Inside the Core World.

Bai Yunfei sat on top of a giant mountain peak. His eyes were closed as he meditated among a cloud of red light.

Soon, the red light around him receded away and the soulforce within his body grew calm. When the flow was all but still, Bai Yunfei finally opened his eyes.

“Phew…”

Exhaling a breath of warm air, Bai Yunfei allowed himself to feel the air and cool down. He looked down at his hands, clenching his fists tightly to test his new strength, he nodded in satisfaction at what he felt.

“A complete recovery. It’s a good thing there were no irreversible damages…”

The last battle had taken a lot out of him. Berserk Mode, Soul Ignition, and the Vampiric Demon Edge. These three had a destructive power that couldn’t be ignored when used all at once. He didn’t even do much to prepare for the aftereffects when the battle was over due to his rush to save Huangfu Rui and Zi Jin. It was only when Zi Jin was saved and he himself woke up the next day that he went into recuperation.

And today, after a whole day and night of resting, he was fully healed.

Things were looking good. Zi Jin was no longer in danger and was actually steadily improving. Huangfu Rui was actually in a very good shape after she absorbed Dongfang Ming’s energy. Just a step shy of being a Late-stage Soul Emperor, Huangfu Rui was now a full-fledged Mid-stage Soul Emperor and overtook Song Lin as the next most promising student of the generation. Even the red magiboar had seen some results and was now a Mid-stage class seven soulbeast.

The losses had been as great as the rewards, however. Many of the crafters had been injured, if not killed. Chu Yintian and Yang Yao, for example, lost their strongest soul armaments to Dongfang Ming. Chu Yintian himself had his avatar sacrificed so that he could live and had dropped drastically in strength. Many other crafters would require an extraordinary amount of time to recover.

As of right now, the entire Crafting School was in a state of recovery.

Bai Yunfei wasn’t in any rush to leave the Core World right now. Though his wounds were healed, he was still thinking about the recent battles and the experiences he gained from it.

In his last battle with Gu Lianhun, for example, Bai Yunfei felt his understanding of chaotic energy increase by a substantial amount. It was a valuable experience that he deemed worthy of spending time thinking about.

After a while, Bai Yunfei decided to switch topics to something else. Waving his hand, the helix sword popped out from thin air into his hand.

“Upgrade.”

……

A while later.

Bai Yunfei nodded his head, appreciative of the stats and his own handiwork, “From now on, you’ll be called the Double Dragon Specter.”

Standing up, Bai Yunfei stored the sword away and glanced over to the small ‘hut’ by the nearby tree.

“That Lao Sha,” He muttered, “I wonder what his next evolution is after eating all that energy. How long will he sleep for?”

Shaking his head, Bai Yunfei disappeared from the Core World.

……

The first one to see Bai Yunfei when he appeared back in the real world was Zhang Sanxian. “Brother Bai!” He cried out, “You’re back! Are you fully healed?”

“Ah yes, I’ll just need some more rest to be back at full health.” Bai Yunfei nodded. “So, are you planning to head into the crafting caves?”

“I am! I have to do my best to train. I want to be able to fight the next time someone else dares fight our school!”

Bai Yunfei noted Zhang Sanxian’s fists clenching tightly as he spoke. When the battle broke out, Zhang Sanxian had been one of the many that were forced to stay on the sidelines and watch as the others fought.

“Ah, brother Bai, since you’re here, why don’t we head down the mountain? Senior Zhi Tian is planning to leave soon, he’s with the headmaster right now A student came by earlier to notify you, but you were preoccupied…”

“Oh? Senior Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin are leaving? Alright, I’ll head on over then.”

He turned around to head down from the mountain. The only reason their school could prepare for the battle was due to Zhi Tian’s warning. He and Nalan Yin were acquaintances anyhow, so it was only proper that he sent the two off.

Down by the base of the mountain, Bai Yunfei saw Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin turning to leave while Kou Changkong and Xiao Binzi stood by the gates.

The two of them paused when they felt Bai Yunfei’s presence. Quickly catching up to them, Bai Yunfei bowed deeply to Zhi Tian, “Our school was able to prepare for the worst due to your aid. This junior will pray for your safe trip.”

“Haha, you’ve done us soulbeasts a great favor by ridding us of the Beast Taming School, young Bai. A favor like that warrants a favor returned. There is no need for you to thank me.”

“……”

A few words of conversation later, and Bai Yunfei watched as Zhi Tian and Nalan Yin disappear into the distance.

It was only after a considerable distance had been gained between them and the Crafting School that Nalan Yin deigned to speak. “Hey, Zhi Tian, did you really mean what you said about returning a favor? Our lives would’ve been forfeit if the Crafting School didn’t manage to hold out!”

“Oh?” Zhi Tian raised an eyebrow, “Did you perchance think we would die there?”

“Of course not,” Nalan Yin shrugged, “Master said before that I’d live for several hundred years. There’s no way I’d go and get killed before then.”

“Then why speak as you did?”

“We can’t always be so sure. Fate can change at the drop of a hat, there’s no way of knowing if my ‘fortune’ will be as what my master said. It’s not like I can predict my own fate—and you won’t predict it for me either.”

“That’s enough. There’s no value in such topics. Even had I not gave a warning, the Crafting School would still stand. We only served to expedite the results. Just think of this as something we were ‘predestined’ to do. For us and the world of soul cultivators and soulbeasts, this is something that will bring good ‘fate’ to us all…”

“What!? Aren’t you exaggerating? This battle determines the ‘fate’ of our world? How did you think that?”

“Those are my thoughts. It is a possibility, after all…but that’s enough talk. Let us hurry.”

“Sigh…where are we going next then?”

“The Soulbeast Forest.”

“……”

……

On his return to the top of the mountain, Bai Yunfei found Li Chengfeng talking with Tang Xinyun and several others. From their conversation, he learned that Huangfu Rui was by herself familiarizing herself with her new powers. Now was an especially precarious time for Huangfu Rui. Having spent so long under the Symbiosis Imprint meant Huangfu Rui had a lot to catch up on.

He also heard that the lord-mayor of Redfire City came by. Because of chaotic incidents caused by several refiners, the lord-mayor was far too busy stabilizing the city and wasn’t able to send any reinforcements over to the Crafting School.

“Hey, Yunfei, I have a few materials on hand. Mind taking a look to see if you can craft me a soul armament from them?”

Li Chengfeng changed the topic after a while.

“Of course I don’t mind.” Bai Yunfei laughed, “I’ll naturally help you craft a soul armament. What materials did you bring? Let me take a look…”

“I found a pyrium meteorite, a chunk of it that took forever for me to find. Can you craft a longsword from it for me?”

A flash of red light appeared over Li Chengfeng’s hand as he brought the said item out from his space ring.

A wave of intense heat shot out from the item the moment it appeared.

“Pyrium meteorite?! You have some? That thing’s massive!!”

Bai Yunfei’s eyes grew wide open at the sight of the chunk. It was nearly as tall as he was and half his width. Pyrium meteorites were a rarity in this world and hardly ever mentioned aside from ancient records from the past. With how rare they were, Bai Yunfei was naturally surprised Li Chengfeng had a chunk of that size with him.

Bai Yunfei took the chunk from Li Chengfeng after his excitement faded away. “Don’t you worry, Chengfeng. I’ll definitely craft you a powerful soul armament like none other!”