The First Batch of "Students"

"Here you are." Lu Yuan put down his charcoal pencil and walked over.

Su Yan and Li Wangye both straightened up at the same time.

"I'm Lu Yuan." Lu Yuan didn't waste any words. "There are only a few of us here right now." He pointed to Mo Chen, "Mo Chen, the one who works with Soul Tool." Then he pointed to Shen Moxin, "You know Teacher Shen."

Mo Chen looked up and grinned. "Two little brats?"

Li Wangye shrank back. Su Yan didn't move.

"You've seen the place, it's only this big and this dilapidated," Lu Yuan said calmly. "We'll eat dry rations, and we'll have to fetch our own spring water. As for where we'll sleep..." He pointed to a makeshift bed made of hay and old animal hides in the corner, "Over there."

He paused.

"The academy doesn't want you because they believed in 'fallacies and heresies.' Here, there are no fallacies, only paths that are viable," Lu Yuan said. "But when a path is blocked, it will be a hundred times worse than in the academy. There's no one to comfort you, and no way out."

Li Wangye's lips moved slightly. Su Yan kept her lips pursed, her bright black eyes fixed on him.

"It's not too late to regret it now," Lu Yuan said. "Turn around, go down the mountain, find a job, and settle down. If you stay, you'll have to follow my rules."

The cavern was silent for a few seconds, save for the crackling of the fire.

Su Yan spoke first, her voice a little dry but clear. "Mr. Lu, I have no regrets."

Li Wangye quickly followed. "Me neither! Teacher Shen said... said you can teach real things here!"

Lu Yuan looked at them for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

He turned around, scooped out three bowls of vegetable porridge, and handed them over. "Eat first."

The vegetable porridge was thin, made from wild vegetable roots and broken wheat grains. Su Yan ate it carefully, taking small bites. Li Wangye, however, was very hungry and ate quickly, spitting out the hot porridge.

Mo Chen crouched down and peered inside. "What's Martial Soul? What's its Soul Power level?"

Su Yan put down the bowl. "Iron Ruler, innate level three."

"Gray Sparrow, Level 2 of the Innate Realm." Li Wangye wiped his mouth. "It doesn't fly fast, and it doesn't have much offensive power..."

Mo Chen clicked his tongue. "A meeting of Trash Martial Soul, huh?"

Lu Yuan ignored them and waited for them to finish eating before leading them deeper into the mine.

The passageway branched off in many directions. Lu Yuan pointed as they walked. "This one leads to the warehouse. That's the landslide area over there, dangerous. The water source is below the crack at the east end; we need to collect water twice a day, morning and evening."

He spoke slowly, explaining the purpose and precautions clearly. Su Yan listened attentively, her eyes constantly scanning her surroundings. Li Wangye was somewhat nervous, glancing into the dark side passages as they passed.

Back in the main cavern, Lu Yuan stopped and took out two rolls of parchment bound with hemp rope from his pocket.

"Here you go." He handed them over. "Introductory lecture notes on ' Basic Soul Power Perception and Guidance.' I've rewritten them, simplified the derivations, but the core ideas remain the same."

Su Yan took it with both hands and carefully unfolded it. The parchment was covered with diagrams and annotations drawn in charcoal. He only glanced at it, and his pupils contracted slightly—the descriptions of the flow of Soul Power were completely different from the formulas and incantations he had memorized in the academy.

Li Wangye leaned closer to look, his brows furrowed. "This... can you understand it?"

"It's normal that you don't understand it now," Lu Yuan said. "Just practice as instructed, and ask Teacher Shen or me if you have any questions."

He paused, then pointed to the tools and materials piled up on the other side of the cavern. "Before that, there's more urgent work."

Rusty picks, ropes, and rubble cleared from the landslide area were scattered on the ground.

"Sharpen the tools, check the ropes for rot or breakage, and move the rubble to the cave entrance to build fortifications," Lu Yuan said. "Finish it within three days. If you can't finish, or if you don't do it carefully, it means you're not suited for this place."

