Chapter 280: This Is It? Isn't It Just Simple?

  "Teacher Xuan, you truly have sharp eyes, hahaha."

  Jing Hongchen forced a dry ugh, realizing that his thoughts had been completely seen through.

  Internally, however, he couldn't help but grumble.

  I’m the dean, after all. Do you really have to be so blunt?Do I not deserve a little dignity?You keep calling me ‘Dean,’ yet I don’t see even a shred of respect for me in your tone!

  "Dean, if you have something to say, just say it. I, Xuan Ziwen, will do my best."

  Finally, Xuan Ziwen spoke in a way that Jing Hongchen could at least accept.

  "Actually, it’s like this. You know about Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, right?"

  Xuan Ziwen nodded.

  "They are both outstanding talents of our family, and we recognize your ability as a teacher. So, I want to enroll them under your guidance."

  Jing Hongchen finished speaking and subconsciously rubbed his hands together, waiting for Xuan Ziwen’s response.

  However, Xuan Ziwen’s expression turned somewhat strange.

  "Dean, you yourself are a powerful soul engineer. Besides, there are others in the Hongchen family who are just as skilled as me in this field. Why would you send your family's geniuses to me?"

  "Ahem."

  Jing Hongchen cleared his throat before replying solemnly,

  "A soul engineer must learn from many sources and integrate their knowledge to forge their own path."

  His words made sense—just not much.

  After a brief moment of thought, Xuan Ziwen shook his head.

  "I can’t. I already have a few unofficial disciples, and now there’s Qin Xiao as well. Besides, I’m always busy with soul tool research, so I’m afraid…"

  This was already a polite refusal.

  Normally, he thought someone as experienced as Jing Hongchen would be able to read between the lines.

  But…

  Jing Hongchen, as if he had carefully considered everything, continued,

  "Then, what if it’s just one person? My granddaughter, Meng Hongchen—she's clever, understands human retionships well…"

  "Your granddaughter?"

  Xuan Ziwen raised an eyebrow. In an instant, he understood the real intention behind this request.

  "Dean, you really are scheming, aren’t you?"

  "What nonsense is that?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Be careful, or I might accuse you of snder!"

  Jing Hongchen's old face turned slightly red, and he huffed in mock anger.

  "Tch."

  Xuan Ziwen waved him off.

  "I’m not going to argue with you. If I stay any longer, I’ll miss the cafeteria serving time."

  With that, he turned and left.

  "Hey, what about my proposal?"

  Jing Hongchen shouted after his departing figure.

  "Tell your granddaughter to sign up early."

  Xuan Ziwen answered without looking back.

  Jing Hongchen rubbed his hands together in excitement.

  Hehe.

  The earlier she builds rapport with Qin Xiao, the better.

  And he firmly believed that Qin Xiao would rise to prominence.

  Meanwhile…

  Inside the boratory…

  Juzi stared at the metal pte on the table, where a perfectly inscribed formation had been carved. Her jaw nearly dropped.

  "Shishu, have you really never made a soul tool before?"

  "In this matter, do you think I need to lie to you?"

  Qin Xiao responded while casually raising the carving knife in his hand.

  "I even borrowed this carving knife from you."

  "Then… you actually succeeded on your first try?"

  Juzi gasped.

  She had been personally chosen by Xuan Ziwen as a disciple, which meant her talent was undeniable—she was absolutely a genius.

  But even for her…

  When she first attempted to carve an inscription, she had failed multiple times.

  Three times?

  Five times?

  Maybe even eight? She couldn’t quite remember anymore.

  And that was for a basic entry-level formation.

  Yet Qin Xiao had succeeded on his first try?

  This level of talent was truly something else.

  It proved that Qin Xiao’s control over both his mental and physical faculties was beyond extraordinary.

  Only by perfectly synchronizing the two could such a feat be accomplished.

  "No wonder Teacher said it wouldn't take long for you to surpass me."

  Now, Juzi was convinced.

  She finally believed that Xuan Ziwen hadn’t been exaggerating.

  "Is it really that difficult?"

  Qin Xiao shrugged indifferently.

  With his vision and understanding, this was nothing.

  In fact, he pnned to carve two more formations to get a feel for it before moving on to second-tier formations.

  The first tier was just too basic.

  "This… this isn't difficult for you?"

  Juzi felt completely defeated.

  She muttered to herself, Maybe this is just how geniuses think. I don’t get it.

  No.

  I’m a genius too, aren’t I?

  Juzi decided she needed to redefine Qin Xiao’s level of talent.

  Hmm…

  Let’s just call him a monster.

  Qin Xiao, however, paid no attention to her thoughts and continued working.

  Very soon…

  Another basic acceleration formation was completed.

