328: Chapter 328 The more composed they are, the more at ease I feel.

Qingyan's residence.

She sat by the edge of the bed, hugging her knees, her small figure appearing somewhat lonely.

The cries of those young sisters outside still echoed in her ears.

Her heart ached for them, and it ached for Xu Ruyu.

But she believed in Xu Ruyu more than anyone.

Because Xu Ruyu had told her, "One day, I will let you all see what the power of Technology is."

She didn't know what "Technology" was, but she knew that her Big Brother Sect Master never spoke empty words.

"Big Brother Sect Master, Qingyan is waiting for that day."

She whispered, wiping away her tears, and picked up the Jade Slip again to continue studying the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art.

She had to become stronger.

Strong enough to help share the burden for her Big Brother Sect Master, strong enough so those who bullied the Hehuan Sect would never dare to bully them again.

The news, naturally, also reached Xu Ruyu's ears.

Inside the Tingquan Residence, Xiao Nianyin stood to the side, telling Xu Ruyu everything that had happened outside over the past few days.

Xu Ruyu sat at the table, holding a teacup, listening quietly.

There was no anger on his face, no shame, not even a ripple of emotion.

He just listened quietly.

When Xiao Nianyin finished, she looked at him, her eyes holding a trace of complexity.

"You... aren't angry?"

Xu Ruyu set down his teacup and smiled. "Angry? Angry at whom? Those Taihu Clan Disciples? Or the person who instigated them?"

Xiao Nianyin was startled. "You know someone instigated this?"

"I could figure that out with my toes," Xu Ruyu said indifferently. "Mo Feng and his lot wouldn't let an opportunity like this pass.

Using this matter to sow discord, causing conflict between the Hehuan Sect Disciples and the Taihu Clan—ideally making it get so out of hand that even if the Clan Chief wanted to protect me, he couldn't.

It's an old trick."

Xiao Nianyin fell silent. She hadn't expected Xu Ruyu to see through it so clearly.

"Then you don't plan to do anything?" she asked.

"Do something?" Xu Ruyu stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the mist-shrouded mountain peaks outside. "Doing something now would be falling right into their trap.

If I jump out to explain, saying I didn't actually fail but was just experimenting, would they believe me? No.

They would only think I'm making excuses and quibbling."

He turned around and looked at Xiao Nianyin, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Only when I create the thing and slap their faces with the facts will they shut up."

Xiao Nianyin looked at him, a complex emotion surging in her heart.

This man, clearly only at the Qi Refinement Stage, clearly having been in such a pathetic state after the explosion, clearly being mocked by the whole clan, was still so calm and so confident.

On what basis?

"Can you... really create it?" she couldn't help but ask.

Xu Ruyu looked at her and suddenly laughed. "What, you also think I'm a waste?"

Xiao Nianyin turned her face away and didn't speak.

Xu Ruyu didn't mind either. He walked to her side and reached out to gently pat her shoulder. "Don't worry. I, Xu Ruyu, never fight a battle I'm not sure of.

Those who mock me will soon know what the 'power of Technology' means."

His palm carried a hint of warmth, passing through the thin fabric of her clothes to Xiao Nianyin's shoulder.

Xiao Nianyin's body stiffened slightly, but she didn't pull away.

"Right," Xu Ruyu withdrew his hand and asked, "How are Senior Sister Leng and the others? They haven't been impulsive, have they?"

Xiao Nianyin shook her head. "No. They are all in secluded cultivation with the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art. Regarding the matters outside, they've only told the Disciples to endure."

Xu Ruyu nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. The calmer they stay, the more relieved I am.

Once I build the thing and let them see with their own eyes what true power is."

He turned and picked up the stack of organized Artifact Refining notes from the table, flipping through the dense records of revisions written on them.

"The issue with the Materials... I need to switch to something more pressure-resistant.

Wind Copper won't do; I must use Black Iron or Cold Iron.

The structure of the Compression Chamber also needs to be changed. The synchronization of energy release requires more precise Trigger Formation Patterns..."

He muttered to himself, already completely immersed in his own world.

Xiao Nianyin stood to the side, looking at his focused profile, the complex emotion in her heart growing stronger and stronger.

What kind of person was this man, really?

He could clearly rely on the Clan Chief's protection to live a stable life on Tianyin Mountain. He could clearly have the Taihu Clan's Artifact Refiners forge anything he wanted for him.

He clearly didn't need to suffer this hardship or be mocked by so many people.

But he refused.

He insisted on doing it himself, insisted on experimenting over and over, insisted on being caught in explosions time and again, and insisted on walking a path no one had ever walked before while facing the mockery of the entire clan.

Was it worth it?

She didn't know.

But looking at his focused gaze, his eyes slightly bloodshot from staying up late, and his fingers stained with ink from repeated revisions,

She suddenly felt that perhaps this was his Dao.

A Dao unlike any other.

A Dao destined to be filled with thorns and mockery.

But he walked it so resolutely.

"Alright," Xu Ruyu closed his notes and gave a long stretch. "I'll go to the Illusory Moon Well tomorrow.

I hope that Saint Realm Artifact Refiner can give me some guidance."

He turned to look at Xiao Nianyin. "I don't need you to attend to me tonight. Go back and rest. You've been tired enough these past few days."

Xiao Nianyin was momentarily stunned, then she nodded silently and turned to leave.

As she reached the door, she suddenly stopped. With her back to him, her voice was so low it was almost inaudible: "You... be careful."

After saying that, she left quickly, disappearing into the night.

Xu Ruyu looked at her back, slightly dazed for a moment, then he smiled.

This girl finally knows how to speak like a human.

He turned back and continued studying those notes.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.

In the distance, the sound of the Spirit Spring Waterfall could be faintly heard.

And even further away, the mockery and humiliation directed at him were still fermenting and spreading.

But Xu Ruyu didn't care.

He only needed a place—a place where he could quiet his heart and complete those 'impossible' things.

The Illusory Moon Well.

He would go there tomorrow.