Chapter 62: A Silent Farewell

For a youth, perhaps, this is what expectation is...

Expecting that there are years to look back upon, that time can be retraced, and also expecting that there can be someone willing to hold expectations and hope with us, to wait quietly...

"Wait for me to return; actually, I quite miss you too."

Putting away the Soul Guidance Blueprint in front of him, Su Yu lay on the roof, gazing at the stars filling the sky.

There is still over a week before I must leave; I hope the tragedies of the future will not play out again. After all, what I expect is not that sorrow which leaves one feeling unreconciled...

A sigh sounded leisurely. Gazing toward the direction of Shrek, he remained silent for a long time. As for the reason, perhaps only he himself knows...

After being discharged from the hospital, Su Yu also obtained the opportunity to enter Mingde Hall as he had wished. As a student of Xuan Ziwen, entering Mingde Hall to study was naturally a common occurrence, but the assessments of Mingde Hall were no joke.

Arriving at the laboratory of Mingde Hall, Su Yu and his group were exceptionally excited, especially the Hungry True Monarch Keke, who was always shouting about being hungry; her big eyes were basically filled with little stars. As for Ju Zi, she remained in that dazed and cute state, as if she had never fully woken up.

"This is the place where our Sun Moon Empire's most top-tier Soul Guidance Technology resides. It is not just the elites of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Guidance Academy who are here; one could say that the strongest Soul Engineers of our entire Sun Moon Empire are all here!"

What Xuan Ziwen said was actually not wrong; one could even say that all the top Soul Engineers of Douluo Continent were here. As for the Soul Guidance Department of Shrek...

To describe it in one sentence without exaggeration, it would be: how can the light of a firefly compete with the bright moon? No, it should be, how can it compete with the blazing sun!

Ju Zi, who was to the side, suddenly spoke up, her crisp voice instantly pulling Su Yu back to reality, "Students studying in Mingde Hall are all in groups. The size of each group varies, and generally, it will not exceed five people."

Five people: me, Ju Zi, Hungry True Monarch Keke, Wang Shaojie, and Zi Mu; it seems just right.

Two years later, when Huo Yu Hao entered Mingde Hall, Xuan Ziwen was already a Level 8 Soul Engineer. Calculating the time, in another while, it is estimated that Xuan Ziwen should officially step into being a Level 8 Soul Engineer.

If only he could let Xuan Ziwen dig his teacher over as well; after all, that is a Level 9 Soul Engineer. If he were dug over, the subsequent research progress of Soul Guidance Devices would definitely double.

This thought can only be thought about. Those who have entered the core of Mingde Hall are not ordinary people, and they also have to pay a price. Otherwise, with Xuan Ziwen's peak Level Eight Soul Engineer status, why did he not join Mingde Hall, and why did he not become a core member of Mingde Hall?

Everything that has advantages must have disadvantages. The reason Xuan Ziwen did not join Mingde Hall was certainly not because he lacked the ability, but because he could not accept the conditions of Mingde Hall, so he could only exchange resources with Mingde Hall through his own designs.

Now the timing is not yet ripe; one only needs to wait for a period of time. When the time comes, as long as he offers the conditions, Xuan Ziwen will certainly be willing to work for him.

In the laboratory of Mingde Hall, what Su Yu cares about is not the project Xuan Ziwen gave him, but the so-called Rare Metal. There are some things that must be prepared before war breaks out. Once the period of war arrives, all materials related to the war will be strictly controlled.

With the financial power of Su Yu's family, they are fully capable of preparing the materials in the first few years before the war begins. One must make thorough plans for everything; at the very least, it is to leave a retreat for oneself.

After Xuan Ziwen gave them the research project, he left this place. The five of them began to carve Soul Guidance Arrays on these five experimental tables.

Every design in Mingde Hall has a unique meaning. Whether in the open or in the dark, there are hidden Soul Guidance Devices; some are used for surveillance, while others are used for attack and defense.

Rather than calling this a factory for Soul Guidance Devices, it is better to call it a production site for War Machines. The entire Mingde Hall is like a precise War Machine, operating in an orderly manner. Once the war begins, there will be a steady stream of Soul Guidance Devices sent to the front lines.

This is the representative of the Sun Moon Empire's core Soul Guidance knowledge and technical foundation, and it is also where the roots of the Sun Moon Empire lie.

Looking at the limited metal configuration on the table, Su Yu could not help but complain: "With just this little bit of metal, how are we supposed to experiment?"

"Be content. These Rare Metals all have quotas. It's already good that they let you use them. If you aren't going to use them, give them to me; I don't have enough to use as it is."

