A secluded corner of the hill behind Nuoding Academy.
Li Hanqiu sat cross-legged on the ground, unconcerned by the grass clippings stuck to the hem of his clothes. Soul power surged around him.
Luo Sanpao lay beside him, his tail sweeping the ground now and then as he opened his mouth in a little yawn.
These days, Li Hanqiu had been studying the soul mark morning and night. Apart from eating and sleeping, he spent almost all his time investigating its functions.
After half a month of forgetting meals and losing sleep over it, Li Hanqiu had finally figured out all the soul mark's functions.
First, the soul mark could store soul power.
While cultivating and circulating his soul power, he could deliberately guide it into the soul mark and store it there.
Although the loss of soul power meant he could store only a small amount each time, little drops made a mighty ocean. It was effectively an extra reserve pool of soul power.
"Hmm, it's a little like the Strength of a Hundred Seal," Li Hanqiu murmured, rubbing his chin.
This ability to store soul power reminded him of the Strength of a Hundred Seal created by Tsunade in Naruto, an anime he had watched in his previous life.
The principle was much the same: accumulate energy in ordinary times, then use it at a critical moment.
Second, the process of storing soul power in the soul mark was itself a form of refinement.
As his soul power flowed in and out, it was like water passing through an ever-narrowing sluice gate, forcing him to control every thread of soul power with extreme precision.
After just these few days of training with the soul mark, Li Hanqiu could clearly feel that his control over his soul power had become more than ten percent finer than before.
Third, the soul mark could also increase the speed at which he unleashed soul skills.
No matter who obtained a new soul skill, their initial attempts would be awkward. Only daily training over many months could make its execution fluent.
Every Soul Master was the same. There was no shortcut to instant mastery, only the patient work of water wearing away stone.
Even a Titled Douluo standing at the pinnacle had to painstakingly refine their ninth soul skill day after day when they first obtained it.
But that universally accepted rule simply did not apply to Li Hanqiu!
Whenever Li Hanqiu activated the soul mark, the slight resistance in his soul power diminished. In other words, when he used a soul skill, the soul mark could drastically shorten the time needed to practice it.
That would save him a great deal of effort when he obtained new soul rings and honed new soul skills in the future.
Li Hanqiu exhaled a stale breath and slowly opened his eyes, a trace of secret delight gleaming in them.
"The soul mark really is extraordinary!"
Half a month of cultivation had allowed him to thoroughly grasp the soul mark's functions. From here on, all that remained was the patient accumulation of effort, day after day.
For now, then, he could set his training with the soul mark aside for a while.
Li Hanqiu rose, brushed the dust from his clothes, and headed down the hill with his hands clasped behind his back.
He emerged from the trail behind the hill and entered the academy along a path fringed with wild grass.
Yet the farther Li Hanqiu walked into the academy, the more he sensed that something was wrong.
The students along the path looked at him with complicated expressions. Those nearby lowered their heads, hurriedly called out, "Hello, Teacher Li," and quickly left.
It was as though he were some god of pestilence. A flicker of doubt crossed Li Hanqiu's face.
A few people stood beneath a covered walkway, pointing at him from afar. When he looked their way, they hastily scattered.
Li Hanqiu paused, his brows drawing together.
Something's wrong. What happened?
Li Hanqiu took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes. The soul mark at his collarbone gave off a faint glow.
The next instant, Li Hanqiu's five senses sharpened dramatically, and the whispers of the surrounding students reached his ears.
"Hey, hey, did you hear? Apparently, Teacher Li took Tang San to get his first soul ring, and the soul skill he got is really sinister. It can supposedly devour soul power!"
"Devour soul power? Wh-why is it so creepy?"
"Such a perfectly nice boy, and his first soul skill turns out to be something so wicked..."
"Teacher Li looks so refined. Who would've thought his methods were so sinister... I don't think he can be trusted..."
Li Hanqiu slowly opened his eyes. His face remained expressionless, but the anger in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Well, well, Gangzi. You really will stoop to anything with those filthy tricks of yours."
Li Hanqiu could have figured it out with his knees: nine times out of ten, Yu Xiaogang was stirring up trouble behind the scenes.
In less than two or three days, the matter had set the entire academy abuzz.
Everyone knew that Tang San's first soul skill could drain other people's soul power dry. By the end, some were even claiming that Li Hanqiu taught sorcery that could suck people into dried corpses.
Meanwhile, the culprit, Yu Xiaogang, lurked in the shadows, listening from the foot of a wall.
He was still holding that fat, purple-haired pig, which wrinkled its snout and grunted twice.
As he listened to the rumors spreading everywhere, growing more outlandish with each retelling, Yu Xiaogang's lips curled into a sinister smile.
"Li Hanqiu... Aren't you so capable? Let's see how you deal with this!"
The rumors spread until they reached the academy's senior staff.
That afternoon, a middle-aged administrator sought out Li Hanqiu. They stood at a corner of the teaching building, and the administrator lowered his voice to a whisper:
"Teacher Li, there have been some rumors going around the academy these past two days..."
