Chapter 30: Trouble Comes Knocking

After politely greeting the staff and registering his name, Gu Yechén received a library card and made his way toward the rows of bookshelves.

The shelves on the left were mostly filled with books related to soul beasts, while those on the right were about soul masters.

Gu Yechén needed to study both topics.

After scanning the titles, which were mostly of the same genre, he selected three books: one on mimicry cultivation, another on martial spirits, and a third on soul beasts.

"Environmental Settings for Mimicry Cultivation"

"Illustrated Guide to Martial Spirits for Soul Masters"

"Encyclopedia of Soul Beast Species"

With the three books tucked under his arm, he found a quiet, secluded spot and gently opened the first one, immersing himself in reading with great interest.

Time flew by unnoticed. Gu Yechén was so absorbed that he even forgot about lunch.

He struggled to fully comprehend the mimicry cultivation book. Concepts like the flow of meridians and the body's adaptive response to mimicry environments were deeply complex and hard to grasp.

To truly understand "Environmental Settings for Mimicry Cultivation," he'd need more reference materials—and guidance from a knowledgeable teacher. On his own, it was beyond his current ability.

The other two books—on martial spirits and soul beasts—were much simpler.

They were essentially textbooks used at basic soul master academies, designed to be easy to understand. Besides written explanations, they were accompanied by vivid illustrations.

The illustrations of martial spirits and soul beasts were detailed and lifelike. Below each image was a short description—mainly about the direction of a soul master's development or the classification and age ranges of soul beasts.

From a quick read-through, Gu Yechén learned that soul beasts were categorized by age: ten years, one hundred years, one thousand years, ten thousand years, and one hundred thousand years. When they died, the corresponding soul ring colors were: white, yellow, purple, black, and red.

He also came to understand that martial spirits were not just divided by type, but also by quality—some were simply stronger than others. A high-quality martial spirit gave a person a head start from the very beginning.

According to the book, there were many low-grade martial spirits. The most iconic example was the Blue Silver Grass.

Slightly better were object-type and farming-tool-type martial spirits. While they had some offensive potential, if they awakened without soul power, they were still basically useless.

Mid-tier beast-type martial spirits, like Su Yuntao's Lone Wolf Spirit, offered a much higher chance of awakening soul power. However, they typically had very low initial soul power and slow cultivation speed.

Those with fast cultivation rates generally possessed high-grade or top-tier martial spirits.

But top-tier martial spirits were extremely rare—fewer than thirty existed in the world. These powerful spirits were usually passed down in large clans or sects and were considered extremely formidable.

High-grade martial spirits were more common. With hard work and dedication, one could still achieve great things with them—possibly rivaling even top-tier spirits.

In the soul master world, around 95% of people had either high-grade martial spirits like Kong Long's, or mid-grade ones like Su Yuntao's.

Low-grade martial spirits rarely awakened soul power, while top-tier ones were typically inherited through bloodlines in powerful families—making mid- and high-grade spirits the real foundation of this continent.

The best example of this was the two great empires. Although their royal families didn't possess top-tier spirits, they excelled at managing and organizing talent.

By gathering people with mid- to high-grade martial spirits, they could rival even the great clans and sects with top-tier spirits.

Generally, a martial spirit's quality correlated directly with the soul master's initial soul power. The higher the spirit grade, the higher the initial soul power, and the faster the cultivation speed—though rare exceptions and mutations did exist.

Gu Yechén, being sharp-minded, read and reflected at the same time. He understood that while overwhelming strength was important, unity and teamwork couldn't be overlooked.

However, when he came across a certain passage in the book, he froze.

It stated that "innate full soul power" was the maximum soul power one could be born with—and that no one had ever broken this limit.

But he himself… was born with level 20 innate soul power.

If the author of this book knew that, they'd probably crawl out of their grave in disbelief.

Furrowing his brow, Gu Yechén slowly closed the book and closed his eyes for a moment. No wonder Lingling's mother told me to keep a low profile. If I can keep this level 20 innate soul power a secret, then I must keep it forever.

Especially from the people in the Spirit Hall. If they discovered that he had broken the natural limit of innate soul power, they'd definitely make him a research subject.

To truly protect this secret, he had to avoid standing out. Otherwise, sooner or later, someone would uncover the truth.

Moreover, he couldn't even touch a soul power testing crystal—because there was a strange problem: he couldn't light it up at all.

As a student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and a registered soul master under Spirit Hall, if others found out that he couldn't activate the crystal, suspicion was inevitable.

Even if one or two people didn't notice, once more people saw it, they'd start asking questions. To avoid unnecessary trouble, it was best to steer clear of the testing crystal altogether.

Shaking off those thoughts, Gu Yechén reminded himself he was here to read, and shouldn't waste any more time.

As dusk approached, hunger finally hit him. He paused his reading and decided it was time to leave. Since he hadn't finished the books, he planned to apply to take them back to his dorm.

But just as he stood up with the books in hand, an obnoxious, mocking voice rang out nearby.

"Hahaha! Look at that kid! What's he holding? Soul Beast Species Picture Book? What a joke!"

"It's literally a picture book! I stopped reading those back in my second year at the junior soul master academy! This guy's still stuck on baby books—what a bumpkin."

The speaker was named Qin Shou—the same crude person Gu Yechén had noticed when entering the library. Clearly, he wasn't here to study. He was just tagging along with a girl.

Qin Shou looked sleazy, with dark eye circles and a lecherous glint in his eyes—he practically begged to be punched.

To him, Gu Yechén was just some clueless country boy. Qin Shou knew most of the academy's students, and since he didn't recognize this one, he assumed he was a new freshman.

Grinning, Qin Shou turned to the girl beside him and said, "See, Lüluo? I told you I'm not the dumbest guy in this library. Looks like we found someone worse!"

Lüluo looked at him with visible disgust. She found him annoying, but because of his strength and background, she didn't outright reject him.

Qin Shou had a reputation: whenever he took an interest in a girl, he would pursue her relentlessly.

Today, he was "reading" too—but his book was a personal one, full of suggestive material. Anyone experienced would know it wasn't for academics.

Gu Yechén glanced over but didn't respond. He simply kept walking. He could tolerate mockery—he had endured much worse seven years ago.

But Qin Shou wasn't going to let it go. He shouted, "Hey kid! Stop right there! You're new, right? Perfect timing—I need someone to fetch water and serve tea. You look dumb enough. From now on, you're my lackey."

Gu Yechén paused but said nothing. He kept walking. He wasn't the type to suck up to people for benefits. That kind of life might bring comfort—but it meant losing himself.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me calling you?!"

Qin Shou was furious. Letting Gu Yechén follow him should've been an honor—or so he thought.

In this academy, most people formed cliques. Lone wolves like Gu Yechén were easy targets.

He hadn't expected the new kid to ignore him and act all aloof. What arrogance.

Lüluo, sensing things were getting out of hand, tugged at Qin Shou's sleeve and said, "Qin Shou, don't bully him. This is a library. The administrator is still here."

Qin Shou laughed loudly. "Don't you know the administrator's on my side? Nothing that happens here gets reported. Besides, even if someone saw me bullying a student, do you think they'd dare say anything?"

With that, he began chasing after Gu Yechén.

Realizing things were escalating, Lüluo panicked and shouted:

"Hey, classmate—run!"

(End of Chapter)

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