Inside the pavilion.
Li Ping lifted his hand from Wei Yiling's wrist and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Wei, at this rate, you should be completely free of the Soul Devouring Restriction's shackles in about fifteen years."
"Hmph, hmph!"
Her divine soul had been injured, leaving Wei Yiling rather pale, but at Li Ping's words, she still gave a grudging grunt of acknowledgment.
Li Ping paid her attitude no mind and asked, "Fellow Daoist Wei, how is your research into the Puppet Art coming along?"
He had taught Wei Yiling and Feng Xishuang the Third-Tier Puppet legacy at the same time. Feng Xishuang had already begun studying second-tier puppet techniques and had come to Li Ping several times with related questions.
Yet whenever Feng Xishuang asked him something, Wei Yiling could only wait foolishly to one side without a word, like a student blinking blankly while watching a star pupil ask their teacher difficult questions.
Naturally, Li Ping could guess that her study of puppet-making had not gone very well. At the very least, she was probably behind Feng Xishuang.
Still, he did not actually know the specifics.
At Li Ping's question, embarrassment appeared on Wei Yiling's face.
Things like "Puppets are just a minor art, so I can't be bothered studying them" and "Low-tier puppets aren't much help, so there's no point" tumbled from her mouth.
In the end, Li Ping never did hear how far her research had actually progressed.
But her reaction had told him almost everything he needed to know.
"I forgot my homework" meant "I didn't do it."
After watching Wei Yiling leave, Li Ping called Meng Wanjun over and asked how business at the White-Gathering Pavilion had been during his seclusion.
From Meng Wanjun, he learned the following.
Apart from the lack