Pinching Su Yu's face, Ju Zi looked at the scarce metal on the table with a money-grubbing expression.

Su Yu did not count on the remaining time to bring himself much improvement. After all, even if he had achievements, it would be impossible to rise from a Level 3 Soul Engineer to Level 4 in one week.

Rather than keeping it, it would be better to give it to others.

Looking at the rows of buttons of different colors on the table, Su Yu pressed them all.

"Sister Ju Zi, take all my Rare Metals and use them. Just remember to help me finish making my Flying Soul Guidance Device; don't worry about the material issue, there is plenty here."

Can I use these things? Sorry, since they are all free Rare Metals anyway, I have recorded all the varieties and will have the old man stock up on them when I go back; I have assets in the Sun Moon Empire anyway.

Short of money? That doesn't exist, okay...

The place where Xuan Ziwen left from is the Number One test area; the Humanoid Soul Tool of the future was born there.

However, what Su Yu cannot figure out is that with the Sun Moon Empire's such powerful foundation, they could only research a semi-finished product, yet Huo Yu Hao, who was only a Level 4 Soul Engineer, could easily develop it later?

Is this the protagonist? One person is more awesome than all the core Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire combined, among whom there are even Level 9 Soul Engineers...

Su Yu quietly released his martial soul, copying all the actions of carving the Soul Guidance Array on the scene, until they left Mingde Hall.

Ever since entering Mingde Hall once, Su Yu seemed to have disappeared from everyone's field of vision. Every day, all that remained was sparring with Ji Juechen. Ji Juechen always stubbornly refused to use strength exceeding the Three-Ring level.

But Ji Juechen's progress reached a point that even surprised Su Yu. It seemed as if his entire person was a drawn longsword; every strike was a form of tempering.

Although he still could not defeat Su Yu at the same level of strength, every strike where he suppressed his strength allowed Ji Juechen to persist for longer and longer, and even his control over his own strength became more and more precise.

The most significant was Ji Juechen's Sword Dao. Su Yu could clearly feel the transformation of Ji Juechen's Sword Intent. The original "pressing forward with indomitable will" now had a bit of the flavor of "the sword reigns supreme alone," but it was still far from the true "among all swords in the world, I alone am supreme."

"Alright, Big Brother, stop for a moment, let me rest; I'm exhausted..."

Putting away his longsword, Su Yu sat on the steps, his whole body already soaked with sweat, his soul power almost completely exhausted.

Ji Juechen put away his longsword, sat down on the steps, and looking at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Guidance Academy in the distance, he slowly said: "My Sword Intent is different from what you are pursuing. I can feel the desire hidden in your heart."

"Oh, Ji Juechen, Sword Immortal Ji, tell me, what did you feel?"

Looking at the serious Ji Juechen before him, as a pure sword cultivator, Su Yu knew that he had an intuition for certain aspects that surpassed ordinary people.

"I don't know, but I can feel that your future path will be very long..."

A rare hint of color appeared in Ji Juechen's eyes. Under the afterglow of the setting sun, Su Yu saw the brilliance in Ji Juechen's eyes; that pair of eyes seemed to contain the sharpness of Sword Intent.

"Yes, perhaps you are right, but remember, your path is also very long. I'm leaving; I hope that when I return, you will no longer be the one defeated by me."

Su Yu handed the Soul Guidance Device that Ju Zi had made for him to Ji Juechen, and then stood up to leave.

"What is this thing? Why do I feel like it's a Flying Soul Guidance Device?"

Watching Su Yu's departing back, Ji Juechen looked at the Soul Guidance Device in his hand with some confusion. Regarding this brand-new thing, Ji Juechen truly did not know how to use it.

"Don't chase after me. I've drawn the instructions into a manual and put it in the storage compartment of the Soul Guidance Device. By the way, try it out next time you fight someone; don't get yourself beaten black and blue. If you still lose while using my Soul Guidance Device, I, Luo Yu, cannot afford to lose that face."

The voice fell, but the person had already disappeared.

Knock, knock, knock.

Su Yu knocked on the door of Xuan Ziwen's office. He came to find Xuan Ziwen today to ask for leave, or perhaps to find a legitimate excuse to go missing; after all, he did not want to stay here for a lifetime.

"Come in."

Xuan Ziwen's voice came from the office, and then he pushed open the office door. In Xuan Ziwen's hands was a pile of complex parts, but now only less than one-tenth had been assembled.

Clearly, Xuan Ziwen had fallen into a dead loop. He wanted to assemble a part of the Silent Sleeve Arrow based on that quarter of the Blueprint, but he did not know the assembly technique, so he made mistakes in assembly again and again.