He spoke frankly.

Su Yan didn't ask why, nodded, walked to the pile of tools, picked up the pickaxe, and tested the bluntness of the tip. Li Wangye hesitated for a moment, then followed and squatted down to tidy up the hemp rope.

Lu Yuan ignored them and returned to the stone slab to continue drawing. Mo Chen leaned against the fire, squinting at the two boys' actions, a blade of grass between his teeth as he mumbled a hum.

Shen Moxin walked to Lu Yuan's side and lowered her voice. "Isn't this too hasty?"

"Time is running out." Lu Yuan didn't look up. "They need to prove their worth as soon as possible and get used to the pace here."

"You're testing them."

"Hmm." Lu Yuan paused, his pen poised. "Cleaning and reinforcement depend on temperament and practical skills. Lecture notes depend on comprehension and patience."

That night, Mo Chen used scrap materials and inferior Soul Stone to create a simple Soul Power lamp. The light was weak and flickering, but it was more stable than a torch.

Two "rooms" were partitioned off in the corner of the cave using wooden planks and dry grass. Su Yan and Li Wangye were assigned to one of them.

It was late at night. After inspecting the newly built rubble shelter at the cave entrance, Lu Yuan passed by the boy's house on his way back.

The door wasn't closed tightly, and a faint light from the Soul Power lamp shone through the crack.

Lu Yuan stopped and looked inside.

Su Yan didn't sleep. He sat cross-legged on a wooden board covered with fine sand, and in the dim light, he traced lines on the sand with his fingers. The lines were straight and precise—it was the structural diagram of the "Soul Power Diverter" etched on the Red-Patterned Rock base that Mo Chen had polished during the day.

He rowed slowly and with great force. After finishing one stroke, he smoothed the sand and rowed a second time. His fingertips were slightly white from the effort, and his face showed only a calm concentration.

Li Wangye was not in the house.

Lu Yuan turned and walked to the entrance of the cave. The moonlight was cold and clear. Li Wangye squatted on the flat stone at the cave entrance, his eyes closed, his brows furrowed, his hands cupped in front of him, and an almost invisible halo of Soul Power was trying to gather at his fingertips.

It failed. The halo dissipated.

He took a breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and muttered to himself, "Perception... flow... no, guidance..."

These are the key points from the lecture notes.

He tried again. He failed again.

But it didn't stop.

Lu Yuan leaned against the rock wall by the door, watching quietly. Mo Chen crept over and peered outside.

"Two tough nuts to crack." Mo Chen lowered his voice.

Lu Yuan didn't turn around. His gaze fell on the thin figure trying again and again in the moonlight, then shifted to the silent boy repeatedly etched on the sand inside the stone house.

In the darkness, the corner of his mouth curved up almost imperceptibly.

"Mmm," he responded softly.

Zhao Shi's eyelids twitched for three days.

He sat in the shady steward's room of the Soul Master Hall, tapping his fingers on the table. The account book lay open before him, the handwriting blurred. The hustle and bustle of the street outside drifted in through the window, sticky and unpleasant.

Something's not right.

At the end of last month, Lu Qinghe came to pay the management fee, twenty Copper Soul Coin, wrapped in coarse cloth. The amount was correct, and his attitude was sullen. But Zhao Shi just felt that something was wrong.

His back was hunched, but not as taut as before. His Soul Power, too, had been stuck at level nineteen for at least ten years, like a dying ember last year. Last month, that ember seemed to... reignite a tiny spark.

It wasn't obvious. Like a spark flashing in a mountain valley, gone in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Shi suspected he had misread it.

But the more I think about it these past few days, the more something seems off. That kid from the Lu family, with his Trash Martial Soul Blue Silver Grass and only half a level of innate talent, actually went to Nuoding City. And Lu Qinghe has been frequently heading to the desolate mountains in the west lately.