On the other side, early the next morning, Lin Xiao, whom Huo Yuhao had been thinking about, arrived at the teaching building. He walked along the corridor, passing one laboratory after another.
Soon, he stopped in front of a certain laboratory. Loud voices could be heard coming from inside, as if several people were arguing.
Knock knock knock—
"Who is it?"
The knocking sounded, and an impatient voice came from within the lab. However, the person inside still opened the door shortly after.
When he saw Lin Xiao standing at the doorway, Xuan Ziwen slightly frowned. "It's you. Is there something you need?"
"Teacher Xuan, I have some questions about soul tools that I'd like to ask you about." As Lin Xiao spoke, he glanced inside the laboratory. Sure enough, he saw Huo Yuhao standing there, holding a strangely shaped soul tool in his hand.
Xuan Ziwen also turned his head back. The excitement he had felt earlier gradually subsided. "Alright, wait a moment. Let me settle him first, then we'll talk."
"Okay." Lin Xiao smiled and nodded. Watching Xuan Ziwen return to the laboratory, he sighed inwardly.
Teacher, teacher… this is really all I can do. Whether Teacher Xuan ultimately stays at our academy or not is no longer something I can predict.
"First, tidy up the things here. You can try making a few more soul tools to familiarize yourself with the environment. From now on, you'll be spending most of your time here with me. I have something to take care of and will come find you again later."
Inside the laboratory, Huo Yuhao had also seen Lin Xiao at the door. Hearing Xuan Ziwen's words, he nodded and began putting away the nearby metal scraps.
"Come with me."
Outside the door, Xuan Ziwen said a single sentence and took the lead, walking downstairs.
"If you hadn't come looking for me, I probably would have gone to find you myself," Xuan Ziwen said as they descended the stairs. "I have the authority to view all soul tools within Illustrious Virtue Hall."
"I also saw the soul tool you left behind during the Illustrious Virtue Hall assessment. I've thought about mounting your self-propelled soul cannon onto an all-terrain exploration soul tool. When the time comes, we might be able to create an all-terrain self-propelled soul cannon that can adapt to any terrain."
The moment soul tools were mentioned, Xuan Ziwen seemed to completely forget what had just happened between him and Huo Yuhao.
Moreover, Xuan Ziwen's proposal was indeed feasible. In Lin Xiao's memories, the Sun Moon Empire in the future did develop an all-terrain self-propelled soul cannon; only the soul power source for that cannon came from the soul mentor piloting it inside the soul tool.
"Did you come to find me for this matter as well?" At the bottom of the teaching building, Xuan Ziwen stopped walking.
"Teacher Xuan, there's one more thing I came for, the matter of sealed charging soul tools."
Xuan Ziwen nodded upon hearing this. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Sealed charging soul tools would indeed greatly improve your soul tool."
"However, high-level sealed charging soul tools currently only exist in my theories. At present, only charging soul tools of level three and below can be realized. Anything higher and the excessive compression of soul power prevents complete sealing."
"It will probably take a very long time before we can meet your requirements. If you want to research sealed charging soul tools together with me, that's also fine. When the time comes, come to Illustrious Virtue Hall, and I'll give you the blueprints. You can try it yourself."
Lin Xiao was slightly stunned as he listened to Xuan Ziwen. He hadn't interacted much with Xuan Ziwen before and hadn't understood him deeply, but now it was clear why Huo Yuhao would later manage to poach him.
As long as the topic was soul tools, he didn't care about anything else. Soul tool blueprints were usually closely guarded secrets by other soul mentors, yet Xuan Ziwen would hand them over without hesitation.
Probably because, with his talent, he never lacked ideas for researching new types of soul tools.
Although Lin Xiao himself had many strange and novel ideas, they were ultimately supported by memories from another world. The Xuan Ziwen in front of him, however, possessed genuine, heaven-defying talent.
Putting away his thoughts, Lin Xiao nodded. "Then I'll come find Teacher Xuan again later."
"Mm. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."
"Teacher Xuan," just as Xuan Ziwen was about to leave, Lin Xiao called out once more, "I just overheard… it seems you had some disagreement with that Shrek student?"
At these words, Xuan Ziwen's expression visibly darkened. "It wasn't really a disagreement. I simply saw that he possesses a rather excellent mechanism technique and wanted to buy it from him."
"Don't we have similar mechanisms and techniques in the Sun Moon Empire?"
"We do," Xuan Ziwen thought for a moment. "But they're all relatively simple mechanisms. None is as exquisite as the one in his hands."
Lin Xiao nodded. "Perhaps it's some kind of exclusive secret technique."
Hearing this, Xuan Ziwen's face sank again. Of course, he understood that certain exclusive techniques would never be passed on to outsiders, no matter what.
"By the way, Teacher Xuan, I heard that the disciple assigned to you by the academy is a spirit-attribute soul master."
"What did you say?" Before Lin Xiao could finish, Xuan Ziwen grabbed his arm in agitation.
"Teacher Xuan, that is a student from Shrek Academy, after all."
Watching Xuan Ziwen's right hand slowly loosen, Lin Xiao sighed inwardly once more.
Some words had been said in advance. When Xuan Ziwen heard them again from Huo Yuhao later, the impact would no longer be so great. He only hoped Xuan Ziwen wouldn't impulsively sell himself off in a moment of excitement. This truly was all he could do.
"Good morning, Teacher Xuan."
A lazy voice interrupted the conversation between Xuan Ziwen and Lin Xiao. Ju Zi, eyes half-closed, was slowly walking past, looking as if she hadn't fully woken up.
"Good morning."
"Good morning," Lin Xiao turned and greeted her as well. However, upon hearing his voice, Ju Zi suddenly paused, then, without a word, continued walking into the teaching building.
"Strange. Has that girl changed her personality today?" Xuan Ziwen glanced at her with some confusion.
"Maybe she's shy around strangers."
"She gets shy?" Xuan Ziwen's expression turned odd at Lin Xiao's words, but he didn't continue talking about Ju Zi.
Still, this brief interruption had allowed his emotions to calm down considerably. "Alright, we'll talk about the sealed charging soul tools later at Illustrious Virtue Hall. I'm heading back now."
"Mm." Lin Xiao nodded and watched Xuan Ziwen's figure disappear inside the teaching building before turning toward a student who had been standing not far away ever since he had walked out.
"You've been waiting a while, haven't you?"
"I wouldn't dare say so." The student slightly bowed his head.
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes and recognized the person in front of him. It was Huang Zheng, the direct disciple of the Third Elder. They had met once before at the Sunset Alliance. It seemed he had also been arranged to enter the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
"What is it?"
"Reporting to the Eighth Elder, my teacher asked me to inform you that the Cult Master has summoned all Elders for a meeting three days from now. Please arrange your schedule accordingly."
"I understand." Lin Xiao nodded and watched Huang Zheng walk away.
This was the first time he learned that the person responsible for notifying the other Elders about meetings was actually a Holy Son below the Elder rank.
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