  Then came a storage formation, an ice formation, a heat formation…

  Juzi was completely dumbfounded.

  One by one, Qin Xiao effortlessly carved out various basic formations as if it were nothing.

  At this point, he didn’t look like a beginner at all.

  If anything, Juzi felt that even if she were the one doing it, she wouldn’t be as fast as Qin Xiao.

  Is this guy even human?No… at least, humans shouldn’t be like this.

  Juzi had no idea what to say anymore.

  After a while, Qin Xiao finally stopped.

  Looking at his handiwork, he felt rather satisfied.

  In truth, only he could accomplish this.

  Not everyone could perfectly control their body, avoid wasting even the slightest energy, and precisely maneuver a carving knife to the exact position they desired.

  This was why, whether it was the elder Wang, Jing Hongchen, or Xuan Ziwen, they had all been ecstatic upon learning that Qin Xiao possessed a spiritual martial soul.

  A soul master with a spiritual martial soul was like a cheat code when it came to crafting soul tools.

  However…

  After the joy, Qin Xiao suddenly swayed, his body faltering from the excessive consumption of mental energy.

  It was just like how some people feel fine while working, but once they stop, an overwhelming fatigue crashes down on them.

  "Shishu!"

  Juzi cried out in arm and hurried to support Qin Xiao.

  She positioned herself as a brace, allowing him to lean on her.

  "It’s nothing serious, just a bit too much consumption. I’ll be fine in a moment."

  Qin Xiao reassured her as he closed his eyes to recover.

  However…

  At that moment, the door to the boratory suddenly swung open.

  Two men and one woman walked in.

  "Juzi-jie, we’re back!"

  A petite girl excitedly called out.

  The other two immediately scanned the room.

  But the next moment, all three of them were frozen in pce.

  "Juzi-jie…"

  "Juzi…"

  "You…"

  Seeing Juzi so intimately supporting an unfamiliar young man, the three were utterly stunned, their minds momentarily shutting down.

  Who am I?Where am I?What am I supposed to do?

  Their thoughts spiraled into confusion.

  "A-Am I trapped in an illusion?"

  Zi Mu, one of Xuan Ziwen’s disciples, rubbed his eyes vigorously before looking at Juzi again.

  And then…

  He felt like he had been struck by lightning.

  Dear heavens!

  This wasn’t an illusion—it was real!

  "Juzi, who is that person?!"

  "Who is he?!"

  His emotions fred up instantly, and his voice turned sharp with agitation.

  It wasn’t hard to understand why Zi Mu was so riled up.

  After all, he had been Juzi’s relentless pursuer.

  He had even devoted countless hours to learning culinary skills—all because of a single offhand remark from Juzi about wanting to marry the best chef in the world.

  In his dreams, he had envisioned himself and Juzi walking into a blissful marriage countless times.

  But now… he had returned only to find her intimately close with another man?

  Who could understand this kind of pain?

  Family, my heart is in pieces…

  "Uh… this…"

  Juzi realized the situation she was in.

  "If I tell you that this isn’t what you’re thinking, will you believe me?"

  The room fell into dead silence.

  Their eyes, filled with skepticism and disdain, clearly conveyed one thing—Do you think we would believe that?

  At that moment, Qin Xiao’s mental energy had recovered slightly, and the darkness clouding his vision had cleared up.

  He made a mental note—next time, no matter what, he had to manage his consumption better. Losing control like this was incredibly dangerous.

  Then, he noticed that the atmosphere in the room was… oddly tense?

  "Huh? When did so many people arrive?"

  Qin Xiao quickly recognized that these were Xuan Ziwen’s other disciples.

  That petite, bubbly girl must be Ke Ke.

  And standing beside her was a young man with a haughty expression.

  Just from the way he carried himself, exuding an air of superiority, Qin Xiao immediately recognized the youth standing proudly—this had to be Wang Shaojie, someone with royal blood from the Sun Moon Empire.

  At the same time, Qin Xiao also noticed another young man gring at him with eyes practically spitting fire.

  After a brief moment of thought, Qin Xiao recalled—among Xuan Ziwen’s four disciples, there was one who was hopelessly devoted to Juzi, a bootlicker named Zi Mu.

  And judging by the way this guy looked at him as if he wanted to devour him, it had to be the infamous bootlicker Zi Mu himself.

  Heh, nice to meet you.

  "You, take your hands off Juzi!"

  Zi Mu finally couldn’t take it anymore. He had noticed Qin Xiao’s gaze on him, but what really burned him up was…

  With so many people watching, you two are still acting this close?

  Do you even acknowledge my existence?!

  Qin Xiao, however, just chuckled. "You should take a proper look before you speak."

  "I’m seeing it clearly!" Zi Mu retorted, only to feel a nudge from Ke Ke beside him.

