Chapter 352: Unexpected Guests
“Yes. Dissolving your essence fireseed, and then trying to form another essence fireseed is almost impossible. You’ve experienced how it feels to fail making one, so you should understand how difficult it is. Using the fireseed spirit mushroom does indeed make it easier to form one, but… it won’t always be ‘easier.’ The more you use the fireseed spirit mushroom, the less of an effect it has. You can use it at most three times before the fourth results with practically nothing…”
“More and more difficult? But master, when I used the fireseed spirit mushroom back in Mo City, I didn’t have any troubles at all. Why is that?”
“Well, that’s why I was so shocked at first, but if I think about it, I’d wager that your earlier failures when you attempted to form an essence fireseed helped when you ate the fireseed spirit mushroom. All of the medicines you used to help gather elemental fire must’ve had a lingering effect on your body, and since your first essence fireseed hasn’t truly dissolved, the formation of a second essence fireseed was most likely easier because of those factors.”
“I understand now.” Bai Yunfei replied, but what Zi Jin said before was still bothering him, “But even just using the mushroom three times means…”
“Yes, just three times, including when we first form the essence fireseed, which means we of the Crafting School can forge four soulbound armaments! In the history of our school, a predecessor once tried to do this. He managed to obtain three different fireseed spirit mushrooms, and on several different occasions, he took several normal soulbound armaments and turned one of them into a lifebound armament!!
“Yet, this same predecessor wasn’t by any means a genius. In the end… he was stuck as a late-stage Soul Exalt. He was never able to become a Soul King!”
“Why is that? Was it because of the…”
“Correct. It was because of the side effects of the fireseed spirit mushroom! In a way, each fireseed spirit mushroom uses up the hidden potential of the eater’s body!” Zi Jin exclaimed. “That is why we cannot use the method you’re talking about… several of our predecessors paid a heavy price so that we of the later generations could learn of their experience and listen to their warnings…”
Concern started to grow within Bai Yunfei’s mind as he listened to Zi Jin. Worried, he asked, “Master, I once used a fireseed spirit mushroom to become a Soul Sprite. Now that I’ve used it again, wouldn’t that mean I…”
Zi Jin smiled to comfort him. “Haha, don’t worry. The situation I described just now is different than your own situation. When you formed your second fireseed spirit mushroom, your first one still hadn’t been dissolved, correct? And since you have two essence fireseeds, you can learn the Dual Flame Arts, so you don’t have to worry about your future potential. When you grow stronger, you’ll understand…”
“Phew…” Bai Yunfei sighed in relief. Now that all of his concerns had been addressed and dealt with, he stood up to bow to his master. “Your student understands now, master. Your student asks for permission to leave.”
“Good, you may leave.”
Turning around, Bai Yunfei took two steps toward the door before Zi Jin spoke again, “Ah, Yunfei…”
Bai Yunfei turned around. “Is there something master wants?”
For once, a slight hint of embarrassment could be seen on his master’s face. “Ah, Yunfei. That record you gave Hai Dongqing…”
“Eh?” Bai Yunfei quickly realized what his master was trying to get at after not understanding the question at first.
With a twist of his hand, a gray scroll appeared. Presenting it to his master, Bai Yunfei said, “If not for master’s reminder, your student would’ve forgotten. I have a copy of the scroll I was planning to give to master in hopes that it’d help master with his studies…”
Smiling as he took the scroll, Zi Jin nodded. He was pleased. “Haha, very good. You may go and rest up, then.”
It was only when Bai Yunfei was back in the comfort of his own room that he started to wipe away the hidden drops of sweat.
“It’s a good thing I prepared myself earlier. Today, I’ve seen a new side to the master that isn’t known to anyone.”
He was originally planning on giving the extra scroll to Tang Xinyun, but when he thought about it, her skill at the game was probably already beyond his own. Thus, it’d be a waste to give it to her…
……
After a short rest, Bai Yunfei headed to the Northern Point to pay his respects to Kou Changkong, Xiao Binzi, and Cang Yu. Since Huangfu Nan was busy trying to forge a soul armament and Jiang Nan was on a trip, Bai Yunfei was unable to see them.
Bai Yunfei was headed back to his room when Song Lin, Li Tiechui, Ye Zhiqiu, Mo Xiaoxuan, and the others came looking for him at the Western Point.
It was already evening by the time Bai Yunfei retired to his room. By now, he was even more tired than before, so he chose to rest rather than train. Even though he was extremely excited to start learning from the scrolls he had been given, having the right mental state was equally important. He’d need to fully rest before he could start learning.
Seeing how no one came to disturb him, they must have all known that Bai Yunfei was trying to rest.
The next morning, a refreshed Bai Yunfei was now sitting on top of his bed. He was holding one of the crimson scrolls. His eyes poured over the written characters on it with great interest.
After a while, Bai Yunfei blinked. Exhaling, he looked at the scroll with renewed admiration, “What an amazing predecessor this man was… the Dual Flame Arts is many times more thorough than the Art of Firebending… dual flames… refers to when one has two fireseeds… I know I said before that I could only control one essence fireseed at a time, but who knew that this art would teach me how to use them both at the same time? It really feels like this was tailor-made for me!
“According to the records on here, training two essence fireseeds could double the rate of my training! That means I could train even faster than everyone else!” Practically giddy with excitement over what he had learned from the Dual Flame Arts, Bai Yunfei tried his best to calm down.
“But…” He sighed, “It’s extremely complicated! I wonder when I’ll ever be able to understand it all. I guess I’ll do as master says and focus on this the most!”
Now that his mind was made up, Bai Yunfei began to read over the scroll again with his soulsense. He read each and every character with extreme concentration.
“Knock knock knock.”
Several knocks interrupted Bai Yunfei’s study not long after he started. Bai Yunfei’s eyes narrowed, “Who is it?”
“Senior uncle Bai, it’s me, Si Kongxian.”
It was Bai Yunfei’s next door neighbor.
“Oh, little Xian? Hold on a second.” Rising from his bed, Bai Yunfei crossed the room. He opened the door to look at Si Kongxian on the other side, “What is it?”
“Haha, senior uncle Bai, excuse me for interrupting your training.” Si Kongxian smiled apologetically, “but there’s a visitor asking to meet with you. He says he’s a friend of yours, so I thought I should…”
“A friend is looking for me?” Bai Yunfei asked.
“Yes, he’s a visitor that came a little while ago. He says he knows you. Do you want to go see him?”
“Where is he?”
“Right outside the outer dormitories.”
“Alright, I’ll go take a look. Thanks for telling me.”
……
Bai Yunfei made his way to the outer dormitories. He stopped in his tracks when he saw who it was.
“It was you?”
“Haha, so we meet again, brother Bai…” The person nodded at Bai Yunfei with a smile…
It was the person who had met with him once before at the auction house—Mo Ni!!
The very same Mo Ni who had secretly orchestrated the kidnapping of Tang Xinyun!