The Fisherman's Gain?

Besides Gu Yuena, two other people were watching Huo Yuhao at work. Li Yucheng, President of the Mecha Master Association, and Xia Haoxuan, the Vice President. Having weathered multiple shocks from Huo Yuhao's monstrous talent, Li Yucheng claimed he could now watch calmly—but the man beside him clearly could not. Xia Haoxuan watched Huo Yuhao lightly tap the rare metal, his fingers flying with agile grace as he executed a triple-arc cut in an instant. It was so precise it looked as though it had been measured down to the millimeter with a ruler. Xia Haoxuan's heart marveled, and a fierce desire to take the boy on as a disciple surged within him. Such precise movements, such total harmony of mind and body—many rank-8 Makers he had known could never pull this off. Only Makers accustomed to crafting rank-9 soul tools could enter that state at will. A genius! An absolute genius! A disciple like this was the dream of every Maker who wished to pass down their mantle. After observing Huo Yuhao carve the soul array with smooth, flowing motions—as though tempered through ten thousand trials—Xia Haoxuan could not hold back any longer. "President, you're getting up there in years, and your energy isn't what it used to be. How about letting me teach Huo Yuhao instead?" "I might not match up to you, but I have far more free time and vigor. I can dedicate much more time to guiding him." "Out with you! In your dreams!" Li Yucheng waved his hand dismissively with an impatient frown. "You want to poach my student? Go teach your own apprentice properly!" Xia Haoxuan protested, dissatisfied, "President, you can't be this selfish! I was the one who discovered him first. You're busy running association affairs every single day; where would you find the time to mentor a disciple? We ought to trade—you keep running the association, and I'll teach him!" "He's from the Spirit Pagoda, and I already plan to introduce him to headquarters. Don't get any wild ideas." Li Yucheng shut Xia Haoxuan down with a single sentence. "Anything else you'd like to say?" "...You win." Xia Haoxuan cast a regretful glance at Huo Yuhao, then turned and walked out of the room. At that, Li Yucheng refocused on Huo Yuhao. Once the boy finished carving the soul tool array onto the metal, Li Yucheng walked over with a broad smile and inspected the finished piece. "Not bad. You've completely mastered the energy conversion soul array I taught you earlier. However, right here, and here, you could make some refinements to make the transitions seamless." Li Yucheng pointed out two spots on the rare metal and smiled at Huo Yuhao. "Of course, these are minor details..." Watching Huo Yuhao listen attentively with modest deference, Gu Yuena felt an odd sense that she did not belong here. Designers and Makers shared plenty of overlapping knowledge, but what the two of them were discussing right now... was completely beyond her. *** In the association lobby, a youth in his teens was looking for someone. When he spotted Xia Haoxuan emerging from a room, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over. "Teacher! I'm about to take the exam for rank-3 Maker. Do you have time to serve as my examiner?" Xia Haoxuan glanced up at him, entirely unenthusiastic. "Rank three? Look how old you are, and you're only hitting rank three now? Take a look at other people's—" The youth stared blankly at Xia Haoxuan, having no clue what he had done wrong to deserve an earful of grumbling from his teacher. Thinking back, he used to be that enviable prodigy himself... After venting for a bit, Xia Haoxuan still felt he was getting the short end of the stick. He had been the one to discover Huo Yuhao in the first place; when Huo Yuhao came to take the exam for rank-2 Maker, Xia Haoxuan had been his examiner! It was just that Huo Yuhao was from the Spirit Pagoda, so Xia Haoxuan had assumed the boy would never join the Mecha Master Association. Following routine protocol, he had forwarded the information to the president—never expecting it to end up like this. If he had simply taken him in on the spot back then, then... "No, the more I think about it, the more cheated I feel! Why should the president get to do nothing, take a quick stroll over to the Spirit Pagoda, and pick up a peerless genius for free?" After pondering back and forth, Xia Haoxuan decided on an indirect strategy and pulled out his soul communicator. "Knowing you, you're hoping to show Huo Yuhao off at headquarters later, aren't you? That means you probably haven't officially reported his existence to them yet... In that case, don't blame me for playing dirty." Once the call connected, Xia Haoxuan broke into an instant smile. "Hello, Teacher? I've discovered someone here in East Sea..." *** Inside the room, Li Yucheng was guiding Huo Yuhao on engraving the soul tool array when his communicator suddenly rang. Glancing at the screen, he apologized to Huo Yuhao, turned, and stepped outside. When he returned after finishing the call and saw what was happening in the room, his face instantly darkened. Guard as one might against all threats, the hardest thief to stop was the one within the house. He had let down his guard after all! Damn you, Xia Haoxuan! You're begging to have your life made miserable, aren't you? Just you wait! "Yuhao, you are the most talented person in soul tools I have ever seen in my life. My teacher is a rank-9 Maker at the Mecha Master Association headquarters. Having heard about you, he's exceedingly interested. What do you say—care to become my junior martial brother? "And young lady over here, becoming a rank-3 Designer at such a young age means you have boundless prospects ahead as well. I could introduce you to a suitable teacher, too," Xia Haoxuan said with a beaming smile. Why poach just one person when wooing two geniuses together was so much better? As for them coming from the Spirit Pagoda? No problem at all! The Mecha Master Association even had members from the Body Sect! "Vice President Xia, you flatter me. Without guidance from seniors, I never could have reached this level." "Ai, too much modesty comes across as insincere! How long has the president been teaching you anyway? He's old and doesn't have the time to guide you; squeezing out even a little time each day is difficult for him. How about this: study under me first, and later on, I'll take you to headquarters to meet my teacher." Huo Yuhao glanced at Li Yucheng, who was practically radiating black miasma behind Xia Haoxuan, his eyelids twitching. *This isn't a matter of modesty. If you keep talking, sir, I'm afraid that after tonight there'll be another floating corpse in the East Sea.* Xia Haoxuan had actually sensed someone approaching, but being a man who "refused to bow to authority," he directly produced a storage ring and handed it to Huo Yuhao. "Inside are some rare metals—a small gift I prepared for you." Li Yucheng took a deep breath, realizing he could not just stand by and watch. After a moment's thought, he drew an access pass and a small soul tool from his own storage ring and handed them to Huo Yuhao. "With this pass, you can access most rooms in the association, including the third-floor archive where design blueprints and technical ideas are stored." He had prepared this access pass long ago. Huo Yuhao possessed remarkable self-discipline and the ability to teach himself, and Li Yucheng truly did not have much free time. It was better to give him free rein to study on his own. With that in mind, Li Yucheng and Xia Haoxuan traded glances, then tacitly looked away. Even without speaking, both understood that Huo Yuhao belonged to the Spirit Pagoda. If they wanted to foster any sense of belonging toward the Mecha Master Association in him, they had to do everything they could to win him over while he was still young. *Still, that's no excuse for calling your teacher behind my back! Just wait until I make your life hell, Xia Haoxuan!* Li Yucheng thought impassively. Looking at the items in his hands, Huo Yuhao wore an odd expression. Was this... when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman reaps the spoils?