"Borrowing" the Original Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul

"Ow-"

"Can't you be a little gentler? I'm a girl! What's wrong with going easy on me?"

Xiao Wu lay on the bed, rubbing her aching bottom.

Lin Qingchen hadn't held back at all just now, treating her to her beloved "Supreme Nine Consecutive Throws." Though it was only a knockoff, and he had deliberately made her land on her bottom most of the time, the throws had still battered her badly. Her bottom burned so much now that she couldn't even sit down.

Tang San stood dumbly to one side, not knowing what to do.

"What are you doing?"

Just then, a teacher in his thirties suddenly strode in.

"Wang Sheng, you tell me."

Called by name, Wang Sheng hurriedly stepped forward and said with an awkward smile, "Teacher Mo Hen, we were just fooling around for a moment, and things went a little wrong. Sorry about that."

"You were fighting in private again, weren't you? How many times have I told you? You just won't listen, will you?" Teacher Mo Hen glared at Wang Sheng, but didn't press him further. Instead, he glanced at Xiao Wu, who was still lying on the bed with her bottom sticking high in the air.

"You three are the new work-study students, right? I was going to take you over there, but it doesn't look very convenient. How about this? From now on, you'll be responsible for cleaning the garden south of the playground every day. You'll get ten Copper Soul Coins a day. No slacking off; I'll be making spot checks regularly."

"Yes, I understand." Lin Qingchen nodded.

Tang San and Xiao Wu hurriedly nodded as well.

Mo Hen continued, "Tomorrow is the opening ceremony. Classes officially begin the day after tomorrow. First years have class in Class One on the first floor of the teaching building. Just make sure you're there on time the day after tomorrow. You'll also start your regular work that day."

After making the arrangements, he turned and left.

Lin Qingchen glanced at Xiao Wu, who was still lying on the bed and grimacing, then turned and left as well.

As soon as Lin Qingchen left, Tang San went over to Xiao Wu and asked with concern, "Are you all right?"

Lin Qingchen had left, so naturally he didn't know what happened in Dorm Seven.

It wasn't time for class yet, so he decided to take the opportunity to have a good look around Nuoding City and see whether he could find any suitable talents or Wonder Seeds.

Nuoding City wasn't a large city, and it had no particularly powerful Soul Masters, so naturally there was no one suitable to trigger the Book of Talents.

Lin Qingchen didn't mind, though, and simply wandered around.

Before he knew it, his wandering had brought him to the Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City.

Lin Qingchen glanced at the tall, domed building and was about to turn away when he caught sight of a man and a woman approaching along the street opposite.

Oh? Isn't that our Blind God King, Su Yuntao?

Just as Lin Qingchen spotted Su Yuntao, the Book of Talents in his mind suddenly began flipping its pages.

Lin Qingchen hurriedly looked at what it said.

[Target: Su Yuntao]

Talents possessed: [Blind God King] [Simp]

[Blind God King]: Anyone you look down on at first sight will receive an unknowable increase in fortune. This takes effect only once per person.

[Simp]: More likely to develop affection for the opposite sex. The sense of failure when encountering setbacks is greatly reduced, and there is a chance that affection and initiative will increase instead.

Lin Qingchen: ???

Are you sure this isn't a joke?

Sure, lots of people in my previous life jokingly called Su Yuntao the Blind God King, but you actually gave him a talent like this? Is that right?

For a moment, Lin Qingchen even began to suspect that his Book of Talents was actually a prankster in disguise.

As for the [Simp] talent, that went without saying.

Obviously, the woman beside him was probably Sisi, the object of his simping in the original work and a Spirit Hall deacon.

Lin Qingchen shook his head and chose to leave.

By the time he returned to Nuoding Academy, the sun was nearly setting, and a large crowd of students was getting ready to eat.

For a moment, it seemed rather crowded and chaotic.

After all, Nuoding Academy wasn't a full boarding school. Many of its students were locals of Nuoding City who usually went home to eat and sleep.

Lin Qingchen didn't feel hungry yet, so he wandered around the academy.

As he passed a dormitory building, his Wonder Maker suddenly sounded.

"Hmm?"

Lin Qingchen looked at the Wonder Maker and saw that it displayed, "Wonder Seed found."

"There really is a Wonder Seed!" Lin Qingchen's eyes lit up, and he followed the indication to the dormitory building beside him.

"The teachers' dormitory?"

Lin Qingchen frowned, but had no intention of leaving.

How could he possibly let a Wonder Seed slip away after he'd already found it?

It was dinnertime, and most people should have gone to eat, making it the perfect time for him to go in and take a look.

Even if the worst came to the worst, didn't he still have the Great Five Elements Escape? He could get away with an earth escape, and surely no one would discover him, right?

He acted as soon as he made up his mind.

Lin Qingchen looked around, and after making sure no one was watching him, he immediately slipped into the teachers' dormitory building.

Following the indication, he came to a room in a corner of the dormitory's top floor.

Strangely, though, every dorm room should have had a sign identifying whose room it was, but there was no sign here.

And judging by the look of the place, it didn't seem unoccupied either.

Lin Qingchen shook his head and, without thinking further, used Earth Element Great Escape and slipped into the ground.

After entering the room, Lin Qingchen surveyed his surroundings from within the ground and only emerged after making sure no one was there.

The room wasn't large, only about thirty square meters, and its furnishings were simple. The only thing that caught Lin Qingchen's eye was a bookcase covering two walls and filled with all kinds of books.

One book on the shelf was sparkling.

That was the light of a Wonder Seed.

With a thought, Lin Qingchen went to the bookcase and pulled it out.

It was a somewhat rough-looking book that seemed to be several years old.

But what surprised Lin Qingchen most was the name on the cover.

"Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul"?

"Is this Yu Xiaogang's room?"

Though he'd phrased it as a question, Lin Qingchen was already completely certain. After all, apart from the man himself, who else in Nuoding City would keep a book like this?

He opened it and discovered that the words inside were handwritten.

"So this is actually the original manuscript?"

Lin Qingchen scratched his head.

The conditions under which a Wonder Seed was born were uncertain. Perhaps it had a special significance, or perhaps it held immensely powerful emotion...

The possibilities went on and on.

But if this was the original manuscript of Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, Lin Qingchen wasn't all that surprised it could transform into a Wonder Seed. After all, the significance of this thing really did seem extraordinary.

Its most direct impact, of course, was:

"I taught a god!" (in Yu Xiaogang's voice)

"All right, in that case, I'm afraid I'll have to borrow it. As for when I'll return it, we can talk about that later."

What a joke. When a lordly Soul Master did something, how could it be called stealing? It was clearly borrowing.

Lin Qingchen put the original away, used Earth Element Great Escape again, and left the scene of the crime.

But before long, Lin Qingchen's figure appeared there once more.

"Sigh, even if I'm borrowing it, my conscience still won't let me rest..."

Lin Qingchen shook his head regretfully, then fished a Silver Soul Coin out of his pocket and placed it on the desk.

At market prices, that single Silver Soul Coin was enough to buy several copies of Yu Xiaogang's "masterpiece."

"Good thing my family left me plenty of money. Consider this Silver Soul Coin a deposit. Bye-bye!"

Lin Qingchen's figure disappeared once again.