Chapter 44: Feng Qingcang's Sigh

Tap, tap...
"Come in!"
At the sound, the office door was pushed open. Seeing that the visitor was Mo Hui, Feng Qingcang immediately smiled and said, "Ah, it's Mo Hui. Is there something you need?"
Lately, Feng Qingcang found himself growing more and more fond of Mo Hui. Not only was the young man blessed with astonishing innate talent and brilliance, but he also worked exceptionally hard—unlike Feng Xiaotian, who tended to grow arrogant and complacent at the slightest hint of success.
Moreover, over the past six months, thanks to direct guidance from Mo Hui, the creator himself, the select group of teachers and students chosen by Feng Qingcang had all mastered the self-created soul skill known as the Air Blade. Some of the more exceptional ones had even reached the level of eight-in-one coordination and had begun studying the far more challenging Swirling Wind Cutter.
How could Feng Qingcang not be overjoyed? As the very first person in Kamikaze Academy to learn Mo Hui's two self-created soul skills, he knew better than anyone just how immensely powerful they truly were.
Not only did their might rival many ten-thousand-year soul skills, but their soul power consumption was far lower—almost comparable to a hundred-year soul skill while delivering the destructive force of a ten-thousand-year one, and with an extremely high ceiling for growth to boot.
Once all the teachers and students of Kamikaze Academy mastered these two self-created soul skills in the future, Kamikaze Academy would undoubtedly widen the gap between themselves and the other four elemental academies, truly establishing itself as the premier elemental academy in name and fact.
The more Feng Qingcang thought about it, the more he felt that trading the Wind-Fixing Pearl with Mo Hui for these two self-created soul skills was the most profitable bargain he had ever struck in his entire life.
"I heard that tomorrow is the Five Elemental Academies Exchange Meeting. Should the class originally scheduled for this afternoon be postponed?"
Walking up to Feng Qingcang, Mo Hui asked the question.
Hearing this, Feng Qingcang immediately slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Oh dear~ I've been so busy these past few days that I almost forgot! You won't need to teach during the academy exchange meeting these next few days, Mo Hui. As for your salary, I'll pay it to you in full as usual."
"I don't need to teach? Understood."
Upon hearing Feng Qingcang's words, Mo Hui nodded.
Getting paid without having to work was, as far as Mo Hui was concerned, the best possible outcome.
Just as Mo Hui was about to turn and leave, Feng Qingcang suddenly spoke up again, "By the way, Mo Hui, for the duration of the Five Elemental Academies Exchange Meeting, put your cultivation on hold for now and stick with me."
Feng Qingcang felt a mixture of fondness and exasperation when it came to Mo Hui's obsession with cultivation. Having a clear goal and working hard toward it was naturally a good thing, but it felt as though Mo Hui pushed himself just a little too hard.
Often, when Feng Qingcang wanted to discuss something with him, he would find that Mo Hui was cultivating in the core region of the Hurricane Canyon, leaving him utterly helpless.
Feng Qingcang knew that if he didn't call out to him now, Mo Hui would most likely hide himself away in the Hurricane Canyon again and wouldn't emerge until the exchange meeting was over and it was time to teach classes once more.
Hearing this, a flicker of light crossed Mo Hui's gaze as he stared fixedly at Feng Qingcang and asked, "Dean, what are you playing at?"
"I'm not playing at anything. I just want you to stay by my side these next few days," Feng Qingcang replied with a slight smile in the face of Mo Hui's direct stare.
"If you just need someone to shadow you, Feng Xiaotian seems much more suitable for that than I am," Mo Hui countered.
"Of course I'll be taking Xiaotian along as well, but you have to go too!"
Feng Qingcang said with righteous sternness, "The five academies are bound together like branches of the same tree. As the two most outstanding students of Kamikaze Academy, how could you not go and meet people from the other academies?"
Does he mean to groom me as his successor? But I don't want any part of that!
Mo Hui let out a helpless sigh and said, "Dean, you know I don't care for these kinds of things."
"I know, but you have to face them eventually, don't you? Doing it sooner rather than later is no bad thing, and it won't take up much of your time. Don't tell me you intend to keep cultivating in seclusion until you reach the Title Douro realm before finally showing your face?"
At that, Feng Qingcang felt somewhat speechless, wondering what on earth this little fellow was hesitating about. The higher-ups and elite students of the various academies represented rare and valuable social connections; anyone else would be tripping over themselves for the chance to make an impression in front of them, yet this kid actually looked reluctant.
Could it really be that this little fellow intended to lay low all the way until he became a Title Douro? To the handful of Title Douros in this world, such connections were indeed dispensable.
"Alright, that's settled then. Get a good rest today, and tomorrow morning I'll have Teacher Feng Yan come fetch you."
Without waiting for Mo Hui to refuse, Feng Qingcang made an executive decision and promptly shooed Mo Hui out of his office.
Standing outside after being ushered out, Mo Hui felt a mixture of bewilderment and resignation. He naturally knew that Feng Qingcang meant well, but he genuinely didn't care much for such social niceties. Besides, by parading him so openly before everyone else, weren't they afraid he might get poached by another academy?
Still, since Feng Qingcang had put it that way, it wouldn't do to refuse too stubbornly. Besides, it might just be a good opportunity to see what kind of caliber the other prodigies of the Four Elemental Academies truly possessed.
After all, in the original story, the team from the Five Elemental Academies was even stronger than the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team—though from his current perspective, neither of them amounted to much.
"This rascal!"
Sensing the sound of Mo Hui walking away, Feng Qingcang in the office couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
Facing such a suddenly emerging peerless genius, it was only natural for Feng Qingcang to feel a measure of vigilance, so he had quietly conducted a background check on Mo Hui.
And what a check it turned out to be; the results gave Feng Qingcang quite a fright.
Mo Hui had been exceptionally clever since childhood. When he was three, his parents went out to do business and were murdered by bandits. Relying on their remaining property and relief from his uncle, he survived on his own for three years.
At age six, he awakened a mutated sparrow martial soul, the Bibo, with a congenital soul power of rank three. He then entered Notting Academy to rely on his uncle, Mo Hen, and by age ten, had reached rank twenty-two, graduating early.
After graduation, he first went to Heaven Dou City, where he secured investment from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan. With the clan's assistance, he subsequently enrolled in Kamikaze Academy, and a year and a half later, broke through to rank thirty, becoming a Soul Elder.
The rest of it was fairly ordinary, but what shocked Feng Qingcang the most was that Mo Hui's innate soul power was merely rank three!
Rank three congenital soul power, yet at age twelve he had reached rank thirty-four—gaining thirty-one ranks in six years. What kind of concept was that?
Describing him as a peerless genius was not an exaggeration in the slightest, not to mention that Mo Hui had managed to invent two self-created soul skills along the way.
Although Feng Qingcang now knew that as long as one's control over soul power reached a certain threshold, mastering those two self-created soul skills was a natural progression, it was precisely because of that realization that he was all the more astonished.
Because Mo Hui was merely a child, yet in terms of the meticulous manipulation of soul power, he far surpassed an old Soul Sage like himself. This could no longer be described simply as talent; Feng Qingcang was willing to call Mo Hui a monster—something beyond human.
Having learned all this, Feng Qingcang finally understood why Mo Hui was so crazily obsessed with cultivation. Without madness, there was no achievement; only someone like this could accomplish such feats.
At this thought, Feng Qingcang sighed emotionally, "The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan's eye for talent is as sharp as ever! It's just a pity that I encountered him too late. Otherwise..."