Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
To tell the truth, You XiaoMo really despised that shitty old geezer.
Soul perception was something that one could only come across serendipitously, and he actually used that tone implying that it was easy to utilize. Don’t tell him that in the old geezer’s eyes, You XiaoMo could, as and when he liked, pull the soul perception out of his ass?
You XiaoMo really wanted to rush over to the old geezer and yell this. However after giving it a second thought, he decided to bear with it.
After the old geezer finished scolding him, he stopped speaking and closed his eyes and continued to focus on refining pills.
You XiaoMo could only rely on himself, but he had guessed why he should not use his soul power.
The soul powers of two different mages were incompatible. If he rashly released his soul power, it would likely cause the old geezer to be alarmed. In a worst case scenario, he may even be attacked. Thus, to be on the safe side, he could not use his soul power.
If so, how could he enter the mode to activate the soul perception?
You XiaoMo scratched his head until his scalp was almost bleeding but was still unable to come up with anything. Since nothing came to mind, he might as well imitate the old geezer. You XiaoMo closed his eyes, and all he could see was darkness.
However, he soon found a strange area. Something seemed to have extended out from the space between his eyebrows. He was certain that it was definitely not his soul power, as he did not touch his soul power at all.
After a while, he felt that thing stirring up in the space between his eyebrows, bringing a faint burning sensation. It was itchy, and made him want to reach out touch the area. However, it also felt like he was basking under the sun, and it was so comfortable he almost moaned out loud.
As this thought emerged, a scene appeared before his ‘eyes’.
A little above the space between his eyebrows, a vague imprint filled with spirituality was faintly discernible. Was that his forehead?
You XiaoMo could not help but be amazed, how could he be seeing his own forehead? Could he really have entered the world of soul perception that the old geezer mentioned?
Regardless of what was happening, since there was now a chance, he had to tightly grasp it.
When he thought of this, his consciousness immediately spread throughout his surroundings. In an instant, the situation in the Pill Refining Room appeared in a transparent three-dimensional state, the activity inside the caldron vividly came into view.
The criss-crossing soul power, and the surging and turbulent soul energy, was perfectly distributed throughout the caldron. A ball of pure liquid essence was wrapped in the midst of this soul power. It was the level four magic herbs that he had emptied into the caldron earlier, which now had almost been completely distilled.
You XiaoMo’s inner world was subject to a severe shock.
The old geezer could actually distill so many magic herbs in one go, and he appeared to have planned to proceed with the process of refining ten magic pills at the same time.
Although he was a level ten mage, could he really accomplish this?
You XiaoMo did not really believe he would be successful. To refine ten pills at the same time was equivalent to splitting your attention ten ways. It was a totally different concept from distilling numerous stalks of magic herbs. The process for distilling magic herbs was much simpler than refining the magic pills. Even he could distill eight stalks of magic herbs at once, thus, it was not surprising that the old geezer also had this ability. The difficult part was refining many magic pills at the same time.
The steps for refining magic pills was numerous and complicated. A small mistake could easily cause the magic pill to be discarded as worthless. You XiaoMo did not believe that the old geezer did not take this into account. But since the geezer was doing it this way, it must mean that he was assured of his success.
The old geezer’s pill refining speed was very fast. If not for his three-dimensional state of view, he was afraid he may not have been able to keep up with the old geezer’s speed.
You XiaoMo only felt that his consciousness was in a trance-like state, and it did not take long for him to retreat from this mysterious state.
The itchy but comfortable sensation in his forehead also vanished, and he could not help but rub his temples a few times.
You XiaoMo opened his eyes. Soon after, the old geezer also exited from this focused state of refining pills, and seeing You XiaoMo still standing at one side, an odd expression surfaced as he asked, “How was it?”
This sentence, all too similar to words of concern, made You XiaoMo feel overwhelmingly flattered.
“It’s okay, but Shifu, you were refining pills too quickly.” You XiaoMo thought over it and decided to speak the truth.
“You really could see it?” The old geezer suddenly stared at him, eyes wide with surprise.
You XiaoMo was somewhat taken aback, “What do you mean?”
The old geezer muttered something to himself, “I just offhandedly said it, and he actually managed to do it.”
Black lines appeared on You XiaoMo’s face. This shitty old geezer was actually messing with him again.
t/n: Black lines on face means this: (-_-“)
The old geezer suddenly huffed, “Don’t think you can be arrogant just because you can do this. When I was young, I could do this at sixteen.”
You XiaoMo frowned, he had never thought it was something to be proud of.
Afterwards, the old geezer did not bring this matter up again, and returned to his infuriatingly arrogant conduct, ordering him to do this and that. This time, You XiaoMo did not complain about it as he finally benefitted a little today.
When the old geezer let him off, the sun was already setting. You XiaoMo dragged his exhausted body back to the pavilion and met with Ling Xiao and his Qiu team who were there on the first level to welcome him.
“Why did you change into a new set of clothes?”