"What are you here for? Did Ju Zi cause trouble again, or did Keke and the others steal your breakfast again?"

Xuan Ziwen frowned, looking at Su Yu before him, and asked, feeling somewhat between laughter and tears.

In the beginning, Xuan Ziwen had not paid attention to the petty reports about Su Yu, but later, ever since he witnessed the four-person group committing their acts with his own eyes, he could only helplessly reprimand them a few times.

As for Ju Zi, ever since Su Yu arrived, she had caused no shortage of trouble; if she wasn't playing tricks on Su Yu, she was building bombs in the laboratory. In terms of failed experiments, she had more than Su Yu, and the most fatal part was that she always occupied Su Yu's lab bench...

Su Yu shook his head and said, "That's not it. Sister Ju Zi and Senior Keke are both very good to me. I came today to ask for leave."

"Hmm, leave?"

Xuan Ziwen put down the parts in his hands and looked up at Su Yu, not knowing why he would bring up the matter of asking for leave.

"Yes, you heard me right, I am here to ask for leave." Su Yu knew he could not stay like this any longer; if he continued to drag it out, he estimated that they might really start tracking his trail by then.

"What are you going to do? I remember you don't seem to have any other business, do you?" Xuan Ziwen was somewhat puzzled; he did not understand why Luo Yu, a commoner, would want to ask for leave to leave the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

Looking at Xuan Ziwen's somewhat confused expression, Su Yu knew that Xuan Ziwen had some guesses, but he would absolutely never know his true identity. "Teacher Xuan, it is precisely because of some private matters that I must ask for leave from you. As a token of gratitude, I will hand over one-quarter of the Blueprint to you."

"One-quarter of the Blueprint? Really?"

Xuan Ziwen grabbed Su Yu's shoulders in excitement and said, "What? You said you want to give me one-quarter of the Blueprint? Is this true?"

Su Yu's small frame was shaken into a daze by Xuan Ziwen, who had just reached the level of an Eight-level Soul Engineer, within just a few sentences. "Teacher Xuan, please let go first..."

Su Yu was very straightforward. After handing over the Blueprint, Xuan Ziwen waved his hand, his face full of smiles. He then looked at Su Yu, waved his hand, and said, "I don't care how long you take leave for; just remember to tell me when you return. Go, go..."

Then, he kicked Su Yu out of the office, while he himself hugged the design drawings and disappeared without a trace; one could guess he went to the laboratory to experiment.

"Go, go. You old man wouldn't really think you could research it just by relying on one-quarter of the design drawings, would you? There is still the assembly to follow. Even if the complete design drawings were placed in front of you, don't even think about figuring it out."

Returning to the laboratory, Su Yu called everyone together. "I'm treating everyone tonight. Is anyone coming?"

"What, you're treating? Then I, Keke, must go!" Hungry True Monarch Keke, who was standing beside Su Yu, spoke up. Upon hearing that Su Yu was treating, drool almost dripped onto Su Yu.

"What about Senior Wang Shaojie and Senior Zi Mu?"

Su Yu looked at the two tall youths in front of him. Although in the original work they truly could not be considered upright students, after Su Yu's contact with them, he discovered that although the two of them had some arrogance of young masters, their character was not entirely bad.

"Go, why wouldn't we go? Could it be that Junior Luo Yu is cooking? That meal from the Jingyang Mountain Range last time must be made up for!"

Wang Shaojie patted Su Yu's shoulder, his eyes revealing anticipation. Zi Mu also nodded, and finally, everyone looked at Ju Zi in unison.

Ju Zi stretched, and her school uniform was instantly stretched into an alluring curve. Her tender skin shone brightly under the lights, and her somewhat naturally airheaded temperament was fully revealed. She slowly stood up, pinched Su Yu's face, and said, "This is what you said, okay? Let's go, what are you still standing there for? Dinner time!"

At nightfall, in the wild with dim lights and a messy scene, Su Yu and Ju Zi sat together leaning against a large tree, watching Zi Mu, Wang Shaojie, and Hungry True Monarch Keke, who were still fighting over the remaining food.

"How good it would be if it could always be like this in the future, don't you think, Luo Yu?" Ju Zi looked at this scene with some comfort; in her eyes, there was a trace of attachment.

"Perhaps, there will be in the future..."

Where there is a gathering, there is a parting; life is just like that. However, from beginning to end, Su Yu did not realize the nostalgia and expectation flowing in Ju Zi's eyes as she looked at him...

Looking at the starless night sky, he could not help but sigh in his heart: "The time for parting has come after all. Goodbye, Sister Ju Zi, Senior Keke, and Senior Wang Shaojie, Senior Zi Mu..."