“Thank you for your wisdom, Master!”

Xu Yi finally understood. The Qi Ocean stage was a barrier. Below the barrier of the Qi Ocean stage, even when one dies, there would be no hope for the soul to materialize.

“No need for thanks, just remember that you owe me two gourds of wine!”

Master Zhou made a money-grabbing gesture.

“I will remember. Please continue explaining, Master!” Xu Yi replied impatiently.

Master Zhou nodded, “As for the last question, what good is a strong soul to a practitioner? To be honest, this question is not easy for me to answer. I am probably unable to give you a very accurate answer, because the strength of soul, or how to train the strength of a soul, is something I have never heard of. Perhaps only the strongest practitioners at the Soul Sensing stage would be able to answer your question.

“But of course, once again, let me try to use my own life experiences to make my own deductions on the matter. Let’s use the example of an ordinary person. One who is fit and has sufficient Qi would be strong, full of energy, and very resilient. If we look at a practitioner instead, if one’s soul is strong, I believe that while one is on the path of the Martial Way, it would help to efficiently reduce mental fatigue. At the same time, one who has a strong soul would be intelligent and possess an extraordinary ability to comprehend things. If using and practicing Martial Skills, the person should be able to learn twice as fast. Of course, this is just my own theory. As for the exact wonderful uses of a strengthened soul, you would probably have to find out on your own after you reach the Soul Sensing stage.”

Master Zhou’s voice was clear, and his tone was gentle without the slightest bit of agitation. But when Xu Yi heard it, it confirmed his long-held suspicions.

At that moment, in the empty and desolate mountains, flowers bloomed and the ever-looming grey clouds dissipated!

You lousy god, you’ve finally opened your eyes! Xu Yi thought excitedly in his mind, but on the surface he seemed unfazed. He stood up and gave a proper bow. “Thank you for your teachings!” With that, he turned and left, and he shrank in the distance in the blink of an eye.

Master Zhou then came to his senses, and using a voice ten times hoarser than the one he used during his class, he shouted, “Don’t forget my wine, send it to Guang’an City, Iron Cat Ear Alley…”

Saying goodbye to Master Zhou, Xu Yi was in no rush to head to the patrol station. Instead, he walked briskly to the town center and entered Furong Town’s largest restaurant. After a while, he left with a large box of food, and he rushed straight to the Mu family home.

He opened the worn old door. Inside, Little Qiu was sitting in the courtyard eating her lunch.

A square chair with its backrest broken off was being used as her table. On top were two plates — cold Chinese cornbread and salted fish. Little Qiu’s little body was seated on a small stool, and she was enjoying her food.

Seeing Xu Yi come in, she started to complain. “Where did you go? Didn’t I tell you to watch the house? I thought I would have a nice hot lunch waiting for me. How lazy. To think that I even left you half a fish,” she said, pointing at the half a fish on a plate.

Uncle Mu was out fishing and would only come back at night. These past two days, he had been the one preparing lunch for Little Qiu. Because he did not leave the house, he only heated up the food stored in their home: Chinese cornbread and salted fish.

This time, since he was out, how could he possibly still settle for such food?

“You didn’t wait for me to have lunch and you’re still in the right? Fine, fine. You eat your food, and I’ll eat mine.”

With that, Xu Yi sat down on the stone railing of the flower bed. He opened the box of food and placed each dish out onto the railing, one by one.

Osmanthus duck breast, cured meat sausages, shallot oil chicken, suckling pig, braised golden carp…

With all these dishes displayed on the railing, the air was thick with a delicious aroma. With a few specks of sunlight shining on them, it almost looked like a holy feast.

Little Qiu was in shock. Her mouth hung wide open, and a half eaten piece of cornbread rolled out of her mouth without her even noticing.

Xu Yi did not stand on ceremony at all. From the box, he took out a pair of exquisite peachwood chopsticks and used it to shove a piece of duck breast into his mouth. He chewed, enjoying the lovely taste.

“Waaahhh!”

Little Qiu, who was frozen like a block of wood, was pushed into action by Xu Yi. She jumped surprisingly high with her little legs and went straight at Xu Yi, shouting, “Stinky Uncle Beardo, lousy Uncle Beardo, how could you eat such good food on your own? That’s too much!”

While her mouth was busy shouting, her plump little body had catapulted over like a cannonball, flying over and almost going headfirst into the flowered. She picked up the plate of chicken with her two hands and buried her head into it.

This was the most delicious meal she had ever had in her entire life. While she was busy eating, she could only resent her parents for giving birth to her with only one mouth and one pair of hands with which to eat her food.

Seeing the little girl finish half a chicken and an entire pig’s trotter, and that was reaching out for more, Xu Yi finally reached out to stop her. “Careful, don’t choke!”

Little Qiu smacked her lips and paused for a moment. Suddenly, she felt a pressure around her belly that she had never felt before. Her raging appetite that was like a flood that suddenly receded. She quickly moved her little body and sat down on Uncle Mu’s worn rest chair. She lay down, panting and rubbing her belly.

While the little girl was busy digesting her food, Xu Yi started to eat.

When he ate, it was ten times more brutal than that little girl — truly like a tornado. A whole squid was treated like a dough stick, stuffed head to tail right into his mouth.

Like pieces of braided dough, half a suckling pig and half a roasted chicken was cleanly picked in a flash.

The rest of the dishes were treated like rice and were shovelled into his mouth directly from the plate.

Before the little girl realized what had happened, Xu Yi had already finished all the food.

“Ahhhh!”

Little Qiu let out a weird scream, like a cat who has had its tail stepped on. She jumped up with her eyes wide, pointing a shaky finger at Xu Yi, and then pointing it at the empty plates. The whole while, she acted without saying a word, looking extremely comical.

“So you’re complaining that I eat too much? Ha ha, you little kitten. If you have what it takes, then grow a bigger stomach, ha ha ha…”

Xu Yi laughed heartily, extremely happy and content.

The clouds in the sky seemed to be hooked by his laughter. He himself could not even remember if he had ever opened up so much and laughed so unreservedly in his life.

After a noisy meal, Xu Yi went straight to the east of town.

Within a few minutes, he appeared at the doorstep of Furong Town’s police patrol station.

This compound with the words Patrol Station on the front was large. Going through the stone doors led to a wide courtyard, which would more accurately be considered a large martial arts display stage.

A few strong men, all with their shirts off, were pushing a set of heavy iron training equipment under the hot sun. Using all their strength, the sweat all over their body gave their muscles a shiny, coppery look.

The noon sun was beating down on them, drying up their sweat before it could even drip off their bodies. A sour stench permeated the air.

Seeing a stranger enter, someone called over, “Who are you looking for? If you’re reporting a case, hit the drum outside and do the paperwork!”

Before Xu Yi could respond, Gu Jianming, who was flipping through a stack of case files, came striding out of the main hall. Seeing Xu Yi from afar, he hurried down the steps smiling. “You’re late, I’ve been waiting. I almost thought you weren’t coming.”

“There was something on at home, and I was delayed. Sorry, Captain Gu!” Xu Yi responded, while continuing to observe his future workplace.