With one glance, Ling Xiao noticed that that the clothes he was now wearing were not the ones he wore out in the morning.
You XiaoMo dispiritedly said, “Don’t bring it up, the shitty old geezer cruelly messed with me for the whole day. I’m so tired that my muscles are sore to death.”
Ling Xiao laughed and replied, “You have muscles?”
You XiaoMo’s expression grew chilly, and turned his head to stare back at him, “What you should be paying attention to is not whether I have muscles, but to the fact that I’m very tired.”
Ling Xiao licked his lips, and walked over and lifted him up, “What happened?”
You XiaoMo, who needed to vent his frustrations, immediately narrated to Ling Xiao the whole story of how the old geezer messed with him. When he thought about how he will probably be ordered by the shitty old geezer to do menial labor in the future, he felt all the bones and muscles in his body start to ache.
Apparently, he took the old geezer’s nasty temperament too lightly.
Ling Xiao carried him to the second level, where a hot tub had been prepared earlier.
Normally, You XiaoMo would definitely not let Ling Xiao help him bathe, but now he was really too lazy to move. Only after being fondled several times, did Ling Xiao fish him out from the tub.
Looking at the white and tender body that he could ‘see but not eat’, Ling Xiao heaved a sigh.
You XiaoMo’s mouth twitched. How could he not know what this guy’s mind was thinking about? There was an eighty percent chance he was thinking about R-rated things again.
Ling Xiao said, “Such a pity.”
You XiaoMo pursed his lips, and was determined not to ask him what was ‘such a pity’.
Ling Xiao was not disappointed when he saw that You XiaoMo did not take the bait. He placed You XiaoMo in bed, and climbed onto the bed after taking off his own shoes. Of course he was not going to do something bestial. He was not so thirsty that he would make a move on (发情) someone who was tired after a long day.
One must know that when to make a move is also an art!
You XiaoMo could not refrain from releasing a soft groan. He looked back in surprise at Ling Xiao who was currently helping him massage his legs, “You actually know how to massage? When did you learn it?”
Ling Xiao said, “I learned it before you were born.”
You XiaoMo, “… …”
Ling Xiao’s massage technique was really good, and You XiaoMo fell asleep while lying on his stomach. He did not snore while sleeping, and seeing his peaceful sleeping face made one feel sleepy too. Although it was still early, Ling Xiao also lay down after a while, and hugged You XiaoMo tightly in his arms.
The next day, You XiaoMo woke up after a burst of suffocation. Opening his eyes, he discovered that his whole head was buried within Ling Xiao’s embrace, making it hard to breathe. No wonder he felt a sense of suffocation, he thought as he hurriedly crawled out. After sleeping comfortably for the whole night, coupled with Ling Xiao’s massage, his fatigue yesterday was gone, and his whole body felt completely refreshed.
Descending the stairs, You XiaoMo wilted as he remembered he would have to go over to the old geezer’s place to be ordered around to do labor again today.
But when he heard that Ling Xiao wanted accompany him, he was surprised, “You want to follow me to go to the shitty old geezer’s place? Why?”
Ling Xiao gave a noncommittal hum, but his attitude had already explained the problem.
You XiaoMo did not mind him tagging along, “What will you do if the old geezer doesn’t let you in?’
Ling Xiao said, “I will still enter even if he doesn’t let me in.”
Seeing the way he insisted, You XiaoMo stopped persuading him to stay back. He did not refine any pills today, and the past two days, Ling Xiao had earned a lot of points. For the time being, they currently had enough points. If he allowed Ling Xiao to follow, there may be some areas he could assist with.
Thus, the two headed together to Duan QiTian’s Orchid Courtyard.
As they arrived early, the man who often helped the old geezer clean told them that Duan QiTian was still sleeping.
It was good that he was still sleeping. You XiaoMo had a premonition, if the old geezer woke up, he would definitely come to torment him again. After greeting the man, Ling Xiao and You XiaoMo headed to the study.
“There’s quite the collection of books here.” Ling Xiao walked into the study and gave a word of praise.
“Yea, look here, this thick book is for the level six magic herbs.” From the bookshelf, You XiaoMo brought down the encyclopedia that he had not finished yesterday. If he did not train his body, that thick encyclopedia would have crushed him.
“Looks like you’ve won.” Ling Xiao said.
“What do you mean?” You XiaoMo turned back and looked at him.
Ling Xiao picked up an encyclopedia and flipped through it, saying, “The academy’s collection of books in their library may be a lot more than the books here, but they are not as detailed as these books. Moreover, these are mostly Duan QiTian’s handwritten notes. A level ten mage’s handwritten notes, and with no need to pay points to enter. If you don’t consider this as winning, what else can it be?”
One point is needed to enter the academy’s library.
Although it was not much, but for those who often went to the library, their expenses incurred would pile up over time.
You XiaoMo had not yet visited the library, but he had heard of this. All of a sudden, he felt that what Ling Xiao said was very reasonable, and finally had some comfort in his heart.
