able to resolve the flaw in my Mental Power, so I have to give it a try no matter what."

Han Tao's resolve was firm, and his footsteps followed that resolve as he slowly made his way out.

After a long while, the wind carried away Han Tao's scent and dispersed the solemn atmosphere in the hall. Ning Fengzhi pulled Rongrong to his side and began tousling her hair.

"Rongrong, you ruined your father's plan this time!"

Ning Rongrong was somewhat confused upon hearing this. A plan? What plan? Ah, right—she quickly thought of the answer.

"Your plan failed because he passed the Hall Guardian Elder's assessment. But what does that have to do with me?"

"I didn't do anything. How can you blame me?"

"Uh!" Ning Fengzhi's expression stiffened. "That's not what I meant!"

"Originally, I could have gotten one of his theories for free this time, but you interrupted me."

"What?" Rongrong leaped up in disbelief and cried out, "Father, you're the Sect Master now! Why are you always thinking about freeloading off a Sect Disciple's theories?"

Ning Fengzhi had long noticed that Han Tao's Cultivation Speed and the rate at which his Physique grew were abnormal.

They were absurdly fast. In just over half a year, he had shot from Soul Power Level 12 to his current level of 17.

It was unreasonable—extremely unreasonable! If he could rise five levels in half a year, wouldn't that mean ten levels in a year? A whole major stage per year—how could that be acceptable? Although levels were easier to raise in the early stages, Han Tao's speed was still far too outrageous.

"It's not entirely freeloading. It's more like a transaction. I offer the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Secret Method in exchange for the theoretical results of his research."

With the sect as a platform, there were naturally countless ways to extract value.

The sect's Secret Methods could be exchanged with every Sect Disciple, while the disciples' theories had to be researched and verified bit by bit. Over time, the sect would gain more and more theoretical results.

Why did the Library Pavilion of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect contain so many high-quality books? It was precisely because of this rule.

Of course, the disciples would not lose out during these transactions with the sect, since they would also obtain what they wanted.

"But someone as useless as Han Tao..." Perhaps realizing that her wording was inappropriate, Rongrong lowered her voice.

"What results could he possibly have researched that would be worth Father doing this?"

Looking at his foolish daughter, who was adorably stupid, Ning Fengzhi could only shake his head helplessly.

"Low Innate Soul Power does indeed mean a slow Cultivation Speed. That is Common sense acknowledged by Soul Masters."

"But Han Tao is an exception. Look at his Cultivation Speed—where is it slow? In another two years, he might even surpass you."

"Use your head, Ning Rongrong!" Ning Fengzhi said in frustration.

Little demoness Rongrong wore a pitiful expression as she looked toward the doorway in hesitation.

"Father, are you saying that Han Tao might have a way to increase one's Cultivation Speed?"

As she said this, Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up, as though she had been impressed by her own cleverness.

"Then I'll go find him. He definitely won't dare refuse me!"

No one knew a daughter better than her father. Ning Fengzhi could see through little demoness Rongrong's thoughts at a glance.

"Come back!" he interrupted her.

"Rongrong, you don't need to involve yourself in this. Just cultivate properly. Before long, he'll bring it out himself."

Han Tao would always have needs within the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. And when he had needs but lacked the capital, he would naturally offer up his research.

Those theories were not going anywhere. Sooner or later, they would belong to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. There was no need to make an enemy of Han Tao.

The advanced manual for the "Distraction Control Method" was an extremely far-fetched conjecture.

The core of distraction control was dividing one's thoughts into several parts, allowing one to think, act, and use Soul Skills on multiple threads at once. This was still within the realm of mortal comprehension and was an extremely practical Secret Method.

However, the "convergence" portion of the Advanced Distraction Control Method involved not only dividing one's "thoughts," but more importantly, dividing one's "spirit."

A Soul Master's Mental Power was a single whole. Even the specialized Distraction Control Method merely used a single source of Mental Power at the same time to operate different Soul Skills in real time.

But this manual was absurd. It required a Soul Master to split apart their own spirit. The risks involved were obvious.

"No wonder it was named after convergence and focusing."

Once Mental Power was split apart, whether it could be fused back together was another matter entirely.

Even if it could be fused, whether there would be any aftereffects was another matter entirely.

After Mental Power was split, which fragment would dominate the mind? Would the different thoughts fight for control? Would it cause a mental breakdown? After the mind was split, would there be any harmful effects on the body or Soul Power? None of these had been verified.

The ideas in this secret manual were far from mature. It only recorded methods for splitting the mind and Mental Convergence, as well as fatal cases caused by various emergencies after the mind had been split.

There were many death cases, but not a single successful positive example so far.

After reading through the entire Secret Method, Han Tao gave up on exploring it. A Secret Method of this level was not something he could meddle with at present.

Even though the temptation of increasing his "Mental Power" was immense, Han Tao still chose to give up. He did not think of himself as the protagonist; attempting such a high-risk exploration would be no different from courting death.

Following the proper steps and increasing his Soul Power Level was the true path.

"Han Tao?"

A voice came from afar.

Looking closely, he saw it was the tiny Ning Rongrong.

"Were you lying to me?" Ning Rongrong demanded angrily.

He took half a step back and asked in confusion, "Why do you say that?"

"You said earlier that Innate Soul Power affects Cultivation Speed, so why is your Soul Power already level 17?"

Yes, Ning Fengzhi had indeed told Ning Rongrong not to question Han Tao, but how could he possibly keep this little demoness under control?

Perhaps he could not control her—or perhaps Ning Rongrong's actions had long been within the sect leader's expectations.

Just moments ago, Ning Rongrong had given Han Tao the advanced Secret Method of "Heart Separation Control," and now she had come to demand Han Tao's research findings. What reason did Han Tao have to refuse? Using another person's favor to demand repayment—this was an open scheme orchestrated by Ning Fengzhi himself.

Ning Rongrong was different from him. A little girl was innocent and carefree; no matter how bizarre her actions were, they could be forgiven.

More importantly, Ning Rongrong's questioning carried no ulterior motive. Using Han Tao's deception of Ning Rongrong as the reason to seize his research findings was both righteous and imposing.

It could be said to achieve three goals at once.

Inside the Sect Leader's Residence, Ning Fengzhi held the book Keep Emotions Hidden in his hands, yet he could not stop a smile from spreading across his lips.