Douluo Continent: I can overdraft the future in advance

As Luo Yun walked to the door, Master Fang suddenly spoke.

My name is Fang Dengkang.

Luo Yun turned around. Master Fang sat in his chair, still holding the soul bone in his hand. He didn't look at him, and his voice was very calm, as if he were talking about something unimportant.

"I've been teaching you for two years, and I've never said it before." Master Fang paused, "Fang Dengkang, Deng as in 'climbing high,' and Kang as in 'peace and health.'"

Luo Yun paused for a moment, then smiled.

"I understand, Master."

---

The days that followed felt like they were on fast-forward.

Luo Yun's daily life returned to its original rhythm—cultivating soul power in the morning, learning about soul tools at Master Fang's shop in the afternoon, and continuing his cultivation at home in the evening. He ran through all three tracks simultaneously, without neglecting any of them.

Master Fang's injuries took half a month to fully heal. He hesitated for several days before finally absorbing the external soul bone. On the day of absorption, he locked the shop door tightly, not letting anyone in. Luo Yun didn't know how it went, but when Master Fang came out, his complexion was not good, and he was walking unsteadily.

"It's done." Master Fang only said two words.

The effect was obvious. Master Fang now had a pair of translucent gray wings on his back, much larger than Luo Yun had expected, with a full two meters wide when unfolded. Although he couldn't fly for long periods yet, short-distance flight and aerial maneuvering were no longer a problem.

"Flight capability." Master Fang stood in the yard and tested the light wings. "If we encounter something we can't beat in the future, at least we can run away."

It wasn't just the soul bone. Master Fang's soul power also increased—from level thirty-seven to level thirty-eight. The bottleneck that hadn't been touched for years suddenly loosened. He himself couldn't say whether it was the effect of the soul bone, or the spiritual herbs given by Luo Yun's family.

"Maybe both," Master Fang said, his tone still the same as always, but there was something new in his eyes that he hadn't seen before.

---

Luo Xing moved very quickly.

Less than a month after becoming apprentices, he formally invited Master Fang to join the Luo family business. His position was Technical Director, responsible for technical guidance and product development throughout the workshop. His salary was double what Master Fang earned when he ran his own shop, plus room and board.

Master Fang initially refused.

"I own a shop," he said.

"You can close the shop, or you can rent it out," Luo Xing said. "If you come to me, you don't need to worry about customers, materials, or sales; you can just focus on the techniques. Besides, Yun'er comes to your place for lessons every day. Isn't it better to teach at home than in the shop?"

Master Fang remained silent for several days before finally agreeing. He closed his shop and moved into a small courtyard that the Luo family had bought in the suburbs. The courtyard wasn't large, but it was quiet, close to the workshop, and also close to Luo Yun's house.

From then on, Luo Yun went to Master Fang's courtyard for lessons every afternoon. A workshop had been set aside in the courtyard, filled with all the tools and materials Master Fang had brought from his shop. The conditions were better than before, and Master Fang's mood improved considerably.

"Your father gave you too much." One day, Master Fang suddenly said this.

Luo Yun smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you to work even harder."

Master Fang just smiled.

---

The family business reached a new level this year.

Huami's reputation spread from Wuyun City to the entire northern part of the Douling Empire. Even the Tianhun Empire knew that Huami's living soul tools were of good quality, inexpensive, and of guaranteed quality, unlike those made by individual soul masters, which varied in quality.

Huami has also expanded its product line. In addition to its three main products—lighting lamps, heaters, and communicators—it has added household soul-guided devices such as soul-guided fans, soul-guided water heaters, and soul-guided stoves. Each model features a pure white casing, a simple design, and a unified style. In Wuyun City and several surrounding cities, Huami has become synonymous with household soul-guided devices.

The original two large courtyards were no longer enough, so Luo Xing bought a large plot of land in the suburbs and built an even larger workshop.

The Luo family's standard of living also rose accordingly. Luo Xing bought a large house in the east of the city, a three-courtyard house with blue bricks and gray tiles, much more impressive than their old house. Lin no longer needed to cook and do laundry every day, and they hired two servants to help.

Luo Yun's cultivation resources were endless—he always kept various spiritual herbs and pills at home, and he would buy all kinds of metal materials that Master Fang needed at once without ever asking about the price.

---

Luo Yun's cultivation progressed steadily throughout the year.

The system's five-year overdraft is still in cooling-off period and can only be used again after a year. During this year, he relied entirely on himself and herbs. However, with the speed of a sixth-level innate cultivator and ample resources, his progress was not slow.

Six months later, his soul power rose from level 21 to level 23.

At the end of the year, he tested himself and his soul power was already close to twenty-four. Master Fang said that at this rate, he could potentially reach level twenty-five before the age of twelve.

His learning about soul tools went even more smoothly. The experience synchronized back by the system was enough to sustain him for a long time. In the third month after becoming an apprentice, he went to the Soul Master Association to take the Level 2 Soul Master exam. The exam was much more difficult than Level 1, requiring him to independently complete the production of a complete set of Level 2 soul tools, from forging to arraying to assembly to debugging, doing everything himself.

Luo Yun spent two hours delivering a complete second-level lighting lamp.

When Master Fang found out, he didn't say anything, but simply took out a blueprint from the cabinet and slapped it on the table.

"Starting today, I will learn how to make combat soul tools."

The blueprint shows the core array of a first-tier soul-guided ray gun. It is far more complex than household soul-guided devices such as lights and heaters, with denser patterns, more nodes, and higher requirements for controlling soul power.

"Combat soul tools are the soul masters' specialty," Master Fang said. "Anyone can make the ones for home use. But the ones for combat are the real soul tools."

Luo Yun took the blueprints and began to study them.

---

Days passed by like this.

Luo Yun's reputation slowly spread throughout Wu Yun City. A ten-year-old two-ring Soul Master, a second-level Soul Master, a Martial Soul evolved, and a near-thousand-year Soul Ring—although he didn't actively spread this news, secrets don't stay hidden forever. No one knows who started it, but by the end of the year, everyone in Wu Yun City with a bit of influence knew that the Luo family's kid was a genius.

When Luo Xing was out negotiating business, people started to bring up Luo Yun on their own initiative.

"Boss Luo, your son is quite something."

"I heard he's only ten years old and already a second-ring Soul Master?"

"A Level 2 Soul Master? Really?"

Luo Xing always smiled and said, "Good luck, good luck," but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were impossible to hide.

At the end of the year, the city lord's mansion of Wuyun City sent a letter.

Luo Yun opened the letter and saw that it was a personal letter from the city lord. The letter said that he had heard that Luo Yun was exceptionally talented and had already become a two-ring soul master and a second-level soul master at a young age. The city lord's mansion was willing to issue a letter of recommendation for him to enroll in Shrek Academy.

Luo Yun held the letter and read it several times.

Shrek Academy. He finally got his admission ticket.

He put the letter away and went outside. The sunlight was perfect in the courtyard.

Master Fang was carving something in his workshop. Seeing him enter, he asked without looking up, "What is it?"

"Master, the city lord's letter of recommendation has arrived," Luo Yun said. "Next autumn, I can go to Shrek Academy."

Master Fang paused for a moment, then continued carving.

"Got it," he said. "I've heard Shrek students are all monsters. Do you think you can still be a genius somewhere else?"

Luo Yun smiled but remained silent.