Health, Healthy?

For two whole weeks, Bao Liang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen spent nearly every day cultivating, alternating between "pain and pleasure" and "disdain and acceptance."

And Xiao Hongchen was always the first to arrive at the cultivation room.

During the day, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen wore looks of bliss as the Ultimate talent worked its magic-their Soul Power was purified and compressed again and again, and their cultivation speed was frighteningly fast.

At night, during their spiritual power training, three drooling, slack-jawed faces appeared on the training ground right on schedule, smoke rising from their heads like three little chimneys.

Then, the next day, the cycle began again.

The three of them also grew closer at a rapid pace through their day-to-day cultivation.

Xiao Hongchen still voiced his disdain for Bao Liang and Meng Hongchen-"Bao Liang, stay away from me. Don't infect me with your stupidity." "Meng, can you stop running over to him every day? What's so great about him?"-but he never missed a single cultivation session.

Once, Bao Liang even discovered Xiao Hongchen secretly doing extra spiritual power training alone in the middle of the night. He trained until he was slack-jawed and drooling, only to be caught by a patrolling servant. Despite that vacant expression, he somehow managed to put on a cold face and send the man away.

Bao Liang had nearly died laughing, but he hadn't exposed him.

Instead, at their next cultivation session, he quietly turned up the heat a notch on Xiao Hongchen's side, treating it as a little reward for his stubborn-mouthed future brother-in-law.

The flames left Xiao Hongchen feeling so refreshed and comfortable that he nearly moaned aloud. He forced the sound back down, his face flushing bright red.

And the root of all this was Bao Liang's almost freakishly powerful Ultimate talent.

After two weeks of being burned by the Ultimate talent, the impurities that had accumulated in Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen's bodies over the years, along with the medicinal residue and pill toxins left behind by the medicines they had taken, had all been burned away.

The faint sluggishness they had once felt in their bodies after taking too many pills to strengthen their foundations and nurture their vitality had now vanished completely, leaving them feeling indescribably light from head to toe.

And all that burning-

Had successfully widened the meridians in Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen's bodies.

Thanks to the Hot Core talent, their meridians and physiques had grown stronger after being burned and tempered, which had also spurred further progress in their Soul Power.

That day, Jing Hongchen found a rare moment to come back and give the three of them a full physical examination.

He first took each of their pulses, then had the three children stand in front of a silver-white Soul Tool instrument one at a time. Beams of light scanned them from head to toe, and data flickered across a crystal screen beside it.

Jing Hongchen stared at the data, his brows furrowing slightly before gradually smoothing out. In the end, he actually froze for quite a while.

"Grandpa, what is it?" Xiao Hongchen asked.

Jing Hongchen didn't answer. He read through the data from beginning to end again and, after confirming that there were no mistakes, put down the record and looked at the three children without speaking for a long moment.

"Xiao, eight and a half years old, Three-Legged Golden Toad, Soul Power fluctuation at level twenty-seven, physical strength at level thirty-three. First Soul Skill, Metal Control; second Soul Skill, Gold Boiling."

"Meng, seven years old, Vermilion Clear Ice Toad, Soul Power fluctuation at level nineteen, physical strength at level twenty-five. First Soul Skill, Ice Toad Poison."

"Little Bao Liang, six years old, Explosion, Soul Power fluctuation at level fourteen, physical strength at level forty?! First Soul Skill, Killer Queen."

Bao Liang's eyes lit up at once. "Grandpa Jing, I went up a level?"

"You think going up one level is a big deal?" Jing Hongchen shot him a glare. "Do you have any idea how absurd your physical condition is right now?

"And Xiao and Meng's Soul Power has increased a lot more than yours."

"Xiao went up two levels, and Meng went up three."

Bao Liang turned to look at Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

Meng Hongchen raised her chin at him proudly. Xiao Hongchen gave a deliberately casual "Hmph," but he couldn't hide the slight upward curve of his lips.

"Wait, what? Why??" Bao Liang scratched his head. "By rights, it's my talent. Shouldn't I have gained the most?"

"It's precisely because the talent is yours that you gained less than they did." Jing Hongchen picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip. "The Ultimate talent belongs to you in the first place. Its core principle is simple-build a solid foundation and let the water flow steadily for the long haul.

