Chapter 3: Han Ruoruo
[Dou 2 Era]
In the square of Shrek Academy, students' discussions rose and fell.
"Teacher Wang Yan's research on Martial Souls is truly unparalleled. It was he who guided me on how to attach Soul Rings to my Martial Soul."
"Yes, he can always point out our problems with pinpoint accuracy."
In their eyes, Teacher Wang Yan was a pure scholar, a teacher worthy of respect.
...
On the sky screen, Teacher Wang Yan's monologue continued.
[Later, I fell in love with a girl.]
The scene changed abruptly.
Just then, the library door was pushed open, and a beautiful figure walked in.
The young girl wore white clothes whiter than snow, her appearance was elegant, and her temperament was as holy as an ice lotus.
[She is called Han Ruoruo, the most dazzling genius of the Outer Court.]
[Her Martial Soul is a top-tier Weapon Spirit'Shaking Gold Rope', with innate Soul Power of rank eight.]
[She is like the moonlight in the sky, so beautiful and unstained by dust.]
[And I was just a poor boy from the countryside; I felt I was not worthy of her.]
...
[Dou 2 Era]
As the monologue reached this point, among the crowd in the square, a woman with beautiful features and a cold temperament suddenly stiffened.
She was the Inner Court disciple, Han Ruoruo.
She raised her head in disbelief and looked at the sky screen.
The people around her all turned their gazes to her with a "whoosh"; there was surprise, curiosity, and a bit of teasing.
Han Ruoruo's cheeks instantly flushed with two blushes, and her heart was in chaos.
She... she never knew about this?
Teacher Wang Yan, he...
The monologue continued, carrying a trace of bitterness and yearning.
...
[She is the proud daughter of heaven, and I am just dust.]
[I only dared to watch her secretly from the most inconspicuous corner.]
Teacher Wang Yan's monologue was full of inferiority and yearning, making countless people feel heartache for him.
In the scene, Teacher Wang Yan hid in the shadows of the bookshelf, his gaze following Han Ruoruo's figure.
She took down a high-level Soul skills classic and sat down in the reading area, quietly flipping through it.
The sunlight shone on her through the window; she was as beautiful as a painting.
And Teacher Wang Yan could only greedily carve this beauty into his heart from the shadows.
[I know that the distance between us is even further than the distance from Shrek City to Mingdu.]
[But this could not stop me from longing to catch up with her steps, longing for the day... when I could stand side by side with her.]
[For this, I must become stronger!]
The young man's monologue was full of unwillingness.
But soon, a new scene appeared.
In the library late at night, Han Ruoruo was alone, her brows furrowed, with several classics about Weapon Spirits spread out in front of her.
Her Martial Soul "Shaking Gold Rope" hovered quietly by her side, with golden light flowing, but it carried a trace of obstruction.
[Shaking Gold Rope, a top-tier control system Weapon Spirit, has huge potential.]
[But precisely because of this, its development direction is extremely complex.]
[During that time, I accidentally heard about her troubles.]
[She encountered a bottleneck; her Martial Soul development was difficult to choose, leading to complex and impure Soul Power usage, which affected her breakthrough.]
In the scene, he hid behind the bookshelf, listening to Han Ruoruo's conversation with a teacher.
A trace of heartache flashed in his eyes, along with a glimmer that others could not easily detect.
[At that moment, I suddenly discovered... perhaps, I also had something I could do for her.]
[I did not have powerful strength, no prominent family background, but I had... theory.]
In the following days, the scenes on the sky screen switched rapidly.
[During the day, I worked part-time in the library.]
[And at night, I became the most focused researcher.]
[I flipped through all the records in the library about control system, rope-type, and metal-type Weapon Spirits.]
[From ancient fragments to the papers of modern Masters, I did not let a single one go.]
In the scene, Teacher Wang Yan's eyes were bloodshot, but they were shockingly bright.
[I organized three development routes for the Shaking Gold Rope Martial Soul for her.]
[First, the ultimate control flow, second...]
[I stayed up for several nights and finally completed these thick notes.]
[But I did not sign my name.]
[The next morning, I secretly tucked the notes into a book she often read, "Detailed Explanation of High-Level Weapon Spirit Application".]
[After doing all this, my heart was beating wildly, and I fled the library before anyone else arrived.]
...
[Dou 2 Era]
When Han Ruoruo saw that familiar notebook appear on the screen, she was stunned.
"So... so it was you..."
She muttered to herself, and for the first time, intense emotional fluctuations appeared in her cold eyes.
She had always thought it was the guidance of a senior who did not wish to leave a name.
She never expected it to be Teacher Wang Yan, who was always so quiet in the corner.
...
The scene changed.
Han Ruoruo found the notebook in the library.
She flipped through it in surprise, her beautiful face full of shock.
Teacher Wang Yan hid behind the bookshelf, his palms sweating with nervousness.
He saw Han Ruoruo carefully put the notebook into her storage spirit tool, a cherished smile appearing on her face.
[She smiled... she accepted it...]
[At that moment, I felt that all the hard work before was worth it.]
[But the gap between us was still too big.]
[She easily passed the Inner Court selection, but I could only graduate from the Outer Court.]
[In order to be worthy of her, and also for the ideals in my heart, I gave up the path of becoming a combat Soul Master and chose to stay at the academy to teach.]
The scene changed; Teacher Wang Yan had already become a young teacher.
He put on glasses, looking even more scholarly.
When he stepped onto the podium for the first time, his palms were sweating with nervousness.
But when he started to explain the mysteries of Martial Souls, a confident brilliance bloomed in his eyes.
[I love this job; I treat every student as my own child.]
[I hope to help them discover the potential of their Martial Souls, not giving up on any Martial Soul considered "trash".]
Scenes began to appear on the screen.
[A student named Xu Sanshi, whose Martial Soul is the Xuanming Turtle.]
[His defensive power is extremely astonishing, but because his Soul Power circulation was sluggish and he lacked attack methods, he was once considered a pure meat shield, ranking low among the attack system.]
[I discovered that Xu Sanshi's Xuanming Turtle Martial Soul was not purely defensive; a trace of faint bloodline power was hidden deep within his Martial Soul.]
[I flipped through all the records about ancient turtle-type Soul Beasts and finally found the answer in a tattered ancient book.]
In the scene, Teacher Wang Yan was in the library late at night, his eyes bloodshot, finally finding a few blurry ancient characters on a dust-covered animal skin scroll.
He was overjoyed and formulated a set of bloodline-stimulating cultivation plans overnight.
[I guided him on how to use Soul Power to impact specific patterns on the turtle shell in reverse, using his own blood and qi as a guide to stimulate the bloodline power.]
[The process was painful, but he persisted.]
In the scene, Xu Sanshi was under a waterfall, operating his Soul Power according to Teacher Wang Yan's guidance, letting the water flow impact him, his whole body's skin cracking due to the Soul Power collision.
But he finally succeeded.
Above Xu Sanshi's Xuanming Turtle Martial Soul, an extra layer of black halo appeared.
...
In the square, Xu Sanshi, who had already become an Inner Court disciple, saw this scene, his tiger eyes filled with tears, and his fists clenched tightly.
Without Teacher Wang Yan, he would not be where he is today!
"Teacher Wang Yan is definitely not a hypocrite!"
Xu Sanshi roared, waving his fist.