23: Chapter 23 The Temperamental Money Maker

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

By the shore of Sea God Lake, the early morning mist had not yet dissipated.

Su Chen sat cross-legged, his breathing steady and long.

With a thought, four spirit rings slowly rose from beneath his feet.

Yellow, purple, purple, black.

The brilliant light reflected off his calm face.

Level forty-nine Soul Ancestor.

During these two months, he hadn't rushed to hunt Spirit Beasts for a breakthrough, but instead focused intensely on consolidating his foundation.

He could feel that his Soul Power had been polished to an incredibly smooth and solid state; he was only one opportunity away from becoming a Spirit King.

"Your Highness, the Holy Son."

A respectful voice sounded from not far away.

Su Chen opened his eyes and withdrew his Spirit.

An inner court disciple stood a few meters away, bowing slightly with a very humble posture.

Su Chen had already grown accustomed to this title.

Ever since Mu En announced his status as the Holy Son, his treatment in the academy had skyrocketed; wherever he went, people would address him so respectfully.

"What is it?" Su Chen stood up and patted the dust off his clothes.

"Vice-Dean Qian is looking for you and asks that you visit the Soul Tool Department."

Qian Duoduo?

Su Chen thought for a moment; he guessed that kid Huo Yuhao hadn't returned yet, and Old Qian was getting anxious.

"I understand."

He nodded and walked toward the Soul Tool Department.

...

Before even reaching the Soul Tool Department's experimental building, Su Chen heard an earth-shattering roar coming from inside.

"That brat Huo Yuhao! It's been two days since the semester started, and there's not a sign of him!"

"This is simply outrageous!"

Su Chen pushed the door open and entered, only to see the soul tool laboratory in a mess, with various rare metals and precision parts scattered all over the floor.

Qian Duoduo was fuming with rage, his old face flushed red with anger.

Seeing Su Chen enter, he seemed to have found an outlet for his frustration and slammed his hand down on the workbench in front of him.

With a loud "bang," the parts on the table jumped from the impact.

"Su Chen! You're close with that brat; you must know where he's run off to!"

Facing Qian Duoduo's fury, Su Chen's face still wore that calm smile.

He nonchalantly picked up the kettle nearby and refilled Qian Duoduo's empty teacup.

"Elder Qian, please calm down."

He pushed the hot tea over and asked unhurriedly in return.

"Huo Yuhao has always been punctual; there must be a reason for his absence today."

"Have some tea first to relax, and we'll talk about it slowly."

Seeing that Qian Duoduo's anger had subsided slightly, Su Chen finally spoke slowly.

"When I went to the dormitory to look for him this morning, he wasn't there. I only found a note under his pillow."

As he spoke, he took a neatly folded piece of letter paper from his storage soul tool and handed it to Qian Duoduo.

"It says he received a message that a distant relative from his hometown suddenly fell seriously ill and needs his care. It was an emergency, so he didn't have time to say goodbye in person and specifically asked me to inform you."

The edges of the paper carried a faint scent of ink, and the handwriting was Huo Yuhao's characteristic elegant style.

However, no one noticed that as Su Chen handed over the letter, his fingertips brushed against the edge of the paper, and a trace of Chaotic Soul Power quietly erased the residual aura on it.

This letter was actually written by him last night, mimicking Huo Yuhao's handwriting on short notice.

Qian Duoduo took the paper and scanned it. His brow remained furrowed, and his tone carried clear suspicion.

"Distant relative? I remember that brat Huo Yuhao is an orphan; where would he get a distant relative?"

"You're not making up lies just to cover for him, are you?"

Faced with the questioning, Su Chen showed no sign of panic, instead explaining patiently:

"Elder Qian might not be aware."

"When Huo Yuhao was young, he was cared for by a distant maternal aunt. Later, her whole family moved to the Star Luo Empire. Although they haven't been in much contact over the years, the bond still remains."

"A few days ago, he mentioned to me that his aunt was getting on in years and wasn't in good health."

"Now that she's suddenly fallen seriously ill, as a junior, it is only right and proper for him to go back and visit."

Qian Duoduo held the letter, looking it over several times.

The handwriting on the paper was indeed in Huo Yuhao's style, and the content was plausible.

He looked up at Su Chen again.

Su Chen looked perfectly composed, his eyes clear, showing no sign of lying.

Besides, he was now the Holy Son personally appointed by Elder Mu; with his status, there was no need for him to make up such lies for someone like Huo Yuhao.

Thinking of this, most of the anger in Qian Duoduo's heart dissipated.

He let out a heavy sigh and slapped the letter onto the table.

"That brat! Couldn't he have given me a heads-up if something was wrong?"

"Just wait until he gets back; I'll show him!"

"All the lessons he missed over these two months—he'll have to make them up threefold! And the theory of core formations—he'll copy it a hundred times! No, two hundred times!"

Old Qian huffed and puffed; though he cursed harshly, the anger in his eyes had turned into the frustration of high expectations not being met.

He truly valued Huo Yuhao as a disciple.

Seeing that his anger had cooled, the weight in Su Chen's heart finally lifted.

He smiled and agreed:

"Elder Qian is right; that kid definitely needs a bit of a wake-up call."

"When he returns, I'll definitely help you keep an eye on him and ensure he makes up for his missed lessons twofold. I won't let him slack off."

Having said that, Su Chen changed the subject and took the initiative to bring up business.

"By the way, Elder Qian, regarding that new type of rank-seven energy-gathering soul cannon you mentioned before, I spent the last few days pondering the parameters of the core formation."

"I feel that a few areas can be further optimized, which could increase the energy conversion rate by another half a percent."

Sure enough, as soon as he heard "soul cannon" and "optimize," Qian Duoduo's eyes instantly lit up.

"Oh? Tell me about it!"

"Which parameters? Is it the conduction efficiency of the energy circuit or the stability of the core formation?"

He pulled Su Chen over and pointed at a complex blueprint on the nearby workbench, beginning an enthusiastic discussion.

Su Chen smiled, walked unhurriedly to a nearby draft board, picked up a pen, and began to sketch and write.

"Look, if this node is changed to a composite series connection, although it will slightly increase the difficulty of production..."

At this moment.

Su Chen thought to himself.

Yuhao, oh Yuhao, this is as much as your brother can help you.

The rest is up to your own luck.

This conversation lasted straight until the next morning.

Qian Duoduo had dark circles under his eyes, yet he was still muttering about parameter optimization, looking extremely excited.

Su Chen hurriedly ate a few bites of breakfast from the Soul Tool Department's cafeteria. Realizing he hadn't seen Mu En for two months, he headed toward the Sea Gods Pavilion.

Walking along the tree-lined path, any inner court disciple who encountered him would stop and respectfully call out.

"Greetings, Holy Son!"

Su Chen nodded and responded with a smile.

His status in the academy was indeed incomparable to what it once was.

The inside of the Sea Gods Pavilion was as quiet as ever.

Su Chen pushed the door open and immediately saw Mu En lying on that familiar lounge chair with his eyes closed.

He stepped lightly toward him, but his heart suddenly sank.

Mu En's face was even paler than it had been two months ago, and there was almost no color in his lips.

Even his breathing seemed slightly heavier.

As if sensing Su Chen's arrival, Mu En slowly opened his eyes, a gentle smile appearing in his clouded gaze.

"Cough... cough, cough..."

Just as he was about to speak, he couldn't help but cough violently.