  "Hey, look carefully—it's Juzi-jie who’s holding onto his arm, not the other way around."

  Zi Mu turned his head and froze.

  His pupils shrank.

  No way…

  It really is like that?!

  Meanwhile, Qin Xiao ignored the lovesick fool and gave Juzi a warm smile. "Thank you."

  "N-no problem."

  Juzi blushed slightly and quickly let go.

  However…

  That simple interaction was enough to send Zi Mu into another round of mental breakdown.

  They’re still flirting right in front of me?!

  This is outrageous!

  This is beyond disrespectful!

  Do I, Zi Mu, mean nothing to you?!

  With heavy steps, he strode toward the wide alloy table in the center of the b, standing opposite Qin Xiao.

  "You! Who are you? This is Teacher Xuan’s private boratory—outsiders aren’t allowed in here."

  "Zi Mu… he’s not an outsider. He’s—"

  Juzi immediately tried to expin.

  She wanted to tell them that Qin Xiao wasn’t just some random person—he was Teacher Xuan’s sworn brother!

  But before she could finish, Zi Mu rudely interrupted her.

  "Juzi, don’t say anything—I’m asking him."

  "Even if you have some kind of special retionship with him, you know the rules. Even though we’re all Teacher Xuan’s disciples, none of us are allowed to bring outsiders into his b."

  "Besides, there are countless valuable materials here—just a random piece of metal could be worth dozens or hundreds of gold soul coins. And completed soul tools? Those are worth tens of thousands, even millions!"

  "What if some outsider gets greedy and decides to steal something?"

  Zi Mu’s words were clearly ced with accusation.

  He had noticed right away—Qin Xiao wasn’t wearing an academy uniform.

  And more importantly, his clothes, while presentable, were clearly pin and unremarkable.

  With that, Zi Mu had immediately beled him as a commoner—no, a pauper in his mind.

  Someone like this… has no business stepping into an eighth-rank soul engineer’s b!

  To put it more bluntly, even a janitor in this pce wouldn’t be as low as this guy!

  "That’s enough!"

  Juzi frowned, her usually gentle face showing clear displeasure.

  But…

  Zi Mu was too far gone in his jealousy to listen.

  He had been Juzi’s devoted admirer for years, and now, seeing her holding hands with some random guy—how could he accept it?

  Worse yet, she had chosen someone who wasn’t even on his level?!

  No!

  Absolutely not!

  Why should I, Zi Mu, be inferior to this kid?!

  I refuse to accept it!

  At that moment, his gaze nded on the various blueprints and completed formations on the table.

  Then, he noticed the carving knife Juzi had lent to Qin Xiao.

  And suddenly…

  He burst into ughter.

  "Pfft—hahaha! Sorry, I don’t usually ugh, but sometimes I just can’t help it! Hahaha!"

  Juzi’s expression darkened. "Zi Mu, what’s so funny?"

  "What’s funny? Everything!" Zi Mu pointed at the neatly carved formations on the table.

  "Don’t tell me… you’re actually teaching him to engrave formations?"

  "And what’s wrong with that?" Juzi frowned.

  When Xuan Ziwen left, he specifically asked her to assist Qin Xiao.

  But honestly…

  She had quickly realized that she wasn’t needed at all.

  All she had to do was provide materials and carving tools—Qin Xiao didn’t require any actual guidance.

  "You seriously don’t think that’s funny?"

  Zi Mu sneered.

  "Do you really think just any piece of trash can become a soul engineer?"

  "He should take a good look in the mirror before dreaming so big!"

  "Garbage should stay where it belongs—in the trash!"

  Zi Mu was venting.

  He needed to let out all of his frustration.

  Since he couldn’t bring himself to sh out at Juzi…

  Qin Xiao became his punching bag.

  He needed to prove to Juzi that her choice was completely wrong—that the man she picked was utterly inferior to him.

  To do that, he had to crush Qin Xiao completely.

  Only by humiliating Qin Xiao could he restore his own sense of superiority.

  "You dare call him trash?!"

  Juzi was stunned, furious, and completely speechless.

  A person who could engrave formations perfectly on the first try—had Zi Mu ever seen such a talent?

  Not to mention, Qin Xiao could casually inscribe any type of formation without a single mistake.

  And you call this man garbage?!

  If talent could be measured by weight, then even if all four of Xuan Ziwen’s disciples combined their talent together, they still wouldn’t match Qin Xiao.

  If someone with monstrous talent like Qin Xiao is trash…

  Then what are we?

  We might as well just stop living right now!

  Might as well find a crooked tree and hang ourselves…

  Or just smash our heads against a block of tofu and call it a day.

  (End of Chapter)

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