After soothing the somewhat ruffled Ling Luochеn, Yu Tianqing returned to his own room next door.
Ling Luochеn's original plan for the day had been to help Yu Tianqing tidy his room, then show him around the Shrek Inner Court campus and properly fulfill her duties as his study companion.
But she had failed to gauge how far to go, or perhaps she had been too conscientious. As a result, she found it difficult to move and could only stay in bed as a quiet sleeping beauty.
Yu Tianqing's room had much the same layout as Ling Luochеn's: two bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom, covering about a hundred square meters.
The basic furniture was all there, but he had to provide his own bedding and the like. Nan Shuishui had prepared those for him long ago.
After tidying up a little, Yu Tianqing headed to the Inner Court library. It wasn't the one in the Sea God Pavilion, but the one open to all Inner Court students.
His purpose was simple: to borrow some books on Soul Tools.
In truth, Yu Tianqing didn't have much talent as a Soul Engineer. His thinking was simply several levels beyond that of the natives.
High-level Soul Engineers all incorporated their own understanding of their Martial Souls into the creation of Soul Tools.
So even the Level 9 Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire generally researched only one type of Soul Tool, and most of those tools had to be used in conjunction with their own Martial Souls.
That was the domain of researchers.
Yu Tianqing, on the other hand, had been an engineering student in his previous life.
Even after crossing over to another world, he still had the mindset of a typical engineer.
He took things and used them, treating every Soul Guidance Formation as a tool. His only goal was to achieve the final function.
It was like learning to program in his previous life. To make a computer output "Hello, world!", he wouldn't study how it converted language into assembly language, how binary registers worked, or, going a step further, how electrons transitioned inside MOS transistors.
No one person could learn everything the Sun Moon Empire had spent so many years researching.
Have him lead Shrek Academy to surpass the Sun Moon Empire?
Don't be ridiculous. That was simply impossible.
His research into Soul Tools was more a matter of interest, or perhaps a pragmatic attitude.
Having some skill was better, but it was just the same if he didn't.
So those textbooks were more like reference books to him. A quick glance to know what existed was enough; when he needed something, he could simply pull the book out and look it up.
As he had told Xu Jiujiu, his Soul Engineer level barely reached level five. His foundations lagged far behind those of the Soul Engineers in the Sun Moon Empire.
The Heaven Dou Empire had never placed much importance on developing Soul Tools. Even in a city as prosperous as Heaven Dou City, he could only buy books on level five Soul Tools. But Shrek had vigorously developed Soul Tools in recent years, so he ought to find something useful here.
He walked into a sizable building filled with row upon row of bookshelves, though it was rather deserted.
Yu Tianqing was in no hurry. He looked through the shelves one after another.
All sorts of things were kept here, but most concerned Soul Beasts, and the variety was quite extensive.
As he walked, Yu Tianqing stopped in front of a row of shelves. The titles were simply too eye-catching.
"Must-eat bear paws, ranked from fire to flop,"
"Soft Bone Rabbit? Spicy is the tastiest,"
"Finger-licking white jade chicken: recipes and breeding tips"...
Sure enough, knowledge gleaned from books always felt shallow. Among these natives, talented people were as plentiful as crucian carp crossing a river!
Third Young Master only knew how to drink. He was still a little out of touch with everyday life.
He pulled out a book: "The complete cookbook of Far North Soul Beasts."
Looking at the somewhat familiar dish names, Yu Tianqing could almost taste them. Aunt Nan had probably read this book too.
Before he knew it, Yu Tianqing had become absorbed in the book, until...
Something landed on the floor with a smack, and Yu Tianqing felt someone bump into him. Only then did he lift his head from the book.
A woman had fallen to the floor in front of him.
The woman had golden hair, with a braid on either side tied together at the back in a half-up style. It revealed a delicate, petite, oval face, and she wore gold-rimmed glasses.
She wore a white dress and a pair of white high heels, looking refined and innocent.
Only her posture was somewhat undignified. She rubbed her aching backside, looking a little dazed.
A little cute.
Yu Tianqing found it somewhat funny. He bent down and held out a hand.
"Are you all right?"
The woman looked up at him, her expression blank for a moment, as though she had only just realized what had happened. She hurriedly offered her hand, and Yu Tianqing pulled her to her feet.
"Sorry, I was a little distracted just now."
The woman pushed her glasses up from the tip of her nose, looking delighted that someone had suddenly appeared here.
"There's usually hardly anyone in this library. You're a new junior, aren't you? I'm your senior, Han Ruoruo. What about you?"
"Yu Tianqing."
Yu Tianqing's voice was calm. He had heard the name Han Ruoruo before; she was a Shrek student from the same year as the Inner Court's eldest senior sister.
By rights, her Soul Power should have reached the Soul Emperor level by now, shouldn't it?
And she could still be this careless?
Did the cleverest hunters always appear disguised as prey?
It had to be said, Shrek really was a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons.
She truly was the Inner Court's number-one controller. That ambush had nearly caught Yu Tianqing in its trap.
Those thoughts flashed through his mind. Yu Tianqing bent down again, picked up a book from the floor, and handed it to Han Ruoruo.
"Senior, your book."
Yu Tianqing glanced at it. The title was excellent-"One Hundred Years of Lone Bamboo."
But that cover?
On one side was a handsome man with medium-length white hair; on the other was a stalk of bamboo. The artist was highly skilled. The bamboo even had a woman's eyes and brows, and the two gazed affectionately at each other, the white-haired man's eyes full of infatuation and reluctance to part.
"Oh, oh, thank you."
Han Ruoruo looked a little flustered. As though afraid someone might notice, she clutched the book to her chest and lowered her head, somewhat embarrassed.
"Senior Ruoruo, do you come to the library often?"
"Mm."
"It's my first time here. I wanted to find a few books for Level 6 Soul Engineers, but I don't know where they are. Could you take me there, Senior?"
"All right."
Compared with her rapid introduction at the start, Han Ruoruo had become rather quiet. Anyone could see that the senior was nervous, and it had started after Yu Tianqing picked up the book.
Now that things had come to this, Yu Tianqing, who was supposed to play along, couldn't pretend not to notice.
Yu Tianqing wiped away a bead of sweat in his mind and sighed. He took the initiative to play along and asked:
"Senior, that book just now..."
"What book?"
Han Ruoruo turned around, slipping the book behind her back. She looked around, then shook her head.
"There's no book!"
Yu Tianqing gradually moved closer, pressing Han Ruoruo's back against the bookshelf. With a wicked grin, he leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice.
"Senior, you wouldn't want people to find out you read that kind of book, would you?"