Chapter 15: Departure

Chapter 15: Departure

Zhong Yan returned to the room arranged by the Martial Soul Hall, eyeing the crystal resting on the table before him.

At first glance, the crystal’s surface appeared murky, but upon closer inspection, faint golden light shimmered within. The golden plate inside was merely obscured by impurities on the crystal’s exterior.

He summoned the Spear of Rainbow Piercer, pressing its tip against the crystal’s surface and spinning it like a drill. The spear’s sharpness was indeed formidable, easily piercing a hole.

Then, he poured his soul power into the hole.

“Boom!”

A muffled thunderous explosion echoed.

The unassuming crystal shattered, revealing a wondrous sight: countless golden sparks surged forth from the plate inside. Fortunately, Zhong Yan had already wrapped a layer of soul power around the perimeter, trapping these golden sparks within a soul energy barrier.

After a moment, when the chaos inside the shattered crystal subsided, Zhong Yan withdrew the soul energy shield. On the table where the crystal once lay now sat a large handful of golden fine sand—or rather, golden granules.

Each granule was uniformly sized, about the size of a grain of rice, perfectly round, and emitting a faint golden glow.

Zhong Yan picked up one granule, infused it with soul power, and it immediately unfurled into a slender golden needle. He pinched it between his thumb and forefinger and casually tossed it onto the table.

Because of its tiny size, it pierced the air silently and embedded itself into the wood, curling up like a coil.

“Wow, no wonder Tang San liked these things.”

“Luckily it’s a table—easy to retrieve. If this were a person, tsk tsk, that would be downright sinister.”

After extracting the Dragon Whisker Needles, Zhong Yan sat cross-legged, cupping the golden sand in his hands. He then began channeling soul power to communicate with the Heart of the Divine.

The Heart of the Divine emitted a dazzling light, its warm and profound aura enveloping him, and Zhong Yan soon found himself immersed in it.

A golden-yellow stream flowed out from one end of the Heart, entering the Dragon Whisker Needle in his hand.

From the other end, a radiant golden stream entered Zhong Yan’s body. Strangely, this aura did not flow back into the Heart of the Divine; instead, it fused with the power emanating from within, transforming his body.

...

A soft knocking sound interrupted his concentration.

Zhong Yan snapped his eyes open.

“Did I fall asleep?” He shook his head to clear the drowsiness.

“No rush to check myself now; there’ll be plenty of time on the carriage,” he thought. He had fallen asleep sitting cross-legged the night before, so he wasn’t wearing clothes—just a bit of numbness in his legs that would fade soon.

He rose and opened the door. Standing outside was the same guard from yesterday.

“You’re up. The Bishop asked me to call you for a meal. The carriage is ready; someone will escort you to Martial Soul City.”

“Understood,” Zhong Yan replied and followed the guard to the Martial Soul Hall’s dining hall. It wasn’t luxurious; the food was simple but included both meat and vegetables. What surprised him was that the Bishop himself was dining there as well.

“Child, come here.”

Hearing the Bishop call him, Zhong Yan brought his food and sat before him.

“Are you eating here too?” he asked.

The Bishop laughed. “Of course. You don’t think we have some aristocratic dining hall here, do you? Most soul masters in the Martial Soul Hall are commoners. Aristocratic airs aren’t welcome here.”

Though smiling, the Bishop’s eyes revealed clear disdain when mentioning the aristocracy.

“Looks like nobles are really despised in the Martial Soul Hall,” Zhong Yan observed.

“Don’t say that bluntly. I’m the Bishop here. There are things I can’t say clearly. But child, you’re of common birth too. Though you’re young, I’m sure you’ve seen what those nobles are like.”

“It’s precisely because of those nobles that I wanted to join the Martial Soul Hall.”

“Enough talk. I see your soul power has already broken through to Level 30. You truly are a diligent child,” the Bishop said, stroking his beard with satisfaction.

“Indeed,” Zhong Yan replied, then lowered his head to eat. He hadn’t had time to thoroughly examine what the Heart of the Divine did to his body last night, but waking up filled with strength felt great.

Actually, the Bishop hadn’t specially arranged a carriage to send Zhong Yan to the Martial Soul Hall. Although he was a genius, he hadn’t yet reached a level warranting such expenses. It just so happened that the next day a merchant caravan was heading to Martial Soul City, and the Bishop added a carriage for Zhong Yan to ride along. (According to typical novel tropes, this caravan would encounter trouble, but not in this story—I’m too lazy to pad out a chapter here.)

Forgive me for postponing last night’s update. I spent a long time deciding to remove and rewrite the original enhancement from the plate crystal for the protagonist, opting instead to give a larger buff. After all, in a semi-invincible story, if the power gap isn’t widened, how can one truly be invincible?

Also, there will definitely be another chapter tonight. I’ve already written half of it and just need to revise the earlier parts before continuing.

(End of chapter)