Li Hanqiu nodded, his expression unchanged. "I know."
The administrator rubbed his hands, looking troubled. "Well, Teacher Li, let me apologize first. I know you've always had a systematic approach to teaching.
"But that boy's soul skill can absorb other people's soul power... If word gets out, it'll be difficult to explain to the students' parents."
The middle-aged administrator did not state his position outright, but his meaning was perfectly clear.
Once word spread beyond the academy, it would not only affect the next round of admissions, but also harm the academy in the long run.
Within the academy, some students had begun to waver as well, because everyone around them spoke as though the rumors were established fact.
The senior girls who used to blush whenever they saw Li Hanqiu now only dared to hide at a distance and whisper among themselves.
"Teacher Li couldn't really be..."
"Don't talk nonsense. Don't you know Teacher Li by now? He's not Yu Xiaogang. Teacher Li isn't that sort of person."
"But everyone's saying it. Tang San's soul skill really can absorb soul power."
"Exactly! I saw it clearly that day. Tang San simply raised his hand, and those senior boys collapsed on the ground, their faces deathly pale.
"Isn't that the work of demons and heretics?"
Naturally, Tang San himself had heard the various rumors about the matter.
He hid alone in the dormitory, huddled in a corner of his bed, tears pattering down.
His first soul skill was clearly one he had obtained after his teacher braved the dangers of the Soul Hunting Forest with him, helped him kill a Devouring Spirit Vine, and let him absorb it.
How had it become an evil art?
Tang San's eyes blurred with tears, and he pouted indignantly.
Xiao Wu was so angry she practically stamped her feet, slapping the bed frame. "What evil art? It's a perfectly legitimate soul skill! Those guys bullied me first that day. That's why Little San stepped in!"
"How can these people have such vicious mouths?"
But enough rumors could turn black into white; repeated slander could destroy a person.
As the saying went, a multitude of tongues could melt metal, and accumulated slander could wear away bone. Even with mouths all over one's body, it would be impossible to explain oneself clearly.
Cloaking himself in "righteousness," Yu Xiaogang went around trying to sway people.
Holding a teacup, he strode into an office with a self-important expression, then turned into a classroom, sighing to everyone he met.
"How pitiful. A perfectly nice boy, forced by certain people to practice that sinister soul skill that absorbs other people's soul power."
"I, the Grandmaster, have studied theory all my life, and I've never even heard of such an approach. Absorbing soul power-isn't that nothing but a wicked, crooked path?"
"If Li Hanqiu isn't harming his students, then what is he doing? Alas, my strength is meager. Even though I wish to help Tang San 'turn away from evil and return to the right path,' I have the will but lack the power."
Someone asked him, "Then what does the Grandmaster think should be done?"
Yu Xiaogang made a show of stroking a beard he did not possess. "In my opinion, a teacher like that has no business remaining at Nuoding Academy."
"Unfortunately, I'm a man of little standing, and my words carry no weight."
The more he spoke, the more animated he became. Even his back straightened, as though he alone were the academy's conscience.
Yu Xiaogang had even begun indulging in the lovely fantasy of Li Hanqiu being driven out of the academy in disgrace, while Tang San came to him and became his disciple.
That evening, Li Hanqiu stood by the window in his office.
The setting sun shone through the window, gilding half his face with pale gold.
Tang San stood in the doorway, his eyes red from crying, too afraid to enter. He believed he was the reason his teacher had been humiliated. Without him, his teacher would still be respected by everyone.
Instead, he had now been branded a practitioner of "wicked, crooked arts."
Xiao Wu stood behind him, clenching her fists, her eyes wide with anger. "Teacher! Those people are spouting nonsense! I'll go settle the score with them!"
Li Hanqiu did not turn around. He merely raised a hand.
"Don't act rashly."
He turned, his expression calm, as though the talk outside had nothing to do with him.
"Teacher..." Tang San said softly.
Li Hanqiu walked up to him and gently ruffled his soft hair.
"It's all right."
He withdrew his hand and looked at the figures gradually gathering outside the window. Among those students and teachers, some had come to watch the spectacle, some to discover the truth, and a few to serve as Yu Xiaogang's mouthpieces.
Unhurriedly, Li Hanqiu spoke:
"Everyone, I know a little about what's happened recently. As for your misunderstandings, my conscience is clear."
His voice was not loud, but it carried outside with perfect clarity.
"In three days, I'll explain everything publicly. I ask all the students and teachers here to bear witness."
Once Li Hanqiu said this, the students naturally had no standing to pass judgment. Several teachers who were on good terms with him readily voiced their agreement.
Tang San raised his head, tears still clinging to his lashes. "Teacher..."
"Don't worry, Little San. Since everyone calls you a practitioner of wicked arts, doesn't that indirectly show how powerful your soul skill is?
"But since the world is so narrow-minded and can't distinguish appearance from reality, let them see what vitality is, and what assimilation means."
"Blue Silver Grass has its own strengths, too!"
Li Hanqiu pushed the window open a little. The evening breeze rushed in, gently stirring the loose strands of hair over his forehead.
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