"Your body and Martial Soul are already accustomed to this tempering, so your Soul Power naturally advances one step at a time, solidly but steadily.

"Even if most of your Qi and blood and Soul Power have to go toward feeding your Second Martial Soul, it's nothing to worry about."

"But Xiao and Meng are different." He looked at his grandson and granddaughter. "They don't have Ultimate Martial Souls, and their physical condition isn't as good as yours. The benefits of the talent have mostly gone into strengthening their bodies and purifying their attributes.

"On top of that, the two of them have practically grown up eating supplements, so they've got piles of medicinal power built up in their bodies..."

"In other words," Jing Hongchen said, setting down his teacup, unable to conceal the satisfaction in his voice, "the two of them have benefited from your efforts."

"Ohhh-" Bao Liang drew out the word, then grinned. "So, Grandpa Jing, does that mean they owe me a favor? Shouldn't I get a little more pocket money?"

"Scram," Xiao Hongchen and Jing Hongchen said in unison.

Bao Liang shrank back and chuckled, dropping the wisecracks.

In fact, even without Jing Hongchen telling him, he could feel it himself.

After all, the tempering had flowed out from his own hands.

Xiao Hongchen had the metal element.

Just like forging metal, the metal element of his Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul, along with everything else, had been further cleansed of impurities under the burning of Bao Liang's Ultimate Flame.

The purer the metal element became, the more Soul Power it could hold, and Xiao Hongchen's cultivation naturally rose with the tide.

Bao Liang quietly turned it over in his mind. Since the Ultimate Flame can temper metal, could it... also be used to forge materials for Soul Tools?

Many Soul Tools in the Sun Moon Empire couldn't be improved any further because of limitations in the strength of their materials.

Many designs had already been drawn up, only to be held back by the materials: those that weren't strong enough cracked as soon as Soul Power was channeled into them, while those that were strong enough were absurdly hard and simply couldn't be custom-made and mass-produced.

But forging-whether purifying or strengthening-could solve that problem perfectly.

After metal had been repeatedly tempered by the Ultimate Flame, its purity would rise, and its strength would naturally rise with it. When the time came, those Soul Tools that couldn't be made before might all be brought into existence, one by one.

If this path really worked, then the Soul Tools he produced in the future would probably be a whole grade sturdier than anyone else's. When that happened, never mind becoming a formidable Soul Engineer, even Mingde Hall's craftsmanship as a whole might rise a level.

For now, though, he couldn't bring it up.

He was still young, and he couldn't even be considered a beginner when it came to Soul Tools. He had never made a single decent piece of work.

If a little kid who had barely touched a Soul Tool went to the master of Mingde Hall and said, "I can make the quality of materials skyrocket," who would believe him?

Words alone were no proof. Talking about forging and purification wouldn't accomplish anything; he had to produce something real before anyone would believe him.

Besides, if he really said it aloud, there was no telling whether it would bring fortune or disaster.

Even so, Bao Liang made a mental note: once he entered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, properly began studying Soul Tools, and achieved some results, it wouldn't be too late to discuss it with Grandpa Jing when the time was right.

For now, he would keep his head down and cultivate, raising both his Soul Power and his control over the flames first.

Jing Hongchen turned to Meng Hongchen. "As for Meng..."

He suddenly stopped, quickly glanced at Meng Hongchen, then looked away.

"Meng is doing well." Jing Hongchen's tone suddenly grew light, even carrying a hint of deliberate cheerfulness. "Very healthy, even healthier than I imagined.

"Keep cultivating diligently with Xiao and Bao Liang from now on, all right?"

"Okay, Grandpa!" Meng Hongchen answered happily.

But Bao Liang noticed that when Jing Hongchen said "very healthy," a flash of unconcealable heartache had passed through his eyes.

It was a kind of... deeply, deeply buried heartache.

He opened his mouth to ask, but swallowed the words when they reached his lips.

Since Jing Hongchen didn't want to say it in front of them, he had his reasons.

This wasn't something he should ask about in front of Meng Hongchen.

Bao Liang quietly made note of the oddity and asked no more.

But that look had taken root in his heart.